Music News & Notes

A Fresh Start for Taking Back Sunday


Though the band is only four albums into their career, Taking Back Sunday has announced that with their upcoming full length, New Again, the group is in a state of rejuvenation (thus the title of the LP). The band has had its ups and downs over the past eight years, from 2002's explosive debut album Tell All Your Friends to the disappointing follow up Where You Want To Be, and a number of band defections later - there's good reason why frontman Adam Lazzara says that TBS "really does feel like a new band."

New Again will be Taking Back Sunday's second album on a major label and will be released through Warner Bros. on June 2nd. The album is highly anticipated among fans of the genre and can only hope to emulate the outstanding success of their last album Louder Now.

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Rodgers Done With Queen

In an interview with VH1 Classic Radio, Paul Rodgers stated that he's pretty much done with his collaboration with Queen.

“Well, you know, we did a world tour, we did a second tour of Europe and the Far East and Eastern Europe and we did a studio album and I think we’re kind of leaving it there gently. It’s out there for us to do things in the future if there’s something, a huge charity say like Nelson Mandela, I’m always open to that, but I think we are pretty much done.”

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Lips LP Taking Shape

The Flaming Lips are set to release a double album in late September, tentatively called "Embryonic." Thirteen songs are already on paper and plans are to write eight or nine more.

Wayne Coyne told Billboard, "Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that we should do a double album. Just this idea that you can kind of weave a couple of themes into there and you can sort of sprawl a little bit."

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The Donnas Announce "Greatest Hits" Album


In celebration of sixteen years playing high-powered rock and roll, all-female quartet The Donnas will deliver a career-spanning retrospective entitled "The Donnas Greatest Hits, Vol 16" on July 7th on their own Purple Feather Records. The comprehensive album features two brand new songs, two never-before-heard b-sides from their self-released 2007 album "Bitchin," live versions of hits “Take It Off” and “Fall Behind Me,” and two previously unreleased tracks from the band’s earliest days together. The band also re-recorded five tracks, remixed one and included two alternative versions of songs from their Lookout! Records catalog (1998-2001), one of which is sung by original producer/co-writer Darin Raffaelli.

Brett Anderson (vocals), Allison Robertson (vocals, guitar), Maya Ford (bass guitar), and Torry Castellano (drums, percussion, vocals) formed The Donnas in Palo Alto, CA, in 1993 and have been consistently rocking since, an unprecedented longevity for the all-female rock band. Drawing inspiration from The Ramones, AC/DC and Kiss, "Greatest Hits" marks the band’s 8th release and their music has recently been featured in the film and soundtrack toI Love You, Man, Rock Band 2, “The Bad Girls Club” (Oxygen network) and “Ultimate Gamer” (Sci-Fi Channel).

The Donnas will tour the US this summer as headliners and with female musical pioneers Blondie and Pat Benatar

Bowie's Storytellers Coming to CD/DVD on July 14

VH1...August 1999...back when they played music. David Bowie was guest on VH1 Storytellers, turning in a show that covered material from his entire career.

That appearance is coming to CD/DVD and digital audio on July 14 via Virgin/EMI. Featured are the eight songs from the original broadcast plus video of four additional numbers that were recorded during the session but never shown. Audio of those four performances will also be available via the digital release.

Storytellers Executive Producer Bill Flanagan says in the liner notes "We were used to dealing with legendary musicians. Still, landing David Bowie was more than a big booking. There's no way to say this without being corny: it was an honor. Bowie has a unique place in rock & roll. He is not only one of the most influential musicians of the era, he does nothing unless he is fully committed. He never phones it in.

"Bowie's Storytellers was a unique theatrical event, a sort of off-Broadway Evening with the Artist in which a great songwriter used bits and pieces from his life and career to show us all the roads leading up to a single moment, a complement to his current album but also a performance strong enough to stand on its own: a compelling introduction to David Bowie for the uninitiated and a fresh experience for the long time fan."

The track list for David Bowie: VH1 Storytellers:

CD/DVD/Digital Audio
Life On Mars?

Rebel Rebel (truncated)
Thursday's Child
Can't Help Thinking About Me
China Girl
Seven
Drive-In Saturday
Word On A Wing

Bonus Video (DVD) & Audio (Digital Release) Performances
Survive
I Can't Read
Always Crashing In The Same Car
If I'm Dreaming My Life

SOURCE: http://winkscollectibles.blogspot.com

Vinyl Record News

The Younger Generation Enjoys The Rich Sound Of Vinyl On The New Audio Turntables

by Stacy Bushaw

The CDs out there have a pristine sound, but records provide a better sound. Younger kids like the cover art on the records as well, according to James Patterson, age 17, who doesn’t even remember when they LPs were popular in the past. He found some old LPs up in the attic at his grandparents home by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, then his uncle grabbed him a player on eBay and he know displays it in his room.

Today there are a variety of manufacturers that are designing turntable systems that have the same designs from the past but with newer technology. A few of the manufacturers making these creations include jWin, teac, Crosely, and Memorex. Some of the great features on these new systems include stacking more than record, using USB connections, and even recording to CD.

When it comes to the gift giving time of Christmas, nostalgia turntables are one of the top sellers according to Classic Buys’ Raman. Some of the most popular brands that are sold include Memorex, Teac, Thomas Pacconi, and Crosley each year.

Many people today prefer to go with top brand names and turntables that provide you with various features. Consumers often go with four in one systems that play the radio, cassettes, records, and CDs. Top brands are usually purchased as well, such as Teac and Crosley. Features are important to most consumers today, such as the feature to record to CD or Stack-O-Matic features. With the Stack-O-Matic you are able to stack up several records and play continuously, and then with the recorder, you can take your LPs and record them onto CDs for your listening pleasure.

The purest form of music happens to be on vinyl records according to Crosley Radio president. This has made nostalgic reproductions on these record players very popular and very highly promoted during the holiday season. Everything the produced wants on record is captured, but with the CDs you lose something.

Today the Crosley name lives on with superbly detailed replicas that truly transcend time. Reintroductions of original vintage radios and turntables feature the newest technologies graced by unforgettable Crosley stylings. The Crosley Collection includes AM/FM radios, portable suitcase - styled record players and audio turntables, record changers, multi-functional audio cassette/compact disc players, jukeboxes, music boxes, telephones and more. Rich lines, retro designs and authentic crafting have made Crosley today’s premier vintage electronics manufacturer. True to the Crosley tradition, these replicas are as fabulous as they are functional, providing a delightful dose of nostalgia.

400,000 plus record players were sold by Crosley alone back in 2005 and they are expecting to sell even more this year. The sales of Teac have tripled within the past year and they figure there are about 10 billion albums that are sitting on the shelves in people’s homes. Now there is a great way to play this music again with the great units that Crosley and Teac are providing for about $100 to start out with.

Of course these sales don’t even compare to the sales of CD players, which have sold millions of units. These sales are small enough that they are not even tracked at all by the Consumer Electronics Association. However, among DJs and rap fans, they definitely still have a home today.

Among new turntable buyers, “You’ve got two camps,” says Dave Glassman of Restoration Hardware, which has turntables and sampler 45s in heavy rotation at its 105 stores, as well as in its catalog and on its Web site. “Thirty-five years and older, who grew up on LPs and still have them, and their kids, who have found these records in the closet and want to hear them.” Teac and Crosley unveiled new models that meld old and new at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, such as Crosley’s $229 4 in 1 Entertainment Center, with a CD player, cassette deck, radio and the ability to play vinyl at 33, 45 and 78 rpm.

About the Author:
Before purchasing audio turntables online check out Stacy Bushaws’ favorite audio turntable store on the internet at www.ultimateturntables.com.

This Date In Music History- May 12

I am resuming this feature, look for it every other day from now on!


Birthdays:

Melanie Chisholm - Spice Girls (1976)

Kix Brooks - Brooks and Dunn (1955)

Billy Squier - (1950)

Billy Duffy – Cult (1961)

Steve Winwood - Traffic, Blind Faith and the Spencer Davis Group turns 61.

Billy Swan ("I Can Help") is 67.

James Purify ("I'm Your Puppet") is 65.

Ian McLagen – Faces (1946)

Born on this day in 1940, Norman Whitfield, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown. Also collaborated with Barrett Strong on such hits as ‘I Heard It through the Grapevine,” “Ain't Too Proud to Beg,” “(I Know) I'm Losing You” “War,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and others.

Born on this day in 1928, Burt Bacharach, US songwriter, pianist and arranger. With Hal David wrote many classic songs including, “Close To You,” “Magic Moments,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” among others. Won two Oscars for film score “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,” for “Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head.”


They Are Missed:

In 2001, Perry Como died aged 88. He scored fourteen US #1 singles, from 150 US chart hits and over 25 UK chart hits, including the single “Magic Moments” and “Catch A Falling Star.” Como was once the highest-paid performer in the history of television.

Ian Dury, singer, songwriter, poet, actor (1942) - 1977 UK #5 album “New Boots And Panties!!” spent 90 weeks on the UK chart, 1979 UK #1 single “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick”). Dury died on March 2000 27, 2000 (age 57).

The late George Carlin ("Wonderful WINO") was born in 1937.


History:

The only single of Billie Holiday's ever to chart, "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be), entered Billboard's R&B chart in 1945, peaking at #5.

In 1958, "Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu" by Dicky Doo & the Don'ts peaks at #40 on the charts.

In 1960, Elvis guest-starred on a Frank Sinatra-hosted TV special, “Welcome Home Elvis, and cut his first post-Army recordings in Nashville. They yield the hit album “Elvis Is Back” and such million-selling singles as "It's Now or Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight."

In 1962, the Temptations appeaedr on the chart for the first time with "Dream Come True."

"Right Place Wrong Time," by Dr. John, enters the singles chart in 1973, where it will peak at #9. Allen Toussaint produced, arranged, played and sang on the song, which was Dr. John's commercial zenith.

In 1967, Pink Floyd played London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of their first concerts to experiment with quadraphonic sound.

A British radio station debuts the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album in its entirety in 1967.

"Satisfaction" was recorded by The Rolling Stones in 1965.

In 1968, Jimi Hendrix was arrested for possession of hashish and heroin when he crossed the Canadian border for a concert in Toronto. He claimed the drugs were planted and he was later exonerated.

All I Have To Do Is Dream,” the Everly Brothers ballad, was the #1 song in America in 1958.

In 2008, Neil Young had a spider named after him. Officially known as a Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, the trap door spider is named by biologist Jason Bond. According to Bond "Young is worthy of that honor." The spider in question is found only in Alabama.

In 1962, Billboard Magazine reported that last year's most-played jukebox record was “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean. The second most-played was Chubby Checker's “The Twist.”

Led Zeppelin started a three week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1973 with “Houses Of The Holy.”

Buy Zeppelin Music - Picture Disc of "Houses of the Holy" Available Now!

Classic Rock Videos

Led Zeppelin Dazed and Confused

Audiophile Audition Review

I want to thank John over at http://www.audaud.com for the exclusive rights to reprint this great review!



AUDIOPHILE AUDITION focuses on recordings of interest to audiophiles and collectors, with an accent on surround sound for music, and on all hi-res disc formats. Over 100SACD, DVD Video/Audio and standard CD reviews are published during each month, and our archives go back to January 2001.

Neil Young - Fork in the Road - Reprise

There is a willfully off-the-cuff articulation to Neil Young's newest rock album.

Neil Young - Fork in the Road - Reprise 518040-2, 38:44 ***1/2:

(Neil Young - acoustic & electric guitar, vocals, producer; Ben Keith - lap steel guitar, electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, backing vocals; Anthony Crawford - acoustic & electric guitar, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, backing vocals; Pegi Young - acoustic guitar, backing vocals, vibraphone; Rick Rosas - bass; Chad Cromwell - drums; Niko Bolas - producer, engineer, mixing)

There is a willfully off-the-cuff articulation to Neil Young's newest rock album, Fork in the Road. For those who have been following Young's sometimes erratic solo career, you can put Fork in the Road somewhere between Re-ac-tor and Living With War, which were both ragged, full-throttle records that pinpointed with snapshot conciseness just where Young was in his life. On Young's current batch of low-fidelity material, he sings about the past (where we've been), the present (our contemporary problems) and the future (hope is alive again). Musically, the ten tracks overflow with stout and distorted Les Paul electric guitar fills, Chad Cromwell's thumping drums, and on most songs, slightly sweetening backing vocals that add balance.

Thematically, Young's latest venture is a socially-conscious travelogue centering on the American automobile, with appropriate tunes such as the shuffling "Fuel Line," the bluesy "Get Behind the Wheel," and the self-deprecating title track. On the grunge opener, "When Worlds Collide," Young depicts his road trip from California to Washington, D.C., when he drove his hybridized Lincvolt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental outfitted with a biodiesel-electric motor. Young describes places and people he saw and things he did along the way: floating on the Rio Grande with a Coca Cola in his hand; a man out of luck who spends his days in a jail cell; and old folks cruising down Route 66. Young continues both the contorted music and his passion for going green on "Fuel Line," an ode to ending dependence on oil companies. Throbbing "Johnny Magic," which nods to Young's tune "Hey Hey, My My," is a tribute to visionary mechanic Jonathan "Motorhead Messiah" Goodwin, Young's partner in the Lincvolt endeavor [http://www.lincvolt.com/]. The cut is a not-quite-eloquent plea to change the system by replacing the rules.

Young has written about his vehicles and the road before. "Long May You Run," "Drive Back" and "Motor City" are but a few examples of Young's fascination with traveling down the byways and highways. The blues jammer "Get Behind the Wheel" is not one of Young's best car songs, but its utter simplicity gives it a plain-spoken rock and roll charm. "Hit the Road" has a likeminded musical and lyrical stance, a craggy, mid-tempo tumbler that easily could have been performed by Crazy Horse.

Young is on shaky ground, though, when he heads straight into counterculture, political territory, such as during boogie toss-off "Cough Up the Bucks," a rant against greedy Wall Street denizens, which mimics "T-Bone," a similarly patterned and repetitive track that showed up on Re-ac-tor. If "Cough Up the Bucks" sounds as if it was penned and produced in a single afternoon, it probably was.

Young provides his most personal and poignant performance on country-colored "Light a Candle," where he expressively unplugs to sing about sincere inner transformation: Young's folksy acoustic guitar, assured vocals, and Ben Keith's masterful lap steel furnish the sparse piece a potent persuasiveness.

Fork in the Road doesn't rank with Young's best work, lacking the comprehensive focus of Rust Never Sleeps or Harvest, but it does have the organic, buckled impact of underrated outings such as Zuma or On the Beach. Casual fans who only remember iconic hits like "Heart of Gold," "Cinnamon Girl" or "Southern Man" can ignore this Fork in the Road and safely stay on their familiar path. But for those who prefer to take the road not taken, and welcome a different perspective, Fork in the Road is a detour worth traversing.

TrackList:
1. When Worlds Collide
2. Fuel Line
3. Just Singing a Song
4. Johnny Magic
5. Cough Up the Bucks
6. Get Behind the Wheel
7. Off the Road
8. Hit the Road
9. Light a Candle
10. Fork in the Road

-- Doug Simpson
Reprinted By Permission

Music News & Notes

Jack White’s Dead Weather: Album Art, Tour Dates Revealed

Jack White’s new band The Dead Weather have revealed the album cover for their upcoming debut LP Horehound and announced plans to embark on a full North American tour.

The supergroup consists of Jack White and Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs, Alison Mosshart and Queens of the Stone Age member Dean Fertita.



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Dylan #1 in UK

Bob Dylan's Together Through Life stays at #1 for a second week in the UK, something he hasn't done since Nashville Skyline in 1969. Yusuf Islam's (Cat Stevens) Roadsinger debuts at #10.

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Stevie To Play Free Concert

It's being reported that Stevie Wonder is set to play a free outdoor concert to open the Montreal Jazz Festival on June 30. The show will be at the La Place de festivals which is currently being restored.

Others playing at the festival include Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker, Jackson Browne and Al Jarreau.

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Modest Mouse Single Due May 26

In your mad rush to scoop up Record Store Day exclusives, you may have noticed that Modest Mouse’s contribution to the day’s festivities was nowhere to be found. Well, that’s because the band’s new limited-edition seven-inch never made it out in time for the April 18 celebrations. However, if you were disappointed, don’t be: Modest Mouse’s latest joint is now getting an official release on May 26.

The band’s new vinyl artifact will include two new tracks, "Satellite Skin" and "Guilty Cocker Spaniels," and pressed up on fancy orange vinyl with an embossed sleeve. The release is limited to 4,000 copies, but if you can’t hunt one down, it will also be up for sale on iTunes.

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Faith No More To Drop The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection

Faith No More are on deck to receive another best-of comp this summer. Dubbed T"he Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection," the new double-disc package is due out in the UK on June 1 via Rhino, marking the band’s umpteenth greatest hits package.

On disc one, the band gather up an array of tracks from their career, which until recently ended in 1998. This means such Faith No More classics as “The Real Thing,” “We Care A Lot” and “Everything's Ruined,” along with 15 others, will make an appearance on the 18-track CD. For many fans, though, it will be disc two that will be the obvious draw, with that bonus CD coming packed full of various B-sides and rarities. (Two more yet-unannounced tracks will be added to iTunes’ digital version of the ten-song bonus disc.)

Used Vinyl Moving Well

I love articles about the resurgence of the beloved vinyl record. Here's another one, this one from our friends in Vermont:


Music shops selling used albums strong

By CHRIS GAROFOLO, Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- The faltering economy has caused several major industries to suffer on a national scale, but there's at least one on the local level that has not felt the effects of the recession.

Local retailers specializing in used records and CDs say their businesses have held steady even in the midst of what officials call the worst economic period since the Great Depression.

Cash-strapped music lovers continue to head to the corner shop to browse through the latest collection of secondhand albums.

"Despite it being a lousy economy, we still have a really loyal customer base," said Alicia Beasley, manager of Turn It Up! in Brattleboro. "We're doing well, we're doing good."

The store has seen a bump in sales since winter, with annual events such as last weekend's "May Magic" sidewalk sale bringing in decent profits.

"I think the economic downturn has helped us a bit, but the whole industry has seen a steady decline beginning in 1999," said Fred Wilber, owner of Montpelier's Buch Spieler.

With the digitizing of music and its wide availability online, secondhand stores have taken a major hit over the past decade, he said.

Elektra Duncan, co-owner of In the Moment, a record store in Brattleboro, agreed with Wilber about the condition of the music retail industry.

"I think that we're holding steady in a time when many stores are showing a decline," she said.

Approaching its fourth year in downtown Brattleboro, Duncan said In the Moment has seen a jump in its annual sales regardless of the national economy.

To stay in business during a recession and the explosion of music Web sites, many retail shops have turned to the Internet to reach a broader audience.

Duncan said their online business is holding its own, selling a good portion of contemporary and pop music to buyers in Europe, Russia and Japan.

"We've decided to integrate (the Internet) rather than fight it," he said.

Expanding retail services to the Internet has also helped Burlington-based Pure Pop Records stay afloat.

According to store employee Amy Wild, online albums sales have boosted even as less business is seen revolving through the doors.

"The stuff that won't necessarily sell at the store in Burlington will sell online in other parts of the country and around the world," she said.

Online music has also helped Turn It Up! sales, but in a different way.

Beasley said the store can compete with online music sites because Turn It Up! is selling music for the same price or less than downloading tunes.

"We're finding a lot of people check here and compare it to online, and buy their music here," she said.

Resale stores usually thrive during difficult economic periods. Consumers with less money in their pockets tend to sell unnecessary items in an effort to acquire some quick cash.

"We're definitively seeing an older generation bringing stuff in," said Beasley. There has been a mixed bag of middle-aged customers selling vinyl and CDs, she added.

"There's been a lot of people coming in to sell their music collection to make some extra money," said Wild.

Most shops report an increase in customers bringing in their vinyl records, but many retailers say the aging bundles often yield few sales.

"I've been seeing more vinyl coming in, but what they bring in isn't very good," said Wilber. If people are trying to maximize their return, many turn to online services, he said.

In some cases, it isn't even the dusty vinyl boxes left in the attic for years that people are selling.

"We buy movies, too, we're seen a lot of that," said Beasley.

But since more customers are pawning off old vinyl albums and used CDs, music shops also benefit because it provides a high turnover rate of new merchandise coming in.

"People are getting rid of a lot of old stuff, but vinyl's coming back around," said Duncan. The record sales are increasing at a faster rate than CDs, she said.

With a new awareness around records, more teenagers are coming in and looking at classic rock 'n' roll albums re-released on vinyl, said Duncan. "People are recognizing there is a difference in how it sounds."

Buch Spieler has seen the opposite effect -- less youth purchasing records and more people buying new CDs.

Wilber said he has noticed his shop alter from an after-school hangout to an older clientele looking to add to their collections with brand new CDs.

"I'm not getting as many used CDs as I used to," he added. Wilber has owned the capital city music store for more than three decades.

Even in tough economic times, people continue to look at entertainment items, such as purchasing music or going to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

But for the same price seeing a movie once in the theater, Wilber said a customer can own an album for a lifetime. "Music is still a relatively good bargain."

SOURCE: http://www.reformer.com

Classic Rock Videos

Led Zeppelin Rock n Roll 1973

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 05/09/2009


1. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday and Today" LP Butcher First State Mono Perry Cox COA - $7,000.00 - Start: $7,000.00 - Bids: BIN

2. 45 - Walter & The Admeration's "Man Oh Man (What Have I Done)" / "Life Of Tears" La-Cindy - $4,250.00 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 15

3. 45 - Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers "My Bonnie" / "The Saints" - $4,175.00 - Start: $0.01 - Bids: 34

4. 45 - Rock Bottom & The Spys "Rich Girl" / "No Good" "Death Trap" Bottom - $2,945.99 - Start: $1,000.00 Bids: 9

5. 45 - The Sweets "Satisfy Me Baby" / "Something About My Baby" Soultown - $2,600.00 - Start: $3,000.00 - Bids: Best Offer


Lots of butcher covers sell on eBay, but none have been mono first states with a Perry Cox certificate, so this week's #1 stands alone, selling on a Buy-It-Now for $7k.

45's fill out the rest of the list, with the northern soul 45 from Walter & The Admeration's single selling for halfway over $4.2k. The Beatles show up again in the #3 spot, this time in their incarnation as the Beat Brothers backing Tony Sheridan. The "My Bonnie" single bids up well over $4.1k.

In the #4 spot a punk 45 makes its way up past $2.9k, and last, another norther soul 45 from The Sweets gets a best offer of $3k.

As always, thanks to Norm at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/ for this great data!

Music News & Notes

Sir Paul & Dylan?

Bob Dylan has stated that he would like to collaborate with Paul McCartney on a future studio project. Dylan told Rolling Stone:

"That would be exciting, to do something with Paul but, you know, your paths have to cross for something like that to make sense."

A spokesman for McCartney said "I should think he would be very interested in hearing about it. As you can imagine, it would be a pretty major thing if it went ahead."

=========================

New Bangles' Material?

Susanna Hoffs not only has "Under the Covers Volume 2" coming out with Matthew Sweet, but she is also in the process of writing a new Bangles album.

"We're kind of under the radar to some extent, but we're always on and off the road during the year. We're sort of approaching the record like we're going to go in and record three songs, and go out on the road and come back, and go in and record three songs," she said to Spinner.

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Wilco Album Cover Art


Wilco revealed the album cover for their new LP Wilco (The Album) on their official Website: And yes, it’s a photo of a camel attending a rooftop birthday party. The picture is from a site in Milwaukee, WI (a eatery) and the LP is set for a June 30th release date.

The Fascinating History of Record Collecting

A great article from my vinyl friends over at NYLVI.com

By Kevin Hawkins

Record Collecting has been around for about as long as recorded sound. In the beginning phonographs and the records, which were played (first wax cylinders and later flat shellac discs) were mostly reserved for the rich people. However, by 1920 the manufacturing process for both records and players was improved, which lead to a drop in the price for the players and purchasing music became a possibility for a broader range of people.

After the phonograph cylinder was given up the record became the uncontested medium for decades. The number of available recordings exploded and the number of companies, which pressed records also increased incredibly. The records, which were pressed, were 78 rpm, double-sided, ten-inch shellac discs, with about four minutes of recording time on each side.

While the recorded sound industry grew at an extreme high pace the growth eventually slowed down by the Great Depression and World War II, since countries were lacking raw materials. When World War II ended, the economy in these countries started to grow again and what happened was that Classical music (which accounted for a significant portion of the 78rpm releases) was slowly pushed into minority status by the influx of popular and new music.

An important point in the history of record collecting was when the 33 1/3 rpm, 12-inch LP record and the 45 rpm, 7-inch record became available on the market around 1949/1950. These formats provided advances in both storage and quality and these records were made of vinyl, which then came to replace shellac as manufacturing material. Also, groups of small record labels were formed with the beginning of the rock and roll era in the early to middle 1950s, and the growth of a market among post-war teenagers with disposable income to spend on 45 rpm singles was important.

Record Collecting as a hobby most likely did not take shape as it is know today before until the 1960s. With the folk music boom in the late 1950s to early 1960s, there was suddenly a demand for archival material. In some countries record collectors started to search small and remote towns for older discs. In the beginning the most wanted items were pre-World War II shellac discs containing records, which mostly were what is considered the precursors to then current rock and roll and country styles. Later generations of record collectors found their passion in digging up obscure 45s for genres such as doo-wop, or LPs from the late 1960s garage rock and psychedelic genres.

In January 1964 the pop music scene changed forever with the arrival of The Beatles in the United States. Following The Beatles was a wave of thousands of bands inspired by their fresh; lively take on rock music with a sharp British sensibility, picked up guitars and many released records. Many of these acolytes released 45 rpm records in small batches to sell at local concerts and to their friends and families. Because of their relatively small pressings, these obscure local records became highly priced and valuable.

The collectors item with the most notoriety in record collecting is not a record at all, but merely an album cover. The Beatles themselves accidentally contributed what s probably the most well known and valuable collectors piece of the rock and roll era: The Butcher Cover. This title is an informal one for the cover of the Yesterday and Today album, which was released in 1967. Until this date LP releases in the US by The Beatles were different from those released released in the United Kingdom. The ones released in the US were shorter, had different songs, album titles and artwork.

Another Holy Grail of some collectors is Bob Dylans The Freewheelin Bob Dylan released in 1963, and has four songs that were deleted from subsequent pressings. For example the price of this record is known to be around $35,000 for the stereo version and $16,500 for the mono version, when in excellent condition.

One collectible record format is known as test pressing. A test pressing is what the name implied; 5-10 copies of a record pressed for the purpose of checking the mix or levels on a record, or to ensure that the die is cutting properly. Although the test pressing is naturally meant for the band, producer, pressing plant or record label to keep as reference, they are often placed in special packaging and given out to friends or devoted fans.


About the author

Kevin Hawkins writes about music, the music industry and vinyl records. To find out more about the history of record collecting and vinyl check out nylvi.com.

Nylvi is a social marketplace for record collectors.

Classic Rock Vidoes

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

It's Alive!: Bringing new life to old records

By DAVE PHILLIPS
Freedom News Service

In a shadowy basement, past shelves and shelves of dusty, preserved specimens, Bill Cook stepped into his laboratory.

In front of him stood stacks and stacks of arcane machines, tangled with cables.

"Some call me Dr. Frankenstein," he said, turning, so the light caught his face. "I take old, dead recordings and bring them back to life."

He laughed, then slipped a scratched, 70-year-old record out of its yellowed paper sleeve, laid it on a spinning RCA turntable, and set the needle in the groove.

The laboratory in an unassuming split-level house on a quiet wooded lot in Woodland Park, Colo., suddenly flooded with the blare of big band horns and clarinets. The vinyl hissed and crackled as the needle clattered in rutted grooves. It sounded as if the whole band were playing through a tin can.

Cook, 78, stood still for a moment, listening, then started to nudge knobs and prod switches. Lights blinked. Signals surged through cables. Processors crunched the millions of ones and zeros that make up digital sound. And slowly Cook coaxed the battered sound of the record back to life, until it almost sounded as though the band were in the room.

That is Cook's passion and his art. He digs up the remains of recordings, revives them with a complex cocktail of digital processes, and rerecords them on CD as bright, digital sound.

He then re-releases selected works on his tiny record label, Audiophonic.

"I can take an old 78 from the Depression and make it sound like it was recorded yesterday," he said.

He turned back to his stacks of analog equalizers, amplifiers, and digital enhancers and fiddled with the knobs, making slight adjustments.

Cook is one of a small cadre of cottage audio craftsman slowly bringing dead music back to the future.

"There are several people, each with different specialties," said Rick Starr of Portland, Ore., who markets and distributes releases for a handful of digital remasterers, including Cook.

"What makes Bill Cook special is his ear," Starr said. "He is an audio wonk ... an audio geek ... an audiophile ... he just has a really amazing ear. And he has an incredible collection of records."

Shelves sag under the weight of 50,000 records in Cook's laboratory - 45s, LPs, old 78s, and about 30,000 rare 16-inch vinyl discs called transcriptions that were played by radio stations from the 1930s to the early 1950s, before the invention of the LP.

"Those are my specialty," Cook said. "I've been collecting them my whole life."

Cook's is not the largest collection of transcriptions, but it's close.

"The Library of Congress still has me beat," he said with a slight chuckle.

SOUND BARRIERS

Cook has been fascinated with sound since he built his own high fidelity record player as a kid in 1942.

"Regular records sounded like hell," he said. "Those transcriptions from the radio stations were the only source of hi-fi records. So I started collecting them."

He trained as an electrical engineer in college and hung around Hollywood sound studios on summer breaks. He owned AM and FM radio stations in Colorado Springs, Colo. He worked in film. He even worked for the Apollo space program - always trying to create better sound.

Along the way he kept collecting old sound equipment and 16-inch records. Today his basement is a tangle of old and new. Boxes of vacuum tubes, New Deal-era turntables the size of washing machines, and a 7-foot-tall Ampex amplifier stand next to state-of-the-art digital converters.

"This is the recorder Lawrence Welk used to lipsync all his shows," he said, pointing to a large 1940 reel-to-reel.

"This amplifier was used to record the theme to ‘Star Trek,'" he said. "As this stuff got old and new technology moved in, people were just smashing up this stuff and throwing it away. So I would take it off their hands."

Cook feeds the scratchy analog sound through a series of computers - aptly called the declicker, decrackler, dehisser and debuzzer - that take out all the noise, leaving clean, digital music.

The whole setup costs about $100,000, Cook said.

Cook's stash of old equipment and lifetime working with sound put him in a perfect position to become the Dr. Frankenstein of a dead musical era. But it is the shelves of 16-inch radio transcriptions that give him a loophole to do it legally.

‘'A GRAY AREA'

As recording technology has changed over the decades, whole libraries of music have been marooned on obsolete technology. Who has a record player anymore?

Hobbyists such as Cook have the technology to update old music, but copyright law, which generally states that record labels own the rights to a recording forever, keep them from doing it. If someone found a 100-year-old Columbia Records wax cylinder and wanted to rerecord it on CD, Columbia would have to give permission first.

Companies often choose not to, or charge royalties that make it too pricey.

But Cook has slipped through the cracks. His 16-inch transcription discs were never sold to the public. Record companies sent them to radio stations to play, then be thrown away.

"So they weren't regulated under the same laws," Cook said. "We exist in a gray area."

Since 2004, his tiny record label has released a dozen CDs by long-dead artists such as Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra and country-western stars the Sons of the Pioneers.

He has sold several thousand copies through collectors' magazines and his Web site, www.audiophonic.biz.

His tiny company also digitizes people's personal record collections.

"This is all music I love," he said as he stood listening to the clean stream of band music pouring out of the laboratory. "It makes me happy to be able to bring it alive."

SOURCE: http://www.thetelegraph.com/

Music News & Notes

Green Day Tour

Green Day have enlisted Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs as the opening acts for the second half of their U.S. summer tour; openers for the first half are still being sorted out according to Pitchfork. The Kaisers will join Green Day from July 27th at New York’s Madison Square Garden to August 7th in New Orleans, with Franz taking over between Houston’s August 8th date and the tour’s finale, August 25th in Los Angeles.

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KISS Dolls Available

For the Kiss fan who has everything, there are some new action figures coming this August. You can check out unpainted models of the toys at Kiss Online; all four figures — Starchild, Catman, Spaceman, and the Demon — will be released in a limited-edition collectible window box, depicting the band onstage.

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Shins Back In Action

Indie-pop group the Shins have been on an extended break for more than a year, but with a 16-date tour that kicked off on May 2nd in Bellingham, Washington, and approximately 30 songs written for a new album, the group is getting back to work — though they’re not exactly the same group.

Talkative keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval have left the band (on good terms, according to frontman James Mercer). They’ve been replaced by the Fruit Bats’ Ron Lewis and Joe Plummer, who plays drums in the San Diego indie-rock group Black Heart Procession as well as Modest Mouse.

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Test Pressings Available At Vinyl Collective

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