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Jerry "DJ" West's 40-year-old record shop is his pride and joy.
By Jim Schoettler
Forty years ago, Jerry "DJ" West began supplementing his custom jewelry business by buying 30 45-rpm records and selling them to customers from a Northwest Jacksonville shop.
Every time West would sell one record, he'd buy two more to sell. And two more. And two more.
Today, West's collection of all types of new and used vinyl records tops 15,000, with specialities in gospel and rhythm and blues. There are selections of disco, rock and country. He also dabbles in casettes, CDs, DVDs and something called 8-tracks. And if you're in need of a turntable needle, West probably has the right one.
West's music is stored and sold in DJ's Record Shop, a delightfully cramped, drafty, dimly lit business at Edison and McDuff avenues in Lackawanna. The independent record store has been in the same spot for 35 years, serving generations of families with interests ranging from the Temptations to Billy Joel to Beyonce.
"Some of the people I deal with now, now they have great-grandchildren they brought in and they tell them, 'He was here when I was young,' " said West, 60. "That makes me feel good."
West has raised three children with the money he's made off his business. Having something for everyone's taste and adjusting to the changing methods of how people listen to music has helped.
But making money isn't West's only motivation to keep working six days a week, especially through some difficult times. DJ's - West was once a DJ, hence the nickname - has become a second home to West and some of his friends. It's a place to relax, talk about the "oldies" and listen to the sounds of Otis Redding, James Brown, Ray Charles and many others.
"This is what I call my empire," said West, stretching his long arms out over a sea of records. "This is one of the things I live for. To some people it may look like junk, but this is what I enjoy doing."
West said he's accumulated the collection mainly from private sales, though it's not unusual for people to donate their unwanted music to him. West sells his records for anywhere from $1.99 up, but there's little doubt he'll leave some room for negotiation.
He said he enjoys watching people flip through his many boxes and shelves, some for hours. He said people buy the records not only for nostalgia purposes, but also to hear a certain sound. Rather than quality vinyl, he said, some people simply enjoy listening to something old.
"It's the cracking sound that people love to hear," West said.
Younger customers who venture into his shop amuse West when they ask about the strange looking vinyl discs.
"I've had teenagers come in and they'll look at a record and say, 'What is this?' " he said.
Regular customers include Joanne Brumfield, 61, who said she visits the shop a few times a week from her home in Arlington. She said the store brings back old memories of music to which she used to dance and sing. It also reminds her of her first boyfriend.
"There's a lot here that reminds me of me and Freddie, my first love," Brumfield said with a big smile. "Otis Redding. Johnny Taylor. It reminds me of our past and how good it was."
Reginald Dillon popped in the store one day recently looking for some Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin. Dillon, 41, has been buying music from West for 27 years.
"I like to shop for oldies music. If nobody's got it, DJ's got it," Dillon said. "When you come in this store, it takes you back. It makes me feel great."
West said he may retire one day, but don't expect that to come anytime soon.
The flip side of Bobby Helms' Christmas favorite "Jingle Bell Rock" is called "Captain Santa Claus And His Reindeer Space Patrol".
The first song of the rock era to become a US #1 twice by different artists was "Go Away Little Girl", first by Steve Lawrence (Dec 1962), then by Donny Osmond (Aug 1971). The second to accomplish this feat was "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva (July 1962), then Grand Funk (March 1974). Both songs were penned by the same songwriters, Gerry Goffin and Carole King.
The rock group Queen issued albums called "A Night at the Opera" and "A Day at the Races" which were named after movies by The Marx Brothers.
It was in 1966 when Richard and Karen Carpenter formed a trio and won a battle of the bands contest at the Hollywood Bowl. The trio serenaded the crowd with the song “The Girl From Ipanema” and were accompanied by drums, piano and a tuba. One record executive visionary attempted to sell the enterprising trio as a “rock-tuba super group.” To no one’s surprise, the idea did not catch on.
The Four Tops recorded their first Motown hit, 1964's "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" in the wee hours of the morning, shortly after songwriter Eddie Holland had sang it for them for the first time.
Connie Francis was on the comeback trail in 1981 when her brother, George, was brutally murdered, allegedly by members of organized crime.
Pat Boone, who is a very religious man, once claimed to use his own surname in lieu of curse words when he is upset.
When Janis Joplin was in college in 1963, a local fraternity voted her "The Ugliest Man on Campus."
Mark Dinning scored a number one hit in the U.S. in 1960 with "Teen Angel". While he was growing up in Oklahoma, one of his babysitters was a girl named Clara Ann Fowler, who would go on to have a recording career of her own as Patti Page.
Bert Kaempfert, who led his orchestra on the January, 1961, number one US hit, "Wonderland By Night", would go on to produce the first recording session that The Beatles ever had. At the time, the boys were backing Tony Sheridan on "My Bonnie" and "When The Saints Go Marching In".
After Rick Nelson signed a one million dollar, twenty year recording contract with Decca Records in January, 1963, he had only two more hits, 1964's "For You" and 1972's "Garden Party".
About the same time that Ringo Starr received an offer from Brian Epstein to join the Beatles, he was also asked to join another Liverpool group called Kingsize Taylor and The Dominoes. Ringo chose the one offering the best wage...25 pounds a week.
Debbie Boone's 1977 hit "You Light Up My Life" became a multi-million selling smash that stayed at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 for ten weeks, becoming a far bigger hit than any of the 38 Top 40 songs her father, Pat Boone ever had.
The tapes for Don McLean's first album were rejected by 34 record companies before Mediarts agreed to release it in 1970. His next LP, "American Pie" would be considered a rock and roll classic and sell millions of copies.
The band Wild Cherry, who had a number one disco hit with "Play That Funky Music" in 1976, took their name from a box of cough drops.
The Miracles first number one hit, 1970's "Tears Of A Clown", was actually taken from an album that was released three years earlier. The song was issued as a single when record executives wanted another "tears" song to follow "Tracks Of My Tears" and found that the group had already recorded one.
Although many fans assumed that the Shirelles were named for their lead singer Shirley Owens, the members of the group say that this is not true. The girls came up with the name while they were still in high school and Doris Kenner was singing most of the lead vocals.
The next time you see the movie Back To The Future III, be sure to look for ZZ Top in a cameo roll. They play in the band that is performing in the Hill Valley party scene where Doc asks Clara to dance. That's drummer Frank Beard who twirls his snare drum around as the band breaks into song.
Due to his horrible singing voice, drummer Keith Moon was banned from the studio while the rest of The Who were recording vocals.
When Diane Renay's mother was pregnant with her, a gypsy fortune teller told her, "you're gonna have a daughter and your daughter one day is going to be a star." That prediction came true in 1964 when 17 year old Diane reached #6 on the Billboard chart with "Navy Blue".
James Brown placed 99 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart. 44 of them made the Top 40, but none ever reached number one.
When a snippy journalist complained that AC/DC had made ten records that all sounded alike, Angus Young was insulted. “He’s a liar,” he quipped. “We have made eleven albums that all sound the same.”
EMI Music's Vinyl Campaign Continues February 24 With Ben Harper's Complete Virgin Records Catalog
Nine Albums and Two EPs Presented in Deluxe, Limited Edition 180-Gram Vinyl Packaging with Bonus Materials
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 24, EMI Music continues its successful high-quality vinyl campaign with the release of Ben Harper's entire Virgin Records catalog in limited edition, 180-gram vinyl packaging. Nine Ben Harper albums, all previously out-of-print on vinyl, have been restored to the format with Harper's supervision. The LPs will be released in deluxe packaging with carefully replicated artwork, and two live EPs will make their vinyl release debuts. A bonus colored vinyl 7" is included for Welcome To The Cruel World (Anniversary Edition), and an original poster has been reproduced for inclusion with Both Sides Of The Gun.
EMI Music launched its popular "From The Capitol Vaults" series in September 2008 with 13 classic titles, all previously out-of-print on vinyl. Included in the campaign's debut were A Perfect Circle's Mer de Noms, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Coldplay's Parachutes, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, and X&Y, Radiohead's Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A (two 10" 140-gram LPs), Amnesiac (two 10" 140-gram LPs), and Hail To The Thief, R.E.M.'s Document, and Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974-78.
The series continued with John Lennon's Imagine and Rock 'N' Roll, The Band's Music From Big Pink and The Band, The Beach Boys' Endless Summer, Paul McCartney & Wings' Band On The Run, Megadeth's Peace Sells and Rust In Peace, Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime, Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure and Roxy Music, Stray Cats' Built For Speed, The Verve's Urban Hymns, and Jimi Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys on fiery red 180-gram vinyl.
The pivotal superhero graphic novel turned movie boasts an impressive soundtrack release.
According to the Business Wire, the official soundtrack for the Watchmen movie has been announced. Warner Sunset and Reprise Records will release the soundtrack and original score for the movie on separate CDs on March 3, three days before the movie's release date on March 6, 2009.
The soundtrack will feature a new remix and cover of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row," by My Chemical Romance. Also included on the soundtrack will be classic songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Nat King Cole, and Janis Joplin. The original score for the movie was composed by Tyler Bates, who previously collaborated with Watchmen director, Zach Snyder, on such movies as 300 and Dawn of the Dead.
Warner Sunset and Reprise Records will be releasing a physical CD of the album as well as a digital album on March 3. The soundtrack on March 17 will go vinyl for a vinyl edition release. March 24 will see the release of a Watchmen Music Collectors Edition 7" Box Set. The box set will boast seven double-sided seven inch discs of the characters from Watchmen with adjacent images from the original graphic novel on the other side. The set will include the cover of "Desolation Row" and the thirteen music tracks by Tyler Bates.
It's reported that Michael Jackson will help develop his groundbreaking "Thriller" video into a musical theater production.
The theater production is said to recreate the tale of the 14-minute horror film spoof based on the title song. In the video, a young couple are on a date when the boy -- played by Jackson -- becomes a werewolf.
This musical is the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of 'Thriller' and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process," said the Nederland Organization, which has acquired the rights to the musical.
"Thriller The Musical" will also include songs from the 1982 album "Thriller" and its 1979 predecessor, "Off the Wall."
The "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies as well as horror film star Vincent Price, first aired in 1983 and became a staple of MTV. It was directed by filmmaker John Landis, who said it cost around $500,000to make -- more than ten times the cost of the standard music video of the time.
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Radiohead to perform at Grammy Awards
Radiohead are the latest act to be added to the Grammy Awards ceremony bill.
This will be the first time the Oxford band have played at the show, although the quintet have previously won Best Alternative Album award for 2000's Kid A and 1997's OK Computer.
Coldplay, Lil Wayne The Jonas Brothers, Jennifer Hudson and Katy Perry will also be appearing live at the awards ceremony.
Lil Wayne leads the nominations and is up for prizes in eight categories, with Coldplay in seven and Radiohead in five.
The Grammy Awards take place on February 8th in Los Angeles.
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Major Musical Acts Sign On For David Lynch Benefit
Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, 60's folkster Donovan, Paul Horn and Moby have signed on to perform on April 4 at a New York benefit for the David Lynch Foundation.
The event at Radio City Music Hall will further the foundation's goal to teach 1 million children the techniques of Transcendental Meditation, although no ticket information has been revealed.
"In today's world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence -- bliss -- the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us," Lynch writes on the Foundation Web site. "This is the way to save the coming generation."
"I have been 'diving within' through the Transcendental Meditation technique for over 30 years," he continues. "It has changed my life, my world."
Jimmy Buffett Reveals Dates for the "Summerzcool Tour"
Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band are starting to announce dates for this summers trek, now known as the Summerzcool Tour.
The first dates that have been announced for the 2009 tour are on February 24, at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center and on February 28 at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu.
Only three other dates have been officially announced for Charlotte, North Carolina (April 21), Raleigh, North Carolina (April 23) and Detroit, Michigan (August 13), but additional shows are expected to be confirmed soon for Chicago, Camden, Boston, Las Vegas and New York. Tickets for the three mainland U.S. shows go on sale on Saturday.
Billboard is also reporting that a live acoustic CD is expected later in the year with songs that Buffett normally performs as the final encore at his shows.
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Third Time A Charm?
Paul McCartney and girlfriend Nancy Shevell are reportedly planning to marry.
The couple, who have been seen in public together regularly for the past year, are now legally allowed to marry after Shevell's divorce from lawyer Bruce Blakeman was finalized in December.
McCartney's children, including Stella McCartney, are said to have given the couple their blessings, reported the Sunday Mirror.
Shevell will be McCartney's third wife. His first wife, Linda McCartney, died from cancer in 1998 and in 2006 he filed for a divorce from wife number two Heather Mills, after four years of marriage. (it's reported that was awarded about $50 million in the divorce settlement)
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New Anthrax LP
Anthrax will be releasing their first new album in over six years, Worship Music, in June via Megaforce Records. It will also be the studio debut for new singer Dan Nelson.
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Ex-Orbison Home Burned Down
It's reported that a $1.45 million dollar mansion in Hendersonville, Tennessee that was built in 1963 for Roy Orbison and was the home of Tammy Wynette in the early 1980's, burned to the ground on Sunday.
Ironiclly, Roy Orbison had three homes built for him in his lifetime and all of them have burned down, including the first fire which claimed the life of two of his sons.
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Newly Found 1977 Show By Thin Lizzy Coming on March 3
A newly discovered live album from Thin Lizzy will be released as Still Dangerous: Live At The Tower Theater Philadelphia 1977, on March 3 via VH1 Classic Records.
The album comes from the same period as their classic Live and Dangerous, but contains two songs not heard on the previously released album (Soldier of Fortune and Opium Trail). At the time, the band was made up of Phil Lynott (vocals/bass), Scott Gorham (guitar), Brian Robertson (guitar) and Brian Downey (drums). The album is produced by Glyn Johns.
Scott Gorham talked about the tapes. "We pulled all these boxes down, and I didn't even realize how many we had! There were a hell of a lot. One of the engineers was cataloging each reel, and one box came up marked Philadelphia 2. That kinda stuck because I remembered Philadelphia but didn't know what the '2' meant. Then it hit me. What had happened, on that particular leg of the King Biscuit tour, before we actually started the tour proper, we were asked to come out and do the radio show. We were uncomfortable because we wanted to do a few warm-up shows before we went [on the air live] so we struck a deal. We said we'll go in and do this show for you if you only simulcast four songs, and let us come back in a few weeks time and do the whole show. They agreed. This tape is that second show coming back through Philadelphia where we were ready to go out and conquer America."
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Apollo Theater marks 75th year of 'Amateur Night'
Harlem's Apollo Theater is set to begin the celebration of its 75th anniversary of its "Amateur Night" that was a launching pad for some of the biggest stars in entertainment, including Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder and the late James Brown.
The first 75 tickets to Wednesday night's show are going on sale for $7.50, with rapper Ron Browz as the featured performer.
The theater, built in 1914 in the heart of Harlem, was originally called Hurtig and Seamon's New Burlesque Theatre. Blacks were not allowed in the audience then.
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Katharine McPhee Music Due By Year's End
Former "American Idol" star Katharine McPhee has inked a new deal with Verve, according to Billboard.com. This will be her label debut and is due before the end of the year.
McPhee did release a self-titled album for RCA in late 2006, which has sold 375,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Since then she's dabbled in acting, including a role in the 2008 comedy "The House Bunny."
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Concert Tours Announced
Bruce Springsteen Announces “Working on a Dream” Tour
With his new, five-star album Working on a Dream hitting stores right now, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band decided today would be the best time to reveal their upcoming U.S. tour. The trek will kick off on April Fool’s Day in San Jose, California, and work its way east, culminating in a pair of shows at East Rutherford’s Izod Center in Bruce’s home state of New Jersey on May 21st and 23rd. From there, the band jets off to Europe.
April 1 - San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion April 3 - Glendale, CA @ Jobing.com Center April 5 - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center April 7 - Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center April 8 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center April 10 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Arena April 15 - Los Angeles, CA @ LA Memorial Sports Arena April 21 - Boston, MA @ TD Banknorth Garden April 22 - Boston, MA @ TD Banknorth Garden April 24 - Hartford, CT @ XL Center April 26 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena April 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Spectrum April 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Spectrum May 2 - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum May 4 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum May 5 - Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena May 7 - Toronto, ONT @ Air Canada Centre May 8 - University Park, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center May 11 - St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center May 12 - Chicago, IL @ United Center May 14 - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center May 15 - Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium May 18 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center May 19 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mellon Arena May 21 - E. Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center May 23 - E. Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center
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Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie are getting ready for a spring tour and rocker Bruce Springsteen has begun mapping out his "Working on a Dream" dates. Additionally, the Moody Blues will be entertaining West Coast concert goers with “Nights in White Satin.”
March 7 - Miami, FL @ Langerado Festival April 7 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre April 8 - Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall April 9 - Davidson, NC @ John Belk Arena/Davidson College April 10 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace April 11 - Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre April 12 - Tulsa, OK @ The Brady Theater April 13 - Omaha, NE @ Holland Theatre April 15 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkings Auditorium April 17 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom April 18 - East Lansing, MI @ Breslin Events Center April 19 - Waukesha, WI @ Van Male Fieldhouse April 24 - Spokane, WA @ McCarthey Athletic Center April 25 - Boise, ID @ The Morrison Center April 27 - Sacramento, CA - Memorial Auditorium April 29 - San Diego, CA @ RIMAC Arena May 1 - Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall May 2 - New Orleans, LA @ Contemporary Arts Center May 4 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium May 5 - Birmingham, AL @ BJCC Concert Hall May 6 - Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre
The Moody Blues have also set some concert dates:
March 27 - Rancho Mirage, CA @ Agua Caliente Casino March 28 - Prescott, AZ @ Toyota Center Theatre March 30 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theatre March 31 - Bakersfield, CA @ Rabobank Theatre April 1 - Primm, NV @ Star of the Desert Arena April 3 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre April 4 - Reno, NV @ Silver Legacy Casino April 6 - Thousand Oaks, CA @ Civic Arts Plaza Performing Arts Center April 7 - Santa Rosa, CA @ Wells Fargo Bank Center
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 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 moribund 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. 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 lip-sync 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."
As you all know, album cover art is a subject that is dear to my heart. Here is a fantastic example!
LION'S SHARE UNVEIL TRACK LIST AND ALBUM ART FOR "DARK HOURS"
Swedish melodic heavy metallers LION'S SHARE have unveiled the cover art for its upcoming sixth full-length album, "Dark Hours".
LION'S SHARE will release its new album in late March 2009 via Blistering Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Emotional Coma" was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (OPETH, SYMPHONY X, PARADISE LOST, AMON AMARTH) and features guest appearances by SYMPHONY X guitarist Mike Romeo (guest solo on "Behind The Curtain"), and drummers Conny Pettersson (from Earache Records death metal act ANATA) and Richard Evensand (CHIMAIRA, SOILWORK).
The band states: "The new songs are simply awesome and everybody that has heard it thinks it's our best album to date. The red thread lyric-wise on this album is that all songs are about things that happened in the late Sixties; a decade known for many good things. However, we're not describing the happy times of the Sixties: We give you the 'Dark Hours'. Musically, it's more straight-forward and faster than ever. The songs are filled with energy and great hooks."
LION'S SHARE's most recent album, "Emotional Coma", was released in the U.S. January 29th, via Locomotive Music. The CD was issued by AFM Records in Europe and Spiritual Beast in Japan/Asia and features guest solos from ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, and ex-MEGADETH guitarist Glen Drover.
At 62, painter Vu Dan Tan has had a life-long passion for music. While artwork may be how he earns his living, this passion has materialised into one of the city’s most impressive vinyl record collections: with 10 antique record players and nearly 1,000 records.
"I studied how to paint with artist Manh Quynh, starting when I was six," recalls Tan. "I began to learn the piano from my older cousin Le Lien; she taught me when I was 15. At that time, the piano was seen as a girl’s hobby, and boys didn’t typically learn how to play it."
His love of music, however, was sparked at around the same time he started painting. His father gave him his first record player, with two songs in French so he could learn the language.
"Since then, I have really grown to love these old players," recounts Tan. "Anytime I see the needle flying over the record, and sounding out classical sounds and sweet melodies, I feel refreshed."
Even just talking about these antique players and vinyl records seems to excite Tan. He grew increasingly ecstatic, as he recalled the only place that used to sell vinyl records on Trang Tien Street, which is now the foreign book shop.
The players and records came from overseas, brought by people returning from Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, Tan says. A Czech record at the time would cost around VND7, while a cheaper Russian record was VND3.5. That was quite expensive, considering an average monthly salary for a State employee was just VND60.
"When Southern Viet Nam was liberated, many people brought these products to Ha Noi from Sai Gon," he says.
His own personal collection of record players, still in great condition, come from Russia, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan and Viet Nam.
"Each player has its own aesthetic features," he explains. "For example, a Russian one looks as strong as a Minsk motorbike, while a Japanese one looks graceful and a Hong Kong player looks so delicate."
To ensure he can continue to enjoy these players, and that they don’t become something just nice to look at, Tan owns around 100 iron magnetic needles, and he jokes: "I can use them until the end of my lifetime."
The old painter’s collection of vinyl records include records of 33, 45 and 78 revolutions per minute. The collection includes mostly classical music by famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
"Listening to this classical music on vinyl played on old players helps bring listeners back to older days," says a dreamy Tan. "I think that modern CD players just don’t compare, in terms of their sound."
While this artist loves his records, he says that listening to classical music live is definitely the best option. He highly recommends the Opera House, as he describes the chill that runs down his spine listening to live music. Unfortunately, heading to the opera daily is not always an option, so records present a happy alternative.
Much like writing in a diary, Tan keeps track of his collection by carefully signing his name and the date on the records’ paper cover. While his collection is well known and respected, he remains relatively modest about his work.
"It’s nothing compared to young collectors now," says Tan. "They have many better collections with unique players and records. One such collector, painter Quach Dong Phuong, owns an old amplifier made by the Western Electric company in 1956."
Keeping up any collection is more than just finding new treasures and Tan pays special attention to keep his own in top shape.
"Older records made of carbon can be easily broken, while other vinyl records must be protected from dust and from the heat," he says.
Although he spends much of his time preserving them he’s still happy to share the records with others. While the collection is highly valuable, for him sharing the joy of music on vinyl is a priceless joy.
"There are classics that surpass time and can become immortal: classical music, ancient players and vinyl records."
2. 45rpm - Nirvana "Love Buzz" Sub Pop #47 / 1000 - $2,450.00 - Start: $2,450.00 - Bids: 1
3. LP - Led Zeppelin I Atlantic UK First Press Turquoise Lettering - $2,118.70 - Start: $0.99 - Bids: 36
4. 45rpm - Tommy Ridgley "My Love Gets Stronger" / "Fly In My Pie" International City - $1,999.99 - Start: $99.99 Bids: 16
5. LP - The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" Captiol MAS 2653 Mono SEALED - $1,775.00 - Start: $9.95 - Bids: 21
An original Blue Note LP from Jutta Hipp tops the list this week, bidding up a little more than halfway over $4.6k. Next, the "Love Buzz" 7" from Nirvana gets it asking price with one bid exactly at the mid-point past $2.4k. This record is probably the most frequent visitor to the top 5, and as its been pointed out before, has an extremely stable value at between $2k - $2.5k.
In the #3 spot, a UK first press of Led Zeppelin's first LP sells for more than $2.1k. A Northern Soul 45 gets the #4 spot, this one from Tommy Ridgley and it bids to a penny under $2k.
And last, a sealed Sgt Pepper mono pressing sells for well over $1.7k.
Louisa man makes vinyl records, keeps a tradition alive
BY JONAS BEALS
When Vampire Weekend--the hottest indie band in the 2008 blogosphere--played two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club last month, its merchandise table featured 12-inch vinyl LPs of their debut album.
People were buying them, and plenty of those customers were young. Teens. Kids.
It's hard to deny: Music history is repeating itself at 33 rpm.
At Chris Benson's studio in Louisa County, you can watch the real-time birth of a record. Benson is a master engineer, a trade that should have died when CDs came along in 1980. He uses a restored 1966 Neumann VMS-66 record lathe to cut grooves on blank lacquer discs.
"This machine was responsible for two Led Zeppelin albums and a Pink Floyd album," he said, referring to his exact lathe before getting more general. "This is the only way vinyl records are made."
CONCERNING THE CUT
The basic record-making process hasn't changed much since the early 1900s. Essentially, Benson uses an electric version of the technique Thomas Edison invented for his wax cylinders in 1877. Sound vibrates the needle, the needle etches a pattern in the blank record.
Once Benson has a disc cut, it can go one of two ways. The lacquer record can be used as-is on any record player--something disc jockeys refer to as a "dub plate." If the lacquer disc is a "master," it will be sent to a record-pressing company that uses the master to make a metal mold. A mechanical press sandwiches hot vinyl between the sides of the mold, and a slew of mass-produced vinyl records are born.
Years have passed and increased sophistication has brought complexity.
Early commercial recordings were actually cut directly to the disc with the help of a megaphone, then microphones. In the 1950s, recordings were stored on magnetic tape, then played back to cut the record.
Benson's setup is a tangle of wires, meters, buttons and sliders. There are a number of intermediate steps between his computer, where this particular recording is stored, and a finished record, but it all comes to a point where a sapphire-tipped needle, thinner than a human hair, cuts the groove.
"There's no magical science to it, and you don't need anything fancy," he said. "It's really a rudimentary and crude machine."
But making it work properly takes specific mechanical knowledge, strict attention to detail and a lot of patience. A stray hair or a nearly invisible speck of dust can send the needle off track and mar a recording.
Benson might scrap three or four discs before he gets a flawless record.
Benson explained the process as he set a fresh disc on the lathe. He leaned over the stylus and dropped it into the blank record, focused on the "chip"--a minuscule thread of lacquer being removed by the needle.
"I won't ever buy an LP again," he said. "I can cut my own."
REBIRTH OF THE RECORD
Benson's nom de guerre, "The Record Cutter," is informative whether he is spinning electronic dance music or transferring sounds to vinyl. Both are passions of his, but the latter has reached obsessive levels.
Benson sees himself as a technician, an artist and an important link in the thin chain of master engineers. He is trying to keep vinyl alive.
To do so is not a matter of marketing the nearly century-old technology to modern consumers. The demand is already there.
Ask an audiophile about the benefits of vinyl and you will probably get a lot of touchy-feely woo-woo about "warmth," "richness," and "depth." Compare that to the sleek chill of an iPod and records just sound outdated and inconvenient.
But pick up an LP and try to ignore its primal connection to the music. The size, the heft, the storybook record sleeve falling open with unexpected details--all of it in service of the shiny, grooved platter within. Handle it with care, because those minute grooves are music--the actual, physical destruction caused by air molecules in motion.
Vinyl inspires respect in a way digital streams of ones and zeroes never will. The song is literally in your hands. Look close enough and you can see it.
"Vinyl is like paper. People will always use it," Benson said.
He is more concerned with who will make the records, and what tools will be available. Record lathes are no longer manufactured.
"As long as people take care of these machines, vinyl will be around. People need to learn about this."
The overall music industry has shriveled with the advent of the mp3, but vinyl sales have been booming. Big discs still account for only a fraction of sales, but their share of the market is growing. Vinyl's popularity is such that plenty of Top-10 artists will press at least a short run of vinyl for collectors, hard-core fans and DJs. For example, most of Radiohead's albums are available on vinyl.
Jack Morrison owned Blue Dog Records and Tapes on Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg. The store closed nearly four years ago, after an industry-wide slowdown in CD sales. There was a bright spot, however.
"We sold vinyl more and more as CD sales went down," Morrison said. "Kids were buying vinyl, too."
He devoted more space to the big discs.
"People would come in and say, 'Wow, I didn't know they still made these.'"
Morrison was not a vinyl fan at first, but he came around. He kept one of the store's LP racks; it holds his personal vinyl collection now.
"It took a lot of convincing for me," he said. "The highs can sometimes be too tinny, but it really does have the warmer sound people talk about."
He believes he could have kept the store open just selling vinyl if Fredericksburg's student population had been a little bigger.
In some larger cities, specialty stores have been able to make a profit selling music on vinyl, nary a CD on their shelves. As more artists release their albums on vinyl, the medium has gained respect among mainstream consumers.
COMING BACK AROUND
When bands and record labels want to sell vinyl, they turn to the few obsessives who cut records.
"Those multi-million-dollar companies come to people like me," Benson said.
For now, he cuts custom records for DJs and lesser-known punk bands, but at 30, he is a toddler in the world of record-cutting. If vinyl hangs on, artists might need his skills. Regardless, he hopes to inspire the next generation of master engineers.
"Vinyl is never going to die," Benson insisted.
At some point, a master engineer like Benson was hunched over a record lathe, staring at a needle as it etched the grooves of that Vampire Weekend album. Like Benson, that person might have been working in a homemade studio. It had to start somewhere.
With vinyl, it starts and ends with sound. The vibrations in the air, frozen in time. Compared to CDs, vinyl records seem quaint, but they also seem natural--the organic extension of a voice or a guitar.
"All sound on this planet is really one sound," Benson said. "It's like ripples on a pond. It's that simple."
Friends of The Raiders leader, Paul Revere, say that in high school, his name was Revere Dick and he had a brother named Sly.
Little Richard's 1958 Top Ten hit "Good Golly Miss Molly" says that Miss Molly "sure likes to ball..." At the time it was on the charts, Richard was enrolled a bible college.
Producer Terry Melcher called upon song writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to come up with something for Paul Revere And The Raiders. They sent him a song called "Kicks", which they had originally written hoping it would help get a friend of theirs off drugs.
In 1962, Mersyside Newspaper held a contest to see who was the most popular band in Liverpool. The Beatles were the winners, partly because they called in posing as different people, voting for themselves.
In 1972, David Bowie declared that he was a homosexual, only to deny it in the 1980’s. Finally, Bowie admitted what he really was-a ‘trisexual’. He explained: “I’ll try anything once.”
Shock rocker Sid Vicious died in February, 1979 from an overdose of heroin that was bought for him by his mother, who was present when he injected it.
George Martin, who produced The Beatles most successful recordings, first rose to prominence by recording comedy records.
In 1962, when Johnny Carson took over the NBC "Tonight Show" from Jack Parr, he commissioned Paul Anka for a new theme song. Paul suggested a song that he had already written called "Toot Sweet". After a lyric was added in 1959 it was re-named "It's Really Love" and under that title, was recorded by Annette Funicello on her LP, "Annette Sings". Under a deal with Anka, Johnny became the "author" for copyright purposes and got a piece of not only the publishing but the composer's share too. Both Anka and Carson's names were listed as writers and the two began collecting BMI performance royalties. The pair got $200 in royalties every time the show aired...and it ran for 32 years, 52 weeks a year, 5 nights a week -- which works out to $1,664,000.00 -- not bad for an old tune that had been re-cycled twice before.
According to the Amusement & Music Operators Association, Patsy Cline's 1962 hit, "Crazy" is the most played song on jukeboxes across the United States. It is followed by "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger and "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley.
There is a five way tie for the shortest title of a song to make it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The songs are: The Jacksons' "ABC", Edwin Starr's "War", Frankie Avalon's "Why", and Michael Jackson's "Ben" and "Bad".
Roberta Flack recorded "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" as an album cut for her 1969 debut LP "First Take". Three years later, Clint Eastwood remembered hearing the song and included it in his film "Play Misty For Me", causing Atlantic Records to re-edit and rush release the song as a single. Six weeks later, it was the number one song in the US, where it stayed for six weeks.
During a December, 1974 interview, TV talk show host Dick Cavett asked David Bowie what his mother thought of his act. He replied "She pretends I'm not hers."
When he thought that the crowd needed a wake up call, Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes occasionally fired off a shotgun over the heads of the fans.
In the early years the Butthole Surfers enjoyed performing while medical-curiosity films played in the background. These ‘films’ were so gory and graphic (e.g. scenes of sex-change surgery), that some people at the concerts would actually vomit; which was not always a bad thing at a Butthole gathering.
When Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped in December, 1963, his abductors demanded $240,000 ransom. His father offered one million dollars for his safe return, but for some un-explained reason, his captors turned the offer down and settled for the original amount. Three men were later caught and sent to prison.
Walter Murphy's 1976 disco hit, "A Fifth Of Beethoven" was based on Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5 in C Minor", composed in 1807.
After Capitol records had rejected “Love Me Do”, “Please Please Me” and “From Me To You” for American release, label president Alan Livingston sent a memo to their parent company, EMI in Britain that said: “We don’t think The Beatles will do anything in this market.” A year later, in January, 1964, when “I Saw Her Standing There” was issued, it became the fastest selling single in the history of recorded music and Capitol’s pressing plant was forced to run 24 hours a day, trying to fill more than one million orders.
Although it says Diana Ross on her birth certificate, her parents and friends called her Diane until her early 20s
When Dennis Edwards of The Temptations first sang "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", he was upset by the line "It Was The Third Of September / That Day I'll Always Remember / 'Cause That Was The Day My Daddy Died", because Edwards father actually did die on September 3rd.
Robin and Barry Gibb wrote "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" for crooner Andy Williams. When he declined, the Bee Gees recorded the song themselves and scored the first of their nine number one records with it.
Listen carefully to the beginning of The Beatles' song "Come Together", from their Abby Road album. The bass guitar riff nearly obliterates John Lennon saying "Shoot me".
Huey "Piano" Smith (the original "Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu") turns 75.
Jean Knight ("Mr. Big Stuff") (1943)
Paul Pena, a blues musician who wrote Steve Miller's hit "Jet Airliner" and then became a Tuvan throat singer as documented in the film Genghis Blues, was born in Hyannis, Mass in 1950.
Lucinda Williams (1953)
Eddie Van Halen (1957)
Andrew Ridgeley- Wham (1963)
Cinderella -Tom Keifer (1961)
They Are Missed:
The late Marshall Lieb of the Teddy Bears was born in 1939.
In 2007, Tommy Dee, who reached #11 on the Billboard chart in 1959 with "Three Stars,” a song dedicated to Richie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper, died at the age of 70, after a long illness.
History:
Signed to Decca Records in 1956, Buddy Holly headed to Nashville for his first official recording session. Overseen by veteran country producer Owen Bradley, the session yields four tracks, including Holly's debut single ("Blue Days, Black Nights") and a classic cover ("Midnight Shift").
In 1969, in the midst of recording Let It Be at the Apple Studios, the Beatles layed down a series of rock 'n' roll covers, including "Shake Rattle And Roll," "Kansas City," "Miss Ann," "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," "Blue Suede Shoes," "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "Tracks Of My Tears." They also worked on "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road." Ringo spends the day composing "Octopus's Garden" and the Beatles also hatched the idea to perform on the roof of their headquarters.
John Lennon writes and records “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” in 1970.
In 1964, the British Invasion begins in America, as "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles goes to #1.
The American Breed was signed by ACTA Records when the label president sees them perform while stuck in Chicago during a blizzard in 1967.
In 1962, "The Twist" was banned from the Buffalo Roman Catholic Diocese for being "impure.”
Ringo Starr went to #1 on the Billboard singles chart in 1974 with his version of Johnny Burnette's 1960 #8 hit "Your Sixteen.” The track featured Paul McCartney on kazoo and Harry Nilsson on background vocals.
In 1970, Australia's first rock festival, the Ourimbah Rock Festival was attended by 11,000 people over the weekend.
In 1999, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that John Denver died in a 1997 airplane crash because he took off with too little fuel in one tank, had trouble switching to his backup tank and inadvertently put his plane into a roll while his attention was diverted.
The Four Seasons' "Walk Like A Man" was released in 1963. Five weeks later, it will be Billboard's #1 single.
A trio called The Rooftop Singers took "Walk Right In" to the top of the Billboard chart in 1963. The song had been written in 1930 by Gus Cannon, who had been living in poverty until he started earning royalties from the hit record.
In 1980, three years after signing with Warner Brothers Records, 21 year-old Prince made his US television debut on American Bandstand where he performed his R&B chart topping hit, "I Wanna Be Your Lover.”
The first of a two-part Jimi Hendrix exhibition premiered at Seattle's Experience Music Project in 2008. The first phase of the exhibit, Message To Love, features two iconic Hendrix guitars housed in a gallery with blank walls on which visitors are encouraged to write their thoughts about the guitar great. Part two, Jimi Hendrix: An Evolution of Sound, offers an interactive look at the guitarist's influence on popular music.
Peter Green, one of Fleetwood Mac's founding guitarists, was committed to an English mental institution in 1977. Cause? He fired a pistol at a messenger who was trying to deliver a check for his portion of song royalties
