Birthdays:
Frank Allen - Searchers (1943)
Jackie McCauley - Them (1946)
Joyce Vincent-Wilson - Tony Orlando and Dawn (1946)
Cliff Williams - AC/DC (1949)
Mike Scott - Waterboys (1958)
Peter "Spider" Stacy - Pogues (1958)
Tim Skold - Marilyn Manson (1966)
They Are Missed:
American blues and jazz singer Dinah Washington died from of an overdose of brandy and diet pills in 1963 (age 39). Known as the ‘Queen of the Blues’ she scored the 1959 #8 Grammy Award wining single "What A Diff'rence A Day Makes" and the 1961 hit "September In The Rain." From the late '40s and into the '60s, she sang a wide variety of music, from blues to country to pop, in a rich elegant voice.
The late Spike Jones ("All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth") was born in 1911 (died May 1, 1965).
Born today in 1938, Gary Usher, producer, songwriter. Worked with The Byrds, co-wrote The Beach Boys "In My Room." Died on 25th May 1990.
The late Charlie Rich ("Behind Closed Doors") was born in 1932. He died July 25, 1995.
In 2006, Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records, died at age 83 after injuries sustained in a fall while attending the Rolling Stones show six weeks earlier at New York's Beacon Theatre. Atlantic Records and subsidiary label, ATCO, were instrumental in ushering in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Their artists included Cream, Led Zeppelin and the Iron Butterfly.
History:
The Kingston Trio started an eight-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1959 with 'Here We Go Again!'
Billboard reported in 1959, in the wake of the government's payola investigations, the pay-for-play phenomenon has all but ceased in Philadelphia, to name a major U.S. city. "You can't even buy the disc jockeys lunch," complained one disgruntled Philadelphia record distributor.
Bob Dylan released his first single "Mixed Up Confusion/Corrina Corrina" in 1962. However, his record label quickly withdraws the single.
"Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen peaked on the charts at #6 in 1963.
In the United Kingdom in 1963, The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" goes to #1, where it stayed for five weeks. In so doing, it knocked off the Beatles' previous single "She Loves You." It's the first time in Britain that a band has replaced itself at #1.
Chad & Jeremy (Catwoman steals their voices) and Don Ho guest on ABC-TV's "Batman" in 1966.
The Elvis Presley film "Spinout" premiered in 1966.
In 1967, Dick Clark announced that he was making a film about hippies, "The Love Children," which starred Jack Nicholson, Dean Stockwell and Susan Strasberg and featured the music of Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Seeds.
With the title track clocking in at 17:05, the Iron Butterfly’s epic “In-A-Gadda-Da Vida” went gold in 1968. The album sells three million copies as it stays on the album chart for nearly three years.
Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson & Clover" was released in 1968.
Marvin Gaye scored his first #1 single in 1968 when "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" started a five-week run at the top. It was Marvin's 15th solo hit.
In 1969, the Jackson Five made their first network television appearance in the US when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Also in 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono continued to protest the innocence of James Hanratty, one of the last people executed in Britain for murder, with their wacky antics. The couple turned up at London's Hyde Park covered with a giant white bag to hear Hanratty's father address a crowd. Hanratty and the Lennons later present a petition at No. 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lived.
The MC5's manager John Sinclair was released from prison in 1971 after Michigan relaxes its drug penalties. Sinclair had been sentenced to ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints.
In 1972, Alexander's department store in New York stays open especially late so shock rocker Alice Cooper, wearing silver pants and a "Paul Lives" button, can do his Christmas shopping.
The documentary film about T. Rex, "Born To Boogie" (directed by Ringo Starr and featuring Elton John) premiered in London in 1972.
Styx' "Lady" was released in 1974.
"Saturday Night Fever" premiered in New York City in 1977. The flick was instrumental in spreading the disco craze throughout the country. The soundtrack was full of recent and soon-to-be dance hits by the Bee Gees, the Trammps, Kool & the Gang, MFSB, K.C. & the Sunshine Band and Yvonne Elliman. It would go on to be one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
In 1980, at Yoko Ono's request, at 2 p.m. EST, John Lennon fans around the world mourn him with ten minutes of silent prayer. In New York over 100,000 people converge in Central Park in tribute and in Liverpool, a crowd of 30,000 gatherers outside of St. George's Hall on Lime Street.
Elton John recorded a live version of "Candle in the Wind" in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1986. The song was released as a single and hits #6 on the chart.
"Walk Like An Egyptian" (The Bangles) was a hit in 1986.
Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" debuts at #1 on Billboard's pop albums chart in 1991.
Classified documents from the White House were released in 1995 and revealed that the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities during the early '70s in a possible attempt to have Lennon deported.
Little Richard, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are among those who performed at a tribute to Frank Sinatra on "Sinatra: 80 Years My Way" on ABC-TV in 1995.
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US album chart in 1997 with ‘Sevens’ his fourth US #1 album.
Paul McCartney played a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1999. It was the first time that McCartney had played at the club since 1963. The show was filmed for TV and also went out live on the Internet.
Alicia Keys was at #1 on the US album chart in 2003 with "The Diary Of Alicia Keys," the singer's second US #1.
The funeral took place in Arlington, Texas in 2004 for Damageplan and Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Eddie Van Halen placed Darrell’s original black and yellow stripes guitar into the Kiss Kasket he was buried in. Several thousand fans and friends gathered at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, to mourn the guitarist’s death. Darrell was shot five times in the back of the head during a gig at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus on 8th Dec 04 by a mentally ill former US Marine. Damageplan's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were both injured in the incident.
A lawsuit was filed in L.A. Superior Court in 2004 claiming that a soccer ball kicked from the stage during an August 31st Rod Stewart concert at the Hollywood Bowl caused a concertgoer "personal injuries, physical disability and physical and emotional distress, pain and suffering. Wow, here's an idea - duck next time - or pay attention. Stewart, a one-time aspiring soccer player, ceased kicking soccer balls into the audience when similar suits mounted in the ‘80s.
In 2007, Billboard magazine says the Police's reunion tour, which earned more than $210 million, is the highest-grossing tour of ‘07. Another reunion trek, this one by Genesis, netted approximately $129 million to land at #2 on the list. Billboard also names Daughtry's self-titled debut the top-selling album of the year.
In ’04, The Clash issued a 25th Anniversary Edition of their classic album “London Calling. Now, in 2009, they release "London Calling: 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition." This time around there’s a DVD featuring Don Letts' documentary on the making of the album.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Music News & Notes
Jimi Hendrix live 1967/1968 albums to be released CD and vinyl package set for release next month
Previuosly unreleased recordings of Jimi Hendrix gigs from way back in 1967-1968 and performed in Paris and Ottowa are set to be released as part of a limited edition CD and vinyl package on January 25. Recordings of his show in the Paris L'Olympia Theatre from January 29, 1968 and his gig at the Ottawa show at the Capitol Theater from March 19 of that year will feature on the CD in the package.
A recording of his show at the L'Olympia on October 9, 1967 will also feature. It was recorded for French radio and has not been released previously. Also included in the set will be a poster and postcard set, badges, an iPod skin, guitar picks and a T-shirt.
==========================
THE WHITE STRIPES ANNOUNCE DELUXE DVD BOX-SET
The White Stripes are to release a deluxe box set edition of their 'The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights' DVD.
The package, which is available to buy from Whitestripes.com, features two DVD's, a live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl, a silk screen print and a 208-page photo book with foreword by Jim Jarmusch.
Initially, the package will cost $179 (£110), though the price will rise to $229 (£140) in 2010.
'The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights' box-set features the following:
A DVD of 'Under Great White Northern Lights'
A DVD of The White Stripes 10th anniversary show
A 16-track live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl
A live 7-inch vinyl (featuring 'Icky Thump' and 'The Wheels on the Bus')
A 208-page photo book by Autumn de Wilde (foreword by Jim Jarmusch)
A silk screen print by Rob Jones
==========================
KISS: Limited-Edition Art Prints Of 'Sonic Boom', 'Rock And Roll Over' Artwork Available
Michael Doret, designer of the KISS "Sonic Boom" and "Rock And Roll Over" album covers, is offering signed limited edition art prints of both pieces via the official KISS online store. He writes on his web site, "These two signed (signed by me and the members of the group), limited-edition, large scale fine art prints (not lithos) are now finally available! These prints made from my original artwork of 'Sonic Boom' and 'Rock and Roll Over' are the best incarnations you will ever see of my art for these two iconic KISS releases.
"I have digitally redone my orignal art for 'Rock and Roll Over' (after 30-plus years the original original art is long gone), and so now it's cleaner and crisper than ever before. The art for 'Sonic Boom' was digitally created to begin with and so enlarges to the 20" size perfectly.
"The print images are 20" square printed on 25" square 'Museo Textured Rag' digital Watercolor paper. These are archival prints and will show no visible signs of fading for 100-plus years under reasonable lighting situations.
"Printed by Art Works Fine Art Publishing in Los Angeles, these editions are limited to 250 prints each, and each print will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by me.
"As the creator of these two pieces I am very critical of print quality, but suffice it to say that when I saw the final proofs of these two pieces, I was blown away by the color intensity and the quality.
=======================
VENOM: Early Albums To Be Re-Released On Deluxe Gatefold Colored Vinyl
Back On Black, which specializes in vinyl editions of classic metal albums and is dedicated to providing top-quality releases for record collectors and metal fans worldwide, will re-release the first three classic albums from the original black metal band VENOM — 1981's "Welcome To Hell", 1982's "Black Metal" and 1984's "At War With Satan". Due in January 2010, all three LPs were remastered and will be repackaged on 180gsm deluxe gatefold colored vinyl.
The special-edition version of VENOM's "Black Metal" album came out in September. According to the band, the new set contains bonus tracks and a DVD of the "7th Date of Hell" video of VENOM performing live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England in 1984.
On October 22, 2008, a two-album Japan-only cardboard sleeve reissue series from VENOM was made available via Universal Music featuring the following LPs:
* "Welcome To Hell" (1981)
* "Black Metal" (1982)
Each cardboard sleeve reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD players)
Previuosly unreleased recordings of Jimi Hendrix gigs from way back in 1967-1968 and performed in Paris and Ottowa are set to be released as part of a limited edition CD and vinyl package on January 25. Recordings of his show in the Paris L'Olympia Theatre from January 29, 1968 and his gig at the Ottawa show at the Capitol Theater from March 19 of that year will feature on the CD in the package.
A recording of his show at the L'Olympia on October 9, 1967 will also feature. It was recorded for French radio and has not been released previously. Also included in the set will be a poster and postcard set, badges, an iPod skin, guitar picks and a T-shirt.
==========================
THE WHITE STRIPES ANNOUNCE DELUXE DVD BOX-SET
The White Stripes are to release a deluxe box set edition of their 'The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights' DVD.
The package, which is available to buy from Whitestripes.com, features two DVD's, a live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl, a silk screen print and a 208-page photo book with foreword by Jim Jarmusch.
Initially, the package will cost $179 (£110), though the price will rise to $229 (£140) in 2010.
'The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights' box-set features the following:
A DVD of 'Under Great White Northern Lights'
A DVD of The White Stripes 10th anniversary show
A 16-track live album on CD and 180 gram vinyl
A live 7-inch vinyl (featuring 'Icky Thump' and 'The Wheels on the Bus')
A 208-page photo book by Autumn de Wilde (foreword by Jim Jarmusch)
A silk screen print by Rob Jones
==========================
KISS: Limited-Edition Art Prints Of 'Sonic Boom', 'Rock And Roll Over' Artwork Available
Michael Doret, designer of the KISS "Sonic Boom" and "Rock And Roll Over" album covers, is offering signed limited edition art prints of both pieces via the official KISS online store. He writes on his web site, "These two signed (signed by me and the members of the group), limited-edition, large scale fine art prints (not lithos) are now finally available! These prints made from my original artwork of 'Sonic Boom' and 'Rock and Roll Over' are the best incarnations you will ever see of my art for these two iconic KISS releases.
"I have digitally redone my orignal art for 'Rock and Roll Over' (after 30-plus years the original original art is long gone), and so now it's cleaner and crisper than ever before. The art for 'Sonic Boom' was digitally created to begin with and so enlarges to the 20" size perfectly.
"The print images are 20" square printed on 25" square 'Museo Textured Rag' digital Watercolor paper. These are archival prints and will show no visible signs of fading for 100-plus years under reasonable lighting situations.
"Printed by Art Works Fine Art Publishing in Los Angeles, these editions are limited to 250 prints each, and each print will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by me.
"As the creator of these two pieces I am very critical of print quality, but suffice it to say that when I saw the final proofs of these two pieces, I was blown away by the color intensity and the quality.
=======================
VENOM: Early Albums To Be Re-Released On Deluxe Gatefold Colored Vinyl
Back On Black, which specializes in vinyl editions of classic metal albums and is dedicated to providing top-quality releases for record collectors and metal fans worldwide, will re-release the first three classic albums from the original black metal band VENOM — 1981's "Welcome To Hell", 1982's "Black Metal" and 1984's "At War With Satan". Due in January 2010, all three LPs were remastered and will be repackaged on 180gsm deluxe gatefold colored vinyl.
The special-edition version of VENOM's "Black Metal" album came out in September. According to the band, the new set contains bonus tracks and a DVD of the "7th Date of Hell" video of VENOM performing live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England in 1984.
On October 22, 2008, a two-album Japan-only cardboard sleeve reissue series from VENOM was made available via Universal Music featuring the following LPs:
* "Welcome To Hell" (1981)
* "Black Metal" (1982)
Each cardboard sleeve reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD players)
Vinyl Record Sales Hot!
Here's whats going on in New Zealand, vinyl fever is breaking out all over the world!
MUSIC LOVERS OPT FOR VINYL SOLUTION
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Vinyl records are back in favour among music lovers.
As music lovers approach a new decade in this still-young century, a recording technology once considered old and obsolete - vinyl - has been making a strong comeback.
Vinyl albums, which began to be replaced by CDs in the mid-1980s, have rebounded in recent years as enthusiasts young and old turned sentimental for the old pops, cracks and warm sounds emitting from grooves on a record.
And as sales have rebounded, music makers ranging from big acts like Jack White and the Flaming Lips to local bands in major cities have been cranking out vinyl and treating fans with added material like old-style liner notes or posters.
If bands can keep costs low, they may even be able to make extra money in the financially-strapped music business where cheap digital downloads are replacing once-lucrative CD sales.
"It's hard to say how long it'll last, but even if you're 16-years-old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere," said Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. ''So there's probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music."
While vinyl records never truly became extinct from record store shelves, the current resurgence seems to have picked up pace starting around 2007. Last year, 1.9 million vinyl records sold, roughly double 2007. Industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan projects that 2.8 million units will be purchased in 2009.
A wide range of bands, from Radiohead and the Beatles to Bob Dylan and Metallica, have been shipping albums on vinyl. Radiohead, for instance, sold 61,000 vinyl records in 2008.
Turntable sales are increasing, too, suggesting vinyl is reaching new customers and not just collectors and purists.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Vinyl's renaissance springs from both musicians and fans longing for something more tangible than just listening to music on a digital file, said Paul Simcoe, co-owner of Toronto's Criminal Records.
"I'll support an artist to the end of time." he said. ''But I still have a huge problem buying something I can't see."
The Flaming Lips' Coyne said vinyl appeals to fans' senses in ways digital downloads can't by providing colorful notes, posters or other visual items that downloads just don't have. In fact, his band has even packaged DVDs with vinyl albums.
Trevor Larocque, co-founder of Toronto's Paper Bag Records, said vinyl gives artists the chance to offer fans distinct products. His label's records are made in limited amounts of 200 or 300, and the record sleeves are silk-screened with exclusive artwork.
Another technique to lure online listeners is offering memberships in fan clubs that include shipments of unreleased, vinyl recordings, which is what Nashville-based Third Man Records, founded by the White Stripes' Jack White, is doing.
"That, for us, is a really strong way of reaching out to a digital generation," said label executive Ben Swank.
In the case of Toronto-based band the Diableros, they released a new EP, "Old Story, Fresh Road," digitally and on vinyl, forgoing CDs which they felt were unnecessary.
Ad Feedback But releasing an album on vinyl presents musicians with challenges that don't exist for CDs or digital files, said David Read of Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing outfit on Vancouver Island, Canada.
COSTS V BENEFITS
Listeners can download files and/or copy digital songs onto CDs and DVDs from their home computer but vinyl presses aren't easy to find - there are only a handful in North America. And to produce a vinyl album, first the lacquer on which to press each vinyl album must be made. Then, a test pressing needs to be done and sound problems must be fixed before mass quantities are produced.
Also, many bands want to release just a few hundred copies on vinyl, yet custom vinyl jackets must be ordered in minimum quantities of 500. To get around that problem, Paper Bag Records ships its albums in, aptly so, paper - recycled cardboard jackets that are customized for each band.
Diableros drummer Mike Duffield said his band borrowed money to finance their vinyl EP, but it was worth it.
"When you've worked a year and a half on something and you want to see it done, you take risks," he explained. "I think you have to invest in yourself and your product."
Vinyl records also cost fans more than CDs, said Criminal Record's Simcoe.
In the US CDs generally range from US$10 (NZ$13.60) to US$14 (NZ$19), but a vinyl record is usually at least US$15 (NZ$20.40) . A price of $20 is more normal and a double-disc, for instance, can cost upward of $35.
Some major and independent labels have increased vinyl prices to account for higher costs and increased demand, but Simcoe worries that tactic may end the positive sales trend. "These guys are in danger of killing this industry," he said.
But for some artists, vinyl's downsides are worth working around. Third Man Records, for instance, sidesteps higher costs and inconvenience by doing all their work in Nashville. The music is recorded in a studio behind their storefront and records are pressed at a facility just down the road.
"We can have it on the shelves in about a month, which is about as long as it takes to get it on iTunes these days," Swank said. "What we're trying to do is make vinyl as immediate as a digital track can be."
SOURCE: http://www.stuff.co.nz
MUSIC LOVERS OPT FOR VINYL SOLUTION
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Vinyl records are back in favour among music lovers.
As music lovers approach a new decade in this still-young century, a recording technology once considered old and obsolete - vinyl - has been making a strong comeback.
Vinyl albums, which began to be replaced by CDs in the mid-1980s, have rebounded in recent years as enthusiasts young and old turned sentimental for the old pops, cracks and warm sounds emitting from grooves on a record.
And as sales have rebounded, music makers ranging from big acts like Jack White and the Flaming Lips to local bands in major cities have been cranking out vinyl and treating fans with added material like old-style liner notes or posters.
If bands can keep costs low, they may even be able to make extra money in the financially-strapped music business where cheap digital downloads are replacing once-lucrative CD sales.
"It's hard to say how long it'll last, but even if you're 16-years-old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere," said Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. ''So there's probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music."
While vinyl records never truly became extinct from record store shelves, the current resurgence seems to have picked up pace starting around 2007. Last year, 1.9 million vinyl records sold, roughly double 2007. Industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan projects that 2.8 million units will be purchased in 2009.
A wide range of bands, from Radiohead and the Beatles to Bob Dylan and Metallica, have been shipping albums on vinyl. Radiohead, for instance, sold 61,000 vinyl records in 2008.
Turntable sales are increasing, too, suggesting vinyl is reaching new customers and not just collectors and purists.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Vinyl's renaissance springs from both musicians and fans longing for something more tangible than just listening to music on a digital file, said Paul Simcoe, co-owner of Toronto's Criminal Records.
"I'll support an artist to the end of time." he said. ''But I still have a huge problem buying something I can't see."
The Flaming Lips' Coyne said vinyl appeals to fans' senses in ways digital downloads can't by providing colorful notes, posters or other visual items that downloads just don't have. In fact, his band has even packaged DVDs with vinyl albums.
Trevor Larocque, co-founder of Toronto's Paper Bag Records, said vinyl gives artists the chance to offer fans distinct products. His label's records are made in limited amounts of 200 or 300, and the record sleeves are silk-screened with exclusive artwork.
Another technique to lure online listeners is offering memberships in fan clubs that include shipments of unreleased, vinyl recordings, which is what Nashville-based Third Man Records, founded by the White Stripes' Jack White, is doing.
"That, for us, is a really strong way of reaching out to a digital generation," said label executive Ben Swank.
In the case of Toronto-based band the Diableros, they released a new EP, "Old Story, Fresh Road," digitally and on vinyl, forgoing CDs which they felt were unnecessary.
Ad Feedback But releasing an album on vinyl presents musicians with challenges that don't exist for CDs or digital files, said David Read of Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing outfit on Vancouver Island, Canada.
COSTS V BENEFITS
Listeners can download files and/or copy digital songs onto CDs and DVDs from their home computer but vinyl presses aren't easy to find - there are only a handful in North America. And to produce a vinyl album, first the lacquer on which to press each vinyl album must be made. Then, a test pressing needs to be done and sound problems must be fixed before mass quantities are produced.
Also, many bands want to release just a few hundred copies on vinyl, yet custom vinyl jackets must be ordered in minimum quantities of 500. To get around that problem, Paper Bag Records ships its albums in, aptly so, paper - recycled cardboard jackets that are customized for each band.
Diableros drummer Mike Duffield said his band borrowed money to finance their vinyl EP, but it was worth it.
"When you've worked a year and a half on something and you want to see it done, you take risks," he explained. "I think you have to invest in yourself and your product."
Vinyl records also cost fans more than CDs, said Criminal Record's Simcoe.
In the US CDs generally range from US$10 (NZ$13.60) to US$14 (NZ$19), but a vinyl record is usually at least US$15 (NZ$20.40) . A price of $20 is more normal and a double-disc, for instance, can cost upward of $35.
Some major and independent labels have increased vinyl prices to account for higher costs and increased demand, but Simcoe worries that tactic may end the positive sales trend. "These guys are in danger of killing this industry," he said.
But for some artists, vinyl's downsides are worth working around. Third Man Records, for instance, sidesteps higher costs and inconvenience by doing all their work in Nashville. The music is recorded in a studio behind their storefront and records are pressed at a facility just down the road.
"We can have it on the shelves in about a month, which is about as long as it takes to get it on iTunes these days," Swank said. "What we're trying to do is make vinyl as immediate as a digital track can be."
SOURCE: http://www.stuff.co.nz
Sunday, December 13, 2009
North Jersey Record Store Thriving
Vinyl still spinning at Garfield record shop
BY CAROL FLETCHER
The Record
STAFF WRITER
Looking for that hard-to-find song made before a performer became big? Chances are it's among the hundreds of thousands of vinyl records swelling the shelves, stacks and boxes in Charlie Rigolosi's Garfield store.
The 83-year-old music collector has run Platter World since 1975, selling used records that are usually out of print, such as an original, 7-inch acetate recording from the 1960s of Jimi Hendrix's guitar work on "As the Clouds Drift By," a song performed by film star Jayne Mansfield at a Manhattan recording studio.
"There's always someone looking for a special song, and chances are I got it for them," said Rigolosi. "And that makes me happy."
Platter World evolved from Rigolosi's lifelong hobby of collecting records. It began as a mail-order business and claimed a permanent spot in an indoor flea market in Union Township after he retired from his job as chef at a local restaurant. He opened the store around 1984.
Vinyl "platters" hang on the walls and from the ceiling as mobiles. A clothesline swings down the middle of the store holding hard-to-find used records, such as "Victory at Sea in Jazz" by the Aaron Bell Orchestra for $18.
In the digital age of CDs and downloading music, business has slowed substantially, said Rigolosi, but he finds new ways to serve customers. He says vinyl is gaining favor among the least likely: people in their 20s.
Young adults come to the store searching for the vinyl version of classic rock or other music they're downloading, songs such as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'' by Iron Butterfly, because vinyl is a novelty to them, he said.
"That helps me a lot," Rigolosi said. "You've got to go with it. You can't fight it."
He talked about the two boys who bought two Michael Jackson albums and one by The Doors, and the 15-year-old record collector from South Jersey who spent more than $200 on doo-wop music and big-band albums.
Rigolosi has found new customers among seniors who find they need CDs when they buy new cars. They ask him to make CDs of music they want or already have, because Rigolosi can record from vinyl, cassettes or reel-to-reel tape.
Disc jockeys have also become loyal fans and buy the larger 78 rpm records because the grooves hold a greater range of high and low notes than digital media, Rigolosi said.
Finally, he's seeing parents with teenage children who are buying the classic rock they grew up with and the kids are picking up on their interest, he said.
With his vast collection, Rigolosi can cater to unusual customers, such as the artist who's been commissioned to cover the interior of a home in Manhattan like the Sistine Chapel with specific album covers and bought about $150 worth of vinyl.
A key to his survival is a collection that includes classical, big-band, jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, comedy, country, movie soundtracks, spoken word, international music and rock. Rock is the most popular, he said. His oldest record? A 1904 track of Enrico Caruso, considered a pioneer of vocal recordings.
Michael Jackson, however, has been the most popular recently, and his solo albums and those when he was with the Jackson 5 line the wall behind the counter.
Rigolosi had an opportunity to sell his business three years ago, but at the last minute the potential buyers drastically reduced the price they said they would pay, Rigolosi said.
"I got so mad it rejuvenated me," he said. "I'm so glad I didn't sell. It keeps me young."
SOURCE: http://www.northjersey.com/
BY CAROL FLETCHER
The Record
STAFF WRITER
Looking for that hard-to-find song made before a performer became big? Chances are it's among the hundreds of thousands of vinyl records swelling the shelves, stacks and boxes in Charlie Rigolosi's Garfield store.
The 83-year-old music collector has run Platter World since 1975, selling used records that are usually out of print, such as an original, 7-inch acetate recording from the 1960s of Jimi Hendrix's guitar work on "As the Clouds Drift By," a song performed by film star Jayne Mansfield at a Manhattan recording studio.
"There's always someone looking for a special song, and chances are I got it for them," said Rigolosi. "And that makes me happy."
Platter World evolved from Rigolosi's lifelong hobby of collecting records. It began as a mail-order business and claimed a permanent spot in an indoor flea market in Union Township after he retired from his job as chef at a local restaurant. He opened the store around 1984.
Vinyl "platters" hang on the walls and from the ceiling as mobiles. A clothesline swings down the middle of the store holding hard-to-find used records, such as "Victory at Sea in Jazz" by the Aaron Bell Orchestra for $18.
In the digital age of CDs and downloading music, business has slowed substantially, said Rigolosi, but he finds new ways to serve customers. He says vinyl is gaining favor among the least likely: people in their 20s.
Young adults come to the store searching for the vinyl version of classic rock or other music they're downloading, songs such as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'' by Iron Butterfly, because vinyl is a novelty to them, he said.
"That helps me a lot," Rigolosi said. "You've got to go with it. You can't fight it."
He talked about the two boys who bought two Michael Jackson albums and one by The Doors, and the 15-year-old record collector from South Jersey who spent more than $200 on doo-wop music and big-band albums.
Rigolosi has found new customers among seniors who find they need CDs when they buy new cars. They ask him to make CDs of music they want or already have, because Rigolosi can record from vinyl, cassettes or reel-to-reel tape.
Disc jockeys have also become loyal fans and buy the larger 78 rpm records because the grooves hold a greater range of high and low notes than digital media, Rigolosi said.
Finally, he's seeing parents with teenage children who are buying the classic rock they grew up with and the kids are picking up on their interest, he said.
With his vast collection, Rigolosi can cater to unusual customers, such as the artist who's been commissioned to cover the interior of a home in Manhattan like the Sistine Chapel with specific album covers and bought about $150 worth of vinyl.
A key to his survival is a collection that includes classical, big-band, jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, comedy, country, movie soundtracks, spoken word, international music and rock. Rock is the most popular, he said. His oldest record? A 1904 track of Enrico Caruso, considered a pioneer of vocal recordings.
Michael Jackson, however, has been the most popular recently, and his solo albums and those when he was with the Jackson 5 line the wall behind the counter.
Rigolosi had an opportunity to sell his business three years ago, but at the last minute the potential buyers drastically reduced the price they said they would pay, Rigolosi said.
"I got so mad it rejuvenated me," he said. "I'm so glad I didn't sell. It keeps me young."
SOURCE: http://www.northjersey.com/
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Diva of the discs
By Stephen McClarence
Violet May's moods were so unpredictable, and her manner sometimes so aggressive, that a couple of her customers nicknamed her "Violent May". Good to know it wasn't just me she put the fear of God into.
Violet May Barkworth, to give her the full name that hardly anyone knew, ran record shops in Sheffield from the Fifties to the Seventies and had a loyal band of "regulars" including an intriguing man known as Operatic Horace. Her shops stocked collectably out-of-the-way, specialist stuff and became so famous that Fleetwood Mac once made a personal appearance and jazzmen Chris Barber and Jimmy Rushing called in.
But back to the fear of God. Violet May could be utterly charming, but she could also be utterly abrupt. A new book about her – yes, a book about a woman who sold records rather than made them – recalls that she would sometimes tell browsers to "get out if you're not going to buy anything".
The book features memories from Joe Cocker and Dave Berry, and an introduction by Richard Hawley. "Without her I'm sure that I wouldn't be making music today," he writes. "I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but my father did and some of the music he bought in her shop still informs many of my ideas to this day. She widened the sonic palette of thousands of people from Sheffield and other places in Britain."
Musician John Firminger and DJ Gus Chapman, the book's authors, offer a warts-and-all celebration of "Sheffield's Vinyl Goddess", as they call her. It concentrates on pop, jazz and blues, the singles, EPs and LPs that brought in most customers. But it was a different sort of music, and a more fragile sort of record, that drew me as a schoolboy to her shop near the city's long-gone open market.
I was interested in classical music and 78s, those brittle shellac HMVs and Columbias whose four-minute playing time could stretch Mozart operas to 40 sides (you got a lot of exercise changing sides). I'd already bought a few from a market-trader – the father of a man who subsequently became my MP – but Violet May's stock was on a different scale.
Her shop was tiny, but crammed with vinyl. On the ground floor, there was pop, rock, R&B, country and Russ Conway. The records filled every corner, every square inch of floor space. They marched up the steep staircase, along the narrow landing, and into an upstairs room which was a sort of upper sanctum.
Here were tens of thousands of classical LPs and second-hand 78s – second-hand, because they'd been phased out nearly 20 years before. An attic of shellac stacked high and heavy. At any moment, you feared, the floor might give way and the whole lot would plummet through the ceiling onto the counter below and Violet May herself. What an end it would have been for a woman who devoted her working life to records – crushed by half-a-ton of Beethoven symphonies and Rachmaninov concertos.
She was, as the book acknowledges, formidable, not to say intimidating: a canny businesswoman who had taught herself about every sort of music she might ever be able to sell. As a "groovy granny" (as someone called her), she could discuss anything from early Bix Beiderbecke, through middle-period Big Bill Broonzy, to late Beecham and Barbirolli.
She knew what every single one of her records was worth and how to get a few more bob for it. With her glasses perched on the end of her nose, she would study the record you wanted to buy, study you, study the record again, say "Very collectable, this" and charge you twice what you were hoping to pay. Even so, her prices were a fraction of London dealers'.
It was in one of her shops that I met Operatic Horace. He was a dapper, genial, elderly man with curly hair and, as far as I could judge, he'd had a fairly unremarkable life doing an uninteresting job. I never found out because he didn't talk about his life; like many people in the obsessive world of collecting, he talked about his collection.
He knew everything there was to know about operatic records – not just the Giglis and the Carusos, the backbones of an average collection. No, he could quote the entire output of any Italian singer you chose to name, reeling off the arias like a waiter running through a pizza menu.
He often coincided with another elderly man – small, flat cap, broad Sheffield, an unlikely connoisseur on the face of it. They'd stand there doing a sort of double act. "Does tha know," the second man would say, "when tha's listening to them records by Boninsegna, tha's listening to real coloratura?"
It was the first time I ever heard anyone talk about what sounded like
"a pink patty". I took it to be a sort of pie and it was many years before I learned it meant a pink-label pressing of a record by the great soprano Adelina Patti.
Violet May died in 1995, and her half-dozen shops are long-gone. Some have been demolished. A wistful, rather surreal, section of the book features photographs of where they would once have been ("under the fly-over just past the small electric sub-station in the middle of Park Square roundabout").
There's a lot of legwork in here, a lot of research, a lot of memories and a lot of nostalgia for anyone who ever played The Honeycombs' Have I the Right on a Dansette Conquest Auto record player
("a truly luxurious set... Life is sweeter with a Dansette").
Peter Stringfellow flits through the pages, with their chic retro design, and there's a classic throwaway line from an ex-pat customer remembering the last time he saw Violet May: "I was on my way back to Japan and dropped in to buy a load of Biblical film soundtracks for a pal in Malaysia."
The highlight, though, is the transcript of an interview from the Sheffield University Jazz Club magazine in 1967. Violet talks about the benefits of blues and soul records "searching for an expression of our inner selves through the turmoil of wars, strikes and any evil which exists, and always will, human nature being what it is".
As the profundity of all this settles in, the interviewer asks: "You see your shop as a bastion against evil?"
Richard Hawley puts it in perspective: "In this age of instant access to virtually any recordings at the touch of a button, it is hard to imagine a time when you could spend months, often years, tracking down a rare record by an obscure artist... Violet May was a light in the darkness for the avid record collector and the developing musician. My father found records by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, The Dell Vikings and many, many more which at the time were virtually impossible to find over here, and the effect they had on a young inquiring mind was like a cerebral atom bomb."
Certainly anyone who has ever cherished a copy of My Baby Left Me by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup should read this book.
Shades of Violet by John Firminger and Gus M Chapman is published by youbooks.co.uk (0114 275 7222; www.youbooks.co.uk), £9.99.
SOURCE: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
Violet May's moods were so unpredictable, and her manner sometimes so aggressive, that a couple of her customers nicknamed her "Violent May". Good to know it wasn't just me she put the fear of God into.
Violet May Barkworth, to give her the full name that hardly anyone knew, ran record shops in Sheffield from the Fifties to the Seventies and had a loyal band of "regulars" including an intriguing man known as Operatic Horace. Her shops stocked collectably out-of-the-way, specialist stuff and became so famous that Fleetwood Mac once made a personal appearance and jazzmen Chris Barber and Jimmy Rushing called in.
But back to the fear of God. Violet May could be utterly charming, but she could also be utterly abrupt. A new book about her – yes, a book about a woman who sold records rather than made them – recalls that she would sometimes tell browsers to "get out if you're not going to buy anything".
The book features memories from Joe Cocker and Dave Berry, and an introduction by Richard Hawley. "Without her I'm sure that I wouldn't be making music today," he writes. "I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but my father did and some of the music he bought in her shop still informs many of my ideas to this day. She widened the sonic palette of thousands of people from Sheffield and other places in Britain."
Musician John Firminger and DJ Gus Chapman, the book's authors, offer a warts-and-all celebration of "Sheffield's Vinyl Goddess", as they call her. It concentrates on pop, jazz and blues, the singles, EPs and LPs that brought in most customers. But it was a different sort of music, and a more fragile sort of record, that drew me as a schoolboy to her shop near the city's long-gone open market.
I was interested in classical music and 78s, those brittle shellac HMVs and Columbias whose four-minute playing time could stretch Mozart operas to 40 sides (you got a lot of exercise changing sides). I'd already bought a few from a market-trader – the father of a man who subsequently became my MP – but Violet May's stock was on a different scale.
Her shop was tiny, but crammed with vinyl. On the ground floor, there was pop, rock, R&B, country and Russ Conway. The records filled every corner, every square inch of floor space. They marched up the steep staircase, along the narrow landing, and into an upstairs room which was a sort of upper sanctum.
Here were tens of thousands of classical LPs and second-hand 78s – second-hand, because they'd been phased out nearly 20 years before. An attic of shellac stacked high and heavy. At any moment, you feared, the floor might give way and the whole lot would plummet through the ceiling onto the counter below and Violet May herself. What an end it would have been for a woman who devoted her working life to records – crushed by half-a-ton of Beethoven symphonies and Rachmaninov concertos.
She was, as the book acknowledges, formidable, not to say intimidating: a canny businesswoman who had taught herself about every sort of music she might ever be able to sell. As a "groovy granny" (as someone called her), she could discuss anything from early Bix Beiderbecke, through middle-period Big Bill Broonzy, to late Beecham and Barbirolli.
She knew what every single one of her records was worth and how to get a few more bob for it. With her glasses perched on the end of her nose, she would study the record you wanted to buy, study you, study the record again, say "Very collectable, this" and charge you twice what you were hoping to pay. Even so, her prices were a fraction of London dealers'.
It was in one of her shops that I met Operatic Horace. He was a dapper, genial, elderly man with curly hair and, as far as I could judge, he'd had a fairly unremarkable life doing an uninteresting job. I never found out because he didn't talk about his life; like many people in the obsessive world of collecting, he talked about his collection.
He knew everything there was to know about operatic records – not just the Giglis and the Carusos, the backbones of an average collection. No, he could quote the entire output of any Italian singer you chose to name, reeling off the arias like a waiter running through a pizza menu.
He often coincided with another elderly man – small, flat cap, broad Sheffield, an unlikely connoisseur on the face of it. They'd stand there doing a sort of double act. "Does tha know," the second man would say, "when tha's listening to them records by Boninsegna, tha's listening to real coloratura?"
It was the first time I ever heard anyone talk about what sounded like
"a pink patty". I took it to be a sort of pie and it was many years before I learned it meant a pink-label pressing of a record by the great soprano Adelina Patti.
Violet May died in 1995, and her half-dozen shops are long-gone. Some have been demolished. A wistful, rather surreal, section of the book features photographs of where they would once have been ("under the fly-over just past the small electric sub-station in the middle of Park Square roundabout").
There's a lot of legwork in here, a lot of research, a lot of memories and a lot of nostalgia for anyone who ever played The Honeycombs' Have I the Right on a Dansette Conquest Auto record player
("a truly luxurious set... Life is sweeter with a Dansette").
Peter Stringfellow flits through the pages, with their chic retro design, and there's a classic throwaway line from an ex-pat customer remembering the last time he saw Violet May: "I was on my way back to Japan and dropped in to buy a load of Biblical film soundtracks for a pal in Malaysia."
The highlight, though, is the transcript of an interview from the Sheffield University Jazz Club magazine in 1967. Violet talks about the benefits of blues and soul records "searching for an expression of our inner selves through the turmoil of wars, strikes and any evil which exists, and always will, human nature being what it is".
As the profundity of all this settles in, the interviewer asks: "You see your shop as a bastion against evil?"
Richard Hawley puts it in perspective: "In this age of instant access to virtually any recordings at the touch of a button, it is hard to imagine a time when you could spend months, often years, tracking down a rare record by an obscure artist... Violet May was a light in the darkness for the avid record collector and the developing musician. My father found records by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, The Dell Vikings and many, many more which at the time were virtually impossible to find over here, and the effect they had on a young inquiring mind was like a cerebral atom bomb."
Certainly anyone who has ever cherished a copy of My Baby Left Me by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup should read this book.
Shades of Violet by John Firminger and Gus M Chapman is published by youbooks.co.uk (0114 275 7222; www.youbooks.co.uk), £9.99.
SOURCE: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This Date In Music History-December 12
Birthdays:
Connie Francis (1938)
Dionne Warwick (1940)
Terry Kirkman - Association (1941)
Mike Heron - The Incredible String Band (1942)
Tim Hauser - Manhattan Transfer (1942)
Mike Pinder - Moody Blues (1942)
Dickey Betts - Allman Brothers (1943)
Alan Ward - Honeycombs (1945)
Clive Bunker - Jethro Tull (1946)
Ralph Scala - Blue Magoos (1947)
Graham Bonnett - Rainbow and the Michael Schenker Group (1947)
Ray Jackson - Lindisfarne (1948)
Dan Baird - Georgia Satellites (1953)
Cy Curnin - Fixx (1957)
Sheila E. - singer and percussionist (1959)
Eric Schenkman - Spin Doctors (1963)
Danny Boy - House Of Pain (1968)
Dan Hawkins - The Darkness (1976)
Sharin Foo - Ravonettes (1979)
They Are Missed:
Pianist Ian Stewart — known as the sixth Rolling Stone — died from a heart attack in 1985. He was 47. Co-founder of The Rolling Stones (Stewart was the first to respond to Brian Jones's advertisement in Jazz News of 2 May 1962 seeking musicians to form a rhythm & blues group). Stewart was dismissed from the line-up by the band's manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, in May 1963 but remained as road manager and piano player. He played on all The Rolling Stones albums between 1964 and 1983, except for Beggars Banquet.
Frank Sinatra (real name Francis Albert Sinatra) was born in Hoboken, NJ in 1915. Sinatra died on May 14, 1998.
Born today in 1944, Rob Tyner of MC5 (Died September 17, 1991).
In 2007, Ike Turner, the former husband of Tina Turner, died at the age of 76 at his home near San Diego, California. Turner who was a prolific session guitarist and piano player is credited by many music historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record "Rocket 88" (released in ’51). After marrying Tina Turner in 1959, the pair released a string of hits including the Phil Spector produced ‘River Deep Mountain High.’
Born on this day in 1943, Mike Smith, Dave Clark Five, (1965 US #1 single "Over And Over") Smith died on 29th of Feb 2008 from pneumonia at the age of 64.
History:
In Vienna in 1792, 22-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven received one of his first lessons in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn.
Bill Haley recorded "See You Later, Alligator" in 1955.
The controversy over Elvis's Christmas Album raged on in 1957. Disc Jockey Al Priddy of KEX, Portland, Oregon is fired for violating the radio station's ban against playing Presley's rendition of "White Christmas."
It may have been love but it was a bad career move. Jerry Lee Lewis married his second cousin, Myra Gale Brown, in Hernando, MS in 1957. She’s the daughter of J.W. Brown, Jerry Lee's bass player and cousin. Myra was 13 years old, though she claimed to be 20 on the marriage license. When her age and family ties were discovered it led to a major scandal that wrecked Jerry Lee’s career for several years. Also, Jerry Lee was still married to his second wife, Jane Mitchum. Though separated, the divorce didn’t become final until May, ’58. This fact was mercifully overlooked at the time.
In 1963, The Beatles were at #1 on the UK singles chart with "I Want To Hold Your Hand," the group's third #1 (and first Amercian #1) and this year's UK Christmas #1.
The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was released in 1964.
Pink Floyd played its first major show, at Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966.
In 1968, the Rolling Stones convened in a London film studio with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, the Who, Jethro Tull, Mitch Mitchell, Marianne Faithful, Mia Farrow and a bunch of circus performers to film their "Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus," which is never given a public showing until finally being released in late 1996.
The Allman Brother’s Band released their self-titled debut in late ‘69 and hit the road playing over 500 shows in the next 30 months.
In 1969, John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band released Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded at the Toronto Rock 'n' Revival Show on September 13.
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1970 with "Tears Of A Clown." It was the group's 26th Top 40 hit and first #1 (also a #1 hit in the UK).
The Doors played what would be their last ever live show with Jim Morrison when they played at the Warehouse in New Orleans in 1970.
Steven Stills' "Love the One You're With" was released in 1970.
In 1974, the Rolling Stones began sessions in Munich for what would become "Black and Blue," their 1976 release. The LP was recorded with several guitarists Wayne Perkins, Harvey Mandel and Rob Wood. The group also announced the departure of guitar player Mick Taylor who replaced Brian Jones five years earlier. When asked of a replacement, Mick Jagger quipped, "No doubt we can find a brilliant six-foot-three blond guitarist who can do his own make-up.
Harry Chapin hits #1 with "Cat's In the Cradle" in 1974.
George Michael started a four week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1987 with "Faith."
Whitney Houston started a twenty-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1992 with "The Bodyguard."
In 1997, John Fogerty played live on a Hollywood (actually Burbank) soundstage for an MTV special. Not only does he play songs from his new album “Blue Moon Swamp,” he uncorks some favorites from his Creedence Clearwater Revival days. Fogerty had refused to play CCR songs due to a major falling out over song ownership with Fantasy Records, CCR’s label.
In 1998, a seven inch single by the Quarry Men featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison was named as the rarest record of all time, only 50 copies were made with each copy being valued at $20,500.
In 2002, it was announced that Les Paul planned to give memorabilia from his music career to Waukesha County's historical society for an exhibit. Paul said that he planned to donate about 2,000 records and original sheet music.
Mick Jagger became a Sir after being knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 2003. Jagger's 92-year-old father was at the Palace to see his son receive the award.
Linkin Park and Jay-Z were at #1 on the US album chart in 2004 with "Collision Course."
In 2007, a copy of John Lennon's book, 'A Spaniard in the Works,' which contained a lock of Lennon's hair, sold at Gorringes Auction House for $48,000. Lennon gave the book and the hair to Betty Glasow, the Fab Four's hairdresser during their heyday. He wrote in the book, "To Betty, Lots of Love and Hair, John Lennon xx."
The Eagles' "Long Road Out Of Eden" was certified triple platinum in 2007, signifying U.S. shipments in excess of 3 million units. It's also the #1 album on Billboard's Top Country chart.
Connie Francis (1938)
Dionne Warwick (1940)
Terry Kirkman - Association (1941)
Mike Heron - The Incredible String Band (1942)
Tim Hauser - Manhattan Transfer (1942)
Mike Pinder - Moody Blues (1942)
Dickey Betts - Allman Brothers (1943)
Alan Ward - Honeycombs (1945)
Clive Bunker - Jethro Tull (1946)
Ralph Scala - Blue Magoos (1947)
Graham Bonnett - Rainbow and the Michael Schenker Group (1947)
Ray Jackson - Lindisfarne (1948)
Dan Baird - Georgia Satellites (1953)
Cy Curnin - Fixx (1957)
Sheila E. - singer and percussionist (1959)
Eric Schenkman - Spin Doctors (1963)
Danny Boy - House Of Pain (1968)
Dan Hawkins - The Darkness (1976)
Sharin Foo - Ravonettes (1979)
They Are Missed:
Pianist Ian Stewart — known as the sixth Rolling Stone — died from a heart attack in 1985. He was 47. Co-founder of The Rolling Stones (Stewart was the first to respond to Brian Jones's advertisement in Jazz News of 2 May 1962 seeking musicians to form a rhythm & blues group). Stewart was dismissed from the line-up by the band's manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, in May 1963 but remained as road manager and piano player. He played on all The Rolling Stones albums between 1964 and 1983, except for Beggars Banquet.
Frank Sinatra (real name Francis Albert Sinatra) was born in Hoboken, NJ in 1915. Sinatra died on May 14, 1998.
Born today in 1944, Rob Tyner of MC5 (Died September 17, 1991).
In 2007, Ike Turner, the former husband of Tina Turner, died at the age of 76 at his home near San Diego, California. Turner who was a prolific session guitarist and piano player is credited by many music historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record "Rocket 88" (released in ’51). After marrying Tina Turner in 1959, the pair released a string of hits including the Phil Spector produced ‘River Deep Mountain High.’
Born on this day in 1943, Mike Smith, Dave Clark Five, (1965 US #1 single "Over And Over") Smith died on 29th of Feb 2008 from pneumonia at the age of 64.
History:
In Vienna in 1792, 22-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven received one of his first lessons in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn.
Bill Haley recorded "See You Later, Alligator" in 1955.
The controversy over Elvis's Christmas Album raged on in 1957. Disc Jockey Al Priddy of KEX, Portland, Oregon is fired for violating the radio station's ban against playing Presley's rendition of "White Christmas."
It may have been love but it was a bad career move. Jerry Lee Lewis married his second cousin, Myra Gale Brown, in Hernando, MS in 1957. She’s the daughter of J.W. Brown, Jerry Lee's bass player and cousin. Myra was 13 years old, though she claimed to be 20 on the marriage license. When her age and family ties were discovered it led to a major scandal that wrecked Jerry Lee’s career for several years. Also, Jerry Lee was still married to his second wife, Jane Mitchum. Though separated, the divorce didn’t become final until May, ’58. This fact was mercifully overlooked at the time.
In 1963, The Beatles were at #1 on the UK singles chart with "I Want To Hold Your Hand," the group's third #1 (and first Amercian #1) and this year's UK Christmas #1.
The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was released in 1964.
Pink Floyd played its first major show, at Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966.
In 1968, the Rolling Stones convened in a London film studio with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, the Who, Jethro Tull, Mitch Mitchell, Marianne Faithful, Mia Farrow and a bunch of circus performers to film their "Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus," which is never given a public showing until finally being released in late 1996.
The Allman Brother’s Band released their self-titled debut in late ‘69 and hit the road playing over 500 shows in the next 30 months.
In 1969, John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band released Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded at the Toronto Rock 'n' Revival Show on September 13.
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1970 with "Tears Of A Clown." It was the group's 26th Top 40 hit and first #1 (also a #1 hit in the UK).
The Doors played what would be their last ever live show with Jim Morrison when they played at the Warehouse in New Orleans in 1970.
Steven Stills' "Love the One You're With" was released in 1970.
In 1974, the Rolling Stones began sessions in Munich for what would become "Black and Blue," their 1976 release. The LP was recorded with several guitarists Wayne Perkins, Harvey Mandel and Rob Wood. The group also announced the departure of guitar player Mick Taylor who replaced Brian Jones five years earlier. When asked of a replacement, Mick Jagger quipped, "No doubt we can find a brilliant six-foot-three blond guitarist who can do his own make-up.
Harry Chapin hits #1 with "Cat's In the Cradle" in 1974.
George Michael started a four week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1987 with "Faith."
Whitney Houston started a twenty-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1992 with "The Bodyguard."
In 1997, John Fogerty played live on a Hollywood (actually Burbank) soundstage for an MTV special. Not only does he play songs from his new album “Blue Moon Swamp,” he uncorks some favorites from his Creedence Clearwater Revival days. Fogerty had refused to play CCR songs due to a major falling out over song ownership with Fantasy Records, CCR’s label.
In 1998, a seven inch single by the Quarry Men featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison was named as the rarest record of all time, only 50 copies were made with each copy being valued at $20,500.
In 2002, it was announced that Les Paul planned to give memorabilia from his music career to Waukesha County's historical society for an exhibit. Paul said that he planned to donate about 2,000 records and original sheet music.
Mick Jagger became a Sir after being knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 2003. Jagger's 92-year-old father was at the Palace to see his son receive the award.
Linkin Park and Jay-Z were at #1 on the US album chart in 2004 with "Collision Course."
In 2007, a copy of John Lennon's book, 'A Spaniard in the Works,' which contained a lock of Lennon's hair, sold at Gorringes Auction House for $48,000. Lennon gave the book and the hair to Betty Glasow, the Fab Four's hairdresser during their heyday. He wrote in the book, "To Betty, Lots of Love and Hair, John Lennon xx."
The Eagles' "Long Road Out Of Eden" was certified triple platinum in 2007, signifying U.S. shipments in excess of 3 million units. It's also the #1 album on Billboard's Top Country chart.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Michael Fremer Review
I am very proud to continue our feature (look for this every Friday), music reviews that are written by the senior contributing editor of Stereophile magazine- Michael Fremer. It has been a pleasure to speak with Michael and learn more about audio sound and equipment. In fact, his new DVD, "It's A Vinyl World, After All" has hit the shelves and is selling out very quickly. This is a must have for anybody who loves vinyl, it is a true masterpiece.
ALBUM REVIEW:
Various Artists (new reissue)
A Christmas Gift to You From Philles Records
Sundazed LP 5323 180g mono LP
Produced by: Phil Spector
Engineered by: Larry Levine
Mixed by: Phil Spector and Larry Levine
Mastered by: Bob Irwin (LP cut by "WG/NRP")
Review by: Michael Fremer
2009-12-10
The classic Phil Spector Christmas album is Sundazed’s holiday gift to us all. Mastered in glorious mono from the original mono master tape (remember: Phil didn’t do stereo so if you see “stereo” on the jacket, it’s fake stereo, though I heard there was a 1974 “stereo remix” but given how Spector recorded I can’t imagine from what source tracks such a mix could have been assembled).
Phil used jingle bells and such when recording secular teen love songs so the move to Christmas wasn’t particularly difficult. And who better than a New York Jew to produce such a timeless Christmas classic? After all, Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas,” and Mel Tormé (Melvin Howard Torma) co-wrote “The Christmas Song” (“chestnuts roasting on the open fire”). And don’t forget, the guy whose birthday everyone is celebrating was also one.
And what better place to record a Christmas album than Los Angeles? Well, I can name ten, but what better studio to record a Phil Spector album in than Gold Star? I can name none.
And what worse day to release a cheery Christmas album than Novemberr 22nd, 1963? There are no worse days, so the album, like the president, stiffed (sorry, I couldn’t help myself but I wish I could have).
Few copies sold of such a wonderful record means original pressings are rare and expensive. Apple reissued with a different cover and name in 1972 and that time it went into the Top Ten and deservedly so.
So here’s Sundazed’s gift to you with the original Philles cover and all of the great tracks recorded by Phil’s outstanding artist roster.
The Ronette’s “Frosty The Snowman,” and “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” might be my favorites and the latter is the foundation for the E-Street Band, but there’s really not a bad track on the album. The strings and baritone sax provide warmth, the percussion and castenets the icicles and the big wobbly vibratos the soul. Such a classic combination! You know the guy who wrote and sang “To Know Him is to Love Him” knows how to pour on the sap!
Spector places the vocals way above the background mass of strings and percussion and Hal Blaine’s drums are in another time zone but that just adds to the vast holiday cheer this album produces every time you play it$#151at least until you get to Phil’s sign-off at the end of side two. It sounded creepy back in 1972 when I first heard it but now given what’s happened to poor Phil it sounds creepy squared.
I compared this reissue cut from the analog tapes with the digitally remastered LP included in the out of print ABKCO Phil Spector Box Back to MONO (even though the box says “mastered in analog” that referred to the analog tapes being used to produce the digital master) and the Sundazed reissue is clearly the winner in terms of crystalline clarity and that certain pleasing piercing quality to the vocal mix that’s supposed to cut through on an edge without slicing your eardrums. The digitally remastered box set version is thicker and not as pleasingly icy-clean.
However I was a bit disappointed by a lack of bass heft on some of the big drum “thwacks” that the box set version has. Whether that was someone goosing up the bottom end there, or cutting a bit off here, I don’t know. Accurate or not, I like it.
Still, overall the new Sundazed reissue wins the clarity and transparency race and that’s more important if you want to hear into the Spector wall and pull out all the candy-elements.
Even the 180 gram pressing, which I assume is from United, Nashville is good. Non “no-fill” and no noise. Maybe Sundazed’s Bob Irwin is finally whipping that woefully sloppy joint into shape?
Now that A Christmas Gift For You is out again all analog on vinyl, it will definitely be a merry Christmas!
Copyright © 2008 MusicAngle.com & Michael Fremer - All rights reserved
Various Artists (new reissue)
A Christmas Gift to You From Philles Records
Sundazed LP 5323 180g mono LP
Produced by: Phil Spector
Engineered by: Larry Levine
Mixed by: Phil Spector and Larry Levine
Mastered by: Bob Irwin (LP cut by "WG/NRP")
Review by: Michael Fremer
2009-12-10
The classic Phil Spector Christmas album is Sundazed’s holiday gift to us all. Mastered in glorious mono from the original mono master tape (remember: Phil didn’t do stereo so if you see “stereo” on the jacket, it’s fake stereo, though I heard there was a 1974 “stereo remix” but given how Spector recorded I can’t imagine from what source tracks such a mix could have been assembled).
Phil used jingle bells and such when recording secular teen love songs so the move to Christmas wasn’t particularly difficult. And who better than a New York Jew to produce such a timeless Christmas classic? After all, Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas,” and Mel Tormé (Melvin Howard Torma) co-wrote “The Christmas Song” (“chestnuts roasting on the open fire”). And don’t forget, the guy whose birthday everyone is celebrating was also one.
And what better place to record a Christmas album than Los Angeles? Well, I can name ten, but what better studio to record a Phil Spector album in than Gold Star? I can name none.
And what worse day to release a cheery Christmas album than Novemberr 22nd, 1963? There are no worse days, so the album, like the president, stiffed (sorry, I couldn’t help myself but I wish I could have).
Few copies sold of such a wonderful record means original pressings are rare and expensive. Apple reissued with a different cover and name in 1972 and that time it went into the Top Ten and deservedly so.
So here’s Sundazed’s gift to you with the original Philles cover and all of the great tracks recorded by Phil’s outstanding artist roster.
The Ronette’s “Frosty The Snowman,” and “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” might be my favorites and the latter is the foundation for the E-Street Band, but there’s really not a bad track on the album. The strings and baritone sax provide warmth, the percussion and castenets the icicles and the big wobbly vibratos the soul. Such a classic combination! You know the guy who wrote and sang “To Know Him is to Love Him” knows how to pour on the sap!
Spector places the vocals way above the background mass of strings and percussion and Hal Blaine’s drums are in another time zone but that just adds to the vast holiday cheer this album produces every time you play it$#151at least until you get to Phil’s sign-off at the end of side two. It sounded creepy back in 1972 when I first heard it but now given what’s happened to poor Phil it sounds creepy squared.
I compared this reissue cut from the analog tapes with the digitally remastered LP included in the out of print ABKCO Phil Spector Box Back to MONO (even though the box says “mastered in analog” that referred to the analog tapes being used to produce the digital master) and the Sundazed reissue is clearly the winner in terms of crystalline clarity and that certain pleasing piercing quality to the vocal mix that’s supposed to cut through on an edge without slicing your eardrums. The digitally remastered box set version is thicker and not as pleasingly icy-clean.
However I was a bit disappointed by a lack of bass heft on some of the big drum “thwacks” that the box set version has. Whether that was someone goosing up the bottom end there, or cutting a bit off here, I don’t know. Accurate or not, I like it.
Still, overall the new Sundazed reissue wins the clarity and transparency race and that’s more important if you want to hear into the Spector wall and pull out all the candy-elements.
Even the 180 gram pressing, which I assume is from United, Nashville is good. Non “no-fill” and no noise. Maybe Sundazed’s Bob Irwin is finally whipping that woefully sloppy joint into shape?
Now that A Christmas Gift For You is out again all analog on vinyl, it will definitely be a merry Christmas!
Copyright © 2008 MusicAngle.com & Michael Fremer - All rights reserved
How Records Got Their Groove Back
Yet another intriguing article about vinyl (it is all over the news and Internet), but we vinyl collectors already knew that. This one os from the AARP Magazine issue for Jan, Feb 2010.
How Records Got Their Groove Back
As CDs fade away, there's a new vinyl answer
By Bill Newcott
"They lied to us, man," he said.
Flipping through old vinyl albums at a used-record shop, I did what anyone does when a fellow human bares his soul: I ignored him. "They said CDs would sound better," he persisted. "They lied!" He rapped a vintage Ramsey Lewis album on the edge of the bin, like a gavel, releasing that distinct scent of dust and decomposing cardboard.
"I got rid of my record player. I let my records go. And they never even bothered to bring back half of my old jazz albums. Not half. It was like they hooked us, and then they gutted us."
It was a spontaneous outburst, but the gist of it I've been hearing for years among frequenters of the vinyl bins: despite the advantages of compact disks (CDs) over vinyl—you'll never hear a CD pop or click, and you can access any track instantly—the supposed perfection of the format was overstated. Of course, the companies were just as over-the-top about LPs. Here's a quote from my vinyl copy of Tony [Bennett]'s Greatest Hits, Volume III: "You can purchase this record with no fear of its becoming obsolete in the future." Pioneer audiophiles felt that way about Edison's cylinder phonograph of the late 1800s and the 78-rpm shellac disks of the early 20th century. And even as the "never obsolete" vinyl promise was being made in the 1960s, guys in lab coats were dreaming up cassette tapes and eight-track tape cartridges.
Then came the CD in the mid-1980s, and everyone knew that vinyl's days were numbered. But like those ancient tiny mammals that predated the dinosaurs—and then kept skittering around the feet of T. rex and his pals—vinyl never completely disappeared: throughout the '90s, hip-hop DJs spun vinyl disks, manipulating the turntables by hand for musical effect.
Now record companies are making money from vinyl again: vinyl-record sales soared 89 percent in 2008, while CDs, falling prey to Internet downloads, continued to trudge down the road to extinction. Music giant EMI has rereleased some 65 classic albums on vinyl, including acts ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beastie Boys. U2's newest album (No Line on the Horizon), Bruce Springsteen's latest (Working on a Dream), and Harry Connick Jr.'s Your Songs have all done brisk vinyl business.
And it's not just a generational thing. Newer acts such as The Killers and Ryan Adams are finding an LP audience as well, offering vinyl and MP3-download versions of their latest releases as a single package. In fact, whereas Borders and Best Buy stores have been reducing their CD space, both retailers have installed new vinyl-LP racks.
The Sound of Silence
It wasn't the sound that sold us on CDs—it was the absence of it. Your first CD experience was probably a lot like mine. I was working at a tabloid newspaper in Florida, and one day the publisher called me into his office. "Siddown," he barked. As always, I did as I was told. He just sat there staring at me, cigarette aloft in one hand. Then, suddenly, the crashing opening chords of Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien came barreling out at me from two large speakers. I leaped to my feet, as if to escape. My boss clapped his hands and laughed, sending ashes flying.
"It's the silence," he said gleefully. "A record warns you something's gonna happen with all the noise it makes. But this is a compact disk. When it's quiet, it's damn quiet."
Maybe too quiet. Even after CDs nudged vinyl out the record-store door in the late 1980s, enthusiasts stuck to their position that vinyl's sound reproduction was ultimately more satisfying than digital's. Warmer is the word used most frequently, and Jason Boyd, who oversees vinyl-record production and sales for music giant EMI, tried to explain it to me.
"The imperfections of the sound—the low ends—are sonically appealing," Boyd says. "CD is most pristine. But vinyl has the warm, full sound of the music. The cracks and the little imperfections that pop up seem to enhance the music. It's a way of experiencing music rather than just consuming it."
Boyd is probably right. But here's my theory: it's the unique imperfections of each vinyl record that make it irreplaceable. After enough plays, a record becomes a fingerprint of your listening experience. Just about everyone who owned the Beatles' White Album wore the thing down to a nub. Your copy, like mine, is a crackling mess through "Cry Baby Cry"—but then it becomes a mint-condition collector's item the moment that unlistenable jumble of sounds the Lads called "Revolution 9" fades in.
Indeed, all of our records carry an indelible personal stamp: the skip on your copy of The Dark Side of the Moon that results in Roger Waters's repeating "Money!" over and over…the holiday album you still play despite the damage it sustained in that unfortunate 1962 Christmas-tree pine-needle accident...the Shari Lewis record you kicked off the turntable while you were dancing, so now Lamb Chop repeats herself, like Rain Man.
See Me, Feel Me
Even the nonlistening rituals of record ownership are burned into the memories of everyone who ever had a collection. Need proof? Head down to a music store and buy a record—most larger shops now have at least a small vinyl section. The rest will come naturally: bring the record home (on the way, I guarantee, you'll admire the cover artwork). Now slip your thumbnail into the cellophane sheath, right at the album's business end, and slide it along. Feel that flutter in your stomach as the album opens? You're remembering what it's like to access your music with a single, graceful stroke—instead of peeling, stabbing, cutting, and finally biting your way into a CD jewel case. Now slide out the inner sleeve. There she is: the proud, black thing of beauty, her label winking at you through the sleeve's center hole. As you extract the disk from the sleeve, you'll find you haven't forgotten how to hold it safely: your thumb at the ridge, the label resting on your fingers. If you're lucky enough to still have your turntable, you'll deftly center the record on the spindle. Best of all, the disk won't hop into a drawer and disappear into a box, like a CD. It will stay right there in plain view, singing to you at a steady 33 1/3 revolutions per minute.
Then there's the structure of a two-sided album. In the old days, records were programmed in two acts: Side One and Side Two. Someone who's never flipped an LP would be mightily puzzled over the lyric at the end of Side One on the Carpenters' fourth album, A Song for You: "We'll be right back /After we go to the bathroom." On my favorite album, Electric Light Orchestra's Eldorado, Jeff Lynne ends Side One on a chord progression that is left unresolved until Side Two.
Your Song
In my world, digital and vinyl have found a way to coexist: when I'm on the subway, or walking on a bustling city sidewalk, the slightly shrill digital music flowing through my earbuds seems appropriate. At home, however—where I'm bathed in the warmth of family and familiar surroundings—the sounds from my old record player seem to float from room to room, filling every corner with aural incense.
"Vinyl will never be mainstream again, but it's a growing niche," says Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor for Stereophile magazine. (He owns 15,000 vinyl records.) "When a former vinyl listener reconnects, he or she says, 'I remember that sound. That's what I'm missing!' And a new generation is discovering that vinyl sounds better and represents tunes sequenced as the artist wishes, rather than as a series of random events.
"I doubt kids will look back in 50 years and say, 'I remember when I downloaded that!' The forward-looking young people are going for vinyl editions of their important music."
The End
Those of us who fell for the Great Lie will never fully recover. My distraught friend from the used-record store is right: we'll spend the rest of our days trying to re-create our old collections, Ancient Mariners roaming the earth, our MP3 players slung about our necks like albatrosses.
But there will be the inevitable reunions with long-lost LP friends, the rush of anticipation when the needle hits that groove, and the exquisite moment when the music plays, warm and full, punctuated with the pops and crackles of passing time.
SOURCE: http://www.aarpmagazine.org/
A vinyl record, properly cared for, can certainly last your lifetime and probably your kids and grandchildrens as well. Where will that song you downloaded two weeks ago be? There is something to be said about actually owning something, something tactile, long live vinyl!
How Records Got Their Groove Back
As CDs fade away, there's a new vinyl answer
By Bill Newcott
"They lied to us, man," he said.
Flipping through old vinyl albums at a used-record shop, I did what anyone does when a fellow human bares his soul: I ignored him. "They said CDs would sound better," he persisted. "They lied!" He rapped a vintage Ramsey Lewis album on the edge of the bin, like a gavel, releasing that distinct scent of dust and decomposing cardboard.
"I got rid of my record player. I let my records go. And they never even bothered to bring back half of my old jazz albums. Not half. It was like they hooked us, and then they gutted us."
It was a spontaneous outburst, but the gist of it I've been hearing for years among frequenters of the vinyl bins: despite the advantages of compact disks (CDs) over vinyl—you'll never hear a CD pop or click, and you can access any track instantly—the supposed perfection of the format was overstated. Of course, the companies were just as over-the-top about LPs. Here's a quote from my vinyl copy of Tony [Bennett]'s Greatest Hits, Volume III: "You can purchase this record with no fear of its becoming obsolete in the future." Pioneer audiophiles felt that way about Edison's cylinder phonograph of the late 1800s and the 78-rpm shellac disks of the early 20th century. And even as the "never obsolete" vinyl promise was being made in the 1960s, guys in lab coats were dreaming up cassette tapes and eight-track tape cartridges.
Then came the CD in the mid-1980s, and everyone knew that vinyl's days were numbered. But like those ancient tiny mammals that predated the dinosaurs—and then kept skittering around the feet of T. rex and his pals—vinyl never completely disappeared: throughout the '90s, hip-hop DJs spun vinyl disks, manipulating the turntables by hand for musical effect.
Now record companies are making money from vinyl again: vinyl-record sales soared 89 percent in 2008, while CDs, falling prey to Internet downloads, continued to trudge down the road to extinction. Music giant EMI has rereleased some 65 classic albums on vinyl, including acts ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beastie Boys. U2's newest album (No Line on the Horizon), Bruce Springsteen's latest (Working on a Dream), and Harry Connick Jr.'s Your Songs have all done brisk vinyl business.
And it's not just a generational thing. Newer acts such as The Killers and Ryan Adams are finding an LP audience as well, offering vinyl and MP3-download versions of their latest releases as a single package. In fact, whereas Borders and Best Buy stores have been reducing their CD space, both retailers have installed new vinyl-LP racks.
The Sound of Silence
It wasn't the sound that sold us on CDs—it was the absence of it. Your first CD experience was probably a lot like mine. I was working at a tabloid newspaper in Florida, and one day the publisher called me into his office. "Siddown," he barked. As always, I did as I was told. He just sat there staring at me, cigarette aloft in one hand. Then, suddenly, the crashing opening chords of Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien came barreling out at me from two large speakers. I leaped to my feet, as if to escape. My boss clapped his hands and laughed, sending ashes flying.
"It's the silence," he said gleefully. "A record warns you something's gonna happen with all the noise it makes. But this is a compact disk. When it's quiet, it's damn quiet."
Maybe too quiet. Even after CDs nudged vinyl out the record-store door in the late 1980s, enthusiasts stuck to their position that vinyl's sound reproduction was ultimately more satisfying than digital's. Warmer is the word used most frequently, and Jason Boyd, who oversees vinyl-record production and sales for music giant EMI, tried to explain it to me.
"The imperfections of the sound—the low ends—are sonically appealing," Boyd says. "CD is most pristine. But vinyl has the warm, full sound of the music. The cracks and the little imperfections that pop up seem to enhance the music. It's a way of experiencing music rather than just consuming it."
Boyd is probably right. But here's my theory: it's the unique imperfections of each vinyl record that make it irreplaceable. After enough plays, a record becomes a fingerprint of your listening experience. Just about everyone who owned the Beatles' White Album wore the thing down to a nub. Your copy, like mine, is a crackling mess through "Cry Baby Cry"—but then it becomes a mint-condition collector's item the moment that unlistenable jumble of sounds the Lads called "Revolution 9" fades in.
Indeed, all of our records carry an indelible personal stamp: the skip on your copy of The Dark Side of the Moon that results in Roger Waters's repeating "Money!" over and over…the holiday album you still play despite the damage it sustained in that unfortunate 1962 Christmas-tree pine-needle accident...the Shari Lewis record you kicked off the turntable while you were dancing, so now Lamb Chop repeats herself, like Rain Man.
See Me, Feel Me
Even the nonlistening rituals of record ownership are burned into the memories of everyone who ever had a collection. Need proof? Head down to a music store and buy a record—most larger shops now have at least a small vinyl section. The rest will come naturally: bring the record home (on the way, I guarantee, you'll admire the cover artwork). Now slip your thumbnail into the cellophane sheath, right at the album's business end, and slide it along. Feel that flutter in your stomach as the album opens? You're remembering what it's like to access your music with a single, graceful stroke—instead of peeling, stabbing, cutting, and finally biting your way into a CD jewel case. Now slide out the inner sleeve. There she is: the proud, black thing of beauty, her label winking at you through the sleeve's center hole. As you extract the disk from the sleeve, you'll find you haven't forgotten how to hold it safely: your thumb at the ridge, the label resting on your fingers. If you're lucky enough to still have your turntable, you'll deftly center the record on the spindle. Best of all, the disk won't hop into a drawer and disappear into a box, like a CD. It will stay right there in plain view, singing to you at a steady 33 1/3 revolutions per minute.
Then there's the structure of a two-sided album. In the old days, records were programmed in two acts: Side One and Side Two. Someone who's never flipped an LP would be mightily puzzled over the lyric at the end of Side One on the Carpenters' fourth album, A Song for You: "We'll be right back /After we go to the bathroom." On my favorite album, Electric Light Orchestra's Eldorado, Jeff Lynne ends Side One on a chord progression that is left unresolved until Side Two.
Your Song
In my world, digital and vinyl have found a way to coexist: when I'm on the subway, or walking on a bustling city sidewalk, the slightly shrill digital music flowing through my earbuds seems appropriate. At home, however—where I'm bathed in the warmth of family and familiar surroundings—the sounds from my old record player seem to float from room to room, filling every corner with aural incense.
"Vinyl will never be mainstream again, but it's a growing niche," says Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor for Stereophile magazine. (He owns 15,000 vinyl records.) "When a former vinyl listener reconnects, he or she says, 'I remember that sound. That's what I'm missing!' And a new generation is discovering that vinyl sounds better and represents tunes sequenced as the artist wishes, rather than as a series of random events.
"I doubt kids will look back in 50 years and say, 'I remember when I downloaded that!' The forward-looking young people are going for vinyl editions of their important music."
The End
Those of us who fell for the Great Lie will never fully recover. My distraught friend from the used-record store is right: we'll spend the rest of our days trying to re-create our old collections, Ancient Mariners roaming the earth, our MP3 players slung about our necks like albatrosses.
But there will be the inevitable reunions with long-lost LP friends, the rush of anticipation when the needle hits that groove, and the exquisite moment when the music plays, warm and full, punctuated with the pops and crackles of passing time.
SOURCE: http://www.aarpmagazine.org/
A vinyl record, properly cared for, can certainly last your lifetime and probably your kids and grandchildrens as well. Where will that song you downloaded two weeks ago be? There is something to be said about actually owning something, something tactile, long live vinyl!
Music News & Notes
The Beatles Have Best Selling Album of the Decade
Our good friends at AntiMusic are reporting that The Fab four are still pretty damn fab. At least with people who buy music according to the following Rolling Stone.com report:
Over three decades after their breakup, the Beatles still released the top-selling album of the 2000s. The Fab Four's greatest hits compilation 1 sold over 11,448,000 copies since its release in November 2000 according to Nielsen SoundScan's decade-end sales numbers. Eminem was the 2000s’ top-selling artist with 32.2 million combined in sales, plus two albums in the decade’s Top 10. The Beatles claimed Number Two with 30 million.
Soundscan's Top 10 Selling Albums of the 2000's
1.1 - Beatles (11,499,000 copies sold)
2.No Strings Attached - *NSYNC (11,112,000)
3.Come Away With Me - Norah Jones (10,546,000)
4.The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (10,204,000)
5.The Eminem Show - Eminem (9,799,000)
6.Confessions - Usher (9,712,000)
7.Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park (9,663,000)
8.Human Clay - Creed (9,491,000)
9.Oops!…I Did It Again - Britney Spears (9,185,000)
10.Country Grammar - Nelly (8,461,000)
=========================
SLASH - New Album Release And Tour Set
SLASH (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) has issued the following Twitter update:
"Driving around listening to the analog mixes of my solo record, I gotta say it sounds awesome. The whole self titled record was recorded analog. It will be released March/April - tour starts around then too. It will be released in all formats including vinyl."
Slash will be released in Europe via Roadrunner Records. A release date for other territories will be announced soon.
As previously reported, the first single from Slash's upcoming solo album will feature OZZY OSBOURNE on vocals. Other guests who will appear on Slash include ALICE COOPER, Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD), former Guns N' Roses men Duff McKagan (LOADED), Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin, Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS), Flea (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), IGGY POP, KID ROCK, CHRIS CORNELL, Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE), Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson (BLACK EYED PEAS), MAROON 5 singer Adam Levine and WOLFMOTHER's Andrew Stockdale.
=========================
Midlake announce limited-edition vinyl release and UK tour
Texas band head to the UK early next year
Midlake have announced details of a limited-edition 12-inch vinyl release featuring two new songs.
There will only be 500 copies of the record, which features 'Acts Of Man' and 'Rulers, Ruling All Things', available from December 14. Both songs will feature on Midlake's forthcoming album 'The Courage Of Others' (released on February 1).
Midlake tour the UK and Republic Of Ireland in January and February.
=========================
Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Stooges, Mötley Crüe for Sonisphere Festival 2010
Iron Maiden and Rammstein have been announced as headliners of the UK leg of the Sonisphere Festival next summer. The Knebworth House event will also feature Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Iggy And The Stooges, Anthrax, The Cult and Slayer.
Rammstein's appearance will mark their first ever UK festival show.
Sonisphere takes place between July 30 and August 1 next year.
=========================
Bon Iver releases live charity album 'A Decade With Duke' also features Justin Vernon's high school jazz band
Bon Iver has released a recording of a charity show at mainman Justin Vernon's old high school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Called 'A Decade With Duke', the album is a collaboration between Vernon and jazz ensemble Eau Claire Memorial Jazz 1.
Featuring songs from Bon Iver's critically acclaimed album 'For Emma, Forever Ago', such as 'Lump Sum' and 'For Emma', the album also sees Vernon performing jazz classics such as 'Lady Is A Tramp' and 'Bewitched'.
Vernon did the show to help raise money to send the jazz band to New York to take part in the Essentially Ellington competition, where they came third.
Released both physically and digitally, the CD is only available from Brickhouse Music, Morgan Music, and from the Volume One office in the Eau Claire area. For those outside of Wisconsin, a digital copy is available from various online retailers.
=========================
Elvis Costello set to release new live album 'Live At Hollywood High' to be released in January
Elvis Costello has announced plans to release the second in his 'The Costello Show' live performance series. Entitled 'Live At Hollywood High', the 20-song album is taken from Costello's gig at the school in Los Angeles in June 1978.
Released on January 11, the record will include songs from early albums 'My Aim Is True', 'This Year's Model' and 'Armed Forces'.
'Live At Hollywood High' follows on from the reissue of 'Live At The El Mocambo'earlier this year, and future releases for the series are set to include performances from the Royal Albert Hall, reports Billboard.
=========================
Neil Young | Gary Burden Get Grammy Music Nomination For Package Design
LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ R. Twerk & Co.) - Gary Burden's design of the Neil Young Archives, Volume 1 has been nominated for a 52nd Annual Grammy Award in the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package category. Lead art director and designer Gary Burden, R. Twerk & Co., says he had "no idea 'the archives' were entered into the awards, so it was a huge surprise when we received a phone call and learned we were nominated. This is just so cool and I am really happy for Neil, too." This is Burden's fourth Grammy nomination for design. Burden, representing his company R. Twerk & Co., has received three other Grammy nominations for 'Best Package of the Year.'
The long-awaited Neil Young Archives, Volume 1 (1963-1972) is a deluxe boxed set. It was conceived as a time-capsule of Neil Young's musical and personal journeys from 1963 to 1972. The elaborate box contains multiple cds/dvds/bluerays (depending on the version, there are three), a replica of Neil Young's revealing personal journal with a faux embossed leather cover, and a "stash" box (look in the corners for reproductions of pot seeds). The box was designed to last a long time, and also designed with sustainability in mind. "The Mohawk paper we used is FSC-certified, recycled with PCW content and made with windpower," said Burden.
Burden and Neil Young have been collaborating on album cover art for more than forty years and have become lifelong friends. They still enjoy working together and are currently at work on Volume II, and a myriad of other packages.
Gary says he will 'definitely' be going to the Grammy Awards in January, "It is very cool that the years of work Neil, my wife Jenice and I put into the packaging of Neil's archive is recognized by my peers as being worthy of a Grammy. I immediately recalled my first Grammy nomination in 1969 for Richard Pryor's comedy album. I went to Western Costume to rent an outfit. I got a tuxedo with sequin lapels and stripes on the trousers that was made for Elvis Presley. It fit me perfectly. Sweet!"
Gary Burden started designing album covers at the suggestion of Mama Cass after he did a short stint as an architect, designing Cass' home. Shortly thereafter, Burden had designed Joni Mitchell's "Blue" cover, albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and The Mamas and the Papas all of which went gold and platinum. Burden created Crosby, Stills and Nash's first album cover artwork, The Doors' "Morrison Hotel" and four album covers for the Eagles including "Desperado," several for Jackson Browne, Judee Sill, Laura Nyro, and many others even making a cover for Zydeco artist Clifton Chenier.
=========================
Handwritten Song Lyrices Up For Auction
Want to own the origianl handwritten lyrices for the classic cut "Wild Thing?" A long list of artists have contributed handwritten and signed lyrics to some of their greatest songs to the Americana Music Association for a December 14 benefit auction, including Chip Taylor's "Wild Thing." Those donating lyrics include Dolly Parton (I Will Always Love You), Willie Nelson (On the Road Again), Robert Plant (Please Read the Letter), Peter Frampton (Baby I Love Your Way), Emmylou Harris (Tulsa Queen), Phil Everly (When Will I Be Loved), J.D. Souther (Faithless Love), John Prine (Angel From Montgomery), John Oates (She's Gone) and many more.
Currently, the Plant lyrics are the high bid receiver at $925. To see the full list and the current bids, go to the American Association website.
http://www.americanamusicauction.com/
Our good friends at AntiMusic are reporting that The Fab four are still pretty damn fab. At least with people who buy music according to the following Rolling Stone.com report:
Over three decades after their breakup, the Beatles still released the top-selling album of the 2000s. The Fab Four's greatest hits compilation 1 sold over 11,448,000 copies since its release in November 2000 according to Nielsen SoundScan's decade-end sales numbers. Eminem was the 2000s’ top-selling artist with 32.2 million combined in sales, plus two albums in the decade’s Top 10. The Beatles claimed Number Two with 30 million.
Soundscan's Top 10 Selling Albums of the 2000's
1.1 - Beatles (11,499,000 copies sold)
2.No Strings Attached - *NSYNC (11,112,000)
3.Come Away With Me - Norah Jones (10,546,000)
4.The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (10,204,000)
5.The Eminem Show - Eminem (9,799,000)
6.Confessions - Usher (9,712,000)
7.Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park (9,663,000)
8.Human Clay - Creed (9,491,000)
9.Oops!…I Did It Again - Britney Spears (9,185,000)
10.Country Grammar - Nelly (8,461,000)
=========================
SLASH - New Album Release And Tour Set
SLASH (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) has issued the following Twitter update:
"Driving around listening to the analog mixes of my solo record, I gotta say it sounds awesome. The whole self titled record was recorded analog. It will be released March/April - tour starts around then too. It will be released in all formats including vinyl."
Slash will be released in Europe via Roadrunner Records. A release date for other territories will be announced soon.
As previously reported, the first single from Slash's upcoming solo album will feature OZZY OSBOURNE on vocals. Other guests who will appear on Slash include ALICE COOPER, Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD), former Guns N' Roses men Duff McKagan (LOADED), Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin, Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS), Flea (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), IGGY POP, KID ROCK, CHRIS CORNELL, Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE), Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson (BLACK EYED PEAS), MAROON 5 singer Adam Levine and WOLFMOTHER's Andrew Stockdale.
=========================
Midlake announce limited-edition vinyl release and UK tour
Texas band head to the UK early next year
Midlake have announced details of a limited-edition 12-inch vinyl release featuring two new songs.
There will only be 500 copies of the record, which features 'Acts Of Man' and 'Rulers, Ruling All Things', available from December 14. Both songs will feature on Midlake's forthcoming album 'The Courage Of Others' (released on February 1).
Midlake tour the UK and Republic Of Ireland in January and February.
=========================
Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Stooges, Mötley Crüe for Sonisphere Festival 2010
Iron Maiden and Rammstein have been announced as headliners of the UK leg of the Sonisphere Festival next summer. The Knebworth House event will also feature Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Iggy And The Stooges, Anthrax, The Cult and Slayer.
Rammstein's appearance will mark their first ever UK festival show.
Sonisphere takes place between July 30 and August 1 next year.
=========================
Bon Iver releases live charity album 'A Decade With Duke' also features Justin Vernon's high school jazz band
Bon Iver has released a recording of a charity show at mainman Justin Vernon's old high school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Called 'A Decade With Duke', the album is a collaboration between Vernon and jazz ensemble Eau Claire Memorial Jazz 1.
Featuring songs from Bon Iver's critically acclaimed album 'For Emma, Forever Ago', such as 'Lump Sum' and 'For Emma', the album also sees Vernon performing jazz classics such as 'Lady Is A Tramp' and 'Bewitched'.
Vernon did the show to help raise money to send the jazz band to New York to take part in the Essentially Ellington competition, where they came third.
Released both physically and digitally, the CD is only available from Brickhouse Music, Morgan Music, and from the Volume One office in the Eau Claire area. For those outside of Wisconsin, a digital copy is available from various online retailers.
=========================
Elvis Costello set to release new live album 'Live At Hollywood High' to be released in January
Elvis Costello has announced plans to release the second in his 'The Costello Show' live performance series. Entitled 'Live At Hollywood High', the 20-song album is taken from Costello's gig at the school in Los Angeles in June 1978.
Released on January 11, the record will include songs from early albums 'My Aim Is True', 'This Year's Model' and 'Armed Forces'.
'Live At Hollywood High' follows on from the reissue of 'Live At The El Mocambo'earlier this year, and future releases for the series are set to include performances from the Royal Albert Hall, reports Billboard.
=========================
Neil Young | Gary Burden Get Grammy Music Nomination For Package Design
The long-awaited Neil Young Archives, Volume 1 (1963-1972) is a deluxe boxed set. It was conceived as a time-capsule of Neil Young's musical and personal journeys from 1963 to 1972. The elaborate box contains multiple cds/dvds/bluerays (depending on the version, there are three), a replica of Neil Young's revealing personal journal with a faux embossed leather cover, and a "stash" box (look in the corners for reproductions of pot seeds). The box was designed to last a long time, and also designed with sustainability in mind. "The Mohawk paper we used is FSC-certified, recycled with PCW content and made with windpower," said Burden.
Burden and Neil Young have been collaborating on album cover art for more than forty years and have become lifelong friends. They still enjoy working together and are currently at work on Volume II, and a myriad of other packages.
Gary says he will 'definitely' be going to the Grammy Awards in January, "It is very cool that the years of work Neil, my wife Jenice and I put into the packaging of Neil's archive is recognized by my peers as being worthy of a Grammy. I immediately recalled my first Grammy nomination in 1969 for Richard Pryor's comedy album. I went to Western Costume to rent an outfit. I got a tuxedo with sequin lapels and stripes on the trousers that was made for Elvis Presley. It fit me perfectly. Sweet!"
Gary Burden started designing album covers at the suggestion of Mama Cass after he did a short stint as an architect, designing Cass' home. Shortly thereafter, Burden had designed Joni Mitchell's "Blue" cover, albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and The Mamas and the Papas all of which went gold and platinum. Burden created Crosby, Stills and Nash's first album cover artwork, The Doors' "Morrison Hotel" and four album covers for the Eagles including "Desperado," several for Jackson Browne, Judee Sill, Laura Nyro, and many others even making a cover for Zydeco artist Clifton Chenier.
=========================
Handwritten Song Lyrices Up For Auction
Want to own the origianl handwritten lyrices for the classic cut "Wild Thing?" A long list of artists have contributed handwritten and signed lyrics to some of their greatest songs to the Americana Music Association for a December 14 benefit auction, including Chip Taylor's "Wild Thing." Those donating lyrics include Dolly Parton (I Will Always Love You), Willie Nelson (On the Road Again), Robert Plant (Please Read the Letter), Peter Frampton (Baby I Love Your Way), Emmylou Harris (Tulsa Queen), Phil Everly (When Will I Be Loved), J.D. Souther (Faithless Love), John Prine (Angel From Montgomery), John Oates (She's Gone) and many more.
Currently, the Plant lyrics are the high bid receiver at $925. To see the full list and the current bids, go to the American Association website.
http://www.americanamusicauction.com/
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Vinyl’s comeback makes musicians want to sing
TORONTO -- As music lovers approach a new decade in this still-young century, a recording technology once considered old and obsolete -- vinyl -- has been making a strong comeback. Vinyl albums, which began to be replaced by CDs in the mid-1980s, have rebounded in recent years as enthusiasts young and old turned sentimental for the old pops, cracks and warm sounds emitting from grooves on a record.
And as sales have rebounded, music makers ranging from big acts like Jack White and the Flaming Lips to local bands in major cities have been cranking out vinyl and treating fans with added material like old-style liner notes or posters. If bands can keep costs low, they may even be able to make extra money in the financially strapped music business where cheap digital downloads are replacing once-lucrative CD sales.
"It’s hard to say how long it’ll last, but even if you’re 16 years old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere," said Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. "So there’s probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music."
While vinyl records never truly became extinct from record store shelves, the current resurgence seems to have picked up pace starting around 2007. Last year, 1.9 million vinyl records sold, roughly double 2007. Industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan projects that 2.8 million units will be purchased in 2009.
A wide range of bands, from Radiohead and the Beatles to Bob Dylan and Metallica, have been shipping albums on vinyl. Radiohead, for instance, sold 61,000 vinyl records in 2008. Turntable sales are increasing, too, suggesting vinyl is reaching new customers and not just collectors and purists.
Seeing is believing
Vinyl’s renaissance springs from both musicians and fans longing for something more tangible than just listening to music on a digital file, said Paul Simcoe, co-owner of Toronto’s Criminal Records.
"I’ll support an artist to the end of time," he said. "But I still have a huge problem buying something I can’t see."
The Flaming Lips’ Coyne said vinyl appeals to fans’ senses in ways digital downloads can’t by providing colorful notes, posters or other visual items that downloads just don’t have. In fact, his band has even packaged DVDs with vinyl albums.
Trevor Larocque, co-founder of Toronto’s Paper Bag Records, said vinyl gives artists the chance to offer fans distinct products. His label’s records are made in limited amounts of 200 or 300, and the record sleeves are silk-screened with exclusive artwork.
Another technique to lure online listeners is offering memberships in fan clubs that include shipments of unreleased, vinyl recordings, which is what Nashville-based Third Man Records, founded by the White Stripes’ Jack White, is doing.
"That, for us, is a really strong way of reaching out to a digital generation," said label executive Ben Swank.
In the case of Toronto-based band the Diableros, they released a new EP, Old Story, Fresh Road, digitally and on vinyl, forgoing CDs which they felt were unnecessary.
But releasing an album on vinyl presents musicians with challenges that don’t exist for CDs or digital files, said David Read of Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing outfit on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Costs vs. benefits
Listeners can download files and/or copy digital songs onto CDs and DVDs from their home computer but vinyl presses aren’t easy to find -- there are only a handful in North America. And to produce a vinyl album, first the lacquer on which to press each vinyl album must be made. Then, a test pressing needs to be done and sound problems must be fixed before mass quantities are produced.
Also, many bands want to release just a few hundred copies on vinyl, yet custom vinyl jackets must be ordered in minimum quantities of 500. To get around that problem, Paper Bag Records ships its albums in, aptly so, paper -- recycled cardboard jackets that are customized for each band.
Diableros drummer Mike Duffield said his band borrowed money to finance their vinyl EP, but it was worth it.
"When you’ve worked a year and a half on something and you want to see it done, you take risks," he explained. "I think you have to invest in yourself and your product."
Vinyl records also cost fans more than CDs, said Criminal Record’s Simcoe.
CDs generally range from $10 to $14, but a vinyl record is usually at least $15. A price of $20 is more normal and a double-disc, for instance, can cost upward of $35.
Some major and independent labels have increased vinyl prices to account for higher costs and increased demand, but Simcoe worries that tactic may end the positive sales trend. "These guys are in danger of killing this industry," he said.
But for some artists, vinyl’s downsides are worth working around. Third Man Records, for instance, sidesteps higher costs and inconvenience by doing all their work in Nashville. The music is recorded in a studio behind their storefront and records are pressed at a facility just down the road.
"We can have it on the shelves in about a month, which is about as long as it takes to get it on iTunes these days," Swank said. "What we’re trying to do is make vinyl as immediate as a digital track can be." -- Reuters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How vinyl record sales stack up
CD SALES are off 13% in 2009 heading into the lucrative holiday shopping season, after a 20% annual drop in 2008 from the year before, but sales of vinyl records are bucking that trend.
Vinyl record sales reached 1.9 million units in 2008 and are on track to sell nearly 2.8 million units in 2009, according to industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan. Those numbers account only for stores that report to Nielsen and not smaller record shops or albums sold at concerts.
Though vinyl record sales have momentum, they still make up only 1% of total album sales tracked by Nielsen SoundScan. Following are some facts about vinyl records. Sales for individual albums and artists in 2009 are incomplete, so data covers 2008.
Vinyl by genre
Rock and alternative albums account for the most vinyl record sales, but other genres have shown growth, too.
Rock and alternative are each up just under 60% this year over last, while electronic (31%), rap (23%) and R&B (18%) are showing more modest gains.
Sales of LPs in country and gospel in 2009 are each up 200% from this time last year.
Jazz and hard rock are up 150% and 106% year-to-date, respectively.
Sales of Latin vinyl records are flat compared to this point last year, while soundtrack sales are down 7%.
Best-selling albums of 2008
In 2008, slightly fewer than 13,000 vinyl records sold at least one copy, while nearly 400 sold at least 1,000 copies and accounted for 50% of total vinyl sales. Here are the five best-selling vinyl records in 2008:
1. Radiohead -- In Rainbows: 25,800 copies sold
2. The Beatles -- Abbey Road: 16,500 copies sold
3. Guns N’ Roses -- Chinese Democracy: 13,600 copies sold
4. The B-52s -- Funplex: 12,800 copies sold
5. Portishead -- Third: 12,300 copies sold
Best-selling artists of 2008
The top five best-selling artists on vinyl in 2008 were a mix of those who released new albums that year, like Radiohead and Guns N’ Roses, and catalog artists like the Beatles with popular older releases. These artists sold 225,000 LPs in 2008, or 13% of all vinyl sold that year.
1. Radiohead: 61,000 copies sold
2. Metallica: 40,000 copies sold
3. Beatles: 20,000 copies sold
4. Elliot Smith: 18,000 copies sold
5. Bob Dylan: 15,000 copies sold -- Reuters
SOURCE: http://www.bworldonline.com/
2009 results will be available next month, but one important element of the story is that the 'counters' of these figures do not count some independent dealers and record shops where vinyl sells the best. Go figure.....
And as sales have rebounded, music makers ranging from big acts like Jack White and the Flaming Lips to local bands in major cities have been cranking out vinyl and treating fans with added material like old-style liner notes or posters. If bands can keep costs low, they may even be able to make extra money in the financially strapped music business where cheap digital downloads are replacing once-lucrative CD sales.
"It’s hard to say how long it’ll last, but even if you’re 16 years old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere," said Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. "So there’s probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music."
While vinyl records never truly became extinct from record store shelves, the current resurgence seems to have picked up pace starting around 2007. Last year, 1.9 million vinyl records sold, roughly double 2007. Industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan projects that 2.8 million units will be purchased in 2009.
A wide range of bands, from Radiohead and the Beatles to Bob Dylan and Metallica, have been shipping albums on vinyl. Radiohead, for instance, sold 61,000 vinyl records in 2008. Turntable sales are increasing, too, suggesting vinyl is reaching new customers and not just collectors and purists.
Seeing is believing
Vinyl’s renaissance springs from both musicians and fans longing for something more tangible than just listening to music on a digital file, said Paul Simcoe, co-owner of Toronto’s Criminal Records.
"I’ll support an artist to the end of time," he said. "But I still have a huge problem buying something I can’t see."
The Flaming Lips’ Coyne said vinyl appeals to fans’ senses in ways digital downloads can’t by providing colorful notes, posters or other visual items that downloads just don’t have. In fact, his band has even packaged DVDs with vinyl albums.
Trevor Larocque, co-founder of Toronto’s Paper Bag Records, said vinyl gives artists the chance to offer fans distinct products. His label’s records are made in limited amounts of 200 or 300, and the record sleeves are silk-screened with exclusive artwork.
Another technique to lure online listeners is offering memberships in fan clubs that include shipments of unreleased, vinyl recordings, which is what Nashville-based Third Man Records, founded by the White Stripes’ Jack White, is doing.
"That, for us, is a really strong way of reaching out to a digital generation," said label executive Ben Swank.
In the case of Toronto-based band the Diableros, they released a new EP, Old Story, Fresh Road, digitally and on vinyl, forgoing CDs which they felt were unnecessary.
But releasing an album on vinyl presents musicians with challenges that don’t exist for CDs or digital files, said David Read of Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing outfit on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Costs vs. benefits
Listeners can download files and/or copy digital songs onto CDs and DVDs from their home computer but vinyl presses aren’t easy to find -- there are only a handful in North America. And to produce a vinyl album, first the lacquer on which to press each vinyl album must be made. Then, a test pressing needs to be done and sound problems must be fixed before mass quantities are produced.
Also, many bands want to release just a few hundred copies on vinyl, yet custom vinyl jackets must be ordered in minimum quantities of 500. To get around that problem, Paper Bag Records ships its albums in, aptly so, paper -- recycled cardboard jackets that are customized for each band.
Diableros drummer Mike Duffield said his band borrowed money to finance their vinyl EP, but it was worth it.
"When you’ve worked a year and a half on something and you want to see it done, you take risks," he explained. "I think you have to invest in yourself and your product."
Vinyl records also cost fans more than CDs, said Criminal Record’s Simcoe.
CDs generally range from $10 to $14, but a vinyl record is usually at least $15. A price of $20 is more normal and a double-disc, for instance, can cost upward of $35.
Some major and independent labels have increased vinyl prices to account for higher costs and increased demand, but Simcoe worries that tactic may end the positive sales trend. "These guys are in danger of killing this industry," he said.
But for some artists, vinyl’s downsides are worth working around. Third Man Records, for instance, sidesteps higher costs and inconvenience by doing all their work in Nashville. The music is recorded in a studio behind their storefront and records are pressed at a facility just down the road.
"We can have it on the shelves in about a month, which is about as long as it takes to get it on iTunes these days," Swank said. "What we’re trying to do is make vinyl as immediate as a digital track can be." -- Reuters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How vinyl record sales stack up
CD SALES are off 13% in 2009 heading into the lucrative holiday shopping season, after a 20% annual drop in 2008 from the year before, but sales of vinyl records are bucking that trend.
Vinyl record sales reached 1.9 million units in 2008 and are on track to sell nearly 2.8 million units in 2009, according to industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan. Those numbers account only for stores that report to Nielsen and not smaller record shops or albums sold at concerts.
Though vinyl record sales have momentum, they still make up only 1% of total album sales tracked by Nielsen SoundScan. Following are some facts about vinyl records. Sales for individual albums and artists in 2009 are incomplete, so data covers 2008.
Vinyl by genre
Rock and alternative albums account for the most vinyl record sales, but other genres have shown growth, too.
Rock and alternative are each up just under 60% this year over last, while electronic (31%), rap (23%) and R&B (18%) are showing more modest gains.
Sales of LPs in country and gospel in 2009 are each up 200% from this time last year.
Jazz and hard rock are up 150% and 106% year-to-date, respectively.
Sales of Latin vinyl records are flat compared to this point last year, while soundtrack sales are down 7%.
Best-selling albums of 2008
In 2008, slightly fewer than 13,000 vinyl records sold at least one copy, while nearly 400 sold at least 1,000 copies and accounted for 50% of total vinyl sales. Here are the five best-selling vinyl records in 2008:
1. Radiohead -- In Rainbows: 25,800 copies sold
2. The Beatles -- Abbey Road: 16,500 copies sold
3. Guns N’ Roses -- Chinese Democracy: 13,600 copies sold
4. The B-52s -- Funplex: 12,800 copies sold
5. Portishead -- Third: 12,300 copies sold
Best-selling artists of 2008
The top five best-selling artists on vinyl in 2008 were a mix of those who released new albums that year, like Radiohead and Guns N’ Roses, and catalog artists like the Beatles with popular older releases. These artists sold 225,000 LPs in 2008, or 13% of all vinyl sold that year.
1. Radiohead: 61,000 copies sold
2. Metallica: 40,000 copies sold
3. Beatles: 20,000 copies sold
4. Elliot Smith: 18,000 copies sold
5. Bob Dylan: 15,000 copies sold -- Reuters
SOURCE: http://www.bworldonline.com/
2009 results will be available next month, but one important element of the story is that the 'counters' of these figures do not count some independent dealers and record shops where vinyl sells the best. Go figure.....
New Music For 2010
This from http://www.bumpershine.com/, lots of great music on the way!
2010 Jan, Feb, March - New Releases (With Dates)
Courtney Love – “Nobody’s Daughter” (01/01/10)*
Findlay Brown – “Love Will Find You” (01/05/10) Verve
Ringo Starr – “Y Not” (01/12/10) Hip-O/UMe
Laura Veirs – “July Flame” (01/12/10) Raven Marching Band
Final Fantasy – “Heartland” (01/12/10) Domino
OK Go – “Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky” (01/12/10) EMI
Editors – “In This Light And On this Evening” (01/19/10) Fader
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast (01/19/10) Kanine
Lindstrøm & Christabelle – “Real Life Is No Cool” (01/19/10)
Vampire Weekend – “Contra” (01/12/09) XL
The Paperbacks – “Lit From Within” (01/12/10) Parliament Of Trees
Woodpigeon – “Die Stadt Muzikanten” (01/12/10) Boompa
Hawksley Workman – “Meat” (01/19/10) Six Shooter
Alberta Cross – “The Broken Side Of Time” (01/19/10)
Spoon – “Transference” (01/19/10) Merge
Eels – “End Times” (01/19/10) Vagrant
RJD2 – “The Colossus” (01/19/10) Electrical Connections
Daniel Merriweather – “Love & War” (01/19/10) Sony/BMG
Cold War Kids – “Behave Yourself EP” (01/19/10) Downtown
Moonface (Spencer Krug) “Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums” (01/26/10) Jagjaguwar
Jaga Jazzist – “One-Armed Bandit” (01/26/10)
Beck & Charlotte Gainsbourg – “IRM” (01/26/10) Because
Various Artists – “Casual Victim Pile” (01/26/10) Matador
Los Campesinos! – “Romance Is Boring” (01/26/10) Arts & Crafts
Magnetic Fields – “Realism” (01/26/10) Nonesuch
Slow Six – “Tomorrow Becomes You” (01/26/10) Western Vinyl
Beach House – “Teen Dream” (01/26/10) Sub Pop
Citay – “Dream Get Together” (01/26/10) Dead Oceans
Locksley – “Be In Love” (01/26/10)
The Silent League – “…But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker” (01/26/10)
Corrine Bailey Rae – “The Sea” (01/26/10) EMI
Basia Bulat – “Heart Of My Own” (01/26/10) Rough Trade
Four Tet – “There Is Love In You” (01/26/10) Domino
Pit Er Pat – “The Flexible Entertainer” (01/26/10) Thrill Jockey
Patrick & Eugene – Altogether Now (Birds Bees Flowers Trees) (01/26/10)
Thavius Beck – “Dialogue ” (01/26/10) Mush
Midlake – “The Courage of Others” (02/02/10) Bella Union
Lifehouse – “Smoke and Mirrors” (02/02/10)
Chamillionaire – “Venom” (02/02/10) Chamillitary/Universal Republic
Martha and The Muffins – “Delicate” (02/02/10) Muffin Music
Groove Amanda- “Black Light” (02/02/10)
Pantha Du Prince – “Black Noise” (02/09/10) Rough Trade
Massive Attack – “Heligoland” (02/09/10) Virgin
Hot Chip – “One Life Stand” (02/09/10) DFA/EMI
Yeasayer – “Odd Blood” (02/09/10) Secretly Canadian
Reckless Kelly – “Somewhere in Time” (02/09/10) Yep Roc
Galactic – “Ya-Ka-May” (02/09/10) ANTI-
You Say Party! We Say Die! – “XXXX” (02/09/10) Paper Bag
The Watson Twins – “Talking To You, Talking To Me” (02/09/10) Vanguard
Drake – “Thank Me Later” (02/14/10) Cash Money
Angels & Airwaves – “Love” (02/14/10)
Lightspeed Champion – “Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” (02/16/10)
Tindersticks – “Falling Down a Mountain” (02/16/10)
Field Music – “(Measure)” (02/16/10) Memphis Industries
Efterklang – “Magical Chairs” (02/23/10) The Leaf
Zeus – “Say Us” – (02/23/10) Arts & Crafts
Wolf People – “Tidings” (02/23/10) Jagjaguwar
Toro Y Moi – “Causers Of This” (02/23/10) Carpark
Quasi – “American Gong” (02/23/10) Kill Rock Stars
Shout Out Louds – “Work” (02/23/10) Merge
Shearwater – “The Golden Archipelago” (02/23/10) Matador
The Streets – “Computers and Blues” (02/23/10)
Xiu Xiu – “Dear God, I Hate Myself” (02/23/10) Kill Rock Stars
Holly Miranda – “The Magician’s Private Library” (02/23/10) XL
Frightened Rabbit – “The Winter of Our Mixed Drinks” (03/01/10) FatCat
Rogue Wave – “Permalight” (03/02/10) Brushfire
The Ruby Suns – “Fight Softly” (03/02/10) Sub Pop
The Whigs – “In The Dark” (03/02/10) ATO
BRMC – “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” (03/09/10) Abstract Dragon
Ted Leo – “The Brutalist Bricks” (03/09/10) Matador
Josh Rouse – “El Turista” (03/09/10) Yep Roc #
Liars – “Sisterworld” (03/09/10) Mute
Jason Collett – “Rat A Tat Tat” (03/09/10) Arts & Crafts
Goldfrapp – “Head First” (03/23/10) Mute
Jonsi – “Go” (03/23/10) XL
Mose Allison – “The Way of The World: (03/23/10) ANTI-
Dillenger Escape Plan – “Option Paralysis” (03/23/10) Party Smasher Inc. / Season of Mist
She & Him – “Volume 2″ (03/23/10) Merge
The Apples in Stereo – “Travelers in Space and Time” (04/06/10) Yep Roc
Peggy Sue – “Fossils and Other Phantoms” (04/20/10) Yep Roc
* Speculative
# Tentative
All dates are subject to change.
2010 Jan, Feb, March - New Releases (With Dates)
Courtney Love – “Nobody’s Daughter” (01/01/10)*
Findlay Brown – “Love Will Find You” (01/05/10) Verve
Ringo Starr – “Y Not” (01/12/10) Hip-O/UMe
Laura Veirs – “July Flame” (01/12/10) Raven Marching Band
Final Fantasy – “Heartland” (01/12/10) Domino
OK Go – “Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky” (01/12/10) EMI
Editors – “In This Light And On this Evening” (01/19/10) Fader
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast (01/19/10) Kanine
Lindstrøm & Christabelle – “Real Life Is No Cool” (01/19/10)
Vampire Weekend – “Contra” (01/12/09) XL
The Paperbacks – “Lit From Within” (01/12/10) Parliament Of Trees
Woodpigeon – “Die Stadt Muzikanten” (01/12/10) Boompa
Hawksley Workman – “Meat” (01/19/10) Six Shooter
Alberta Cross – “The Broken Side Of Time” (01/19/10)
Spoon – “Transference” (01/19/10) Merge
Eels – “End Times” (01/19/10) Vagrant
RJD2 – “The Colossus” (01/19/10) Electrical Connections
Daniel Merriweather – “Love & War” (01/19/10) Sony/BMG
Cold War Kids – “Behave Yourself EP” (01/19/10) Downtown
Moonface (Spencer Krug) “Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums” (01/26/10) Jagjaguwar
Jaga Jazzist – “One-Armed Bandit” (01/26/10)
Beck & Charlotte Gainsbourg – “IRM” (01/26/10) Because
Various Artists – “Casual Victim Pile” (01/26/10) Matador
Los Campesinos! – “Romance Is Boring” (01/26/10) Arts & Crafts
Magnetic Fields – “Realism” (01/26/10) Nonesuch
Slow Six – “Tomorrow Becomes You” (01/26/10) Western Vinyl
Beach House – “Teen Dream” (01/26/10) Sub Pop
Citay – “Dream Get Together” (01/26/10) Dead Oceans
Locksley – “Be In Love” (01/26/10)
The Silent League – “…But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker” (01/26/10)
Corrine Bailey Rae – “The Sea” (01/26/10) EMI
Basia Bulat – “Heart Of My Own” (01/26/10) Rough Trade
Four Tet – “There Is Love In You” (01/26/10) Domino
Pit Er Pat – “The Flexible Entertainer” (01/26/10) Thrill Jockey
Patrick & Eugene – Altogether Now (Birds Bees Flowers Trees) (01/26/10)
Thavius Beck – “Dialogue ” (01/26/10) Mush
Midlake – “The Courage of Others” (02/02/10) Bella Union
Lifehouse – “Smoke and Mirrors” (02/02/10)
Chamillionaire – “Venom” (02/02/10) Chamillitary/Universal Republic
Martha and The Muffins – “Delicate” (02/02/10) Muffin Music
Groove Amanda- “Black Light” (02/02/10)
Pantha Du Prince – “Black Noise” (02/09/10) Rough Trade
Massive Attack – “Heligoland” (02/09/10) Virgin
Hot Chip – “One Life Stand” (02/09/10) DFA/EMI
Yeasayer – “Odd Blood” (02/09/10) Secretly Canadian
Reckless Kelly – “Somewhere in Time” (02/09/10) Yep Roc
Galactic – “Ya-Ka-May” (02/09/10) ANTI-
You Say Party! We Say Die! – “XXXX” (02/09/10) Paper Bag
The Watson Twins – “Talking To You, Talking To Me” (02/09/10) Vanguard
Drake – “Thank Me Later” (02/14/10) Cash Money
Angels & Airwaves – “Love” (02/14/10)
Lightspeed Champion – “Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” (02/16/10)
Tindersticks – “Falling Down a Mountain” (02/16/10)
Field Music – “(Measure)” (02/16/10) Memphis Industries
Efterklang – “Magical Chairs” (02/23/10) The Leaf
Zeus – “Say Us” – (02/23/10) Arts & Crafts
Wolf People – “Tidings” (02/23/10) Jagjaguwar
Toro Y Moi – “Causers Of This” (02/23/10) Carpark
Quasi – “American Gong” (02/23/10) Kill Rock Stars
Shout Out Louds – “Work” (02/23/10) Merge
Shearwater – “The Golden Archipelago” (02/23/10) Matador
The Streets – “Computers and Blues” (02/23/10)
Xiu Xiu – “Dear God, I Hate Myself” (02/23/10) Kill Rock Stars
Holly Miranda – “The Magician’s Private Library” (02/23/10) XL
Frightened Rabbit – “The Winter of Our Mixed Drinks” (03/01/10) FatCat
Rogue Wave – “Permalight” (03/02/10) Brushfire
The Ruby Suns – “Fight Softly” (03/02/10) Sub Pop
The Whigs – “In The Dark” (03/02/10) ATO
BRMC – “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” (03/09/10) Abstract Dragon
Ted Leo – “The Brutalist Bricks” (03/09/10) Matador
Josh Rouse – “El Turista” (03/09/10) Yep Roc #
Liars – “Sisterworld” (03/09/10) Mute
Jason Collett – “Rat A Tat Tat” (03/09/10) Arts & Crafts
Goldfrapp – “Head First” (03/23/10) Mute
Jonsi – “Go” (03/23/10) XL
Mose Allison – “The Way of The World: (03/23/10) ANTI-
Dillenger Escape Plan – “Option Paralysis” (03/23/10) Party Smasher Inc. / Season of Mist
She & Him – “Volume 2″ (03/23/10) Merge
The Apples in Stereo – “Travelers in Space and Time” (04/06/10) Yep Roc
Peggy Sue – “Fossils and Other Phantoms” (04/20/10) Yep Roc
* Speculative
# Tentative
All dates are subject to change.
FEATURED RECORD COLLECTOR OF THE MONTH
Found a very interest read, 45 rpm records are still in the news and sought after.
FEATURED RECORD COLLECTOR OF THE MONTH
People like Harold Ott are indispensable to a community's culture—to a community's legacy. What's a community? That's us! Through his music work, Harold Ott provides reminders of who "we" were and thus, of course, who we are—not an irrelevant consideration. Harold's weapon of choice is Arkansas garage & psychedelic rock circa the 1960s/early 1970s. There are clues to our current identity in this music. Also: this music reminds us that anything is possible; "art" is not a genre; it's a door. You might think the study of Arkansas garage & psych rock is constraining but the fun-filled truth is that it's not. Arkansas garage & psych rock is a worthy puzzle: how can something so "small" be so big? Harold Ott grew up in Jacksonville, Arkansas, becoming a garage music fan around the age of sixteen. After a stint in the band Lollygadget and finishing school at the University of Arkansas in 1998, Ott began collecting records. His Psych of the South website project was founded in 2007 (visit: www.psychofthesouth.com). Since then, Ott has been an avid collector and historian of Arkansas garage rock, duly transforming into a dedicated crate-digger and audiophile. He is roundly considered the state's resident expert concerning the garage scene of the 1960s.
THE OA: You've now released two LOST SOULS compilations, both of which present garage and psychedelic rock music from Arkansas from the mid-'60s to early '70s. Why should other people care about this music?
HAROLD OTT: For me, the '60s and early '70s were the greatest time for rock. I'm just casting a light on the happenings in my own backyard, forty years ago. In spite of the obscurity of most of the recordings presented here, Arkansas produced garage and psychedelic rock on par with any other part of the country. This is the recorded legacy of Arkansas and I care about preserving it for the future. Many of the stories, pictures, and music I present are on the utter edge of extinction. Once the guys who have the material are gone, that's pretty much it. I'm making it my mission to discover local music and present the very best of what I find. I hope people can relate to the quest and the thrill of discovering something forty years old that can be appreciated by people around the world now.
Read the rest of this interesting interview here:
http://www.oxfordamerican.org/interviews/2009/dec/07/featured-record-collector-month/
FEATURED RECORD COLLECTOR OF THE MONTH
People like Harold Ott are indispensable to a community's culture—to a community's legacy. What's a community? That's us! Through his music work, Harold Ott provides reminders of who "we" were and thus, of course, who we are—not an irrelevant consideration. Harold's weapon of choice is Arkansas garage & psychedelic rock circa the 1960s/early 1970s. There are clues to our current identity in this music. Also: this music reminds us that anything is possible; "art" is not a genre; it's a door. You might think the study of Arkansas garage & psych rock is constraining but the fun-filled truth is that it's not. Arkansas garage & psych rock is a worthy puzzle: how can something so "small" be so big? Harold Ott grew up in Jacksonville, Arkansas, becoming a garage music fan around the age of sixteen. After a stint in the band Lollygadget and finishing school at the University of Arkansas in 1998, Ott began collecting records. His Psych of the South website project was founded in 2007 (visit: www.psychofthesouth.com). Since then, Ott has been an avid collector and historian of Arkansas garage rock, duly transforming into a dedicated crate-digger and audiophile. He is roundly considered the state's resident expert concerning the garage scene of the 1960s.
THE OA: You've now released two LOST SOULS compilations, both of which present garage and psychedelic rock music from Arkansas from the mid-'60s to early '70s. Why should other people care about this music?
HAROLD OTT: For me, the '60s and early '70s were the greatest time for rock. I'm just casting a light on the happenings in my own backyard, forty years ago. In spite of the obscurity of most of the recordings presented here, Arkansas produced garage and psychedelic rock on par with any other part of the country. This is the recorded legacy of Arkansas and I care about preserving it for the future. Many of the stories, pictures, and music I present are on the utter edge of extinction. Once the guys who have the material are gone, that's pretty much it. I'm making it my mission to discover local music and present the very best of what I find. I hope people can relate to the quest and the thrill of discovering something forty years old that can be appreciated by people around the world now.
Read the rest of this interesting interview here:
http://www.oxfordamerican.org/interviews/2009/dec/07/featured-record-collector-month/
Music News & Notes
VF Manufacturing
In the short time since its inception in 2001, Vinyl Factory Manufacturing (Ex Portal Space Records) has established itself as a leading manufacturer of quality record pressings. Everything and everyone in the plant is dedicated to the provision of a fast, consistent and reliable supply to meet the needs of the customer.
As the inheritors of EMI’s equipment, knowledge and experience our roots go back to the very origins of record discs as a carrier of sound.
This heritage includes EMI’s Type 1400 press. All our records are made on these machines which are the result of many years of design and development and are widely recognised as the best in the world.
The Vinyl Factory’s manufacturing philosophy recognises the vital role of people and to this end it has retained key staff from the former EMI Records plant to form the basis of a team who are proud to carry on the historic traditions associated with the best in the music industry.
Located in Hayes, Middlesex, The Vinyl Factory Manufacturing has excellent transport links. Heathrow Airport is on its doorstep and there is easy access to the motorway network via the M4, M25 and M40. Within the M25 The Vinyl Factory Manufacturing is able to offer a twice-daily service at reasonable cost.
===========================
Susan Boyle At #1 On Billboard For Second Straight Week
Susan Boyle couldn't have dreamed up selling over a million copies in just two weeks in stores. Her "I Dreamed A Dream" sells 527,000 copies in its second week, bringing her total to 1.23 million copies and earning her the #1 spot for a second week on the Billboard Albums chart. The album, which features covers of "Wild Horses" and "Silent Night," is already the #10 best-selling album of 2009.
Joining her near the top (and what a duet that would be) is Andrea Bocelli, who spends a fourth week at #2 with "My Christmas." The holiday album, which continues to increase in sales each week, sells 428,000 copies, bringing his total to 1.12 million copies.
At #3 this week is Taylor Swift, who rises all the way to #3 from #8 last week, selling another 127,000 copies of her album "Fearless," and inching that much closer to selling 5 million copies in the U.S.
R. Kelly debuts at #4 with "Untitled," his latest studio album selling 114,000 in its first week. This is R. Kelly's ninth album to reach the top 4 on Billboard. Lady Gaga follows at #5 with "The Fame," which moves up one spot selling 84,000 copies. "The Fame" now includes "The Fame Monster" EP, which features "Bad Romance" and her Beyonce duet "Telephone."
Carrie Underwood moves up to #6 with "Play On," selling 81,000 copies this week. Norah Jones follows at #7 with "The Fall" selling 80,000 copies. Michael Jackson's "This Is It" compilation moves up to #8 this week with 75,000 copies.
The "New Moon" soundtrack is #9 this week, moving 72,000 copies and climbing up three spots. Up from #18 last week and at #10 this week is Michael Buble. His "Crazy Love" album sells 72,000 this week.
Billboard Top 200 Albums Week Ending December 19th, 2009
1. I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle
2. My Christmas, Andrea Bocelli
3. Fearless, Taylor Swift
4. Untitled, R. Kelly
5. The Fame, Lady Gaga
6. Play On, Carrie Underwood
7. The Fall, Norah Jones
8. This Is It, Michael Jackson
9. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Soundtrack
10. Crazy Love, Michael Buble
===========================
Flaming Lips hail resurgence of vinyl
Guitar player Wayne Coyne has welcomed the surge of interest in vinyl records among music fans. The emergence of CDs and internet downloads had led to traditional 33s and 45s falling by the wayside, but they seem to be coming back into favour.
Coyne, who fronts US-based rock group The Flaming Lips, has hailed this as a positive development.
Speaking to Reuters, he said vinyl records offer music lovers things that digital downloads can not, such as posters and colourful packaging.
"Even if you're 16 years old, your parents probably have vinyl somewhere," Coyle commented.
"There's probably some trigger of another time, an exotic world where this was the way you bought music."
However, Coyle admitted that it is hard to predict how long the renewed interest in vinyl will last.
Jim Penistan, owner of a record shop in Lincoln, has credited artists such as The White Stripes for driving demand for vinyl records and turntables.
He told the Lincolnshire Echo that the band have been among those to put out their new releases in this format, along with The Strokes.
===========================
Sonic Youth Going Back To Studio
Guitarist Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth has told the BBC6 that the group will be going in the studio next year to record their 17th album and the followup to this year's The Eternal. Also on tap is a DVD of their 2007/08 Daydream Nations tour and the digitizing of 30 years worth of the group's music.
"We're doing a big archival house clean right now. We've got a massive archive of audio and video that's sitting in our studio in Hoboken. We've got somebody in there who's noting every single thing down and making a massive database, and then we're going to start digitizing it because some of the tapes are 30 years old now."
===========================
Nickelback Single Tops Decade
Nickelback's first single, 2001's "How You Remind Me," ranks #1 in USA Today's list of the most popular radio songs of the '00s.
According to Nielsen, the hit single racked up 1.2 million spins since 2000. Also exceeding 1 million spins are these popular radio songs listed in descending order:
1. Nickelback, How You Remind Me
2. Train, Drops of Jupiter
3. Lifehouse, Hanging By a Moment
4. Faith Hill, Breathe
5. 3 Doors Down, Kryptonite
===========================
Blues Nominees
The Blues Foundation has announced their nominees for the 2010 Blues Music Awards, to be held on May 6 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Leading the nominees is Joe Lewis Walker with five followed by Tommy Castro, Rick Estrin, Super Chikan, Louisiana Red and Duke Robillard (right) who each have four.
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
•Candye Kane
•Magic Slim
•Rick Estrin
•Super Chikan
•Taj Mahal
•Tommy Castro
Album
•Stomp! the Blues Tonight - Duke Robillard's Jumpin’ Blues Revue
•Tear This World Up - Eddie C. Campbell
•Between a Rock and the Blues - Joe Louis Walker
•Juke Joint Back to the Black Bayou - Louisiana Red & Little Victor
•Chicago Blues A Living History - Various Artists
Band
•Duke Robillard's Jumpin' Blues Revue
•Nick Moss & the Flip Tops
•Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
•The Mannish Boys
•Tommy Castro Band
New Artist Debut
•Walk That Fine Thin Line - Greg Nagy
•White Sugar - Joanne Shaw Taylor
•Man Child - Marquise Knox
•Tiger in your Tank - Monkey Junk
•Soul Tub! - The California Honeydrops
Song
•Pearl River - Cyril Neville & Mike Zito
•Fred's Dollar Store - James “Super Chikan” Johnson
•I'm Tide - Joe Louis Walker
•Never Going Back to Memphis - John Hahn & Oliver Wood
•At Least I'm Not With You - Vyasa Dodson
Acoustic Album
•You Got to Move - David Maxwell & Louisiana Red
•Good Time Music for Hard Times - Maria Muldaur & her Garden of Joy
•Havin' The Last Word - Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women
•For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen - Samuel James
•Things About Comin' My Way - A Tribute to the music of the Mississippi Sheiks - Various Artists
Acoustic Artist
•Annie Raines & Paul Rishell
•Doug MacLeod
•Guy Davis
•Louisiana Red
•Samuel James
Contemporary Blues Album
•Superhero - Candye Kane
•Between a Rock and the Blues - Joe Louis Walker
•Twisted - Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
•Living in the Light - Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters
•Hard Believer - Tommy Castro
Contemporary Blues Female Artist
•Bettye LaVette
•Candye Kane
•Janiva Magness
•Ruthie Foster
•Shemekia Copeland
Contemporary Blues Male Artist
•Derek Trucks
•Joe Louis Walker
•John Nemeth
•Michael Burks
•Tommy Castro
Rock Blues Album
•Already Free - Derek Trucks Band
•Done with the Devil - Jason Ricci & New Blood
•Tijuana Bible - Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat
•Pearl River - Mike Zito
•Speak No Evil - Tinsley Ellis
Soul Blues Album
•Troubled Child - Charles Wilson
•Just for You - Darrell Nulisch
•Ace of Spades - Johnny Rawls
•All About the Rhythm and the Blues - Latimore
•Betcha Didn't Know - Mighty Sam McClain
Soul Blues Female Artist
•Barbara Carr
•Denise LaSalle
•Irma Thomas
•Shirley Brown
•Sista Monica Parker
Soul Blues Male Artist
•Curtis Salgado
•Darrell Nulisch
•Jackie Payne
•Johnny Rawls
•Latimore
Traditional Blues Album
•All Original - John Primer
•The Gentleman is Back - Johnnie Bassett
•Back to the Black Bayou - Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint
•Chikadelic - Super Chikan
•Chicago Blues A Living History - Various Artists
Traditional Blues Female Artist
•Ann Rabson
•Debbie Davies
•Fiona Boyes
•Shirley Johnson
•Zora Young
Traditional Blues Male Artist
•Duke Robillard
•John Primer
•Johnnie Bassett
•Louisiana Red
•Super Chikan
Historical Album
•Taking Care of Business (1956-1973) - Freddie King
•Authorized Bootleg - Muddy Waters
•Essential Montreux - Gary Moore
•The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967) - Little Walter
•Sean's Blues - Sean Costello
This Date In Music History-December 10
Birthdays:
Chad Stuart of Chad & Jeremy is 66
Susan Dey of the Partridge Family (though she never actually sang) turns 57
Ace Kefford - Move (1946)
Walter Orange - Commodores (1946)
Ralph Tavares - Tavares (1948)
Jessica Cleaves - The Friends Of Distinction (1948)
Joseph Mascis - Dinosaur Jr. (1965)
Meg White - White Stripes (1974)
They Are Missed:
The flamboyant blues guitarist Guitar Slim was born in Greenwood, MS in 1926. Armed with an estimated 350 feet of cord between his axe and his amp, Slim would confidently stride onstage wearing a garishly hued suit of red, blue, or green ? with his hair usually dyed to match. best known for the million-selling song ‘The Things That I Used to Do’, a song that is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. He died on February 7, 1959
In 1967, soul singer, songwriter Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash at the age of 26. Redding and his band had made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local ‘Upbeat’ television show the previous day. The plane carrying Otis Redding and his band crashed at 3.28.pm into icy waters of Lake Monoma near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was killed in the crash along with members from the The Bar-Kays, Jimmy King, Ron Caldwell, Phalin Jones and Carl Cunningham. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only person to survive the crash.
Born today in 1910, John Hammond, producer, A&R scout. Worked with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, George Benson and Janis Joplin. Hammond died on 10th July 1987.
Rick Danko died in his sleep at his home near Woodstock, New York in 1999. The Canadian guitarist and singer joined The Hawks in 1963 who went on to work as Bob Dylan’s backing band, (with Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson). Renamed The Band who released their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink (featuring the single ‘The Weight’). The Band released the 1978 concert film-documentary triple-LP soundtrack ‘The Last Waltz.’
Bill Harris of the Clovers died of cancer in 1988 at the age of 63.
Faron Young died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Country star Faron Young, known as both the Hillbilly Heartthrob and the Singing Sheriff, died in 1996 (age 64). He shot himself the day before, after being diagnosed with debilitating emphysema.
2005 Richard Pryor, the profane comedian whose monologues inspired rappers like Ice T and N.W.A., died in 2005 (age 65).
History:
The Grand Old Opry made its first radio broadcast from Nashville, TN in 1927.
Having signed to the Imperial label, Fats Domino cuts eight tracks during his first recording session at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios. in 1949. They included "The Fat Man" (adapted from a song called "Junkers Blues"), which reached #2 on the R&B chart and reportedly sold a million copies. Some regard it as the first rock and roll record.
In 1955, Johnny Cash makes his first appearance on the "Louisiana Hayride" program in Shreveport (and meets future wife June Carter).
In 1959, the four male members of the Platters were acquitted of charges of aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness and assignation stemming from their August 10 arrest in Cincinnati. Municipal Court judge Gilbert Bettman, in handing down the decision, tells the black singers: "You have lost an opportunity to be an example to your people . . . You have taken that which can be the core of reproductive life and turned it into a socially abhorrant, tawdry indulgence in lust . . . For these transgressions you will be accountable in that highest court before which you must, in the end, stand final judgement."
Donny Osmond made his debut with the Osmonds in 1963 on NBC's "Andy Williams Show."
The Grateful Dead played their first concert in 1965. The show took place at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA.
The Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" was released in 1966.
The Beach Boys went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1966 with 'Good Vibrations', the group's third US #1. Also #1 in the UK.
In 1967, the Byrds played the first of an 8 night run at the Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood, California.
The Steve Miller Blues Band, an unrecorded San Francisco group via Texas and Chicago, signed with Capitol Records for an unheard of $750,000 in 1967. In doing so, the group drops the "Blues" from its name. Good move.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono announced plans to make a film called A6 in 1969. The film, they say, will focus on the case of James Hanratty, who was hanged in 1962 after being convicted of murdering a man on the A6 motorway in England. Many believe that Hanratty was innocent and capital punishment in Britain was later abolished as a result.
In 1971, Frank Zappa breaks his leg and ankle and fractures his skull when he is pushed from a London stage by the jealous boyfriend of a Zappa fan. Zappa will spend months in a wheelchair recovering.
The CBGB Club opened in the lower eastside of New York City in 1973; where it became the home of new bands such as Blondie, Television, Patti Smith and The Ramones.
A three-record set of live performances from the U.S. Wings tour, Wings over America, summarized Paul McCartney's post-Beatles career with its 30-song selection, was released in 1976. The compilation which included "My Love," "Silly Love Songs," "Titanium Man" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," reached #1.
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson started a six week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1983 with "Say Say Say." It was Jackson's 10th #1 (solo & The Jackson's) and McCartney's 29th, (solo and The Beatles).
Band-Aid, the group assembled by the Boomtown Rats' frontman Bob Geldof, released the single "Do They Know It's Christmas" in 1984. The proceeds of the song went to famine relief. Bob Geldof was eventually knighted on behalf of his efforts.
Chicago started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1988 with "Look Away."
In 1998, a recording of a 1963 Beatles concert was sold at auction at Christies in London for $41,500. The tape of The Beatles' 10-song concert was recorded by the chief technician at the Gaumont Theatre in Bournemouth during one of six consecutive nights which The Beatles had played. Also sold for $8,500, was a set of autographs of five Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best, and Stuart Sutcliffe. The autographs had been obtained by a fan in Liverpool in 1961.
Legendary rock & roll deejay, and in fact the man who coined the phrase "Rock & Roll," Alan Freed was posthumously awarded a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1991.
Alicia Keys sells 618,000 copies of "The Diary of Alicia Keys" to top the album charts in 2003.
In 2004, one of three RCA microphones used by radio station KWKH for the historic Elvis Presley appearance at the Louisiana Hayride was sold for $37,500. The microphone was one of three used during 50 performances by Elvis Presley when he performed for the radio show in Shreveport from 1954 to 1956.
Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London's 02 arena in 2007. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 9,000 pairs of tickets available for the show.
Chad Stuart of Chad & Jeremy is 66
Susan Dey of the Partridge Family (though she never actually sang) turns 57
Ace Kefford - Move (1946)
Walter Orange - Commodores (1946)
Ralph Tavares - Tavares (1948)
Jessica Cleaves - The Friends Of Distinction (1948)
Joseph Mascis - Dinosaur Jr. (1965)
Meg White - White Stripes (1974)
They Are Missed:
The flamboyant blues guitarist Guitar Slim was born in Greenwood, MS in 1926. Armed with an estimated 350 feet of cord between his axe and his amp, Slim would confidently stride onstage wearing a garishly hued suit of red, blue, or green ? with his hair usually dyed to match. best known for the million-selling song ‘The Things That I Used to Do’, a song that is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. He died on February 7, 1959
In 1967, soul singer, songwriter Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash at the age of 26. Redding and his band had made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local ‘Upbeat’ television show the previous day. The plane carrying Otis Redding and his band crashed at 3.28.pm into icy waters of Lake Monoma near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was killed in the crash along with members from the The Bar-Kays, Jimmy King, Ron Caldwell, Phalin Jones and Carl Cunningham. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only person to survive the crash.
Born today in 1910, John Hammond, producer, A&R scout. Worked with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, George Benson and Janis Joplin. Hammond died on 10th July 1987.
Rick Danko died in his sleep at his home near Woodstock, New York in 1999. The Canadian guitarist and singer joined The Hawks in 1963 who went on to work as Bob Dylan’s backing band, (with Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson). Renamed The Band who released their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink (featuring the single ‘The Weight’). The Band released the 1978 concert film-documentary triple-LP soundtrack ‘The Last Waltz.’
Bill Harris of the Clovers died of cancer in 1988 at the age of 63.
Faron Young died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Country star Faron Young, known as both the Hillbilly Heartthrob and the Singing Sheriff, died in 1996 (age 64). He shot himself the day before, after being diagnosed with debilitating emphysema.
2005 Richard Pryor, the profane comedian whose monologues inspired rappers like Ice T and N.W.A., died in 2005 (age 65).
History:
The Grand Old Opry made its first radio broadcast from Nashville, TN in 1927.
Having signed to the Imperial label, Fats Domino cuts eight tracks during his first recording session at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios. in 1949. They included "The Fat Man" (adapted from a song called "Junkers Blues"), which reached #2 on the R&B chart and reportedly sold a million copies. Some regard it as the first rock and roll record.
In 1955, Johnny Cash makes his first appearance on the "Louisiana Hayride" program in Shreveport (and meets future wife June Carter).
In 1959, the four male members of the Platters were acquitted of charges of aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness and assignation stemming from their August 10 arrest in Cincinnati. Municipal Court judge Gilbert Bettman, in handing down the decision, tells the black singers: "You have lost an opportunity to be an example to your people . . . You have taken that which can be the core of reproductive life and turned it into a socially abhorrant, tawdry indulgence in lust . . . For these transgressions you will be accountable in that highest court before which you must, in the end, stand final judgement."
Donny Osmond made his debut with the Osmonds in 1963 on NBC's "Andy Williams Show."
The Grateful Dead played their first concert in 1965. The show took place at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA.
The Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" was released in 1966.
The Beach Boys went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1966 with 'Good Vibrations', the group's third US #1. Also #1 in the UK.
In 1967, the Byrds played the first of an 8 night run at the Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood, California.
The Steve Miller Blues Band, an unrecorded San Francisco group via Texas and Chicago, signed with Capitol Records for an unheard of $750,000 in 1967. In doing so, the group drops the "Blues" from its name. Good move.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono announced plans to make a film called A6 in 1969. The film, they say, will focus on the case of James Hanratty, who was hanged in 1962 after being convicted of murdering a man on the A6 motorway in England. Many believe that Hanratty was innocent and capital punishment in Britain was later abolished as a result.
In 1971, Frank Zappa breaks his leg and ankle and fractures his skull when he is pushed from a London stage by the jealous boyfriend of a Zappa fan. Zappa will spend months in a wheelchair recovering.
The CBGB Club opened in the lower eastside of New York City in 1973; where it became the home of new bands such as Blondie, Television, Patti Smith and The Ramones.
A three-record set of live performances from the U.S. Wings tour, Wings over America, summarized Paul McCartney's post-Beatles career with its 30-song selection, was released in 1976. The compilation which included "My Love," "Silly Love Songs," "Titanium Man" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," reached #1.
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson started a six week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1983 with "Say Say Say." It was Jackson's 10th #1 (solo & The Jackson's) and McCartney's 29th, (solo and The Beatles).
Band-Aid, the group assembled by the Boomtown Rats' frontman Bob Geldof, released the single "Do They Know It's Christmas" in 1984. The proceeds of the song went to famine relief. Bob Geldof was eventually knighted on behalf of his efforts.
Chicago started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1988 with "Look Away."
In 1998, a recording of a 1963 Beatles concert was sold at auction at Christies in London for $41,500. The tape of The Beatles' 10-song concert was recorded by the chief technician at the Gaumont Theatre in Bournemouth during one of six consecutive nights which The Beatles had played. Also sold for $8,500, was a set of autographs of five Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best, and Stuart Sutcliffe. The autographs had been obtained by a fan in Liverpool in 1961.
Legendary rock & roll deejay, and in fact the man who coined the phrase "Rock & Roll," Alan Freed was posthumously awarded a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1991.
Alicia Keys sells 618,000 copies of "The Diary of Alicia Keys" to top the album charts in 2003.
In 2004, one of three RCA microphones used by radio station KWKH for the historic Elvis Presley appearance at the Louisiana Hayride was sold for $37,500. The microphone was one of three used during 50 performances by Elvis Presley when he performed for the radio show in Shreveport from 1954 to 1956.
Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London's 02 arena in 2007. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 9,000 pairs of tickets available for the show.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
