Music Master Catalogue

Music Master 1990

Long before the Internet and Google search, if you wanted to look up information about a record/song/artist, you had to find out the old fashioned way by looking in a book.

Retail record stores across the country had to subscribe to a music catalogue that was so big it made the bible look like a pamphlet. Imagine a book that listed all formats, all track listings, all catalogue numbers, record labels & release dates for EVERY record that is currently available to buy.

That book was Music Master.

With monthly supplements to keep the information up to date and a full yearly reprint, thIs book was the music bible for the Retail music industry.

If anyone wanted to order a record this was the place to start. To order a title you needed three important pieces of information.

1. Is it still available?. 2. What label is it on? (Or more importantly who's distributing it?) 3. What's the catalogue number.

This book had it all. It cost an absolute fortune to buy and was a pain in the bum to flick through but I spent many happy hours looking though it trying to find classic stuff to purchase for myself never mind customers. You may have needed a magnifying glass to read the writing and the paper was so thin it could tear very easily, but it was an essential part of any proper record shop. I can find very little information on the net about when they started or stopped printing this book, how many editions there were or if anyone else remembers its existence. But, for me, it's a nice bit of nostalgia Just to see it again.

 

Space - Magic Fly Or is it Daft Punk ?

Or is this Daft Punk 1970's style ?

You gotta admit there are similarities here. The Look, the sound...their French !

Pioneers of the short lived "Space Disco" music.
I bought the first two albums. Must get the other one out sometime.
Wonder if it's as good as i remember ? 

Reached No 2 in August 1977

Kenny Everett Radio Show

Even today there is not, and never has been, a DJ who comes anywhere close to the sound of Kenny Everett. He was the radio DJ equivalent of the Beatles. Groundbreaking, Weird and very funny.

 

A genius as far as i am concerned, so lets take a trip down memory lane to a time when DJs used to be able to do whole 3 hour shows on their own without a 'Posse' of people in the background to laugh at their jokes.

They even managed to read their own weather & traffic reports as well from what i remember. God knows how they managed it !.

But seriously, in Kenny's case, everything you hear is put together by him in a little room with tape, vinyl records and a microphone . No computers. No editing machines, Just him a pair of scissors and a reel to reel tape.

Brilliant stuff.

Hank Mizell - Jungle Rock 1976

Nicknamed "Hank" after the country and western singer Hank Williams, Mizell was actually called William. He recorded this track in 1958. but sadly it did nothing, even after a re-issue one year later. In fact it disappeared without trace for another 18 years until the song came to the attention of Charly Records who in th early 70s were scoring hits with re-issued classics by the likes of the Shangri-las. There was a big 50s revival going on during the 70s that ran from the Fonz on TV, Grease at the Cinema and re-issued original classics. There were even current pop groups trying to emulate the sound of the 50s with the likes of  Showaddywaddy, The Rubettes and The Darts having major chart success. But this one off re-issue of the original gave Hank Mizell a No 3 hit in March 1976. And from what i remember from my old Mobile 

DJ days this record sat in the same part of the box as the Locomotion, Hi Ho Silver Lining and various other 'guaranteed to get the party going' records i can play, if nothing else seems to be working.

If it wasn't for You Tube i don't think i could honestly say i'd remember what he looked like. And i've never heard him sing it live, so this is a treat.

By the way, If there is one thing I miss about the sad decline in vinyl sales. It's the look, feel, smell and sound of it. And if there is one type of music that highlights the fact that something is missing its this type of music.

Britt Ekland Do it to me

A nostalgic look back through the good, bad, weird and obscure in my record collection i thought when i started this blog.
This single could be categorised as any of those four descriptions.
Quite rare I'm told and i know of no-one else who has heard it. Do it to me (once more with feeling). What can she mean ?
Britt Ekland is a Swedish actress famed for her roles in the James Bond movie The man with the golden gun, Get Carter and (my personal favourite) The Wicker man.
But did you know she made a Disco Record in 1979?
Sounding a bit like Baccara (Yes sir, i can boogie) this sold about 4 copies in the UK and i have one of them on 12" of all things.
I have included the Gatefold inner picture for entertainment value only.

Limited edition ?

Back to 1972

Clip from a great TV Series Looking back at 1972 and featuring the classic 70s "Music Centre"

Independent Record Stores (Last Shop Standing)

I bought a book the other day called Last Shop Standing - Whatever happened to Record Shops ? By Graham Jones.

I'm only half way through reading it so i shouldn't perhaps be reviewing it yet. But it's all very interesting.

However it doesn't seem to be written by someone who Set up and owned a small independent records shop himself. So far as i can see it's taken from the point of view of someone interviewing people who did. And like all people you interview who work in any shop they tell you the salacious stuff and leave out the mundane nitty gritty of trying to stay in business.

For me the hardest part was trying to keep going whilst every record company and his mother tried to sell me every record that has ever been released in every format going. Whilst trying to satisfy the needs of all those potential customers with cash to be had. Graham worked at HMV. But HMV was a multiple as far as i am concerned. A good one i'll grant you that. But a corporate multiple all the same. When you have such buying power you don't have the same financial restraints as a small indie and your whole perspective of selling music is warped. Nothing seems to be said in this book of owners only buying three copies of the most brilliant record you have ever heard because you know that only you will like it and maybe two customers you know you can push it to. Whilst having to purchase a bucket load of absolute shite in the full knowledge that you will sell out within days and it will probably be top 10 next week. That's what working in a record shop was all about. It was like gambling. You have to pay for all that stock so if you buy more than you sell you lose money and if you don't buy enough and you loose as well. Cold hard business wrapped up in your love of music and all the baggage that comes with it.

Perhaps i should add a few of my own stories here at some point. They might not be as glamorous but it would be a bit more realistic. If i ever wrote a book it would be called the 'Life and Death of a record shop'. I started in the 80s and ended my days in 2000 when you buggers started burning your own copies and downloading free from the Internet.

But it's all gone now. Anyone who still owns a record shop nowadays must be mad. Surely they are living on borrowed time ?. But good luck to them i say, if only they could stay there forever.
Anyway this is a recommended read.

Record Collection

Record Collection

Tears For Fears Before They were famous

Produced By Tony Hatch (Crossroads/Petula Clark/New Faces) This was a attempt at a Ska type Elvis Costello/Specials/Madness sound. But in all honesty i think i bought it because i thought it sounded  like Bad Manners (LOL).

A few years later they emerged as a two piece singing Mad World with a completely new sound.

Wise move i think.

Emperor Rosko

I seem to have an alarming amount of records made by Deejays.
Most of them are comedy or novelty records of course, but not all.
If you are under 30 this post will probably mean nothing to you because you may not know who I’m talking about.

For the rest of you Emperor Rosko (real name Mike Pasternak)was a DJ who Broadcast on BBC Radio one in the 70`s and based his presentation style of Wolfman Jack.

I can’t think of any other presenter who sounded like him on mainstream UK radio back then, so he was like a breath of fresh air to me. I loved his delivery and American style Jingles and whilst others were spinning Gary Glitter and the Osmonds, his playlist  seemed to include far more “hip” and trendy soul classics.
With the possible exception of Friday night when he hosted Roskos Round Table. A weekly review of new releases with famous guests spouting their opinion on forthcoming releases.

He released several Atlantic Souls Classic compilation albums and the track listings included some of the greatest records ever made with such artists as Aretha Franklin to Otis Redding.
They were segued together like a radio show & presented by Rosko himself complete with Jingles and all.

I’m not sure his style has stood the test of time, to be honest I think I would find him slightly annoying nowadays, but it does bring back good memories and the music included on these albums are still stunning to this day.

A sample of his presentation style from the albums is included below.

How much is your record collection worth ? (A Pop Quiz)

As i continue to sell my life away on E-bay i find flogging old CD's & Vinyl is a bit like gambling. Or perhaps i should say 'playing a game of Russian roulette'. The value of music has plummeted so much over the years that i seem to have no idea nowadays what is rare and collectable and what is worthless.

This means that i either waste money trying to flog stuff that no-one is interested in or i suddenly find i've quite clearly undervalued an item because 30 people are watching it and are waiting to pounce in the last 30 seconds before the auction ends, just to get it as cheap as possible.

Anyway this brings me to a great new pop quiz for you.
Every now and then i'll show you 4 items i've listed to sell at some point. All you have to do is guess which one went for the most amount of money and which sold for the least (or perhaps didn't sell at all). I'll post the values tomorrow in the comments section below with a short description of the interest shown by bidders.

You might find it interesting if you yourself own some of these records and are thinking of flogging them (or throwing them away). All are listed as "Used" and "in Excellent condition, both Sleeve and Vinyl/CD" as well as being originals from the time of release, not re-issues or re pressings. It's always a gamble of course and i could have got different prices at a different times, but this is how much i got when i tried selling them.

Queen-One Vision 12", Awesome 3-Hard up CD single, Jean-Michel Jarre-Zoolookologie 12" and Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson-Say say say 12".

I'll give you a clue with these first four. Three sold, one didn't.

60s Radio Jingles

Radio Jingles have changed quite a lot over the years, nowadays all you get is the station indent repeated over and over by voices that range from a Barry White sound alike to a small choir boy on helium.

But in the 60s and 70s you got a full American Barber shop quartet singing the introduction to the weather report in what now sounds quite kitsch. The only thing that ever came close to those over the top produced jingles from the past were the home made ones by Kenny Everett. I have some of those on tape somewhere as well and if i get chance to transfer them over onto MP3 i'll bore you all with them.

I have no idea where this record came from (honest) or why I have it in my collection, but these classic jingles crack me up.

They remind me of Radio One, Radio Caroline, Radio Luxembourg, and many other 60`s and 70`s radio stations of this era
Favourite of the bunch “Drive carefully, ‘cause we love you”
Bring back jingles like this, that’s what I say, they jolt as many memories as the records played between them.

Record Collection

Records don't have to be round

A one hit wonder from the 70s. Richard Myhill - It Takes two to tango. I know practically nothing about this man. In fact i don't even know what he looks like.
However on doing a little research via the net i find that he went on to produce singles and albums from the likes of Hazel Dean, Matchbox, The Piranhas, & Duran Duran as well as releasing a follow up single called While London Dances.
Obviously this all comes via the web so i could be talking rubbish here, if you know better let me know.
I bought this single because it was Square, so marketing does work. In the late 70's through the 80s releasing music in imaginative ways that had absolutely nothing to do with the record seemed to be a big thing. I'm not sure why this single is square. It's a Tango not a square dance, but hey it got him in the top 20, reaching No 17(UK) April 1978.
That's 31 years ago for anyone who remembers it. (eek)

Four Favourite Forgotten Oldies for Friday

JJ72 Formulae, Blue Oyster Cult Don't fear the reaper, The Sundays Can't be sure & Wedding Present why are you being so reasonable now. Not massive hits but still being played on my Pod.

And a couple of extra ones for good measure

Trash Can Sinatra's Obscurity Knocks 1990

Jellyfish The king is half undressed 1991

Strange cover versions

I wonder what Van Mccoy would have thought of this ?.

Spinning Rock Boogie Rockabilly

It's amazing how over 30 years later you can still remember when and where you heard a record for the first time.

Paul Burnett was the lunchtime DJ on BBC Radio One and he played this a lot. Usually after 'Fun at One', a section of his show where he aired a comedy record at 1pm daily.

I initially thought this was some kind of Stan Freburg thing with comedy sound effects and over the top guitar playing.

He sounds like he's on something or trying to finish the recording before they throw him out of the studio because his time it up.

In the mid 70`s in the UK there was a rash of Rockabilly revival records from the likes of Hank Mizell- Jungle Rock and Matchbox-Midnight Dynamos.

As much as i liked it, this instrumental always stood out as being a bit weird to me.

Hank C. Burnette - Spinning Rock Boogie
Reached No 21(UK)
Oct 1976

Buy here

The 1970s Working Mens Club

The Late 70s, early 80s. The Comedians, Opportunity Knocks, Search for a star.
Variety was king, but Working men’s Clubs in the North of England were nearing the end of their hay day.

My Parents considered it essential to spend at least one night a week at these places and who could blame them ?.
Bingo, Pie & Peas, Cheap Beer, snooker, darts, dominoes, a raffle, one arm Bandit and some top class entertainment.
They could sit in the same seat at the same table, week in, week out, with all their friends, filling an ashtray to Mount Everest proportions whilst supping lager & Lime and watching such legendary acts as Huff & Puff, Soya & Bean, Rivers & Rhodes and the hilarious Corky Todd & Bobby Elmut. These two Cards contain a full list of future attractions. Classic 70s Clubland acts. LOL