Work File

03-18-10 Work File

In the early part of this century, I used to make CD-R’s titled “Work” and “File”. Usually, the idea was to make a CD-R of something not already on CD, from a phonograph record. I made 10 volumes titled “File” and 6 volumes titled “Work” – no idea why I discontinued the series (about 2004). Some of you reading this may have been recipients of some of these volumes.

The other evening, I took a look at these CD-R’s and made a 2CD “Best Of” my “Work” and “File” series. Quite a bit of stuff from these series have seen legit issue on CD, so my “Best Of” does not contain any of those tracks.

WORK FILE #1

Ira Ironstrings

Cliff Nobles

Blue Murder

The Living Strings

L.M. Special

The Leisure Process

Bernard “Pretty” Purdie

Buddy Morrow

King Curtis

Lavvi Ebbel

David & The Giants

Manfred Mann

The Mothmen

Neil Christian

Paul Kelly

Don & Dewey

The Lemon Pipers

The Pressure Cooker

King Curtis

Bob Jung

Jay Alanski

Eli

A Caus Des Garcons

Bob Kuban

Rotary Connection

The Two Of Clubs

Strawberry Alarm Clock

Lonzo & Oscar

Clear Light

WORK FILE #2

Jacky & Lio

Bobby Cristo & The Rebels

Mike Melvoin

101 Strings

Hal Willis

The Headless Chicklens

Van Dyke Parks

Caterina Valente

Frank Cully

Sounds Incorporated

Arif Mardin

Tommy Ridgeley

The Barrow Poets

Emer Kenny

Presse Papier

Box Of Frogs (with Ian Dury)

That Petrol Emotion

The Unifics

Wild Willy Barrett

Baja Marimba Band

Pee Wee King

Lucas Trouble

The Modernaires

Pau Riba

The Dusk ‘Til Daen Orchestra

Chagrin D’Amour

Clyde Borly & His Percussions

Peanut Butter Wolf

The Waikikis

Animals and Men

So, basically these volumes are like taking a stroll through my record collection. Lots of Europop, some C&W, some ancient R&B, lots of 45’s – only 1 cut from a CD master – Emer Kenny’s cover version of The Stranglers’ “Golden Brown”, which I always found to be terribly perverse.

So – Contest Time! Easy if I ever sent you any of these volumes…name the song I picked for:

Manfred Mann or That Petrol Emotion

…and a copy of my 2CD “Best Of the Work and File Series” will be winging it’s way to you ASAP. All responses in the comments – earliest response with the correct answer wins.

Allan Sherman

03-17-10 Allan Sherman

I heard the first four Allan Sherman records a lot when I was a kid, when they were recent releases. During summer, ¾ of our family would sometimes hole up in the den (family room), close the blinds, turn on the air conditioner – and play Allan Sherman albums.

I recently found his Rhino Handmade 6CD boxed set.

LP MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER WARNER US WS 1475

1962 10 TRKS

LP MY SON, THE CELEBRITY WARNER US WS 1487

1963 11 TRKS

LP MY SON, THE NUT WARNER US WS 1501

1963 12 TRKS

7" HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH! WARNER US 5449

1964 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, "1964 Version"

LP ALLAN IN WONDERLAND WARNER US WS 1539

1964 10 TRKS

LP FOR SWINGIN' LIVERS ONLY! WARNER US WS 1569

1965 11 TRKS

LP MY NAME IS ALLAN WARNER US WS 1604

1965 11 TRKS

LP LIVE (HOPING YOU ARE THE SAME) WARNER US WS 1649

1965 12 TRKS

LP TOGETHERNESS WARNER US WS 1684

1966 11 TRKS

CDx6 MY SON, THE BOX RHINO HANDMADE RHM2-7891

2005 151 TRKS 6CD boxed set

It was almost like watching comedy on TV – listening to these records. They were clever, funny – and they introduced us to some well-known light classics with wonderful parody lyrics. I almost ached as I read that he wrote parody lyrics to many stage shows of the day – which couldn’t be included in the boxed set. I don’t figure he’s going to get a 2^nd boxed set. What they did include were some amusing “My Fair Lady” parodies!

The Allan Sherman LP’s currently in my LP collection aren’t the copies I heard as a child. I got all of these in the 1970’s, when they were all still around in used LP bins – easy to find stereo copies then. Nowadays, you seldom see stereo copies of any of these – and I think I could ‘better’ my copy of “Togetherness” (in stereo).

Hard for me to imagine that I am now older than Allan Sherman was when he died. It was a different time (he died in 1973, just shy of his 49^th birthday).

The 2005 CD boxed set sounds great. I already had the only Allan Sherman CD I ever saw, “My Son – The Greatest” (Rhino R2 75771, 1988 – 19 tracks). I’d love to find other 45’s by Allan Sherman, but…I never see that kind of stuff anymore.

The Buzzcocks

03-16-10 The Buzzcocks

Lately, I have been playing / enjoying The Buzzcocks.

CDx3 PRODUCT (3CD) EMI UK CD PRT 1

1989 61 TRKS (70's recordings) 1st 3 x albums

CD5 SPIRAL SCRATCH (EP) MUTE US 9122.2

1977 4 TRK CD5 ('00 issue)

7" SPIRAL SCRATCH (EP) (PS) NEW HORMON ORG 1

1977 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve – re-issue?

CD TIME'S UP DOCUMENT DCD 2

1976 11 TRKS ('91 issue)

CD TIME'S UP MUTE UK SCRATCH 2CD

1976 11 TRKS ('00 issue)

I didn’t start out listening to The Buzzcocks. I started with Magazine. I probably tried “Real Life” because the cover looked so obtuse – and I was pleasantly surprised by the keyboards. Also very intrigued by Howard Devoto. I had been ‘resistant’ to “punk rock”, but Magazine seemed good anyway. Manchester, England.

Flash forward to 1989…1990. Living in England, it made sense to get a 3CD boxed set of the works of The Buzzcocks. There didn’t appear to be any Howard Devoto performances in the box, however. But each of their 3 x albums and all of the singles were in there. (And certainly some Howard Devoto songs were in the box.)

Off of the top of my head, my favorite post-Devoto Buzzcocks songs are “Late For The Train”, “Oh Shit” and “Hollow Inside”. But I can still easily listen to the 3 x United Artists UK Buzzcocks LP’s – they all sound pretty good.

I probably found my first “Spiral Scratch” EP about a year or so into my Magazine fandom. Magazine did have some rather, er, ‘punk’ singles – the original “Shot By Both Sides”, “My Mind Ain’t So Open” etc. – but I found “Spiral Scratch” to be very amusing. No trouble hearing the humor in this music. “Breakdown”, “Time’s Up”, “Boredom” and “Friends Of Mine” – fine songs all. Recorded with Martin “Zero” Hannett at the end of 1976 and D.I.Y.-released towards the end of January, 1977.

In 1977, I was still busy with “Suspiria” by Goblin. And getting my own band together.

In 1991 or 1992, I got my first 11 track CD of what are likely Buzzcocks (with Devoto) demos, issued as “Time’s Up” on the tiny Document label. “Lester Sands (Drop In The Ocean)” is a pretty fun song. I think I only knew the song from a bootleg LP I had found in England! Mute Records properly issued the same tracks, again as “Time’s Up”, in 2000 – making them available for another generation (in a different kitchen).

The same year, 2000 – Mute Records in England performed a public service by re-issuing the actual “Spiral Scratch” EP as a CD EP. I hope they also re-issued it as a 7” 45 with a picture sleeve. This message seems to communicate fairly well in that format. Nostalgia for an age yet to come.

Japan, 2002 (List)

3-15-10 Japan, 2002 (List)

I started keeping fairly detailed lists of what I was buying (again) in 2002. Here’s what I bought in Japan in 2002, that wasn’t a Japanese domestic artist:

ALAN BOWN, THE – JEU DE MASSACRE (O.S.T.), BMG JPN CD5

ATOLL – TERTIO, KING JPN LP re-issue

BALANESCU QUARTET – EAST MEETS WEST: YMO COVERS, ALFA JPN CD

LILICUB – ZOOM, Xiii BIS FR CD French pop

MEEK, JOE – I HEAR A NEW WORLD, EM JPN LP re-issue

POLNAREFF, MICHEL – NEW GIFT PACK BOX, EPIC/SONY JPN 2LP French pop

ROUDOUDOU – JUST A PLACE IN THE SUN, POLYDOR FR CD French electronica

SCARLET’S WELL – ISLE OF THE BLUE FLOWERS, SIESTA ES LP Monochrome Set

SCHMIDT, IRMIN – YOU MAKE ME NERVOUS, SPOON GER 12” W/PS Can keyboardist

V.A. – MY LEFT PUSSYFOOT, PUSSYFOOT UK CD Howie B’s Pussyfoot label

V.A. – ROLLING STONES WORKS, DERAM JPN CD songs The Stones gave away, mostly to UK 60’S artists

The Alan Bown CD single is a soundtrack, sounding very 1967. Probably the world’s only CD of it was originated in Japan.

I very much had “vinyl fever” by 2002, so to re-buy the Atoll “Tertio” album was a natural for me – it’s still my favorite Atoll album, and I recently got a new CD version of it! (Paper sleeve CD – still no bonus tracks!)

The Balanescu Quartet “East Meets West” is them playing Y.M.O. cover versions, in a 20^th century music style. Again, likely originated in Japan.

Never had much luck finding CD’s by the French band Lilicub – I believe “Zoom” is album #3. Pop music.

The Joe Meek “I Hear A New World” vinyl re-production is amazing – looks great, sounds great. It’s one of the most “out” records ever made – and the Japanese did a beautiful job on it.

Always on the lookout for new Michel Polnareff product – and Tokyo was full of stuff I didn’t already have! A lovely LP boxed set!

Roudoudou is a French electronica band, and rather good. I’ve only ever seen their CD’s for sale when I visit Japan. I think this is album #2.

Still looking for a CD of this Scarlet’s Well album. I spotted the vinyl for it in Tokyo, and bought it. More Monochrome Set info!

I immediately snapped up this Irmin Schmidt 12” when I saw it – it was inexpensive, and from an album that I really like.

I couldn’t find Pussyfoot label collections in L.A. – but it was no problem in Tokyo to find “My Left Pussyfoot” – for it’s Toshio Nakanishi content (but this CD does have mostly British guys on it).

Finally, “Rolling Stones Works” is a wonderful CD of songs they gave away – or produced – best cut here: an instrumental track by Ian Stewart. Fantastic!

Everything else I bought in Japan this trip was specifically a Japanese domestic artist.

1978 - 1979

3-12-10 1978 – 1979

I spent all of 1978 and 1979 working in a record store / record distributor; in the fall of 1979, I went to England and Europe for the first time.

A Certain Ratio – The Graveyard & The Ballroom

Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking

Black Randy – Pass The Dust, I Think I’m Bowie

Black Sabbath – Never Say Die

Boys Next Door – Hee Haw (EP)

Kate Bush – The Kick Inside

John Cale – Sabotage

Citizen Band – s/t

John Cooper Clarke – Disguise In Love

Holger Czukay – Movies

The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette

Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Do It Yourself

Marianne Faithfull – Broken English

Gang Of Four – Entertainment!

Philip Glass – Einstein On The Beach

Godley & Crème – L, Freeze Frame

Gruppo Sportivo – Back To 78, The Buddy Odor Stop

Peter Hammill – The Future Now, ph7

Hawkwind – Quark Strangeness & Charm

Hugh Hopper – Monster Band

Neil Innes – Innes Book of Records

Japan – Quiet Life

Nick Lowe – The Jesus Of Cool

Madness – One Step Beyond

Magazine – Real Life, Secondhand Daylight

Phil Manzanera – K-Scope

Mi-Sex – Grafitti Crimes

Anthony Moore – Flying Doesn’t Help

The Nits – Tent

Gary Numan / Tubeway Army – Replicas

Mike Oldfield – Platinum

Orchid Spangiafora – Flee Past’s Ape Elf

Le Orme – Florian

John Otway – Where Did I Go Right? (Neil Innes, prod.)

Hermeto Pascoal – Zabumbe-Bum-A

Annette Peacock – X-Dreams

P-Model – In A Model Room

Punishment of Luxury – Laughing Academy

Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians

The Rutles – s/t

Sad Café – Fanx Ta’ra

Simple Minds – Real to Real Cacophony

The Slits – Cut

Transister – Zig-Zag (Robert-Jan Stips)

The Stranglers – The Raven

Rachel Sweet – Fool Around

Tin Huey – Contents Dislodged During Shipment

Ultravox – Systems of Romance

Verto – Reel 19.36

Wire – 154

Trevor Wishart – Beach Singularity & The Menagerie

XTC – White Music, Go 2

Y.M.O. – Y.M.O., Solid State Survivor

Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage, Sheik Yerbouti

These were the records that got me up to the 80’s. You can see the effects of having worked in a distribution office – I was exposed to many things. I was mail-ordering records, too.

And while I was definitely checking out the punk rock / new wave – I still spent a lot of time listening to 60’s records and “the end of progressive rock” (which I feel should be appropriately bookmarked as ending in 1977 with Goblin’s “Suspiria”).

Also just recently heard Gang Of Four’s 2CD set of re-makes and remixes. Odd.

Are any of your own favorite records on this list? Were you lucky enough to have heard them before January 1^st, 1980?

1976 - 1977

3-11-10 1976 – 1977

1976 was my last year of high school and my first year of having a job in a record store. 1977 was my first full year working in a record store – as you will see, it’s not quite “punk rock” time for me just yet.

Aksak Maboul – Onze Danses Pour Combaittre La Migraine

Lucio Battisti – Io Tu Noi Tutti

Roland Bocquet – Paradia

Can – Unlimited Edition

Crack The Sky – Animal Notes

Deaf School – Second Honeymoon

Donovan – s/t (RAK)

The Enid – In The Region of the Summer Stars

Philip Glass – North Star

Goblin – Suspiria (O.S.T.)

Godley & Crème – Consequences (with Peter Cook)

Gruppo Sportivo – 10 Mistakes

Peter Hammill – Over

Sensational Alex Harvey Band – S.A.H.B. Stories

Hugh Hopper – Hoppertunity Box

Judas Priest – Sin After Sin

Kayak – The Last Encore, Starlight Dancer

Lard Free – s/t (Album #3)

Magma – Udu Wudu

Michael Mantler – The Hapless Child

Phil Manzanera / 801 – Listen Now

John Miles – Stranger In The City

National Health – s/t

Le Orme – Storia O Leggenda, Verita Nascoste

Hermeto Pascoal – Slave’s Mass

Jim Pembroke – Corporal Cauliflower’s Mental Function

Picchio Dal Pozzo – s/t

P.F.M. – Jet Lag

Procol Harum – Something Magic

Brian Protheroe – I/You

Pulsar – Strands Of The Future

Michael Rother – Flammende Herzen

Sebastian Hardie – Windchase

Space – Magic Fly

Split Enz – Second Thoughts

The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus IV

Ultravox – Ha Ha Ha

Van Der Graaf – World Record, Quiet Zone – Pleasure Dome

Steve Winwood – s/t

Frank Zappa – Zappa In New York, Zoot Allures

Z.N.R. – Barricades 3

Many of these records are very special to me. And not all of them are progressive rock!

Still not on CD?

3-10-10 Still not on CD?

I would love to buy any of these on legit issue CD’s!

BOCQUET, ROLAND PARADIA, COBRA FR

COB 37008

LP 1978? 10 TRKS Catharsis keyboard player, autographed

A charming French musician that I got to meet on a number of occasions

HOLLMER, LARS FRAN NATT IDAG, URSPAR SW

KRAX 2

LP 1983 14 TRKS Samla Mammas Manna keyboard player

The late Swedish keyboard composer / musician – my favorite solo album of his

I AM JOE'S MUSIC I AM JOE'S MUSIC, MUSHROOM AUS

L 38037

LP 1983 8 TRKS Fane Flaws, NZ artist

I got to meet Mr. Flaws in NZ in ‘87

KIRCHIN, BASIL WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS 3 + 4, ISLAND UK

HELP 18

LP 1974 2 TRKS

The late British experimental composer

ORCHID SPANGIAFORA FLEE PAST'S APE ELF, TWIN TONE US

TTR 7910

LP 1979 11 TRKS

I understand Twin Tone will burn you a CD-R of this…

RAGNAROK (Sweden) FJARILAR I MAGEN, SILENCE SW

SRS 4655

LP 1979 7 TRKS insert

Certainly never saw their 2^nd (3^rd?) album on CD! But I see so few Swedish CD’s, around here

RANDOM HOLD AVALANCHE, UPPER CLASS

DOUBLE CHIN 1

LPx2 1981 17 TRKS produced by Peter Hammill

I believe all the CD’s that have been released are of “demo tapes” and not this ‘finished’ Double LP

REICHEL, ACHIM AR 5 (AUTOVISION), ZEBRA DE

2949 016

LP 1974 6 TRKS

I love Achim Reichel’s stuff, and was sorry to see that his work had been heavily bootlegged…

ZAPPA, FRANK HOT RATS, REPRISE / BIZARRE US

RS 6396

LP 1971 6 TRKS

The “LP mix” has never been on CD – the remix is OK, but…the LP sound is better, to me

ZAZOU, HECTOR LA PERVERSITA, INVISIBLE FR

SCOPA 10005

LP 1980 9 TRKS poster

The late French experimental composer – a wonderful new wave album

What CD titles do you want to buy that don’t exist? The Method Actors used to be on this list – lo and behold – a proper CD of the 2-man M.A.’s now exists!