keep me away from auctions

I was told there were a load of vinyl records going for auction last week at Darwin's Auction House in Bedale, and as l was off work, l thought l'd pop along and bid on a few.
Some of them went for silly prices, so l was outbid on a few lots, but still came away with a load of Rod Stewart and The Faces original albums (including on the original Vertigo!). However, being the impulsive kind of guy l am, l also came away with a microscope, binoculars, candlesticks and a camera.
I've said it before and l will say it again - l am going to need a bigger house at some stage.

toodle pip

record store day and bob dylan - blood on the tracks

As l was awake early and it was Record Store Day, l decided to have a drive through to Stockton and hit Sound it Out records, as l wanted the new Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks test pressing, which was one of the items on sale that day. After waiting in line for a couple of hours with all the other fellow saddos, l finally made it into the shop. Hurrah!! I saw the person who had been two people in front of me in the queue holding a copy of the Dylan lp, and asked where about they were placed, only to be told that he had just got the last copy. Yes your honour, l did indeed call him a rude name (only half in jest) and ended up leaving the shop without the Dylan album, but with new T.Rex and Van Morrison ones instead (and cursing). l then had a look around the charity shops and headed to the Boro to surprise my matey boy, only to find there was no one in, so drove back home, cursing again. Only to get a phone call shortly afterwards to say they had just got back home from shopping and had just missed me. So, a bit of a mixed bag of a day, as l came home with some goodies, missed my mate, and never got the Dylan album l was after.
Obviously l have since ordered the Dylan lp online, and it was everything l expected, and l love it. Now added to the other versions of the album l already have.
I need to get a life.

 The queue when l arrived

Nearly in the shop!

The two records l did buy

People still queueing when l was leaving Stockton

 The glorious album l was after. Mmmmmmm -  Nice (Sent from The Netherlands)

Other versions l have of the Dylan album

toodle pip

the 1927 jasper tornado on lp covers

It was only recently that it was pointed out to me on another blog or tweet (I can't remember where), that the photograph of the 1927 Jasper Tornado, taken by Lucille Handberg and on one of my favourite albums, Deep Purple's Stormbringer, was the same one on used on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, plus Siouxsie and The Banshees Tinderbox. It's blown my mind, as l'd never noticed before, and l have been looking at the Deep Purple and Miles Davis albums for years.
Sometimes l amaze myself at how stupid l can be.
Below is the famous photograph, captured 8th July 1927 in Jasper, Minnesota, plus drawings of the other two photographs she took before and after. There's also an article from The Milwaukee Sentinel about it, plus the album covers mentioned.
More information about the tornado and the photographs can be found here (and also here).
A large blow up of the news story in The Milwaukee Sentinel can be found here

Here's something from the albums







toodle pip

new haul from the car boot

I only go to the local car boot sale now and again, and often only come away with a few cheap lp's that l may only like the odd song on.
On other days however, If there are some decent items, l fill my boots!!
Here's Sunday's haul - some cheapo's, but some crackers as well.
The £8 price sticker on the Dusty and Roxy Music lps was only on the outer covers, as they only cost £1 each. Result! (Even if l have a copy of the Roxy album already)

toodle pip

another trip to ikea

I was out and about in Richmond yesterday, and was just about to drive home when l crumbled and headed to Gateshead Ikea to buy some more record storage. Of course l then had to build and erect it (Fnaaaarr) as soon as l got back, but l am now chuffed that l made the effort, as l'm very pleased with it. Plus l was there and back in no time, as it's dead easy when you live by the A1. 

I'll be on one of those hoarding programmes in a few years. It's only a matter of time.

toodle pip

singles as artwork

More interesting stuff that l've had for a while. 

Fancy getting one of your favourite songs re-imagined as a cool piece of art?

In that case, head to Tolhurst Vinyl Art, where plenty more examples like these can be found.

toodle pip

out and about - left lane cruiser

Myself and friends tend to just buy a few tickets for things we like, then get a selection of the lads who are interested or can get the time off work to come along with us. 

One such occasion was this - Left Lane Cruiser at The Cluny in Newcastle. 

We knew it would be a small venue and they sounded a bit like Seasick Steve, but it was much better than anticipated, and they may as well have been playing in my living room, they were that close to us (and loud).

I very rarely buy any merchandise these days, but to support them and their musical endeavours, l lashed out on an LP (which l later got signed by them) and a t-shirt. 

Top lads, top music, top night, and a hefty spend at the bars, as seen by my bank statement (and that's without the merchandise purchases!).

The video demonstrates what they were like, but doesn't catch the magic of being there. Go see them!

toodle pip

the levitating turntable

Usually, the flasher and more expensive turntables and equipment gets, the more wallet punishing they are to repair, and, like cars, it's often the case there are more things that can go wrong, and they're not so simple to fix.
However.....This levitating turntable by Mag-Lev Audio looks fantastic, and could be really groundbreaking (or record breaking if it goes wrong). I think it would take me quite some time to relax while playing records, as l'd be expecting some kind of cock up (of the malfunctioning kind), but it does look sooooooo tempting.
We're living in the space age!



toodle pip

free records to take away

Well, l've been out and about the last few days, but it's back to normal now, so here's the first blog for a few days (so much for posting at least a video a day!).
Here's where l should have been, if l had known about it sooner. Sunny Newton Heath, where  a stash of about 50,000 records needed to be removed from a water damaged house, and they were free to take away. Obviously most are water damaged or crap, but l still wouldn't have minded carting away as many as possible, to add to my own heap of junk.
More info about it can be found here.

toodle pip

vinyl collectors are sad bastards - confirmed by ghost world

So this isn't exactly ground breaking news. Rather eloquently summed up by the video clip below from 'Ghost World', at just after 1.15m. 

Sadly, l can relate to it all.

toodle pip

more car boot records

More records from car boot sales.
I'm going to need a bigger house in the future.

toodle pip