In the beginning.....
I’m Mike and after years building a vinyl collection, primarily of 60’s and 70’s albums and a few 80’s, I have decided to put them on the market. This is a rare opportunity to obtain classic albums from a private collection, very carefully looked after over the last 60+ years. But, before I do I thought a bit of an explanation and history may be interesting; but to whom? I have no bloody idea but let’s just say that if you’re reading this, whoever and wherever you are, you are probably a vinyl junky of some sort.
As stated on my Home Page, please note that all comments and descriptions are my own personal views and may not reflect those of the artist, record companies, fans or rest of known universe..... now read on.....
In the beginning
My collection covers the period between 1961 and 1984 and comprises over 600 albums plus a few 45’s after which I switched to CD and now have a collection of over 5000 CDs… but that’s another story.
My first 2 albums were ‘In Dreams’ (London label) by Roy Orbison and ‘I’m Gonna Be Strong’ (Stateside label) by Gene Pitney but regardless of the perhaps questionable taste of an early teen, from the very first playing of my own 12 inch piece of polyvinyl plastic I was hooked. I was also a nerd - as a small boy I always took great care of my toys, never sharing and always putting them back in their boxes (a habit that bore fruit many years later when I sold my collection of pristine, original boxed corgi cars). So I did the same with my records; I kept the albums in separate cardboard covers so that the original sleeves, which I kept in plastic outer sleeves, each numbered in purchase order, did not get damaged. Later I even built (well my Dad did) my own ‘Record Shop’ in my bedroom and even kept a photo of it! sad? Well maybe but I was happy.
１- My own personal Record Shop – but what was my sister doing there?
Growing up in the 60’s for a shy nerd wasn’t all it was cracked up to be but ultimately the music got me through it and changed me, hopefully into something better but who knows (or cares). One thing is for certain, no matter what anyone says about that time, the music was exciting, very varied and with a ‘word-of-mouth’ underground scene that I feel has disappereared thanks to the internet and social media making news instantly and globally available. So, while my sister was hooked on The Beatles, I sort of rebelled and followed the Rolling Stones (and still do!.... actually now Beatles as well); but not just the Stones, the explosion in musical genres over the next 10 years led to the foundation of my collection today as I followed everything I could!
２- Me and my mate Lawrence on a narrowboat in the early 70's - that's me on the left.... says it all really
So why didn’t I make my own music? Actually for many years my failed attempts to play any instrument depressed me, but I now understand it was not particularly lack of talent but lack of application; I could never be bothered with practising and also knew I would never be a Hendrix or Clapton so what was the point? So while this used to sadden me (only a little), it did mean I listened to everything and developed an eclectic taste for almost every type of music (except C&W…. but even that I now really appreciate).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not one of those who say that 60’s were the 'be all and end all' of music and that nothing worthwhile has been produced since, and trust me, there are a lot of those people about, people who actually don’t really appreciate music at all, or at least don’t really understand it. There has been a huge amount of great music since then and there still is; not necessarily (indeed almost certainly) the mainstream, the ‘Top of the Pops’, most popular, etc, I mean Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift … why? OK they are ‘good’ but really really great? I think not; alright, so I’m old, so what – let’s see after another 60 years!! Also, just as now, there was an awful lot of crap music back then - I’m not saying who but just so you know, it didn’t all sound great and smell of roses! But then that’s the nature of the beast – ever since humans first dicovered ways of making sounds there have been good sounds and bad sounds (and really really bad sounds).
…. there was light (and lots of music)
So, basically, what do I have in my collection? Obviously I can’t just list over 600 albums here – for that you’ll just have to wait until my shop goes on-line (unless of course it is, in which case you can see them on the Vinyl List page); however, what I want to do is give a taste of the collection and in future blogs describe a few albums and artists that have been really special for me and why (or possibly just to pontificate).
I guess at heart I’m a rock fan but that includes Prog, Metal, R&B, soft rock, heavy rock, goth/death rock and good old fashioned Rock ‘n’ Roll. But saying that I have classical, folk, folk rock, Blues, jazz, easy listening/ballad, pop and of course the outright plain weird (the "why the @!** did I ever buy that?”). Of course they are mainly 60’s by which I mean anything from 1961 until 1975 when the 60’s officially ended with The Band’s live performance ‘The Last Waltz. Obviously there are many other views on when the 60’s ended based on equally valid dates or events, but this is my blog so my choice! If you disagree, write your own…..see if I care!
However it won’t hurt to list some of the main artists included, such as (in no particular order)
- Stones (Rolling)
- Beatles (The)
- Who (The)
- Pink Floyd
- King Crimson
- Beach Boys (The)
- Cat Stevens
- Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
- Neil Young
- Genesis
- Mike Oldfield
- Barclay James Harvest
- Joan Armatrading
- Moody Blues (The)
- Tom Petty
- Elton John
- Jethro Tull
- Leonard Cohen (The!)
- Joni Mitchell (I am actually loathe to part with her albums)
- Dire Straits
- Yes
- Deep Purple
- Dylan (Bob, not the rabbit in The Magic Roundabout)
- ELO
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- Family
- Eddy Grant
- Incredible String Band
- Led Zeppelin
- Love
- Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
- John Martyn
- Fairport Convention
- Van Morrison
- Al Stewart
- Tangerine Dream
- Ten Years After
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Velvet Underground
- Stevie Wonder
- ……….. and on…… and on……