Musings on the byways of popular culture
Credit to the Dr. Hook song The Cover of the Rolling Stone, I had known the Scottish newspapers were publishing pics today from a recent visit to chat about my flexi-disc collection, but I really wasn’t expecting to be on the cover of the TV Guide!
I hope you dig my latest mix Feelin’ 1992, featuring some of my fave music and film samples from this year, link in comments.
music: Tom Waits : Goin’ Out West Sonic Youth : 100% The Breeders : Safari The Fall : Everything Hurtz The Charlatans : Weirdo The Wedding Present : Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family Sugar : Hoover Dam Ministry : Jesus Built My Hotrod L7 : Shitlist Daisy Chainsaw : Love Your Money The Pharcyde : Quintons On The Way Julian Cope : Julian H. Cope Lush : Outdoor Miner Aphex Twin : Digeridoo The Orb : The Blue Room Andy Fairley : I Stopped The Clock The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy : Television The Drug Of The Nation Ice Cube : Fuck ‘Em (insert) Dub Syndicate : Wadada (Means Love) Little Annie : Give It To Me The Dice Man : Polygon Window Alex Paterson : Loving You (live) The B-52’s : Is That You Mo-Dean? (Harpapella) Meat Beat Manifesto : Zombie / That Shirt Teenage Fanclub : B Side Suzanne Vega : Blood Makes Noise Morrissey : I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday Neil Young : Harvest Moon R.E.M : New Orleans Instrumental » Continue Reading.
My big flexi disc collecting feature in the Scottish Courier paper/magazine has been put back until 30th May (curse you Alan Cummings article!) but you can see it on the newspaper’s website right now if you like. I do look a bit worried in one pic but I’m not, I’m just an old record collecting obsessive.
Carnoustie collector Shane on lifelong vinyl obsession including rare Slade Christmas invite
I’ve been picking up stuff for weeks but have been too busy with family affairs to post for a while so have chosen some of the albums I’ve enjoyed the most in March. There were loads of singles and these ones below are very varied and most came cheap, but then I have been digging in some mucky places but luckily turned up some clean and tidy records.
The co-founder of Blue Horizon Records, producer for John Mayall, Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and many other Blues greats has passed at 81.
It’s been several weeks since I posted a mix of fresh music and this one is 90% new. I have been having fun doing mixes of random years from the 70’s to the 90’s but I’ve gone back to my current listening tastes for this one, I hope you enjoy – best played LOUD of course as it’s gotta lotta B A S S. Link in comments.
Kai Galactic : Aspiration Reinartz : A Point For Everything To Spread Unknown : Grau-3 Sa Pa : Gordon Comstock Eden Aurelius : Fading Image KiF Productions : Swaledale To Blakeney Straits Spirit : Farther Along (live) George Taylor : Trouble
Following my earlier post at the end of January for my Feelin’ 1991 mix part 1, may I now apologise in advance for part 2. Link in comments, thank you x
Primal Scream : Movin’ On Up Zoë : Sunshine On a Rainy Day The Fall : A Lot of Wind Public Enemy : Shut ‘Em Down Ice T : Bitches 2 Pixies : Motorway To Roswell Violent Femmes : Girl Trouble Chris Isaak : Wicked Game Nirvana : Something In The Way Teenage Fanclub : The Concept Andy Fairley : Jack The Biscuit Throwing Muses : Amazing Grace Slint : Washer
includes samples from:
Naked Gun 2 My Own Private Idaho Thelma & Louise Problem Child 2 Hot Shots Cape Fear Twin Peaks
I hope you dig my latest mix, part 1 of Feelin’ 1991, featuring some of my fave music, TV, adverts and film samples from this year, link in comments.
Transglobal Underground : Temple Head (Burundi Beat mix) The Fall : Shift -Work St.Etienne : Only Love Can Break Your Heart The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu : It’s Grim Up North Dead Can Dance : Bird Bim Sherman : Nightmare Orbital : Satan The Orb : Star 6 & 7 8 9 The KLF : Build a Fire Massive Attack : Hymn of The Big Wheel Happy Mondays : Loose Fit Dub Syndicate : Stoned Immaculate Julian Cope : If You Loved Me At All
includes samples from:
Barton Fink Highlander 2 Terminator 2 The Doors The People Under The Stairs Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey Twin Peaks Silence Of The Lambs
I am back from a busy trip digging down south which was a mix of luck and general right place/right time really, I visited 2 record shops that were just not interested in selling singles so were knocking them out for 50p each, including the ones below as well as the Slade flexi-disc I posted earlier, so how could I resist?! One guy told me a record shop had closed down and dumped their singles stock and he was happy for me to take away armfuls, though there were a lot without sleeves. As well as coming home with over 150 singles I had left a commission bid on 2 boxes of Techno/Acid mostly 12″s at an auction house before I left, which I luckily won for less than I had bid for, so collected them during my 9 hour drive north. There were some incredible Aphex/Orbital/Global Communications stuff that I have only just dipped into so far, but these are some of the 7″s that initially caught my eye.
I had a great week digging down south recently and amongst all the 7″ goodies I found was rarest Slade 7″ flexi-disc. It was originally given to specially chosen guests as an invite to a party they held at The Penthouse Club in White Horse Street, Mayfair, London on December 19th. It is now long closed down, but it was here at the club owned by Bob Guccione, creator of Penthouse magazine that Slade held their 1973 Christmas party, just a week after their classic song Merry Xmas Everybody was released. It has specially recorded verses for the guests sung inbetween the familiar chorus, I assume ‘Created by Jimmy’ as mentioned on the label is band member Jim Lea, but there is so little info out there on this flexi and this is the first time it’s been available to hear in over 50 years.
Following on from my 1995 mix a week ago I have recorded a further hour from that year, again featuring some of my fave music, TV, adverts and film samples, I hope you dig this one too (two), link in comments.
Eric Matthews : Fanfare The Cardigans : Carnival Pavement : Grounded PJ Harvey : Maniac Teenage Fanclub : Some People Try To Fuck With You Elastica : Stutter Sparklehorse : Hammering The Cramps Radiohead : Planet Telex (Trashed mix) The Beatles : Free As a Bird Elliott Smith : Needle In The Hay DJ Food : The Dusk Funki Porcini : B Monkey Björk : Hyperballad Rubén Blades : The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul That Dog : One Summer Night Eric Matthews : Fanfare (reprise)
includes samples from :
Batman Forever Judge Dredd Before Sunrise Jumanji Clueless Casino Die Hard With a Vengeance
For my last mix of 2025 I have gone back 30 years titled feelin 1995, featuring some of my fave music, TV, adverts and film samples including Clueless, Desperado, Strange Days, Heat, Seven + more. I hope you dig it! link in comments x HNY x
Wagon Christ : Intro The Ballistic Brothers : Come On (Simon Templar mix) Leftfield : Open Up Chemical Brothers : Leave Home David Bowie : Hello Spaceboy The Fall : The Joke (live) Folk Implosion : Natural One Aphex Twin : Ventolin (Asthma Beats mix) Mouse On Mars : Stereomission The Herbaliser : Real Killer Pt.2 Tricky : Pumpkin Nightmares On Wax : Stars Pressure Drop : The Calling Bomb The Bass : Braindead Boards of Canada : Melissa Juice
includes samples from:
Twelve Monkeys Kids Ace Ventura – When Nature Calls Heat Seven Strange Days Desperado Clueless
A friend has been working on this for some time and it has just launched – pic posters may find it useful, link in comments, cheers!
I had a stall at a big record fair in Dundee today and managed to clear out loads of stuff cheap, Beatles, Genesis, Dylan etc, albums I really wasn’t fussed with keeping and as usual the dealers were all over me. The advantage of this to me, was that I got chatting and to one of them in particular who told me he had just bought a huge Velvet Underground and related collection. I know how much he paid for the lot and there were some interesting bootlegs and all but i thought I’d offer him trade on albums from my stock which he would easily be able to double up + on and he took the bait! So I have managed to get a few keepers for my growing VU collection, the originals hardly ever turn up at fairs or anywhere in the wild so I cherry picked a couple of goodies and a live album I don’t have. I was really pleased as I have never owned original US issues of their albums, I have the UK ones but the debut with it’s banana intact and in lovely ‘fresh’ condition was an Xmas treat to myself, £100 in » Continue Reading.
The end of November marks the end of an era, as Edinburgh based station Tak Tent Radio sadly closes down. I have contributed many mixes to them over the years, on subjects as diverse as dreams, Afro-Funk, Rockabilly, natural disasters, etc and my final one is on INSECTS. The Garden of Earthly Delights mixes will carry on of course without subscription on my Mixcloud page. Meanwhile I hope you dig this Skylarking groove!
Weekend album finds from a huge stall at Scotlands largest car boot on Sunday, I was happy to pay a fiver each.
It’s funny but I actually give a shit about these things now I’m in my 60’s. I find it quite incredible that the council or whoever is responsible for upkeep of the local landmarks have neglected to cover up the graffiti that has been sprayed over the beautiful Mini-Lighthouse up the road in Arbroath for the past 6 months. It’s the first thing visitors see as they come into the town from the south and I can only imagine the disappointment so many visitors will have felt as they saw it and thought awww, how sad it looks. I’ve complained to the council and I would be happy to paint it if the powers that be gave me a 2.5ltr tin of Signal Red, though I’d probably be arrested if I just went ahead and did it!
This seemed like a good place to post this, the first in a series of chats where a friend of my son comes over to ask me about my vinyl collecting habit, vid in comments.
15 tracks chosen and introduced by David Bowie. Among all the items taken from his office for the recently opened V&A exhibition on his work was a paper titled “Memo for radio show – list of favourite records”. So with a bit of editing of old clips featuring him talking about his choices and the full list of the records he loved most this is, Memo For Radio Show a Skylarking mix for Tak Tent Radio
The Hollywood Argyles : Sho Know a Lot About Love Alan Freed & His Rock ‘n’ Roll Band : Right Now, Right Now Little Richard : True Fine Mama The Beatles : Across The Universe Roxy Music : Mother of Pearl Legendary Stardust Cowboy : I Took a Trip On a Gemini Spaceship Jeff Beck : Becks Bolero Ronnie Spector : Try Some Buy Some The Walker Brothers : The Electrician Miles Davis : Someday My Prince Will Come Charles Mingus : Ecclusiastics Edgar Froese : Epsilon In Malaysian Pale pt.2 Richard Strauss : Four Last Songs (excerpt) Vaughan Williams : Fantasia on a Theme (excerpt) Sonic Youth : Tom Violence
These are some of the albums that have made they way into my grubby hands in the last couple of weeks. I hit Northampton pretty hard the other week, I was only there a couple of days but still crammed in a boot, one auction and several charity shops. The best stuff turned up on my doorstep when I got home when a bloke answered my ad and rang saying he had a load of singles. I went round to his fancy static caravan and although the records were alright but nothing special and as I was saying my thanks but no thanks he asked if I liked The Beatles. Yeah sure, I said, so he pulls a record case out full of fab four and solo albums, “I want a fiver each for these, no offers” erm, OK so, I bought the lot, it’s what he wanted. Nice original UK 1st mono pressings, although there was a White Album with only one disc but it had the bits, lovely copies of Ram, Walls & Bridges etc, and…
48 years gone, today. I still remember being so upset when I found out as I arrived at school I had to just go home.
Just back from a family trip to mid Wales, visiting caves, parks and buying paintings, fancy cheese and erm, records. After a stop-over at the beautiful Ingleborough Cave in Yorkshire we drove past a small town that had a charity shop on the high street. Stop if you want said my very patient wife, so I pulled over to the side of the road with my flashers on and popped in, I saw a box on the floor and asked the guy on the counter if they had any more, thousands round the back he said, but the bloke that sorts them is away for his lunch. So I left wondering what could have been out the back but we had to continue our journey and not hang about. I drive on about 100 yards and spot a 2nd hand shop on the same street and once again I get my wifes blessing to pull over and check it out. I walk through what looks like a large empty village hall and at the back spot a bloke eating a sandwich, are you the guy who sorts the records for the charity shop? I enquired and to my delight he » Continue Reading.
I came across this inner sleeve inside a second hand Hawkwind record, I thought I’d post here as it’s obviously quite old and I doubt that Tony & Paula will ever know I shared it.
I hope you dig my latest two hour mix of music from 1988 including film/TV clips, link in comments.
The Fall : Cab It Up! Sonic Youth : Silver Rocket Morrissey : Suedehead The Primitives : Crash The Stone Roses : Elephant Stone Public Enemy : She Watch Channel Zero Prince : Alphabet Street Scritti Politti : Boom! There She Was The Go-Betweens : The Streets of Your Town Pixies : Where Is My Mind Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians : What I Am Julian Cope : Charlotte Anne Prefab Sprout : Hey Manhattan Talking Heads : Nothing But Flowers The Waterboys : And a Bang On The Ear The Pogues : If I Should Fall from Grace with God Crowded House : I Feel Possessed Steve Earle : Copperhead Road Janes Addiction : Thank You Boys Enya : Storms In Africa The Fall : Carry Bag Man The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu : Burn The Bastards A Guy Called Gerald : Voodoo Ray Leonard Cohen : First We Take Manhattan Thomas Dolby : The Key to Her Ferrari Nirvana : Love Buzz Robert Palmer : She Makes My Day Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds : The » Continue Reading.
The month is shaping up to be a good month for digging at fairs and auctions and on Scottish fields, pics & links in comments.
