The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Matt Berry – Television Themes album

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*rubs thighs vigorously*

“The full track-listing for Television Themes is:

Are You Being Served? (1972-1985)

The Good Life (1975-1978)

LWT (1968 – 1972)

Blankety Blank (1979 – 1990)

Top Of The Pops (1963 – 20050

Picture Box (1966-1990)

The Liver Birds (1969 – 1979)

Thames Television (1968 – 1992)

Rainbow (1972-1997)

Doctor Who (1963- present)

Wildtrak (1979-1984)

World In Action (1963-1998)

Sorry (1981 – 1988)

Open University”

http://www.acidjazz.co.uk/pre-order-matt-berrys-new-album-television-themes/

Your last three online purchases

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I invite you all to share with us your last three online purchases. It may give us a tantalising glimpse into your glamorous lifestyle, or, you know… not.

Here are mine:

1) Saline nasal spray. 2) 3V lithium button batteries for in-ear thermometer. 3) Headphones extension cable (3.5mm female to 6.5mm male).

Jazz vinyl bargain

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The cover image has come on for a bit* of stick since it was first announced (and rightly so – the utter state of them), but the Martin Freeman/Eddie Piller-compilled Jazz On The Corner comp looks very good, and the double vinyl version is currently up for pre-order for £9.99 on you know where, as opposed to the CD version at over £15, which only boasts an additional three tracks.

As you were.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Freeman-Piller-Present-Corner/dp/B077ZCV7RK/ref=tmm_vnl_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1521204571&sr=8-1

God help me I’m enjoying Elbow

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Behind an old shoe rack, hidden underneath a rail of clothing, and at the very back of a box of the usual Bygraves et al, yesterday in a charity shop I found three modern records on vinyl; something by a guy going under the name Sohn (sparse indie electronica I believe, although I haven’t heard it yet), the debut album by Glasvegas (destined for eBay, ker-ching!), and lastly The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow.

Maybe it’s my new system, perhaps it’s because the Elbow album is spread over two 45rpm LPs, maybe I’m just coming down with something, but I’m really, really enjoying it, despite being very Elbow-averse until now. I always had them down as bland pap at best, annoying anthem writers at best. Too bad I’ve promised it to my brother in law.

Has anyone here experienced such an instant turnabout in their opinion of an artist by y’know, actually listening to them? I’m sure we’d all love to hear about it.

It’s the little things

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Amongst all the doom and gloom, what little things have perked up your day of late?

Mine came in threes yesterday:

1. After mentioning my new chazza holy grail item, i.e. the Geoff Love-arranged Mandingo LP, a Twitter chum sorting out his shed found he had two copies, and sent me his spare.

2. I bought an interesting looking German record in a charity shop for £2, and it turns out to be quite sought after. https://www.discogs.com/Siegfried-Matthus-Bernd-Wefelmeyer-Paul-Heinz-Dittrich-Galilei-Protest-Kammermusik-2/release/3634066

3. I got an email from WhoSampled.com informing me that I’ve won a copy of this new double LP, which from the clips sounds rather groovy indeed. https://www.mrbongo.com/products/mr-bongo-record-club-volume-two-vinyl-2-lp-cd-1

What about you?

What have you learned this week?

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I invite you all to share any snippets of info, fascinating facts or anything else that’s entered your brain this week. I have two. The first is that it seems that the Singing Postman briefly went electric! Oh yes, a small number of his later tunes not only boasted a small brass section, but also electric guitar and bass, as you can see here in the pic from a book wot I read.

The second, even more mind blowing revelation is in the comments…

View post on imgur.com

HMV Vinyl Week and the like.

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It’s getting to that time of year again where news of the now-familiar vinyl promotions from HMV, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are starting to appear, presumably partly with Fathers Day in mind. As well as the predictable Quo, Clash and Iggy Pop offerings, one of HMV’s titles this year is Bill Wyman’s 1982 self titled LP – on purple wax, naturally. An odd choice, or is it just me?

Also, will anyone here be grabbing any of these “exclusive” records from either HMV or the canny bandwagonning supermarkets?

http://www.hmv.com/music/hmv-vinyl-week-exclusive-vinyl-editions-second-reveal

ATM: Compact hi-fi

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Hi chums, my upstairs stereo (3-disc CD drawer, double cassette, radio), bought from the Co-op circa 1905, is getting rather creaky now, and I need something to replace it. These are my demands:

1. Ability to play CDs and if possible cassettes too. My old stereo is now struggling with CDRs, so it either needs to be able to play those with no problems, or failing that maybe an SD slot or USB port would be kinda groovy, then I could could rip and chuck all the CDRs. Not bothered about radio, bluetooth or any kind of streaming capability.

2. Small size. It’ll be sitting on the landing just outside the bathroom, so needs to be fairly compact.

3. Sub £200 price. As sub as possible please.

4. Available via mail order. I live in the sticks.

5. It mustn’t sound shit or fall to pieces.

6. The moon on a stick, please!

Thanks in advance xx

Fred Astaire movies – where next?

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After a chance find in a charity shop earlier this year of a five-disc Fred Astaire DVD box set, I’ve been on quite the Astaire jag, picking up a few other films, mainly chosen because they cost pennies or were in a cheap multi-disc set. So far I’ve watched (or in some cases revisited):

Top Hat (a firm fave) Swing Time Broadway Melody of 1940 You’ll Never Get Rich You Were Never Lovelier Easter Parade (another long time fave, I could watch this every other week) The Barkleys of Broadway The Band Wagon Funny Face Finian’s Rainbow (a bit ropey, but ooh look, it’s Pet Clark!)

I also have Holiday Inn, which I’m saving for December.

So chums, what others should I watch? Some are mega cheap on DVD, but others not so much, so streaming via amazon would be the other option. Ta in advance.

Some good news for print media

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Just for a change there’s some good news in the world of magazines. The excellent Classic Pop is to move from 6 issues per year to one every month. Must be all those ex Smash Hits readers in their 40s and 50s still wanting a shiny colourful mag in their hands to go with the shiny colourful music.

http://www.classicpopmag.com/2017/03/classic-pop-going-monthly/

What does this MEAN?!!

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“…just as Lennon and McCartney had intended”. So where would the two songs slot in? Or will they just be tacked on to the end as bonus tracks? Will anyone want to buy it yet again?

Full text from behind the paywall:

“50 years on: the real Sgt Pepper

It is one of popular music’s seminal albums, has sold more than 32m copies around the world and marked the Beatles’ first embrace of psychedelic culture.

The 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band this June will be marked with a worldwide re-release — and for fans it will mean at last hearing the album as the band had intended it to sound.

In 1967 the record label EMI poached what John Lennon and Paul McCartney believed to be two of their best songs from the album and released them as a double A-side single, something George Martin, their producer, later described as “a truly terrible mistake”.

The Beatles had wanted Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane as showcase tracks on Sgt Pepper, their eighth album.

Now, according to sources, Apple Corps, the Beatles’ company, has scored a victory: the anniversary relaunch on June 1 will » Continue Reading.