Coming Attractions for the New Year

Coming Attractions for the New Year

Hi everybody. Ryan here to let you know that I'll be posting records in different themes on YouTube when the new year comes.

Here are the planned themes for January 2011:

Songs in Time
Ring out of 2010 and give a warm welcome to 2011 as I will spin some great songs about time for you! Starts on New Years' Eve (near the very end of December 31, 2010) and continues through January 01.

4 Days of Buffalo Stance Mixes
The epitome of ultimate gigoloifization! You've heard Neneh doin' her gigolo thang. Now prepare for the remixes! Spread out over 4 days, the 4th day contains 2 mixes in one! Starts on the 3rd and continues through the 6th.

PRN Daze
Prince is awesome, and U know it! Since WMG does not allow his songs on UTube, eye will B posting them on Viddler. Starts on the 7th and continues through the 8th.

John James Wants to Know Where It All Began and Where It's Gonna Go... on YT
Hey! Come to Toronto and you'll meet a cool guy named Johnny. Not many of his tracks are on YouTube, so I will be uploading 2 singles from "Big Fat Soul" plus a bonus cover version of a song by Mercy Ray. Starts on the 9th and continues through the 10th.

Hurricane: New World Mixes
Obscure funk galore by Dupont. Prepare to be taken back to 1990, when everything was cool. Well... I don't have the 12"er yet, but I will be ordering it off of eBay on the 6th as a late birthday present. Then it will be uploaded sometime in mid-January.

Stay tuned to my YouTube channel in the New Year!

Ryan

(note: this list of themes is subject to update at any time)

Musical Collectables Record Show 10/17/2010

Wow, it's been nearly two months flat already since I wrote in my blog! Well, anyways, I had a REALLY fun time at the Musical Collectables record show at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga, Ontario yesterday, and I came home with a lot of great finds from just 3 of over 100 vendors giving away vinyl records and CD's! What's cool is that I saw 4 copies of a Beatles single I never see in the thrift store (I bought the one in the best condition of the four), and that I got a Roxette jukebox 45 on yellow vinyl, complete with the original jukebox strip! Also, I managed to pick up a lot of great jazz records I never had in my collection before, and I (unexpectedly) found a copy of "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney for only a single buck (can you believe it?). I am planning to go to two other shows in the very near future: one in Barrie next Sunday, and the other in Toronto on the 7th of November.

I even posted a video on my YouTube channel showing a mini-tour of the show and all the great finds I have discovered.



I really enjoyed going to the Musical Collectables show with my friends, especially my older brother! When I came back, we fought over what we wanted to play first, but, in several hours, it all settled down, and I got to play the records I wanted to play.

P.S. one of my online pen pals contacted me today and said that she has some records that she would like to give to me, and the records are in some attached photos. I replied back and placed a check mark on the records I wanted in the photos. They'll be coming to me by the end of the week! I can't believe how much my record collection has been growing in the past few days... :D

Record Finds 08-29-2010

It was a Sunday morning, and I went to go shopping for records. First I went to the Stouffville Country Market, but all of the records there were mould-infested like no other! So I decided to go to Value Village instead, knowing that there would be some good records there. And look what I found! I was stuck in 45 heaven, and believe it or not I found a VG+ copy of Led Zeppelin IV sitting in a Bread sleeve! Ahhh... I feel very happy to get what I've been wanting for a long time. :D



Ryan

BTW, here's a correction/update to my "Beware of YT Taste Bullies" message I posted yesterday. The guy replied me back with an apology:



It was nice of him to do that, actually. :D Glad that it didn't escalate to the point that he would block me, and hopefully, at the very least, will become acquaintances! A little communication is a good thing, because a lot can be misinterpereted in personal messages.

Beware of YT Taste Bullies!

Last night I subscribed to a YouTube user who has lots of great Canadian music on his channel (especially the old 50's and 60's stuff). Now when I woke up today, I went to check my YouTube inbox, and lo and behold, this is what appeared in my personal messages!

WTF?

This is way out of line! He should have thanked me for my subscription to his channel, but instead he got angry at me because, as far as I can see, he only wants his subscribers to like one type of music! From the tone of his message, he couldn't grasp the idea that my channel could be different than his and yet I still like the music he uploads! You see, my record collection weighs at over a thousand, and I like a very, very wide variety of musical genres. In my opinion, everybody is welcome to have their own musical tastes, but they are not welcome to want all their followers to like the exact same type of music!

So, whatever you do, beware of the YouTube taste bullies. They may not say it on their YouTube channel, but they actually want their followers to have the exact same musical tastes as the bullies themselves! This is more than a subscriber trying to weed out potential spammers (you know, like the "Earn Subscribers" guys that were around in the past months of 2010). This is someone who says "my way or the highway", while I say no way to that! It's our differences that make us unique, and that's what great music is all about... bringing many genres and influences together in a whole different way!

Ryan

Record Finds 08/21/2010

On a Saturday morning I decided to go on an unexpected trip to the thrift store with my friends, and guess what: I scored! However, I only got to go to Value Village, mainly because I did not want to leave my dog alone for too long, and also because Goodwill usually have their half-off sales every Friday.



Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

Henry Johnson commented on my video!

Last week, I posted "Mr. Montgomery" by Chicago jazz guitarist Henry Johnson:



Little did I know that a week after, Henry Johnson himself sent me a personal message (WOO!):



As soon as I recieved his message, I replied with the following:

"WOW! I can't believe you're actually Henry Johnson! Thank you so much for your kind comments! There's no comparison between the vinyl and digital ages. The whole experience of buying a vinyl, tearing the shrinkwrap, reading all the detail on the sleeve, and then placing it on the turntable has all been lost! You've actually made my day as well, because it's not often that a record collector has the opportunity to speak to a musician they admire! I appreciate you taking the time to listen to the records on my channel! I hope you'll drop back again someday soon, and I wish you continued good luck with your wonderful music!"

I feel REALLY happy and excited that an actual musician left a message for me. Just unbelieveable! :D

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

New page on Viddler!

I will be using my new Viddler account for videos that have been blocked from YouTube.

If you want to see it, click here.

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

Record Finds 08/06/2010

Yet another great Friday at the thrift shop for vinyl! Here are my finds:

Erroll Starr - The Key (12" single, 1986)

Note: Cool Canadian music from the late 80's. A fun fact: the song actually starts at the end of the lead-in area!

Jenson Interceptor - Jenson Interceptor (1980)

Note: Edmonton, Alberta-based group from 1980. Note that this record was actually mastered by the fabulous Bob Ludwig, whom I actually have an article about! Also take note that there were about a dozen sealed copies of this album. So even though I read they were a B-circuit group, I got it just for thehell of it! And I discovered that it's actually pretty good!

Apollo 100 - Joy (1972)

Note: Features the well-known rendition of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".

Seals and Crofts - Down Home (1970)

Note: The folk-rock duo's second album ever. Canadian pressing on Bell, and distributed by Quality.

Sheila E. - The Glamorous Life (1984)

Note: Sheila E. was an American female singer best known for her work with Prince. This is her debut album.

The Michael Zager Band - Life's a Party (1978)

The Cinema Soundstage Orchestra - Cleopatra Soundtrack Scores (196?)

Glenn Miller - A Memorial: 1944-1969 (197?)

Note: Ahhh, the best of the master of swing. Glenn Miller, a legend all in one.

Andre Gagnon - Neiges (1975)

Note: French-Canadian instrumental musician and composer.

Walt Disney's Most Beloved Songs from His Great Motion Pictures (1964)

Walt Disney Presents All the Songs from "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1965)

Walt Disney's Merriest Songs (1968)

Sir Malcom Sargent - The Pirates of Penzance (197?)

Note: I also have the 1968 D'Oyly Carte recording of this amazing William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan play.

Hong King! Exotic Chinese Pop Music Recorded in Kowloon (1966)

Cinema Soundstage Orchestra - Dr. Zhivago (196?)

Note: I saw two copies of this album; one mono and one stereo. I got the mono copy, because it's the original (doesn't say "also available in stereo")!

Annie (Original Cast Recording) (1977)

Note: The fabulous musical based on Harold Gray's comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". This showstopper will be returning to Broadway in 2012!

New York, New York (Original Motion Picture Score) (1977)

Note: The soundtrack to Martin Scorcese's musical drama film starring Liza Minelli. Now I actually have a little story to tell you. It was 1977, and George Lucas's first ever Star Wars film came out (but the fourth in the whole six-episode trilogy). My grandfather came to the theater especially to see Star Wars, but since a god-awfully big line of people were higly anticipating it, he went to see "New York, New York" instead. And he hated every single minute of NY, NY. Why? BECAUSE HE DIDN'T GET TO SEE STAR WARS! Netherless, I now have the original soundtrack, though I daren't share it with him because he still hates the movie!

Well, that's all my finds for this Friday. Talk to you later!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

Bob Ludwig

Bob Ludwig is a famous American mastering engineer, best known for his work at Masterdisk Corporation in New York. On the vinyl records that he cut, he is identified in the runout area by the initals "RL".

Bob started his long career at A&R Recording with Phil Ramone. The two did sessions for 1960's musical artists such as The Band, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Neil Diamond, and Frank Sinatra.

After a few years at A&R, Bob Ludwig moved on to Sterling Sound in around 1969, where he was famous for mastering records such as Led Zeppelin II, "Houses of the Holy" also by Led Zeppelin, "There's a Riot Goin' On" by Sly and the Family Stone, and others. One of the only two records that I have that were mastered by Bob Ludwig during his tenure at Sterling Sound is "I Am Somebody" by Jimmy James. And I can tell that because it says "Sterling RL" in the runout groove. Also, I have a copy of The Band's "Stage Fright" which also says "Sterling RL" in the runout groove.

In the late seventies, Bob Ludwig began work at Masterdisk, where he spent most of his career mastering records. Here is a complete list of the records that I have that say "Masterdisk RL" in the runout groove:

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (1982)
Boston - Third Stage (1986)
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required (1985)
Arcadia - So Red the Rose (1985)
Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance (1979)
Spyro Gyra - Catching the Sun (1980)
Spyro Gyra - Incognito (1982)
Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)
Pat Metheney and Lyle Mays - As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1981)
Nazareth - Play 'n' the Game (1976)
Yes - 90125 (1983)
Roger Daltry - Best Bits (1982)
Mick Jagger - She's the Boss (1985)
City Boy - Young Men Gone West (1977)

Bob Ludwig also mastered some records for Canadian artists in the 1980's. Here is a list of all my records that were by Canadian bands and say "Masterdisk RL" in the runout groove at the same time:

Stephan Nesrallah - Transition (1984)
Headpins - Turn It Loud (1982)
Glass Tiger - Thin Red Line (1986)
Glass Tiger - Diamond Sun (1988)
Spoons - Talkback (1982)
Jenson Interceptor - Jenson Interceptor (1980)

In 1986, Bob Ludwig took advantage of direct metal mastering, and so, most of the records that he mastered from that year on are direct metal mastered. However, during the DMM era, the "RL" initials rarely appear, but "MASTERDISK" is still there and sometmes, it can even say "MASTERDISK DMM". Here is my Bob Ludwig DMM collection:

Corey Hart - Fields of Fire (1986)
Bruce Springsteen - Live/1975-85 (1986)
Pat Metheney - Still Life (Talking) (1987)
Paul Young - Between Two Fires (1986)
Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson (1987)
Genesis - Invisible Touch (1986)

In 1993 Bob Ludwig left Masterdisk and he would form Gateway Mastering at Portland, Maine. He has been a member of that mastering facility ever since.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about Masterdisk employees in the future!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

Record Finds 23/07/2010

A Friday at the thrift shop scored me some more finds! Here are 'em:

Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

Note: I already have this album, but I got a second copy just because the one I already have is warped. Now despite its extreme warpage, it still plays all the way through on my Numark TTUSB with absolutely no skips! Huzzah! But I know that warped records may damage your needle, because force is applied to the needle as it goes up and down. So I will be trading my warped copy. If you don't know already, this utterly excellent studio effort, from the man that is known today as Yusuf, includes classics such as "Wild World" and "Where Do the Children Play".

J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame (1981)

Note: Includes the mega-hit "Centerfold".

Waldo de los Rios - Encore (1984)

Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde (1986)

Note: LA alt-rock band.

Level 42 - Lessons in Love (Shep Pettibone Remixes) (1986)

Note: 2 12" 45 rpm singles housed in a gatefold sleeve. Both records are warped, but they may still be playable!

Love Unlimited - Under the Influence of Love Unlimited (1973)

Note: Barry White's backing vocalists star in their own studio album.

Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues (Original Soundtrack) (1979)

Hello Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (1964)

The Monks - Bad Habits (1979)

Note: UK punk rock band consisting of former members of Strawbs. This is their 1979 debut album. I also have "Suspended Animation" (which was a Canadian exclusive and released nowhere else).

Billy Joel - The Stranger (1977)

Note: Why not quote the first verse from "Just the Way You Are"?

Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We could never have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times...

The Stylistics - Let's Put It All Together (1974)

John Cougar Mellencamp - American Fool (1982)

Note: I'm just talking a little ditty bout Jack and Diane, and that's all.

Seals and Crofts - Unborn Child (1974)

Note: Cover has a nice diecut square in it which shows the picture on one side of the picture sleeve.

My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast) (1956)

Leonard Bernstein - William Tell and Other Favourite Overtures (196?)

Kokomo - Kokomo (1975)

Note: British soul ranking with the likes of Average White Band.

Poco - Legend (1978)

The Bells - Fly Little White Dove, Fly (1971)

Note: I already have this album, but the one I have is a reissue with a different cover and title ("Stay Awhile"). I will also be putting the reissue up for trade soon.

The D'oyly Carte Opera Company - The Mikado (1950)

Note: 2-LP set released in the USA by London Records during the early years of the LP, and containing one of Gilbert and Sullivan's great operas.

Cliff "Kid" Bastien - In the Mood (1975)

Go West - Go West (1985)

Orchestra of the Vienna State Orchestra conducted by Mario Rossi - Scheherazade (195?)

Note: A unique demonstration record embodying Vanguard quality control.

That's all my finds today. What a haul!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

M-A-R-K-D-Double E (a track-by-track description of "All in a Day's Work" by Mark Dee)

MAY, 2009.
ONE SPRING EVENING.

I was willin' for good records (pun intended) at the local Goodwill. The only one that stands out from the rest, however, is a record that has become one of my all-time personal favourites over the last few months. It's some old hip-hop from 1990. The album, in question, is entitled "All in a Day's Work", and is performed by a force known as... MARK DEE.




The picture above (as seen on the cover of the 12" single of "Get a Hold of Yourself") depicts Mark in a steady pose. Of course, many people never knew about him, but in my opinion, he's awesome. Speaking of awesome, the whole "All in a Day's Work" album is awesome.

Now before we get to the music, let's take a look at one aspect of the album cover itself. A sticker that proudly proclaims that the album contains some hit songs...

Def...Dope...So Listen Up...
The debut album from Mark Dee contains the smash single "Get a Hold of Yourself" and the hit tracks "So Deep", "Just Give Me Romance", and "Let It All Hang Out"

Of course, "Def" and "Dope" are two points that really stand out, but now, it's time to get to the music:

INTRO



We are pleasingly introduced by a big ol' man with a deep cutthroat voice, seemingly taking place at a bar somewhere in the United States of America. Notice that in between speech, he laughs with the crowd:

So kid, ya name is MARK DEE. And ya say, you wanna be a rappa!
Oh yes.

Hey, hey! Quiet down! And-and, ya say, you wanna be a BIG STAR!
Well, he was not that big really, but he was sort of a star. With one single that garnered a little bit of airplay attention.

Okay kid, I tell ya what. I got a couple o' producers here. They named Kid and Looks, AND THEY WANNA BE BIG PRODUCERS!
Not so. I don't think that Dennis Kid and Michael Looks were big producers anyways. In fact, I think they only produced this one album by Mark Dee.

Okay, okay, okay. I'll cut ya up a break. Show me what you could do kid!
We are then treated to an instrumental version of "So Deep", of which a full-blown version featuring KMC and DODAMAGE appears later in the album.

TRACK ONE: Soothed by the Groove



After the cutthroat introduction, Mark Dee opens up his set by rapping about dancing. He even announces that he could "make you dance till your clothes are torn"! Nice!

Hey Joel, why don't ya get funky on the keys?

Surely! The last two minutes of the song involve Joel Martin doing a funky improvisation on the piano.

Mark's conclusion to the song is as follows:
My final conclusion: this is the end of the jam, and you're SOOTHED BY THE GROOVE. Ha ha ha ha!

TRACK TWO: Get a Hold of Yourself



First off, this album is noted for what I call the "world of confusion" theme, starting from this song, and continuing through the tracks "Game of Life", "Victim of Circumstance", and the title track.

Secondly, this song is the album's only single. It was released in 7" and 12" vinyl and CD formats. MCA Records also promotional copies to send to DJs for airplay. That is also the reason my mom heard this song enough times on the radio that she remembers it! Heck, there was also even a music video for the song, featuring Mark rapping in front of awesome 90's-style visuals!

Finally, the title of this song is self-explanatory. Remember that peace, love, and unity is what Mark's talking all about!

TRACK THREE: Game of Life



The "World of Confusion" theme continues here. Go and solve a Rubik's Cube now or else you're trapped in John Conway's cellular automaton! Ha! Well that, or maybe even Milton Bradley's board game. Well it depends on whatever Game of Life he based this song on.

TRACK FOUR: Let It All Hang Out



Besides the whole "world of confusion" thing, this album also has a love theme, which only appears on three tracks on the album: this, "Men Will Be Men", and "Just Give Me Romance". I'm now going to call this album a "multi-concept" album!

TRACK FIVE: Men Will Be Men



The second of the three songs in Mark Dee's love line. Remember all you ladies: boys will be boys and men will be men!

TRACK SIX: Just Give Me Romance



The third and final song in a short-lasting love theme. I think this is one of the best-known tracks on the album. In fact, it appeared on a Brazillian bootleg V/A compilation album of hip-hop love songs!

TRACK SEVEN: Victim of Circumstance



"In this world of confusion". Need I say more?

TRACK EIGHT: All in a Day's Work



The title track of the album and also the final song in the "world of confusion" theme. Damn, a concept album based around multiple concepts is pretty unusual!

TRACK NINE: So Deep



The K, the KMC is SO DEEP!
DODAMAGE is SO DEEP!

So deep indeed! This is the best song on the entire album. Guest-starring KMC and DODAMAGE on rap vocals! If this album had a second single (along with "Get a Hold of Yourself"), this would be it!

TRACK TEN: Hail to the Chief



Just in case you're wondering, no, this ain't the president's song.

Mark Dee concludes his set with a box of funk. He also gives thanks to the Murder ONE gang, who could also possibly be one of his friends!

Also, did you know that this album has a REALLY SHORT "funky" theme? That's absolutely true! It only has two tracks: "Soothed by the Groove" and this!

As you know, this one is for the Murder ONE bodyguard squad! Diesel, Dog, G-Man, Ramrod, Beast, Bruiser, Rhino, Lookout, and Truck!
Peace! I'm outta here!

OUTRO

The cutthroat man that we heard at the beginning returns in the end. But this time, he's more strict:

(crowd laughs)
Hey, hey! Why's everybody laughin'? THIS GETS GOOD! HEY KID! HEY KID, WHERE YA GOIN'? COME BACK HERE! I'll make you a deal! Twenty percent! Fifteen percent! OR FOR FIVE PERCENT! HEY KID! HEY KID, COME BACK HERE! FIVE PERCENT! WHAT AM I GONNA DO? (crowd rams man off a cliff) AHHHHHHHHH! (crowd enjoys listening to Mark Dee on a boombox)

Well, that's Mark Dee's one and only album. Hope you enjoyed it! I highly reccomend it to any fan of golden-age hip-hop.

Hope you enjoyed listening!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1

P.S. Did you know that Mark Dee starred as a guest rapper on former Boyz II Men member Marc Nelson's 1991 cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You"?



Word up y'all, this is the only time that Mark Dee starred as a guest on someone else's song.

UPDATE 07-20-2010:

I just bought a promo 12" single of "Get a Hold of Yourself" off of eBay. One step closer to completing my Mark Dee collection (I still have a long way to go)! Now I'm expecting it to arrive in about 10 days...

UPDATE 07-24-2010:

I forgot to tell you, but a few months back, "honda1471" made a comment on the "Get a Hold of Yourself" music video that said this:

"That's my uncel he was 18 years old here"

Coincedentally, he also had a playlist titled "My uncel", and it included that very video, as well as some videos from a rap artist known as M.A.R.K., formely known as Minnesota Slimz.

But here's the question: are M.A.R.K. and Mark Dee the same artist?

Well now's the time to find out who exactly Mark Dee is! I left a comment about 3 weeks ago on Chambermusik's video of M.A.R.K. performing his song "Exhibit Me". My comment said this:

"Is M.A.R.K. aka Minnesota Slimz aka Mark Danger from Soul Kid Klik the same guy who did the "All in a Day's Work" album in 1990 under the Mark Dee banner for MCA Records back when he was 18 years old? Cause I noticed that honda1471 said that he is his uncle, and his playlist entitled "my uncle" has videos from both Mark Dee and M.A.R.K. aka Minnesota Slimz aka Mark Danger from Soul Kid Klik in it!"

Soon after, Chambermusik answered yes to my question:

"yes, same artist. Mark Dee, Mark Danger, Minnesota Slimz, and M.A.R.K."

The reply to my comment didn't appear in my YouTube inbox, but I checked back on the video about three weeks after I made my comment and saw Chambermusik's reply. I replied to their reply to my comment:

"Wow, I couldn't believe it! I have his "All in a Day's Work" album on a vinyl record. That album also includes the single "Get a Hold of Yourself", which was released on 7" and 12" vinyl formats (both promo and regular issues) and on CD (promo only). I bought the promo 12" of "Get a Hold of Yourself" off of eBay and still waiting for it to arrive. His voice sounds very similar to when he was under the Mark Dee banner here!"

So now we can get to know who Mark Dee is without having to waste 24 hours on Google trying to look for info but not finding anything! Horray!

UPDATE 07/28/2010: "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF": THE ROD HUI REMIX

The promo 12" single of "Get a Hold of Yourself" I orded last week arrived in the mail today! Yay! Well it's not the original version, but it's a remix by Rod Hui. Still, it's just plain dopeness!



UPDATE 07/31/2010:

I just bought ANOTHER Mark Dee record. This time it's a promo 7" of "Get a Hold of Yourself" which contains a four-minute radio edit of the original song on both sides (no, it's not the Rod Hui remix). This time, it comes from Georgia instead of New York, so it may take longer to arrive here in Canada.

UPDATE 08/16/2010: THE MARK DEE 7" ARRIVED.

Yes, that's true! But don't forget that as I suspected, it took about 17 days to get here from Georgia. That's WAY longer than the time it took for my promo 12" single featuring the Rod Hui remix, which arrived from New York in only four days!

The four-minute radio edit featured on this promo 7"er chops off the beginning part where Mark Dee gives his introduction speech:

"In this world of confusion,
You gotta get a hold of yourself.
Grab the world by its axis,
And tell it to revolve.
Drop the beat..."

Also, it chops off a HUGE portion of the last two minutes of the song. Which means that the instrumental solo is gone, and the girls start singing instantly in the place where the instrumental solo starts. If you want the full 5:25 version, I reccomend you to grab a copy of the "All in a Day's Work" LP now.

P.S.: I have also confirmed a retail 7" to exist with the same cat no. as the promo (MCA-53791), which unlike the promo, does not repeat the same version on both sides. Instead, the retail version has a 4:45 "7" Edit", which I suspect does have the intro part, and has more of the solo intact.

UPDATE 12/20/2010:

Turns out the so-called "7" Edit" is a remix with a layer of funky slap bass added. That's what I can tell from another version of the "Get a Hold of Yourself" 12" single that I got back in September (which also contains a house mix and the radio edit found on the promo 7").

Record Finds 16/07/2010

Another Friday for vinyl records, and I scored! Here are my finds:

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Works Volume I (1977)

Note: German pressing by Ariola. The first three sides contain solo pieces done by each of the three members of ELP. Side 1 is Keith Emerson, side 2 is Greg Lake, and side 3 is Carl Palmer. Side 4 has all three members of ELP performing together.

Prince - 1999 (1982)

Note: Australian pressing manufactured by WEA Records Pty Ltd (we rarely ever get imported vinyls from Australia or New Zealand here in Canada, mainly because those two countries have different markets). In some countries, Prince's breakthrough double album would be edited to just a single LP record. Australia was one of those countries to do this!

Two copies of Phil Collins - No Jacket Required (1985)

Note: I will be putting one of these up for trade soon!

The Dream Academy - The Dream Academy (1985)

Note: Features "Life in a Northern Town". Unfortunately they didn't do much but they were still a great band!

Billy Joel - The Bridge (1986)

Note: I already have this album. I just got another copy because the one I already have was made in the USA, but this particular version was made in Canada.

Various Artists - Flashdance Soundtrack (1983)

Note: Made in New Zealand by PolyGram but the cover is Australian (as I said, we rarely get imported records from down under because it's a different market over there).

Rod Stewart - Camouflage (1984)

Rod Stewart - Body Wishes (1983)

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (1988)

Paul McCartney and Wings - Wings over America (1976)

Note: 3-LP live album by Paul, Linda, and company.

Dionne Warwick - The Dionne Warwick Story (1971)

Note: Dionne is live! This was her very last album for Scepter Records, but it's not a studio album (her last studio album for Scepter was "Very Dionne", which I also have).

Paul Horn - Inside (1968)

Note: 1970's reissue with orange Epic label.

Bruce Hornsby and the Range - The Way It Is (1986)

Ernest Gold - Exodus Soundtrack (1960)

Note: I have a 1970's issue of this record, which I will also be putting up for trade soon.

Bing Crosby - Beautiful Memories (1977)

The Jets - Magic (1987)

Note: The Jets are actually a whole family consisting of brothers and sisters specializing in pop, R&B, and dance music.

Bronski Beat - Hundreds and Thousands (1985)

Note: Features four remixed tracks from "The Age of Consent", and two tracks that should have made up the band's next single at the time ("Run from Love" b/w "Hard Rain").

Culture Club - Kissing to Be Clever (1982)

Cleo Laine - Born on a Friday (1976)

Prism - See Forever Eyes (1978)

Bangles - Different Light (1985)

Note: Features "Walk Like an Egyptian".

Paul Young - The Secret of Association (1985)

The Irish Rovers - Children of the Unicorn (1976)

Bryan Ferry - These Foolish Things (1974)

Note: 1980's reissue.

Cats (Selections from the Original Cast Recording) (1983)

Note: I already have the full Broadway cast on a 2-LP set, but I didn't know Geffen made a version that was reduced to just one LP!

Jackson Browne - Lives in the Balance (1986)

Dead or Alive - Youthquake (1985)

Note: You spin me round like a record!

Hall and Oates - Voices (1980)

Note: I already got a copy of this record last week, but the version I previously purchased was a 1981 reissue with the duo looking kinda strange on the cover. The copy I got today is an original pressing from 1980 with a different and much more appealing cover!

So that's all the records I got. Wow, what a haul! I even got a record from Australia!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1 signing off.

Record Finds 09/07/2010

Guess what? I got me some records today! Well I didn't have time to drive to the local thrift shop myself, so I figured my brother would go instead today. I got some pretty nice scores! Now, time to check 'em out:

Falco - Rock Me Amadeus (Salieri Version) b/w Urban Tropical (12" single, 1985)

Note: This Austrian guy also sang "Der Komissar", which would later on be covered by After the Fire.

Bob James - Heads (1977)

Note: This album doesn't have the sides listed as "Side 1" and "Side 2" as usual; instead, side 1 is "Heads", and side 2 is "Tails"!

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene (1977)

Note: Slime Tron 5000 might like this, since I think he's a fan of Jean-Michel Jarre.

Edith Piaf - The Great Edith Piaf (1981)

Pat Metheney and Lyle Mays - As Falls Whichita, So Falls Whichita Falls (1981)

Note: My brother told me that this was the first Pat Metheney album he had when he started collecting vinyl records

Roberta Flack - Blue Lights in the Basement (1977)

Note: I already have this album. I got another copy just because I'm having a record trade soon, and I'll get to add records into my collection that I don't already have.

UB40 - UB40 (1988)

The Manhattan Transfer - Mecca for Moderns (1981)

Hall and Oates - No Goodbyes (1974)

Hall and Oates - Voices (1980)

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1 signing off, hoping that you will have a nice Friday evening.

Two 12" Singles from 1990

This blog post covers 12" singles from 1990 containing music by little-known artists. First off, here's a New Jack Swing ditty titled "Tell the Truth (About It)" by a group called Images:



Released on the Cardiac label (catalogue no. 3-4001-0), this is a funky jam that is telling everyone that they should "tell the truth about it". Unfortunately I think it was much overlooked, and Images aren't that well-known today.

Secondly, we are treated to some rap-house with a nice British accent. It's titled "Sounds Underground", and performed by a group who decided to call themselves They Who Move:



Featuring Nadee Jones on rap vocals, this song extolls the joys of house music. Sounds Underground will definitely make you move and groove! Well this record was also pretty much overlooked, and I neither haven't found any info about them.

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1 signing off, hoping that your ears will drink some Kool-Aid.

Let's Hear Some Tetris Alternate Music!

"eww
omg its horrible"
-x30x208344023x3z0384

FOREWORD: The videos included in this post can cause severe hearing damage. Only watch them if you dare.

Tetris is just an awesome game. It's such a classic that there are MILLIONS of versions of Tetris made around the world. One of them was made by Atari in 1988.

Atari's version had awesome graphics and some nice Russian-style music in 8-bit glory. And the true 8-bit glory is inside the 4-channel POKEY sound chip (notable for its use in the Atari 8-bit family of computers, e.g. Atari 400, Atari 800, Atari XL/XE, etc).

Atari used their own Slapstic protection chips, which were unique to each game, and prevented bootleggers from modifying the ROMs. One of them is on Tetris. But a few clever bootleggers managed to reverse-engineer the protection so that they could modify the copyright and change it to "1989 Video Games" and also change the staff screens...

...while other bootleggers didn't reverse-engineer the Slapstic protection. Guess what they did instead? They decided to replace the POKEY sound chip with a Texas Instruments SN76489 4-channel PSG without modifying the graphics or the sound roms (which were designed for the POKEY and not the SN76489) in any way.

The result? A mess of beeps that are so god-awful that they will set your ears on fire. Just watch the video below to see what I mean.



MitchZer0II ultimately decided to call it "Tetris: the Waixing Edition". If you don't know already, Waixing are a Chinese company that makes pirated games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. They can have some pretty bad music on their games, mostly in the style of Game Boy games made by Yong Yong, but the one that has the worst music out of all the others is Bio Hazard, an attempt at porting Resident Evil to the NES:



The uploader of that video (Tompkins355) claims that the gameplay is quite impressive with the exception of the fact that the game crashes at random times. But one thing he didn't mention is that the music is just plain EAR RAPE...

Well that's all for now. Not only am I a fan of vinyl records, but another one of my interests are video games. Don't worry, I'm still gonna be uploading more vinyl vids on my YouTube account.

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1 signing off.

P.S. Word up y'all, the ear rape is over.

BUT IS IT REALLY? No! The alternate Tetris music closely resembles that of the title screen music to a homebrewed Sega Genesis game called Crazybus:



My final conclusion: your ears must be bleeding by now.

Record Finds 30/06/2010

It was Wednesday. Not just Wednesday, but an excellent Wednesday at that.

Why?

Because I BOTH got to see Toy Story 3 at Silvercity and picked up some vinyl records yesterday as well!

The local thrift shop usually has their 50% off sales on Fridays, but in some rare cases they do these sales on other days, such as Mondays and Wednesdays. In this case, this particular 50% off sale happened on the latter day of the week (the day I went to the thrift shop, which is Wednesday). So I got lucky and scored some finds! Not as many as that other Friday, but I'll tell you what I got:

Various Artists - K-Tel Double Gold (1983)
Note: I got this one because unlike other K-Tel albums, the grooves aren't so squeezed together! I hope this album doesn't have the terrible volume errors that other K-Tel albums do...

Erroll Garner - Paris Impressions Volume II (195?)

Various Artists - 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of "American Graffiti" (1973)
Note: Heck, one of the two records were missing, but I still got it!

The Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue (1984)
Note: This one's for you Eric Woofson.

The Alan Parsons Project - Stereotomy (1985)
Note: This one's also for you Eric Woofson.

Waldo de los Rios - Symphonies for the 70's (1975)
Note: This guy does some awesome popified versions of classical compositions. I already have three of his albums, "Sinfonias", "Mozartmania", and "Operas"!

The Charlie Daniels Band - A Decade of Hits (1983)
Note: Not only did the devil run down to Georgia, but the South's gonna do it again!

Various Artists - Pretty in Pink (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1986)
Note: Features music by OMD, Suzanne Vega, INXS, the Psychedelic Furs, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Smiths, and more.

The Cars - The Cars (1978)
Note: The Cars self-titled debut album. I dare not mess with WMG's foolish copyright act, so I won't post anything from it on YouTube.

Tears for Fears - Shout (12" single) (1984)
Note: I have "Songs from the Big Chair on vinyl". And well, that's nice.

The Monks - Suspended Animation (1981)
Note: Punk rock band consisting of former Strawbs members. If you may not know already, this album was a Canadian exclusive and was released nowhere else!

Journey - Frontiers (1983)
Note: This album is what made Journey the masters of 80's rock. Did you know that Bally Midway made an arcade game based on the band to concide with an ongoing US tour? That is 100% true!

Duran Duran - The Reflex (12" single) (1984)
Note: I'm still looking for Union of the Snake.

Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It (12" single) (1985)
Note: I already have this 12" single. I bought a second copy because I'm gonna put some records up for trade soon!

Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle (1979)

Foriegner - Agent Provocateur (1984)
Note: As with the Cars record, I daren't post this on YouTube because it's WMG.

A-HA - Hunting High and Low (1985)
Note: WMG again! Ha! Now I wonder why I have so many Warner Bros records in my trip?

Dr. Hook - A Little Bit More (1976)

Depeche Mode - Stripped (12" single) (1986)
Note: German pressing on Mute. I won't let WMG mess around with this one either!

Leonard Bernstein - Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris (195?)

Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World (The Urban 12" mix part 2) (12" single) (1984)
Note: I also have this same song on a 10" 45 rpm single. Huzzah!

The Kinks - State of Confusion (1981)
Note: I already have this album. The copy that I bought yesterday is a Columbia House issue, and I might be thinking about putting it for trade!

The Music Department of the Halifax School Board - Ukulele Yes (197?)
Note: Uke NO? Uke YES! That four stringed Hawaiian instrument that everyone's been playing for years... well it's smaller than a guitar, and it has a higher tuning!

Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are (1973)
Note: You might expect your rock-n-roll YouTuber to try to upload "Woman from Tokyo", but he gets angry at the fact that it is blocked by WMG. And they ain't gonna get on my knees. Fer sure.

The San Sebastian Strings - Home to the Sea (1969)
Note: Rod McKuen redaing poetry over fitting orchestral music... nice. Also don't forget that this album employs the Haeco-CSG system, which was a way to battle against monophonic compatability problems with strereo records by shifting the phasing on the right channel about 90 degrees.

Well that's all my finds for today. See you later, and have a nice Canada Day!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1 signing off.

Mad Shadows

On my last vinyl shopping trip, I came back with a huge haul of excellent finds, including a record by yet another mysterious Canadian artist.

Ok, now let's recap about the record.

It's a 12" 45 rpm EP entitled "Music in the Night" by a Canadian rock group from the 1980's called the "Mad Shadows". I can't find any info about them on the net, because it's likely an independent record (I can tell from the small "custom record people" writing on the bottom right corner of the back cover, and also by looking at the front cover).

The one thing interesting about this record is that there is some handwriting on the back, probably David McLennan (leader of the Mad Shadows), who autographed this record and gave it as a gift to somebody:

To Samuel very special
and very wonderful,
I won't ever forget you,
David.

I played this EP and turns out it's a pretty nice Bruce Springsteen-esque record with 6 great songs on it. It would be likely that if they had made any more records, they surely would have been a popular band here in Canada. Unfortunately they didn't and I think they have been forgotten for a long time...

...until now, when I finally rediscovered this record in the vinyl section of Value Village.

Here are videos of both sides of the record; listen and enjoy.

Side 1
1. Gold (3:24)
2. Real Eyes (3:25)
3. Music in the Night (3:47)



Side 2
1. (Driving My) Jaguar Far (3:37)
2. The River Flows (3:04)
3. "747" (3:26)




P.S. If anybody has any info about the Mad Shadows (members: David McLennan, Randy Reibling, Kevin Cholerton, and Blair Polischuk), feel free to leave a comment in the comments section!

EDIT 07/04/2010: MYSTERY OF THE MAD SHADOWS SOLVED.
"bzkzgz" made a comment on my YouTube video about the Mad Shadows record and provided some further information about them:

Album is from 1985 I believe (I have it on cassette - taped from a friend's lp). Mad Shadows were from Winnipeg, and were a favourite bar band fo some of us in Brandon, MB in the early 80's. They did great covers of groups like the English Beat (Ranking Full Stop, Tears Of A Clown) as well as some original stuff. A good band to dance to .... I remember partying with them one night after their show at "the hill" as well.

Since he also requested a picture of the album cover, I'll put it up on this post later today.

EDIT 07/05/2010: PICTURES.

Beethoven in Quad

Here's something that you may like. It's Beethoven's Piano Concero No. 3 and the Andante favori in glorious SQ quadraphonic, performed by Sviatoslav Richter on the piano, and Riccardo Muti conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. This record was released on EMI/His Master's Voice in 1978, catalogue number ASD 3543.

If you're new to the SQ (Stereo Quadraphonic) quadraphonic matrix encoding process, check out this article on Wikipedia.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello there everybody. My name's Ryan, and you may recognize me from my YouTube account as OldMusicOnVinyl1.

Now let's get to my history of collecting vinyl records.

2006

It all started in late 2006 when I pulled out my old Technics P-mount turntable and thought about fixing it. The big problem was the annoying hum sound that overlapped the music when playing a record.

I soon brainstormed a way to fix that problem. I decided to dissasemble the turntable and put some ground wire inside there.

Well, unfortunately, that solution didn't work. It turned out that the audio cables were bad RCA wires. So they had to be replaced, and once that was done, it sounded as good as new!

Most of the vinyls in my then-small collection were property of my mom. She usually used to play them on either her Lloyd's stereo system (I still have both of the speakers, her portable suitcase record changer, or the Technics I just fixed.

2007

Through the first quarter of 2007, my obsession with vinlys slowly started to grow. It soon grew big enough, that, on my birthday, I got the Numark TTUSB turntable as a gift. It was an awesome record player that you could use to digitize your old vinyl record collection. I have used in in succession throughout the year to digitize my records, and I still do that today.

My first hunt for records was at Kops Kollectables in Toronto, an excellent store with a wide range of genres from reggae to soul, and from jazz to dance music and much more. I also went to Second Vinyl... got some more interesting finds there including a Genesis "Trick of the Tail", Oregon - "Roots in the Sky", and more.

The best of all the record stores I have ever visited was Star Records in Oshawa! Over 100 thousand vinyls and counting, including:

-sealed vinyls
-new vinyls
-used vinyls
-7" singles
-coloured vinyls
-picture discs
-die-cut picture discs
-some records that you may never find anywhere else
-and MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY MORE!

I have come back to Star Records 3 times already (the last time was in 2009) to get LOTS and LOTS of vinyls.

2008

I think this was the best year for finding vinyls. On January of 2008, I went to the Salvation Army hoping to get some vinyls. And guess what... I lucked out with a few great scores, including a Steely Dan album, Al Di Meola "Scenario", and guess what I found along with them? Two Japanese laserdiscs documenting computer animation! I don't currently have a laserdisc player in my hands, so I hope to get one when I have time.

About a week or so later, I went back, and found BOTH the Model 1 and Model 2 Sega Genesis! Retro video gaming is yet another one of my interests... especially chiptune and 16-bit music associated with those great old consoles.

After that, I tried another thrift store for the first time. In this case it was Goodwill. I usually was able to get more at Goodwill back then compared to today (the mega-haul I had two Fridays ago was an exception). Lots of eBay sellers check out these stores daily, making it difficult for us collectors to find great oldies.

I went to good ol' Goodwill and Sally Ann LOTS of times during the years and damn, it surely was an awesome year. But the stock started to get low towards Christmas time with mostly holiday vinyls, and little more than that. Yet, overall, I still got some great hauls throughout 2008!

2009

As I said, things were starting to get more Christmas-y (even after Christmas!), especially in the Sally Ann, which is a Christian charity shop. They're usually closed on Sundays when I shop, which means that Sally Ann usually doesn't often have many great hauls (I only had a few). There are always LOTS of Christian records over there, and sometimes, a rare find jumps out at you and makes the trip worthwhile, like "Back to the Egg" by Paul McCartney and Wings.

But still I got some great finds at Goodwill, including what I consider to be my all-time favourite golden age rap album, "All in a Day's Work" by Mark Dee, even though I'm positive that 90% of the people don't know about him. I think it was a pretty overlooked album that should have been appreciated by many more people. And the possible reason is that it might have been overlooked, is that I don't think it really did sell well compared to the rest of MCA's artist roster in 1990.

I went again TWO TIMES to Star Records in 2009 to get some big hauls, including the awesome Spider-Man 3 picture disc soundtrack, a Be Bop Deluxe album on white vinyl (limited edition copy exclusive to Canada only!), etc.

And I don't have much more to say about this year, except that I (STILL) had many more great vinyl finds. Which would continue on to the next year...

2010

This is the year that I currently live in, and the year that I formed my YouTube account! After looking at videos of people spinning vinyl records for over two years already and hoping to join the vinyl on YouTube trend for such a long time, I finally decided to set aside the time and get down to it! The first video that I uploaded was of the B-side to the Shocking Blue's "Venus", entitled "Hot Sand". I made it a response to Spencer Morasch (known on YouTube as WABCRADIO77)'s video of his copy of "Venus", and in an instant he became my first subscriber! My YouTube account grew REAL popular in a short time, and, to date, has 83 subscribers, and 52 friends!

Don't forget: my record trips still continue to this year, especially with the HUGE haul I had in the last two Fridays. Eventually, I hope to put some records up for trade on my YouTube account. I'm always looking out for great quality duplicate copies of vinyls I already own. I'll be talking more about that in future posts.

Well, that's a long history. Talk to you later!

Ryan AKA OldMusicOnVinyl1