Hallelujah

Last night I went out to look at some 78 rpm records that someone had told me about. They were a little different from my usual style of music but after looking at them I thought, "well I've come out on a cold wet windy night..." so I parted with a bit of cash and came home with them.

What I came home with was an (almost) boxed set of classical music - Handel's Messiah. In 38 parts, and therefore on 19 discs, this was in half a box - there was no lid on it.

I have quite a large collection of 78 rpm records. They were the original discs, replacing the old cylinder phonographs in the very early 1900s. They lasted for around 60 years in the UK, before 7 inch 45 rpm singles and albums - LPs or Long Play records - which played at 33 1/3 rpm came out in the 1950s.

This set came out in 1946, recorded by Columbia records with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent with the Huddersfield Choral Society and soloists: Isobel Baillie (soprano), Gladys Ripley (contralto), James Johnston (tenor) and Norman Walker (bass). Part 32 of the 38-part set is the famous Hallelujah Chorus. Altogether there's around 2 hours and 20 minutes worth of music.

...minus a couple of minutes! The vast majority of 78 rpm records were made with shellac. This is a substance secreted by lac bugs and deposited onto the bark of trees. It is as close to a natural plastic as you can get. Whilst 78 rpm records were usually played with a steel needle in a pick up arm weighing so much that record grooves quickly wore down, finding ones that have not been played so much makes you realise just how high a quality could be achieved. And whilst vinyl 45s were sold on the basis that they were "almost unbreakable", I always think that 78s from the 1950s era when both formats were made are likely to be in better condition than the vinyl. Vinyl scratches easily but does not break easily. Shellac was the opposite. Sitting on one by mistake was the end of a 78 rpm record. But the scratches they have are down to the weight of old gramophone pickups. Played on modern machines they can sound wonderful.

I have records from all eras, from early music hall acts as above...

...through the thirties, forties and fifties...

...to some rock 'n' roll greats. For quite a long time now, I've been playing and digitising them onto my hard drive and i-pod. Some of the older stuff you can't get on CD at all. As I've been recording the music I've been scanning the labels, so we'll have a look at some every now and then as I dig out some of the stories and personalities behind some well remembered and some long forgotten songs and tunes. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Buying More Junk (I Mean Gems)

I know, I know...

I've been saying for ages, "I must tidy up, I must throw stuff out, I must clear some space..."

But then the little horned side of me says "You can never have too much stuff..."

I went in the second hand records shop today. By-product of having started the day talking about records... Came out with a handful of 45s and an LP. Ha! Look at this though! How do you get a record sleeve in such a horrendous state? It looks as though it's been chewed by the family's dog or something. But the record seems ok. (I'm not referring to the content now, ok?)

Aw, come on! It roared to No.1 in the charts when it came out! Was it the catchy tune? The naff lyrics? The curiously flat intonation of singer Sally Carr?

Agh... I've just listened to it. It really is awful isn't it? But even so, part of me wanted to sing along! This is the Spanish version too. It's the standard song in English alright, but the sleeve is written in Spanish. It's not clear if that is Spanish or English Sellotape that was so clearly a last ditch effort to hold the cover sleeve together. Failed!

Next!

This is the album I bought. After going down to Babbacombe to see the current line-up of The Honeycombs in concert, I've been wanting to listen to the originals of their songs and, I'm afraid, the only one I had until recently was the big hit Have I The Right (to which the correct answer is "Yes and it's a match for the left").

A few weeks ago I found an old battered single of That's The Way but it is more crackle than honeycomb so it was with relief that I saw that this 1964 album includes that excellent track. So, let's give it a play!

Ah... yep... well, nothing that a lot of work with spit, an oily rag and a pair of pliers won't put right I'm sure... The first three tracks on side one jump a bit. Well, ok a lot... But hey! That's The Way is track 4!

There must be a better preserved version somewhere - Marty! Tone! Can I get a swap??? Oops, no Tony wasn't around at this point, like me he was probably still running around in shorts, although come to think of it perhaps he was running around in shorts and swilling vodka...?

I'll work on this folks - the tracks I have heard mean it will be worth a careful immersion in water and then a few hours scraping sludge out of the grooves! Oh... I'm supposed to be spending my time tidying up aren't I...?

Tidy Up for Easter!

How do we amass such a load of stuff???

I sometimes think I have some sort of unknown magnetism so that junk of all sorts is irresistably drawn to me and just collects around me.

It's Easter so I decided to do a bit of tidying in the box room. This (believe it or not) is the "after" state of affairs. Those who know me will testify to the truth of the statement because you can actually see carpet here! And bearing in mind that the black plastic bag is full of rubbish to be thrown out there's even more floor space in the offing!

Normally tidying up is the sort of activity where I demolish piles of stuff, look at the individual bits fondly, thinking "I haven't seen this for ages!" and then stack them up again in a different corner (should there be a space in a different corner...)

There's no truth in the rumour that the stepladders were bought so I could stack junk higher...

In fact we did have a sort out a while ago with the view to doing a few car boots or indoor sales. This led to even more junk coming out of the attic and being sorted into the plastic tubs ready for selling. This did however fill the box room a bit more! But once we get rid of it...

Some of the band gear is evident - white low-powered PA which we use for private parties in houses, keyboard and guitars, a bubble machine and blue bottle of bubble fluid (which we don't use for private house parties), white carrier bag to the left containing spare leads and microphones...

Then some computer "junk" - old knackered PC on the floor which needs getting rid of, blank CDs, external disk drive and a laptop CD Rom drive.

Other bits just need courage and an empty bin bag - why do I still have cases holding audio cassettes??? And all those huge books of the Christmas and birthday present variety... go go go! Ok, I'm off - they are going! Thanks for the courage!