Like a lazy flowing river surrounding castles in the sky and the crowd is growing bigger list’nin’ for the happy sounds and I got to let them fly

 

 

 I noticed there was a TV programme on the other night titled ‘When Albums Ruled The World’ and it led me to think about how I have listened to music throughout my life and how the ‘carrier’ for that music has changed over the years

When my dad died he left behind a vast collection of books he had acquired (and read) during his lifetime and because they meant so much to him I have had severe difficulty letting go of them myself. When my time comes my sons will have to deal with my vinyl record collection and I only hope it receives the due deference it deserves

There were also a few old records in my dad’s belongings. Most of these were Al Jolson 78s and they currently sit alongside my own collection

When I first started buying records in the 60s I could only afford 45s rather than LPs and much as I would like to say the first single I ever bought was The Beatles or The Stones, I have a nagging recollection that it was ‘Come Outside’ by Mike Sarne featuring the dulcet tones of Wendy Richards

Fortunately I had two older brothers that were record buying teenagers at the time so I could work out who I liked listening to their music choices. I also recall my oldest brother owned a tape recorder back then and would tape music from the radio

By the time the 70s came along I was building up my own record collection and would have favourite artists like Dylan, Cat Stevens and Stevie Wonder and would buy any new album by them whenever it came out

I always felt with vinyl albums there was much more to them than CDs or tapes. To me the covers were an art form in their own right and often found a place on my bedroom wall (inside a plastic record sleeve of course…you could not use tape or drawing pins directly on your album cover)

By the mid 70s I was driving and in order to listen to my own music in cars I had to start buying albums on cassette as well as vinyl. I remember when I worked as a trainee surveyor for a building company at this time and on occasions was given the task of delivering tenders. I was given the use of a senior surveyor’s company car and installed in this was an 8-track cartridge player. I felt on top of the world, driving a company car, listening to music on that very strange contraption and best of all, being paid (very little) for doing it.

One of the advantages of the cassette system was that you could record your own cassettes and have your own ‘Greatest Hits’ albums of your artists of choice and the introduction of the ‘Walkman’ meant you could take your music with you wherever you went.

I never had the same affinity for cassettes as I had for vinyl and when CDs arrived in the 80s cassettes were sent to that Great Car Boot Sale in the Sky

I , along with most of the music buying world, embraced CDs with open arms and for years my vinyl album collection was consigned to the downstairs cupboard, although somewhat ironically it was around this time that 12″ singles were all the rage for a while and I remember buying the likes of Gorgio Moroder’s The Chase from ‘Midnight Express’ , ‘Guilty’ by Mike Oldfield, ‘West End Girls’ by Pet Shop Boys and the wonderful extended remix of ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ by Soft Cell.

However most favourite vinyl albums were re bought on Cd and listened to in-house or in the car. I even discovered through a friend that you could download music onto your computer and transfer it on to a blank CD. This rocked my music world. It meant you could find an old obscure single from the 60s and put it on a CD on it’s own or in the company of other equally obscure old singles. You could also make ‘mood’ or ‘Themed’ CDs. I spent way too much time on these compiling ‘The Greatest Hits of my Life’ and ‘Happy’ CDs and ‘Sad’ CDs (strangely mostly ‘Sad’ ones)

Nowadays even the CD is becoming obsolete with i pods and their successors and currently everyone seems to listen to music on their phones

I have resurrected my vinyl albums in an effort to restore my faith in music and just to annoy my sons. My record collection and I will not go quietly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I leave you this week with the Favourite 20 Vinyl Albums I have in my possession (limited to one per artist)

1. Blonde on Blonde……….Bob Dylan……………probably my favourite album of all time
2. Born to Run……………….Springsteen………….tough choice but it does have Born to Run, Thunder Road and Jungleland
3. Rubber Soul………………Beatles………………for some reason I do not have A Hard Day’s Night on vinyl
4. Tea For The Tillerman….Cat Stevens………for a hapless and hopeless romantic guy in the 70s Cat was my go-to guy
5. Blue………………………….Joni Mitchell………..and Joni was my go-to girl
6. Songs of Leonard Cohen…Lenny…………….just in case you needed cheering up
7. After The Goldrush……..Neil Young………..Wow I must have been a real fun guy to know back then
8. Innervisions……………….Stevie Wonder……wonderful
9. Hunky Dory…………………Bowie…………..loved Ziggy and Aladdin Sane but this one has Life On Mars
10. Transformer……………..Lou Reed……….Perfect Day, Satellite of Love and the perfect Walk on the Wildside
11. For Your Pleasure……..Roxy Music….great music, great cover
12. St Dominic’s Preview….Van Morrison…if you have never heard ‘Listen To The Lion’ then make the effort to do so. You will not be disappointed
13. What’s Going On …Marvin Gaye   when Marvin became more than just a pop singer
14. Hotel California……Eagles…..it would have been One of these Nights but I recall lending that album to a girlfriend in the 70s and losing it in the subsequent break-up. I really miss that LP
15. Tapestry……Carole King……when Carole decided to sing her own songs and it was worth the wait
16. Rumours……Fleetwood Mac…I imagine everyone of a certain vintage would have this on their list and in their collection
17. A Trick of the Tail……….Genesis…could have been Wind and Wuthering or And Then There Were Three but this one has the wonderful Ripples
18. There Goes Rhymin’ Simon…Paul Simon…Something So Right….yes it was
19. The Kick Inside…..Kate Bush……simply stunning
20. Tubular Bells……Mike Oldfield…it was different and a treat for stereo headphones

As you may notice I bought most of my vinyl albums in the 70s but there are not many albums in the last 30/40 years that I may have on CD that would find a place on this list with perhaps the exceptions being Damien Rice and The Blue Nile

Now, I wonder if it would be too late to ask for my Eagles album back