Vinyl Albums - Comments by biffbampow

Vinyl Albums - Comments by biffbampow

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
biffbampow 28th May 2015		Vinyl Album Various Artists - 20 Country Greats (1978)	Google is your friend... a yearly "event" that in my books is a complete and utter farce. Great if you want to make a quick killing on eBay.
biffbampow 27th May 2015		Vinyl Album Renaissance - A Song For All Seasons (1978)	I'm begining to realize that the records that have given me the most pleasure are often the cheapest, and least valuable (right now that is!... give it time though, that could change.), wheras the rarer records are often disappointing (rare for a reason it seems). I think that goes for me too come to think of it as rarer records generally end up falling short for some reason or other and don't get played as much. I haven't heard this album and only really familiar with the Keith Relf era of the band but by goodness, "Northern Lights" is a true classic single. Wonderful song.
biffbampow 26th May 2015		Vinyl Album Various Artists - 20 Country Greats (1978)	He he he... yes, these are probably the most unlimited "limited editions" that were ever pressed! Imagine if they were still around today doing these and Record Store Day comes round!
biffbampow 24th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Springfields - The Springfields Sing Again (1965)	That's an excellent book that really does a good job of documenting Dusty's recording sessions, putting dates to most of what she recorded and released as well as giving some priceless insights into how she worked in the studio... she was pretty tough on herself, especially later on where she literally would sing one word at a time and the producers would be going crazy not understanding why she just couldn't do complete takes. Just insane - she was one of the greatest singers ever, yet she never believed she was. A curious lady was Dusty and the book an absolute must for all Dusty fans since it just focuses on what truly matters - her music and not her troublesome private life. Better still theres a fair amount of Springfields stuff in nice true stereo too, and not the dreaded fake stereo one might expect from Philips material from that era. A pity that master takes of some of her singles don't exist in stereo... Philips kept the alternate takes in stereo but not always the masters.
biffbampow 23rd May 2015		Vinyl Album Cliff Richard And The Shadows - Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp (1964)	A pity there is no film of the panto! Or was there??? No film as far as I know. I doubt they'd had televised one either since what would be the point of seeing it live then?
biffbampow 23rd May 2015		Vinyl Album The Springfields - The Springfields Sing Again (1965)	I've not heard the album in it's original context but have heard all the songs on compilations. Dusty was just starting to get into her stride and was obvious why she had to go solo to fully let rip but there is a lovely cheeriness and innocence about The Springfields music that ensures it remains enjoyable.
biffbampow 20th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Revolver (1966)	Dick James was also behind Gralto - The Hollies' publishing company, which was how Elton John came into contact with them and played some sessions for them. There was a sudden flurry of Hollies written covers in 1966 and 1967 whick Dick was probably pushing whilst the Beatles came off the road and spent time out then months recording Sgt Pepper. I recall Elton mentioning he'd often see members of The Hollies at Dick James' office and that also led to that Bread and Beer Band project he did with their bassist Bernie Calvert. I think it was about 1966 or 1967 when DJM - the record company - began to take shape under the guise of "THIS" Productions the company credited on the Caleb Quaye single "Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad" and various others including the Elton singles on Philips. Certainly a busy bloke was Dick!
biffbampow 20th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Revolver (1966)	Meanwhile since we're dealing with the mono version, definitely THE version of the album. There's something just "odd" about the stereo mix despite it being much better balanced than the last two albums (though funnily enough "Taxman" is probably the worst next to "Good Day Sunshine" for shoving most of the band in one channel). This thing truly pulses in mono.
biffbampow 20th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Revolver (1966)	That was how Dick James became a VERY rich man - it was his job to generate money from them acting as publisher. He was privy to getting demos or acetates of recordings in progress and you can bet the moment had his hands on a new Beatles song, he'd be on the phone with the news and acts + managers would be eager to grab the chance to hear a new song before the general public. Otherwise in most cases the day the album would come out, all the bands and singers would be eager to hear it since there just might be a possible hit single for them or add it to their live act... Macca's often told the story about Jimi Hendrix performing "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" just 2 days after the album came out... and I'll bet there were many bands who'd have new songs in their set the same night when an album or single came out as was often the case earlier in the 60's whenever The Shadows released a new single - scores of bands would spend the day playing the record and learning it so it could be added to their set straight away.
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album HeeBeeGeeBees - 439 Golden Greats Or Never Mind The Originals, Here's The HeeBeeGeeBees (1981)	Brilliant! That's just made my day - never seen that before and yep... count me in on those scarves as well! There's also them doing the Status Quid number on Australian TV which is quite amusing too... [YouTube Video] I wish somebody would upload the video they did for "Too Depressed To Commit Suicide" - a short clip was shown of it during an interview some years ago with Angus Deayton but still have yet to see it in all it's glory!
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album HeeBeeGeeBees - 439 Golden Greats Or Never Mind The Originals, Here's The HeeBeeGeeBees (1981)	He he he... yes, that one gets one singing along and tapping the old tootsies! After my previous comment, I dug it out and gave it a spin last night... really enjoyed it. The tunes are good, lyrics amusing and the attention to detail is fascinating... like those Stewart Copeland-esque drum parts with somebody muttering in reply "Come in!" since well... they did sound like somebody tapping at the door!
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album Kevin Ayers - Odd Ditties (1976)	For an album of what was essentially odds and ends, it actually works reasonably well as a primer and introduction to his work since there are a couple of his odder moments (the french stuff though "Jolie Madame" is gorgeous!) intermingled within a whole bunch of hit singles that sadly never were. Harvest KNEW "Caribbean Moon" had hit written all over it to the degree I think they issued it three times to no avail. I don't own this album - never needed to since I have all the tracks on other CD's and vinyl but would I be right in guessing that "Lady Rachel" is the remake? If so, mores the pity since it felt too bombastic compared to the simpler pastoral feel of the original. But otherwise, play most of this album to somebody who's never heard of him or his work, and they get quite a few good examples of what a great songwriter he was and how catchy he could be.
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album Kevin Ayers - Yes We Have No Mananas (1977)	@ppint - been adding my thoughts on Kevin's albums - including this one - on the UK entries... but the basic version is, I like this album!
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album Kevin Ayers - Yes We Have No Mañanas So Get Your Mañanas Today (1976)	After his excursion with Island Records for a pair of uneven albums (not counting the live one) it seemed Kevin Ayers was losing the plot to the degree that manager John Reid gave up on him. His return to Harvest with this album is a pleasant surprise being a more lively affair... "Mr Cool" is one of his very best and catchiest pop ditties. He saves the really moody bits till the end and triumphs since "Yes I Do" is just bloody beautiful and "Blue" with the David Bedford choral arrangement and Ollie Halsall's stunning guitar work is just superb. The album cover is textured from what I recall. It paves the way for the album that followed, not yet added here "Rainbow Takeaway" - now I'm a diehard Kevin Ayers fan and there's always something to enjoy on each album but "Rainbow Takeaway" is for me his most solid and consistent album, the only one I can play all the way through without wanting to skip a track (save for the first and second album depending on my mood). It was typical Kevin Ayers - he made a great album... at the wrong time for up against the punk and New Wave scene, "Rainbow Takeaway" stood no chance.
biffbampow 18th May 2015		Vinyl Album Kevin Ayers - The Confessions Of Dr Dream And Other Stories (1974)	I'm divided when it comes to this album and Kevin's time with Island. Island and new manager John Reid - the guy that managed Elton John - seemed determined to try and break Kevin into a bigger league and sure enough there's some very commercial tracks on here but as usual, Ayers sabotaged it with some stuff that's bloated and almost unlistenable... the duet with Nico is downright scary and not the sort of thing one would be doing to try and gain more commercial attention! Kevin's inimitable sense of humour is thankfully present on those couple of very brief ditties, but the Dr Dream suite is overlong, self indulgent twaddle... In some ways, almost a typical Kevin Ayers album since they mostly tended to have something ponderous and overlong in there... just this time round, I dunno... it's a bit too much. An album of two halves, the first being decent enough but sunk by side two which I find almost unlistenable. My copy is in storage so can't check but am I right in remembering that the cover has those masked faces embossed?
biffbampow 17th May 2015		Vinyl Album HeeBeeGeeBees - 439 Golden Greats Or Never Mind The Originals, Here's The HeeBeeGeeBees (1981)	Excellent album - one of the very few parody albums that works and is genuinely funny. Why Barry Gibb didn't see the funny side when he thought Kenny Everett's Bee Gees parodies were great is bizarre. My faves on here? The Bowie one always creases me up being a dead on send up of the Scary Monsters era with moronic answering backing vocals "Just look at that dress... as for his teeth..." The Quo one with it's "Another line... another line... another boring line..." which makes one wonder if the Heebeegeebees knew of their notorious love of coke! The Police one is insanely catchy and Larry Pilsson wailing away in oh so self pity is a treat. The final track depicting an all star gig from Hell always gets me going too with the moronic Neil Dung and Bob Vylan making way for Leonard Crowing, Frank Sumatra, Dean Martian, and George Harrassing cameos... wonderful! What more can I say?
biffbampow 17th May 2015		Vinyl Album Paul McCartney And Wings - Band On The Run (1973)	Paul McCarthrob And Wangs? This doesn't look like The Heebeegeebees to me though thanks for reminding me of them and their send up of Macca and co! Mod Edit: Fixed.
biffbampow 16th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Association - Greatest Hits (1969)	Yes, "Cherish" and "Never My Love" were covered by lots of people and essentially became modern day standards so is a bit odd they didn't really dent the UK charts. Maybe their odd multiracial image didn't help much either since a couple of the guys did look rather geeky - a problem I believe that seriously hampered The Zombies in the UK. Good point too about Jan and Dean in the UK. "Surf City" was the only real hit they had.... most of those singles just never charted at all since the UK buying public were just happy enough to have one act of that kind plus there was a clash too since EMI owned Capitol and were distributing Liberty at the same time so when it came to publicity, The Beach Boys would had been given automatic priority, helped also by the fact the Beach Boys did come over to the UK in 1964 whereas I'm not sure if Jan and Dean ever did... if so, they must had been very brief visits.
biffbampow 16th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Association - Greatest Hits (1969)	Just an opinion but I think some reasons why The Association weren't that successful in the UK was partly down to lousy promotion - WB weren't scoring many hits at all in the UK once the Everly Brothers hits began drying up in 1965 and 1966. Then there was The Beach Boys and The Mamas and The Papas giving us plenty of American harmony pop. The late 60's saw the Beach Boys take a big tumble in the States yet in the UK and Europe, their success and hits continued, so maybe they were enough for us Brits so The Association got shunned. I dunno... I can't really warm to them myself. I love "Along Comes Mary" but I find much of what they put out a bit too flowery and saccharine for my liking. That's not dissing them since they're good well constructed records but the overall tone of them just doesn't work for me.
biffbampow 15th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Plastic Ono Band - Live Peace In Toronto 1969 (1969)	Yeah it was the first record with one side on that you could play at either 16, 33, 45 and 78 rpm - and it still sounded the same! lol! Well put!
biffbampow 15th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Plastic Ono Band - Live Peace In Toronto 1969 (1969)	I bet most copies of this has side two in mint condition!
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Various Artists - What's Happening...Stateside? (1987)	Which is why I call them Univar*ehole! ;) Seriously though the way they go about doing what they do is profoundly depressing since they clearly have zero love or care for the music and it's legacy. They even put Buddy Holly out on Geffen and there was a bit of an uproar about that when that happened but it's only those of us who actually CARE that get annoyed by idiocy like that.
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Various Artists - What's Happening...Stateside? (1987)	This is what I like about it round here - I know I'm in good company when it comes to thorny issues such as Universal! :)
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Various Artists - What's Happening...Stateside? (1987)	I just get the feeling that seeing other labels were selling soul and R+B compilations that EMI thought it might be a nice idea to revive the Stateside brand to market the stuff they had regardless of whether it appeared on the label originally or not. After all, Universal think it's perfectly acceptable to reissue Chuck Berry on Geffen... in spite of the fact that 1, Berry never recorded for Geffen and 2, Universal actually own Chess so what they were playing at there goodness knows... record companies do do the strangest things. Also think back to the 70's when EMI had that Harvest Heritage line going... true, a lot of it was Harvest based but there was some stuff originally on Parlophone and Columbia that was being implied to had been part of Harvest when they definitely weren't.
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Pink Floyd - A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (1981)	Yes... probably used for just the first batch of pressings as a limited thing. I just have that memory of the window display... I wasn't into Floyd at that time so never really paid much notice!
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Pink Floyd - A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (1981)	Strange.... maybe my memory is playing tricks... it's been getting a peculiar workout lately recalling ever fading memories of TV shows from the 70's and 80's at TV World this past day or two!
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album Pink Floyd - A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (1981)	I'm pretty sure the original release came in a gatefold sleeve which was then truncated to a single sleeve for the Fame reissue. I have a memory of seeing this displayed in record shop windows (sigh... them were the days) where the gatefold was spread out across the window showing the entire front/back cover.
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Moody Blues With The London Festival Orchestra - Days Of Future Passed (1967)	I personally prefer the original mix. The newer mix, as clearly demonstrated on "Twilight Time" sounds more cluttered and is where the differences between the two are clearly heard whereas throughout the rest of the album, it's more subtle. Sonically it sounds fine, and in parts better but it's the original mix I go for every time when I listen to this album. Some prefer the remix... I guess it's all down to ones tastes.
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Moody Blues With The London Festival Orchestra - Days Of Future Passed (1967)	The white band cover was phased out in the late 70's when the album was remixed since the original stereo master tape had apparently worn out. I have a 1967 original copy and mine has the DSS label, so sounds like you've got an original vinyl mix and pressing inside a reissued sleeve. That's no bad thing. Best way to tell which mix you have is on "Twilight Time" - the remixed version left in backing vocals throughout the entire song whereas the original mix used them just on the choruses.
biffbampow 13th May 2015		Vinyl Album The Moody Blues With The London Festival Orchestra - Days Of Future Passed (1967)	Curious to see and learn this album did get a mono release since Decca/Deram and the band themselves have all pointed out this was pretty much conceived for the DSS stereo concept and Tony Clarke spent much time ensuring it would be a good sounding stereo album. The inevitable question is, is this a dedicated mono mix or is it simply a fold down of the original - and best - stereo mix? AFAIK all the CD versions of the album feature a remix that was done in the late 70's created apparently due to the master tape being worn out though I have read a few tracks have appeared on compilations in their original mixes. It's the stereo vinyl rip of the original mix that always gets played here... the remix "Twilight Time" just sounds "wrong" with the backing vocals throughout the entire song whereas the original mix used them more sparefully.

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