Vinyl Albums - Comments by Madame Streggae

Vinyl Albums - Comments by Madame Streggae

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Madame Streggae ● 1 hour ago		Vinyl Album Prince Buster - She Was A Rough Rider (1969)	Just to flag that copies of this from the mid-`70s had the grey and not yellow colouring on the front right hand side of the cover, which were obviously being used for the Jamaican issue. I bought my copy in 1979 from London's Virgin megastore with this sleeve and the label was green as per the two images . Most of Buster's albums from the Fab period never went off catalogue and were just pressed sporadically. The 2Tone craze clearly saw a rise in his popularity and they were being pressed in abundance, particularly the Fabulous Greatest Hits set, which I bought on the same day. I'd actually go as far as to say that the later pressings sound best, but this was probably down to whichever plant Melodisc was using at the time rather than the mastering.
Madame Streggae ● 20th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album The Mills Brothers - Four Boys And A Guitar (1954)	Forgot to add that this is a 10" LP. [Mod: changed]
Madame Streggae ● 19th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Roxy Music - Roxy Music (1972)	Bob Harris mentioned his passing on Sunday's Sound of the 70s show and played Virginia Plain in his honour, although this seemed to have been prompted by a listener rather than Bob himself.
Madame Streggae ● 15th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - More Midnight Soul (1967)	Not sure whether this was issued in mono - I would have thought so for a `67 release.
Madame Streggae ● 15th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - Hit The Road Stax! (1967)	Just struck me that the the title isn't on the front cover.
Madame Streggae ● 12th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - This Is Reggae Volume 2 (1971)	Possibly the flipside of this one: https://www.45cat.com/record/ex2048&rc=1409066#1409066
Madame Streggae ● 12th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - The Rock & Roll Stars (1970)	A bunch of fine tracks to be sure (assuming they're all originals) but the fact that they're in stereo doesn't entice me.
Madame Streggae ● 12th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - This Is Reggae Volume 2 (1971)	That's the fella. In fact quite a coincidence - Winston has recently been reported on Facebook as being alive and well in Jamaica. I always wondered about whether he'd been in the UK during `73 to record his cover of 'Da Do Ron Ron' or whether it was recorded in the Isle of Springs and had strings overlaid here.
Madame Streggae ● 9th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album The Foundations - The Foundations (1969)	My copy has a mono sticker covering up the stereo reference on the rear sleeve but is actually stereo on all tracks. There's no 'stereophonic' banner on the label as on the image below. Mighty disappointed as I don't like stereo for things I'd forever heard in mono and the vocals sound all wrong. Not sure whether every supposedly mono copy is stereo but don't propose buying another one to find up, or whether it was the case that some copies had the non-stereophonic labels put on to stereo copies in error?
Madame Streggae ● 6th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Derrick Morgan - In London (1969)	Have an ok copy and would love an upgrade, but I can't justify spending three figures on something I already own and, to be honest, haven't played in 30+ years (plus I must have about ten of the tracks on 45s). Fabulous sleeve, and I've never known who the chap with Derrick is - I've always thought one of the Palmer brothers.
Madame Streggae ● 6th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - Young, Gifted And Black (1970)	Bought a copy from a Record Collector sales list probably early '90s, near mint and I think £12, in the days where you sent a self-addressed envelope in the hope that it gets to the seller first. I obviously hit the jackpot, although there wasn't as much interest in vintage Reggae back then. I only need a handful of Pama albums for a complete set now - 'Best of Camel', 'World of Bullet', 'African Melody' and 'Doreen Shaeffer' remain. I actually had the latter in my hands in 1986 and thought 'I'll come back for that later'. Plonker!
Madame Streggae ● 5th Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Johnny Osbourne And The Sensations - Come Back Darling (1970)	Thanks John - another one on there for £40 BIN with a 'drastically reduced - 39p' sticker on. Clearly not shifting either. Some may be happy with the JO CD which had all the tracks and more. Hadn't realised this was stereo but then Trojan didn't usually flag this, at least until the `71/`72 sets from Dynamic Sounds with the Jamaican sleeves.
Madame Streggae ● 3rd Nov 2024		Vinyl Album Johnny Osbourne And The Sensations - Come Back Darling (1970)	I didn't get a copy of this until about 1987 but I rate it as one of the best Trojan comps, but more because of the JO vocal tracks - the instrumentals are fine but they were essentially used to pad it out. Incredibly, the title track wasn't issued as a 45 by the company (they did put out an instro version of it, possibly mistakenly) despite it being one of the biggest Jamaican hits of 1969.
Madame Streggae ● 29th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Chris Farlowe - The Art Of Chris Farlowe (1966)	Just picked this up - a fine set, and A2 definitely has NS appeal. Couple of things I noticed: - A7 seems to have been mastered at quite a lower level than the other tracks. I was left reaching for the volume control. - B5 is to my surprise largely instrumental, with just a few snatches of the lyrics from Chris, but towards the end he can be heard way, way down in the mix (I was reminded of the instrumental versions on the back of Reggae 45s). Was this intentional, or did one of the channels on the board fail?
Madame Streggae ● 29th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Billy Fury - Halfway To Paradise (1961)	Just picked up a copy of this after letting it go probably thirty years ago and forgot just how good it is.
Madame Streggae ● 29th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Ella Mae Morse And Freddie Slack - Rockin' Brew (1969)	The rear sleeve of my copy is black on white. The Stereo enhancement isn't bad but it would have been better if it had been left mono as the tracks have lost some of their punch. I guess Ember were largely aiming these sets at the teddy boy revival market.
Madame Streggae ● 27th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - Hot Sweet Home (1975)	Poster on You Tube has said B7 is by Andell Forgie, who apparently gave a demo of the track to Winston Edwards never to hear from him again until it turned up on this album.
Madame Streggae ● 22nd Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Jerry Jones - At The Kingston Hotel (Jamaica) (1970)	Easily the rarest of the Bamboo albums, JJ had quite a popular cover of the Tops' 'Still Waters' out on a UK 45 on the label but beyond that she would have been largely unknown over here and even most Reggae buyers wouldn't have know who she was and likely unwilling to have taken a punt on an album. Have to say she had a really powerful voice and this is a fine set of tracks, most of which tend to fall under the soul bracket.
Madame Streggae ● 8th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - Rhythm And Blues Classics Volume 1 (1969)	Thankfully, this one has a mono version (catalogue number MLL 40008). Not sure how good these vintage tracks would sound in stereo.
Madame Streggae ● 7th Oct 2024		Vinyl Album The Undertones - The Sin Of Pride (1983)	See my comments on the 45Cat entry John. And 'Got To Have You Back' only made number 82! Bands like this (saw the 'Tones three nights running!) who I followed in the late `70s were having a hard time when the new decade dawned. Still churning out great music but it wasn't finding much favour against Duran, Spandau, Visage, Depeche etc and all those horrible teeny bands.
Madame Streggae ● 3rd Oct 2024		Vinyl Album Claude Sang - The World Of Reggae Vol. 1 (1970)	Very underrated set - I think the musicians on here are basically the sessioneers who were the Beverley's All Stars and various other outfits from the `68-`71 Reggae era. It's got a very 'Beverley's' sound to it. Much prefer it to volume 2, which is a bit lightweight.
Madame Streggae ● 20th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album Little Richard - The Fabulous Little Richard (1959)	A much more bluesy/R&B oriented set than his previous two albums, with the few R&R tracks there are tending to stand out a bit. Not that I dislike that at all, but it is a marked contrast, and from a time when LR had apparently found religion (as evidenced in the sleeve note).
Madame Streggae ● 14th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album Dennis Brown - Wolf & Leopards (1979)	Not sure where the June `79 date comes from - this was certainly out in `78 if not before. The DEB Music pressings are the earliest, after which the label struck a pressing deal with EMI which prompted a change of label format.
Madame Streggae ● 10th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album The Blues Busters - Behold! (1965)	Sorry John, you're quite right and I meant to say Jamaican issue, of which there were two (some copies on Discogs, all at three figures, even the scruffy ones). I'm guessing that Rob Bell liked the track that much to include it on the Trojan Story, even though it was album only and went against the grain of all the other tracks. I did actually look for the Island 45 for years as I'd assumed it was on a single as consistent with the rest of the tracks until a discography I saw in the mid-80s told me otherwise.
Madame Streggae ● 8th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album The Blues Busters - The Best Of (1968)	Got the Derrick and got the Desmond - should probably have clung on to the BBs in hindsight, but the damaged sleeve was a bit of a bummer. It's probably still out there somewhere! I also had in my hands a copy of the Owen Gray Starlite LP with a similarly unfortunate front sleeve - something had clearly got stuck to it and there wasn't much of his face left. I left it and have no idea what price I could have secured it for.
Madame Streggae ● 8th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album The Blues Busters - Behold! (1965)	Absolute knockout tune, which I've always loved from my copy of the first issue of the Trojan Story. I was forever looking out for a copy of the Island 45 but it's eluded me these last 50+ years.
Madame Streggae ● 4th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album The Blues Busters - The Best Of (1968)	Used to have this one but it had a water damaged front sleeve so I let it go. In contrast with the Island set, there's more soul here. I remember when I was trying to sell it to a dealer I knew and he was running through all the tracks on the deck saying 'nah, no ska on that one, or that one, or that one......' like it was a real negative factor. I probably let him have it for a tenner, which is about what I paid for it a few years earlier. What I hadn't noticed before is the Pyramid icon on the front bottom right, so presumably earmarked for that label, although the BBs had no 45s out on it.
Madame Streggae ● 4th Sep 2024		Vinyl Album Various Artists - Dr. Kitch (1967)	I have the Trojan reissue too (could have had one from a West Hampstead charity shop in 1980 but either left it 'cos it was nearly all Calypso or because I was that skint!). Like you John, I always wondered about the inclusion of the Wailers' track, which is really at odds with the rest of the tracks. I wonder why Island didn't include 'The Sausage' instead (but probably glad they didn't).
Madame Streggae ● 2nd Sep 2024		Vinyl Album Owen Gray - Reggae With Soul (1969)	Stellar set from Owen, which is one of the few TTL's I hadn't got round to buying in thirty years, but the only drawback I found is the difference in recording levels between tracks (the Soul tends to be higher than the Reggae, so possibly laid at different studios?). So be ready to turn that dial down.
Madame Streggae ● 2nd Sep 2024		Vinyl Album The Love Affair - The Everlasting Love Affair (1968)	Completely wrongfooted by the running order on both sides of the sleeve, which doesn't match what's on either of the labels. Also, 'Tale of Two Bitters' isn't listed on the sleeve either. Blown away by the album though, although I picked up the stereo mix instead of the mono, possibly because it's not stickered and I assumed in blind ignorance that it would have been the mono, which I always tend to prefer. Quite a pricey thing now (I've seen it at nearly a ton) so was pleased to get this one at an affordable thirty quid.

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