Scratching my itch

Once I had completed my project to document the 12” single collection on 45Worlds the obvious next step was to address the 7 inchers. Over the years I have made good inroads in documenting those on 45cat, but there were random boxes and piles still to do, so that has kept me busy in the last week or so and that task is now just about complete – until I come across another pile of little ones I had forgetten about in some cupboard somewhere! As of today my 45cat collection stats tell me I have 2703 little ones.

This process had me digging into the furthest recesses of the collection, which served to scratch an itch that had developed. Our lockdown has, like most of us I guess, eased a little in recent days. We have been reacquainting ourselves with the car for instance. Driving again takes me past charity shops. Closed still, of course, but that started my itch for them, and car boots, to be reopened. It seems charity shops will be opening again by the end of June, but quite what the experience will be like I am not sure. The charity shop sector hopes that with not much else to do in the last couple of months we have all been sorting stuff out and decluttering, which in turn will lead to an avalanche of donations. I can dream of lots of fresh vinyl stock to riffle through. But hang on, it sounds like browsing will be actively discouraged in our new Covid-19 aware new normal, so am I to be expected to buy that little stack of vinyl in that crate tucked under the size 16 skirts and partially obscured by some natty looking home crocheted cushions BLIND?

Hmm, my itch eased a little with that thought. It was however eased some more by the discovery the other day of this wallet of sleeveless, and scratchy, records I found in one of the bedroom cupboards. 

I had forgotten I had these records, which I would have found over the years at car boots and in charity shops. So it was almost like a charity shop dig and has scratched my itch – for the moment anyway.

There is nothing spectacular in this wallet, at the same time I think its contents must be the result of a previous sort, of sorts, I must have made some years ago as it also contains no rubbish. As I said all a bit scratchy, but nice records to own in any event, mostly 60s a mix of soul and beat. It reminds me that it is a few years now since I have turned up records like these with any regularity out in the wild.

Here is a nice piece of blue eyed soul from the late Sixties. I could have used an Audacity tool to remove a lot of the surface noise – this is a mono recording I believe, but I notice the pops and clicks are in stereo :) - but I thought to make sure the itch stays scratched a little longer the scratches should remain.

Tony And Tandy – The Bitter With The Sweet 1969

Tapping My Feet #19

Mrs Darce is thankfully almost fully recovered from what we assume was a dose of this dreaded virus. She was wiped out for three weeks and says it was the most ill she has ever felt. She has managed a few walks over the last few days, but is still pretty pooped afterwards. As I mentioned here (twelve days ago now) I also wasn't feeling too good. Fortunately my symptoms didn't develop and after four days I was feeling OK again and have been since. I did manage to get a test in the end, although by the time I took it (a week ago now) it was six days after I had first shown symptoms and I was back to feeling fine. I did test positive though. So I think we can safely assume Mrs Darce was also positive, and I would appear to have got off very lightly. I would like to think we now have some immunity, but you just don't know.

The cataloguing of my 12” singles collection is now complete (at least until I buy another one!). 45 Worlds tells me I have 411 of them. I finished this task a few days ago and I am missing it already. I shouldn't need a reason to interact with the various nooks and crannies of my record collection but somehow that was the way it was with my 12s. Lots of memories were stirred and it was great to be immersed in so much feel good music. It has always annoyed me that bandwagon jumpers gave Disco a bad name. There was so much great music that came out of the Disco era, tightly produced, beautifully arranged. And it was uplifting, carefree, joyous, celebratory music - and we could certainly do with some now in these strange times. Dance your troubles away.

The cataloguing exercise has confirmed something I already knew - I bought a lot of 12” singles, particularly in 1979 and 1980. Here's one...

Dynasty– I've Just Begun To Love You 1980

Rest in Peace Betty Wright

It's proving to be another particularly bad year for losing iconic musical artists.

I have only just caught up with the news that Betty Wright has died of cancer. She was only 66.

I have always been a big fan of hers and her records have featured here many time over the years.

I'm feeling really sad right now.

Rest in peace Betty.

Bessie Regina Norris 

(21 December 1953 – 10 May 2020)

Betty Wright – Circle Of Heart Breaks 1968

Difficult to believe Betty was only 14 when she recorded this (the B side to The Best Girls Don't Always Win, released in December 1968) and she had already had five other single releases.

Parish Notices & Tapping My Feet #18

You might have noticed I've finally got 'round to updating the blogroll, something I've been meaning to do for a long time now. I couldn't believe how long dormant many of the blogs were, and there were quite a few that had disappeared altogether or the url had lapsed, or been hijacked. I couldn't bring myself to delete some of favourite blogs from the past, so they are still listed in a separate section in a sort of homage, and also in the most probably forlorn hope that they may reactivate in the future. Actually that hope is possibly not so far fetched in these strange times we are living in as I notice a few of the blogs now featured in the active list were dormant until very recently.

In recent years it seems music blogs have become an endangered species, with the rise of streaming sites, smartphones, Instagram, Twitter and the like all contributing to their demise I think. However, my blogroll overhaul has left me heartened by how many are still going strong. Even if, I suspect, the traffic to them is much reduced.

The things we do in this lockdown state. My bookmarks have generally had a throroughly good spring clean. Revisiting all these links (now, why did I bookmark this in the first place?) has made me very nostalgic. I read the other day that Stanley Gibbons, the stamp people, have noticed a definite uptick in interest and sales on their site. Stamp collecting – remember that? I certainly do, and I know exactly where my stamp albums are! On the list for activities next week!

My lockdown state is in fact a full lockdown at the moment as I have to report that Mrs Darce has symptoms of this horrible virus. No cough or shortness of breath, but general flu symptoms in spades, and 11 days and counting now. At least her temperature only lasted a few days. Also, in the last three days I haven't been feeling top notch either. One trouble with all this is that in the end you don't know whether you have/have had the dreaded thing or not. I have been daily reporting our state of health for about a month now on the Zoe app. As a result of this I was offered a COVID-19 test yesterday, effectively as a research volunteer. I duly went through the application steps only to be told there were no home tests available and the nearest drive through testing station was over 60 miles away. Check back tomorrow it said. So I have today and there are no tests of any description available today apparently. Ho hum.

Anyway, I find that immersing myself in various activities (like writing this post for example) keeps my mind off my, admittedly very mild, feelings of “not being quite right” and as a result I feel better. One such activity a couple of days ago was helping our daughter build a proper office style desk for her home working. Her makeshift use my parents old bureau was not ideal. So we, mainly my daughter I have to say, built an ergonomically friendly desk. Suitable flatpacks would have taken too long to deliver. So we did some proper construction. Measured and cut the wood (we had some in the garage), took delivery of some sturdy metal legs, glued and screwed the whole thing together, and gave it two coats of varnish. I was chief jigsaw wielder, our daughter essentially did the rest. Very satisifying.

To encourage the glue to take when we were building this desk we utilised four cases full of 12” singles (they are heavy, and to think I used to cart these around regularly back in my DJing days). It was funny, when I suggested we use these cases my daughter imeediately ran up to the spare room to get them. Where are they? she shouted. Not in there, I replied, those particular cases are in my wardrobe in the bedroom. Yes, there is vinyl everywhere.

This event has reminded me I have never catalogued my 12” singles collection on 45cat (45worlds to be precise), so that activity commenced last night!

My nostalgic state, and these cases of 12” singles, also reminded me of a couple of blog subject titles I used to use with some regularity. I have used both of them on this post, “Parish Notices” was last seen in 2015, and “Tapping My Feet” in 2013; how time flies. This leads me to the music for the day.

For all the clubbers everywhere who can only dance around their own kitchen table at the moment, here, from case 1: A-E of my most treasured twelves, is Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Dee Dee Bridgewater – Lonely Disco Dancer 1980

The A side is a sweet thing too:

Dee Dee Bridgewater – One In A Million (Guy) 1980