The idea of record companies putting all their obscure back catalogue up for sale on the Internet has some interesting possibilities, for us punters as well as a good return for them by really exploiting the long tail of the market.
I don’t personally fancy any of the tracks mentioned in this story but I like the thought of having everything available easily, particularly now that my vinyl is all up in the loft and the turntable is in the cupboard waiting for me to get round to putting it on eBay.
When it comes to my real favourite LPs, they have either been replaced with a CD or have been transferred to MP3, but there are some which I can easily live without except for the odd track I would like. Others are just a bit too scratched or crackly to rip a decent mp3 off of them.
Then there are the albums which friends had where I liked a track or two but not enough to tempt me into buying the whole thing. How great to be able to buy just those tracks.
And then there are those old singles you fancy hearing again. You might be able to find the track on a compilation CD but the rest of the tracks might be either ones you don’t want or have already got.
For example, I might really want a copy of Bastards In Blue by the Partisans (unlikely) and find it is on a punk/new wave CD but if I buy that I will end up with my 5th copy of Iggy Pop singing The Passenger and the 13th copy of Teenage Kicks.
If the whole idea reaches its logical conclusion all those B sides would be available too, and the 12″ mixes. I could replace some of those 12″ singles and albums I sold off in the early 90s.
It got me wondering what I would be looking for on this global jukebox if I could cherry pick the songs I wanted. For starters I think:
- Scritti Politti & Shabba Ranks
Not sure of the title. It was a single which I only heard once on the radio - Depeche Mode – Shout
The extended version on the B side of the 12″ of New Life - Heatwave – Mind Blowing Decisions
The long version with the reggae piano bit in the middle - Ted Nugent – Dog Eat Dog
Surely the fiercest opening few seconds of any song ever. - Toyah – Aeiya
The 12″ single version - Squeeze – Goodbye Girl
The fast version they did on the 6-track 10-inch EP - Ella Fitzgerald – Manhattan
On the B side of Every Time You Say Goodbye - Modern Lovers – Morning Of Our Lives (live)
Single from 1978 - Europa Lula – Fell Upon A Jewel
Or were they called Viva Lula for that single? They lived in the flat above my bedsit when I first lived on my own and drove me mad when they were writing it. - New Age Steppers
Can’t remember the song names off-hand but I had the 12″ single where one side was 45rpm and the other was 33rpm. - Deutsch Americanische Freundschaft – Der Rauber und der prinz/Die Mussolini
Brilliant, frantic electro 12″ now stranded up in the loft. - Mano Negra – Sidi ‘h’ Bibi and Pas Assez de Toi live
The versions on the cassette-only EPs. Not the Live at Nagasaki album. One of them was Live at the Cigal.
I wonder what other gems I could go searching for?
I later played drums in Viva Lula. I´ll bet you hated the sound of that awful drum machine as well…
Andrew
Thinking back I quite like the music – although it could be a musical equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome from hearing the same loops over and over again.
Even so ‘Dad sings the blues’ and ‘Fell upon a jewel’ are better than a lot of stuff which was more successful. I do wonder what ever happened to David. Somehow I can’t imagine him doing a normal regular job.
He had a shop in central London selling football kits and stuff, and left it when the rent went up and he developed mild arthritis. No idea what he´s doing now.
Andrew
A bit of an anticlimax then.
Your career sounds interesting though. I can understand doing a Dave Grohl and moving from drums to guitar/singing, but moving to Austria?
Nothing against the place. It just seems like a strange choice unless you have friends or family there.
There I was doing a search on ‘Jewel’ and there you are saying very kind things about us.
I continued writing and recording until around 1994… much of the material after Arista can be heard here…
http://www.reverbnation.com/theneighbourhoodtalks
The last project I worked on was a little more laid back and can be heard here…
http://www.reverbnation.com/lovefield
Hopefully some of these tracks can make up for all the noise we made above you. Thank you for putting up with the loops 😉 To this day, I can’t believe how forgiving everyone was…
I did own the House of Football on Charing Cross Road from 96 to 2001. We had five fabulous years there, designing our own lines, and selling a great mix of retro & modern football shirts. Mandy and I became the Malcolm and Vivienne of football for a while… it was hilarious… I think just about every Football show on the planet did a story on the place at some point or other.
Just recently I began recording again ( a new lease of life I guess) The first single will soon be released… you can hear an audio montage here…
http://www.dumb-baby-sounds.com
Oh, and more about your previous neighbours can be seen and heard here…
http://www.uropalula.com
Again, thanks for the kind words…
Peace and love
David
PS I notice you listed the DAF track… were you living in the house when two of the guys, Robert and Wolfgang lived there?
Bloody hell! If anybody from DAF was in the house at the same time as me I didn’t know about it or I would have been pestering them all the time 🙂
One day I must get round to copying those singles to mp3. Unsurprisingly, I can still hum the hooks from them even after all this time.
Glad to hear you are still playing. I am so jealous of anybody who *can* play. I have a house full of instruments and can;t get a tune out of any of them.
Incidentally, this post obviously pre-dated Spotify. At least half that list is available on there – Ella Fitzgerald, DAF, Mano Negra, Ted Nugent… I even found the Shabba/Scritti track: a cover of She’s A Woman
Let us know if you are playing live at all. Even if I don;t go along I’ll happily plug it to my small but select readership.