Last Shop Standing

Enjoyed a cracking Saturday night in the company of Graham Jones and Pip Piper, the team behind Last Shop Standing which came out waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2012. In the intervening years record shops seems to have gone from strength to strength as owning 'a vinyl' (as the kids say) is about as cool as you can get. 

If you read this blog regularly (bless you) you'll know that I've been banging the drum for CDs for a while and I reckon if record shops got on board with this they'd get even more people through their doors. Why? Well, owning, storing and playing a CD's a doddle compared with vinyl (as I have far too much of both, you can trust me on this one) and you can pick second hand ones up for pennies right now. Of course record shops would want to charge a little more than the charity shops but I suspect they'd do pretty well if they sold a carefully selected range of CDs for a few quid. Vinyl heads can be pretty sniffy about CDs...I used to be...but if you want a physical copy of your favourite music with the same artwork and liner notes that you get with vinyl (albeit in a handier size) CDs are a great bet. And, unlike vinyl, it'll sound just as good on the 1000th play as it did on the first...which certainly can't be said of any other format. If they launch National CD Day soon you'll know who to blame. 

Omnibus - XTC

It's rare to find XTC CDs in the chazzas so I was chuffed to pick up a first pressing of their early 90s masterpiece Nonsuch for £1. It's a genuine shame that the band pretty much stopped working together almost 20 years ago but there's still time for a reunion right? Over you you Andy and Colin...

The Songs We Were Singing - Paul McCartney

Picked up McCartney's Flaming Pie on Saturday for a whole £1 and gave it a spin last night. Well worth a listen. Is it me or does this track have a slight echo of Mull of Kinytre in the chorus? Answers on a flaming bagpipe.  

The Gumbo Variations - Frank Zappa

Stocked up on Zappa CDs from eBay while they're still stupidly cheapo and picked up the original 1987 CD release of Hot Rats for less than the price of a loaf of bread. Pretty sure I have at least one other copy somewhere in my many mountains of CDs but every home should have at least two copies of Hot Rats, just in case. Right? Right?! Oh...just me then. Anyway, if you like jazz, funk, prog, rock, folk, death metal...this track's likely to float yer boat. Enjoy! 

Trugoy RIP

Another day, another sad loss for the world of music. This time it's Trugoy from De La Soul, one of the most positive and upbeat rap and hip hop groups of all time...not words usually associated with those genres sadly.  

 If these tracks don't make you feel at least 78% happier then you need some new ears.

RIP Trugoy. 

Burt Bacharach RIP

How many classic songs did Burt write? And how many of these did you know he wrote? I had no idea he wrote Little Red Book! Good grief... 

...I knew this was a Burt track, but what a classic. And then there's this...

and this co-write with Christopher Cross, Carol Bayer Sager and and Peter Allen...

and this absolute gem written with Hal David...

and that's not even scratched the surface. The greatest songwriter of all time? I reckon so. Cheers Burt. 

Thank You For Funking Up My Life - Donald Byrd

Just heard this track on Craig Charles' weekday 6 Music show, funking great stuff. If your life's not funked up enough get on it. 

Moira Jane's Cafe - Definition Of Sound

Picked up another load of CDs at the weekend including Definition Of Sound's classic Love and Life album for a non digital £1. Bargain. It's more than worth it for this track alone but then you've got this gem too...

Most people still look at me as though I've lost the plot when I bang on about buying CDs but they're probably the same people that told me I was mad when I came home from car boot sales with carrier bags full of vinyl in the 90s and look how that turned out. Trust me, one day the likes of Spotify will start charging for every single track you stream...music...and the internet itself will become like every other utility, you'll pay for what you use. Which seems entirely fair and logical to me. Given the Greta Thunberg melting levels of energy that the damn thing uses every second it's only a matter of time. 

Great Escape - Gemma Rogers

Okay, so this track may be a year old but it's new-ish to me and it's pretty perfect for a Friday afternoon. Plus it sounds as though it was recorded back in the early 80s, always a winner in my book. 

Another Journey - Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend

Picked up a bunch of CDs from the chazzas on Saturday and took a punt on this in the 4 for £1.50 section. Turns out to be a rather spunky antifolk classic, not what I was expecting from the cover or artist's name but a pleasant surprise. Here's another one that might float yer boat...