Relaxing

After  last weeks slightly more tech centred post during what was a very windy week with quite a bit of tidying up needing to be done in the front garden and dealing with a bad case of lower paw cramp a day ago thoughts are elsewhere.

The way you might relax after and recovering from all that can vary from immersing yourself in something more child-like such as watching your favourite children's tv shows either original or new episodes to reading comics.

I did get this years first issue of one magazine whose subscription seemed to mysteriously cut out after finding how to resubscribe and a discount code  to save around 20% of a years subscription but given it has a mixture of stories, facts and quiz's that'd well worth it.

A good soak tm can be quite relaxing with bubble bath or bath bombs by the likes of Lush although I've never heard of having snack in the bath but never use electrical things by the bath - if they fall in you'll get electricity in you and that's fatal plus  please be careful with scent candles as it is easy to start a fire if they fall or the flame otherwise catches something.

I did put a couple of new to me organ cds on which also was also relaxing.

Tuning in

After a week that had some forum drama and odd triggering post it was really more necessary to put grown up business of that disgrace, Donald J Trump, to one side and settle for some imagination based play rather than the purely role playing sort to reset somewhat.

One thing I do miss from modern portable devices is the built in FM Radio.

Now FM is hardly new, did look in the 2010's to be at risk of extinction between DAB and Internet based radio offering more choices even if in absolute terms the quality isn't always as good although the quality of what is sent out isn't what it was beyond stations such as BBC Radio 3.

You don't find Dab tuners in them probably with that not being popular in the Far East or Asia.

This one, while a bit awkward in the menu department and lacking any means of turning on gapless playback does have a okay but could be more sensitive FM radio with a virtual tuning dial you use the << and >> buttons to tune and up to six presets.

The finish is surprisingly good for something that sells for around £50 though and so is handy where a more expensive player might get lost or perhaps for a younger use who doesn't appreciate having to use a Android based user interface to play something.

I just put some compilations on a spare sd card - and shockingly it will take up to 256gb ones - as a spare take anywhere device.
 

Now Yearbook Vaults 1982

Now it has warmed up a little  we'll resume on a series of entries from 2024.

In June 2024 Now launched a sub series VAULTS, which aims to cover minor hits of the sort that tended to pad out our Ronco and K Tel sets as much as we may of preferred some of them to the big hits back in the day and also American Hits which unless someone did a American Hit compilation you didn't get so I'd buy the 45's where available.

On Friday January 16th they decided to issue the 1982 edition on deluxe four cd book form, cheapskate card folder and three lp  45 track truncated form on brilliant yellow vinyl.

It follows the broad theme of things that for all the music industry talk didn't trouble the top 30 and american hits that weren't in the UK (and should of been I'd add).

Opening the set on disc 1 we have the era-defining style with ‘The Hanging Garden’ from The Cure, taken from their album ‘Pornography’, and Bauhaus with ‘Spirit’ ahead of the collaboration ‘Bamboo Houses’ from David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto. 

A single in the U.S., ‘Secret Journey’ from The Police comes ahead of ‘Athena’ from The Who, and ‘Valerie’ from Steve Winwood – which would be a bigger hit when remixed five years later and closing the first side a beautiful song – ‘Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)’ from Elton John.

Flipping to side two we have a run of new wave and post-punk gems including from Elvis Costello, The Clash, Theatre Of Hate and Gang Of Four. Melancholic pop from The Teardrop Explodes leads to disc 1's  closers from Mike Oldfield, and a classic ‘Tug Of War’ by Paul McCartney from the album of the same name.

Disc 2 kicks off with a run of pure pop: Culture Club’s ‘I’m Afraid Of Me’ was the single before their #1 breakthrough, and is joined by Spandau Ballet, Level 42, Bananarama and Toyah with a re-recording of her 1980 anthem ‘Ieya’. 

A trio of synth-pop essentials closes the side: Visage with ‘Pleasure Boys’ their third single in 1982, Blancmange with ‘Feel Me’ – their second single, (the next would be their Top 10 breakthrough) and ‘Flowers’ by singer-songwriter Zaine Griff – produced by Hans Zimmer and featuring unmistakable backing vocals by Kate Bush. 

Flipping over the side sees the fusions of Electronic Music with hip hop and disco celebrated, opening with three huge tracks: ‘Planet Rock’ from Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, the floor-filling ‘Loopzilla’ from George Clinton and ‘Let It Whip’ a Top 5 U.S. smash from the Dazz Band – ’82 R&B from Aretha Franklin leads into retro-influenced pop from Mari Wilson and a jazz-influenced club classic from Blue Rondo A La Turk. The LP finishes with Imagination who created one of 1982’s essential albums with ‘In The Heat Of The Night’, from which this title track was taken as a single.

The concluding disc celebrates what was happening in the U.S. in 1982 on its first side. ‘Atlantic City’ from Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ leads, ahead of huge stars Billy Joel and John Mellencamp. 

1982 would be the year that Daryl Hall & John Oates broke through in the UK with two Top 10 hits – but here featuring their U.S. Top 10 ‘Did It In A Minute’, plus, Michael McDonald who hit the Top 5 in the States with his debut solo single ‘I Keep Forgettin’ while Quarterflash leads into Asia, who had the year’s biggest selling album in America, and Journey with their biggest hit, the massive ballad ‘Open Arms’ from their Escape album.

The final side opens with an instrumental theme to a TV series U.S. Police drama ’Hill Street Blues’ ran for six years and peaked in popularity in 1982 – with its theme by Mike Post featuring  Larry Carlton spending over five months on the chart, hitting the Top 10 in the U.S. and #25 in the UK. Fun Boy Three hit with their cover of ‘Summertime’, which comes ahead of Grace Jones and Men At Work. 

This is followed by U.S. new wave from The Go-Go’s, The Waitresses, and The B-52s and closing the collection Siouxsie And The Banshees’ stunning interpretation of the traditional French carol, ‘Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant’.

This set just fits nicely between my original Ronco, K Tel and Telstar compilations and the rather good Now Yearbook 1982 set, rounding out that years great colourful sounds.

A cold start to the day...

Cold start to the day as I type this out as plans got altered yet again due to the weather as yesterday we had minor snow that cleared  and now this morning it went below minus 2 degrees and we have ice which means post and amazon deliveries are all being delayed.

Given the last amazon delay saw me gain a delayed delivery vouch, near enough a "rain check" that we used to have I do wonder if this latest delay will earn me another?

I did read this weeks Beano - they've been going with a modified version of the more rounded duo colour sixties logo minus the definitive article on the front masthead - enjoying long stories involving the Bash Street Kids and Rodger the Dodger.

I loved the animated tv Josie and the Pussycats cartoons in the 1970's although tracking down the comics was hard going being American but that scene is believable knowing people who'd insist on having the very sleeping attire they prefer even if it just isn't practical to get it so most of us would either borrow Pj's or sleep in underwear.

There's nothing like folk,eh?

I'll also watch the 1984 End of year review of Blue Peter before that resumes this Friday on CBBC.

From Beatles For Sale to Help"

We're back after the CatMas break pretty much cold as it is minus five outside today which really is no good at all for me even though I'm pretty warm blooded so I'll be staying in by the gas fire today doing some reading.

One thing I had at Christmas was this book which is the ninth and final one in a series that looks at the recording and stage career of The Beatles but divided by what became session for their albums and when I mean albums, the albums they were working toward in the U.K rather than necessarily I (or North Americans) may have.

The series really began as a extended essay come factual record connected to the Sgt Pepper album and has gradually made its way through all the albums although you might, like me prefer to put them in the shelf in album era order.

This volume takes us back the Fall of 1964 after the commercially and critically acclaimed A Hard Day's Night film with it's album and the Long Tall Sally E.P when thoughts were on the fall and winter of 1965 tour and the need for a new album (and singles).

The strength of the book isn't just in taking you though that whole period but also looking at everything in what was the precursor to modern pop culture that surrounded it such as things in the new, films, what other artists were doing and how each album and single was received at the time using reviews and recollections so we see the impact at that time.

This was the period the beatles lyrically were starting to move away from fairly simple love songs or plain pop songs with catchy chorus and into more introspective and personal songs such as I'm A Loser, I'll follow The Sun, Help (an early indication of how trapped he felt being a beatle) and Yesterday, a modern classic with a string quartet. 

At the same time a second movie was expected and delivered although the plot is somewhat surreal and the pressures of being on the road in Europe, Japan, Australia and North America were taking away some of joy of having made it big and the issues around making songs in a studio that just could not be performed to 17,000 or more audiences all screaming were coming to a head.

The book works very well helping to place each album in its context in the time and from that aid a true appreciation of their albums.

Christmas Day edition

In recent years we've had a as it happens Christmas Day post but with events that wasn't going to happen not least as my spoons were on the low side so I needed more rest and less chromebook time.

One thing that's been a staple although much has happened from the over fifty years since I first started having it is the years  Beano Annual, today with newer characters such as Rubi matching our changed world but where they are with those we fondly recall still as old as they were back then.
 

 Providing in someways at least more of a connection with the past has been the Classic Beano and Dandy gift book that features themed reprints from the decades, often in better quality than those early colour editions on newsprint could offer.

 

Christmas albums by popular artists to be honest are more of an American thing and tend to be limited because of the specifically christmas nature of the material but this one does reveal much of the Beach Boys harmonies and in a year that saw the loss of Brian Wilson, in many ways the guru of the group, is a fitting tribute to what they contributed.

This lp has the original mono mix he envisioned and isn't otherwise readily available. 

Linking to that theme of past Christmas's Novembers two cd set "Wings", a highly comprehensive summary of Paul McCartney's bands work from 1971 through 1979 but not strictly speaking definitive has many hits singles I loved as a child and appropriately Mull Of Kintyre, the Xmas 1977 mega chart topping  single that is like The Snowman, a CatMas staple here
 

There were Jellybabies, chocolate and money to put towards other things I love in the New Year

The CatMas Pause

 We're almost there, I think, having just posted one card, seen this years Christmas Blue Peter on the tv and finished the list for Christmas shopping today so with folks coming and me going places it's time to pause this blog until sometime next week.

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and all the best for 2026