Yes Singles and thoughts on the vinyl revival

There was a time when vinyl records were expected to be just a memory removed from shops as a new item with just few used ones traded more as mementos of the past in "Olde World" shops.

Equally many of us expected and went through the process of converting our record and tape collections to compact discs as I recall going on Friday afternoons with bags of records to part exchange for new cds or credits for any they held.

By the mid nineties I had just a few left usually where a title hadn't been issued on cd (some early Rolling Stones titles were not) or where I wanted mixes not issued on cd such as the stereo Beatles first four UK albums and the original stereo Help and Rubber Soul.

But in the main all new titles and back catalogue was now bought on the cd thus all my Yes progressive rock lps went for compact discs either regular ones or the audiophile issues on labels such as Mobile Fidelity and Audio Fidelity.

Things as you may of noticed are different today.

Your record shop has a lot of brand new records, not just old classic rock or soul but todays artists too because many have rediscovered over twenty years the vinyl record and buy them.

I haven't been immune from that virus having upgraded my record playing equipment and buying brand new discs and rebuying some favourites from the past, hearing more of the playing than I did back in the day.

That you see is where Yes Singles fits in, a single disc of single edits that capture them from 1969 to 1984 which is really where my interest in this prog rock band stopped as much as I did get Big Generator on vinyl in 1987.

The full track list is here and if you know this music, you can see why I'd want it.

1 Your Move (Single Version)

2 Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version)

3 Roundabout (Single Version)

4 America (Single Edit)

5 And You and I (Part One) [promo Radio Edit]

6 Soon (Single Edit)

7 Sound Chaser (Single Edit)

8 Wonderous Stories (Single Version)

9 Don't Kill the Whale (Single Version)

10 Into the Lens (Single Version)

11 Owner of a Lonely Heart (Single Version)

12 Leave It (Single Remix)

While some are not whole works - and with Yes some do run to over 20 minutes! - it reminds you of their achievements in their single forms that are otherwise stuck on many pieces of seven inch plastic so I got this on Friday, day of release.

It was cleaned before playing and it does sound great and just hearing Roundabout and Wonderous Stories on vinyl takes me back years.

Recommended  even if you may want Classic Yes for the full length versions of some tracks.

Tiny tech aimed at girls...

Children's toys and technology have always had an appeal, even playing a part in a ultimately unsuccessful blog that was folded into this one but one thing you might not get is the connection between the evergreen Etch-o-Sketch and a incredibly small record player for children.

You see Ohio Arts were the people that distributed that drawing toy we all knew and loved and as a organization were into all sorts of novelties.

The Mighty Tiny was a product of the late 1960's thinking coming into market in 1970 where things were still pretty groovy in more than one way and this was another way following the PocketDisc of 1968 of trying to miniaturize record playing for children accustomed to parents and older siblings having standard records.

Records you could take with you when you played.

The records were themselves really small, not much bigger than the diameter of your thumb unlike the four inches of the PocketDisk so had smaller groove dimensions but played around 90 rpm. 

That is the turntable, powered by a AA battery with a tiny arm that came out of a recess on the top which had a needle that went to a plastic acoustic reproducer.

If you had certain dolls, you may of had something similar built into them but that meant they didn't play for more than just over ten seconds!

For all that ten seconds counted for great attention was paid to providing a record sleeve worthy of something bigger.

The target audience was mainly girls although you might feel theirs something rather Addams Family like about the box illustration!

I shouldn't need to say reproduction from a steel non replaceable needle to a plastic baffle isn't quite hifi but that didn't stop the attempt to upsell with a record storage unit and even a " stereopex" a stereogram although let's be honest this system was strictly mono from how the records were cut but you had a miniature unit that looked like your parents who if they were like mine had such big wooden music playing pieces of furniture back then.

To me it's more like dolls furniture but hey if you loved your dollies and lots of tiny shiny things this would of been just your thing back then.

Musical discourse

 One of "those" adult spoof Ladybird books we've had for a good few years like people can't treasure  a series but try to take it into areas it doesn't belong but there's a bit of truth in this covers mash up.

Like anything, take a passion to the extreme and house can get filled up while are savings consumed by with everything to do with it whither it's fashion, sowing or music so it makes sense to say "do I really need that?"and "what does it exactly give me?"

It's like while the Now People have reissued the LP (and cd bookform) 1983 and 1984 Yearbooks, I'm not buying which may feel like collector "oh my goodness you're not getting a complete set that might be worth more money" but simply there's nothing I don't already have and no, owning them doesn't mean anything to me.

When it comes to the umpteenth issue of some individual albums I'm very selective so there's only three issues of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on lp, the 2014 mono, a mid 70's analogue stereo and the 2017 Digital stereo remaster and when one Doobie Brothers album recently came my way that was a one on one replacement after doing a comparison

One private forum that sometimes acted as a enabling place for such things recently closed which was kind of sad given I'd been there since 2007 when having been given the boot by the management of a bigger site we set up our own place.

Thing is many of them drifted towards Facebook making groups where I point blank refused especially when being partially pushed to go to the no longer with us Google Plus social network by them only to see them move back to Facebook for free coffee at Costa and the like and it that point slowly over time it just drifted apart.

It's like be on Facebook or be cast out.

Sorry I'm not prepared to jump through the hoops and privacy issues that site has just to keep in touch with people who just left me.

Cleaning time

Funny kind of a day yesterday with lots of showers  and intermittent sun so I didn't get outdoors which wasn't my idea of fun at all but there was something I decided to do outside of a bit of colouring.
Anyone who has records know like a cd,  they can get a bit dirty but while you only normally tell if a cd is dirty if say it skips, with a record you may hear crackles or a rustling sound even if it looks clean because while surface may be, the groove the music is stored in, isn't.
So it isn't long before you start looking at how to clean it, often scratching ones head as you see anything that looks like a automobile windscreen wiper to big machines costing several hundred pounds being offered that proper to do it
I have tried many ways to do it, sometimes mixing my own cleaning mixture up but there's a simple kit that just does it and it's inexpensive cos you provide the elbow grease!
The Vinyl Revival cleaning kit available on Amazon and Ebay provides all you actually need in simple box.

You get two spray bottles available in different quantities one being the active cleaning solution that you spray on to the disc and wipe on, the other is a spray to rinse that off taking the dirt and dust away together with any trace of the cleaner, wiping it dry.
Between two to four sprays of each work out fine.
The cleaner doesn't contain any alcohol so doesn't dry or risk damaging through frequent use your records vinyl.

It comes with two cloths, although you buy spares easily, the green one is for putting your record on and the blue one has even thinner micropores for spreading the cleaner and applying after rising it off.
I find this very effective, using it to cure the rustling noise between tracks on my recently acquired Abandoned Luncheonette lp from the early nineteen-seventies leaving sounding quieter than some new records!

Teen Beat XXIII - Hall and Oates

One thing here I do talk about is about music and what is termed "Blue-eyed soul", soul as performed by 'white' people is something I've always liked as much as I find categorizing music by race of  its artists and performers disagreeable as a blind friend of mine said once "How'd you tell by listening anyway?" and like Jay Kay of funksters Jamiroiquai put it when questioned why he should perform in a black style got pretty angry, I object strongly to being racially stereotyped too.
Getting back to the subject, one of most popular and  best artists in this genre for much of the 70's and 80's were Hall and Oates who originate from Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania  and like much of my music collection what were my  lp records and tapes by them became shiny new compact discs.
As I'm getting back to playing more vinyl for enjoyment, I was looking for a good compilation covering those essential singles as Sara Smile, Private Eyes, I Can't Go For That and Out Of Touch and a few minor hits.
One obvious starting point was 1983's Rock 'n' Soul Part 1 but that's short at 47 odd minutes and features a live recording of Wait For Me rather than the single.
This set coming on originally on cd seemed to fit the bill and as issued on double lp by RCA Legacy this year was available new quite cheaply so I bought that.

 This covers everything including the Say It Isn't So and Adult Education  45's from Rock 'n' Soul part 1 and three 45's from 1984's Big Bam Boom album.
This new European pressed lp sounds really good and is very quiet.

 For licensing reasons that compilation album has nothing from their short early 70's period on Atlantic records not least the hit 45 She's Gone so to fill the gap I picked up used the original UK lp version of 1974's Abandoned Luncheonette album that mixes more country influences with then then prevalent PhillySoul as in She's Gone which sold well on reissue in 1976

l did get on super audio cd playable on regular players Rock and Soul Part 1 which does sound much better than the original cd ever did and transferred it to my Fiio music player.

Teen Beat XXII - Tom Petty

The last time I mentioned TP was in 2014 with the Hypnotic Eye album although I have a lot of Tom Petty's albums on cd.

 This album originally came out in 1993 remaining a favourite of many although though their have been other compilations such as Playback box set and 2000's Anthology: Through The Years and it recently (July 2016) came out on double vinyl.
More accurately for people living  my side of the Atlantic, it's a re-issue as there was a very limited vinyl release for Europe and the UK and that edition is like much early 90's vinyl very expensive when you see a copy.
The strength of this set is its brevity containing only the 45's and two new recordings such as Mary Jane's 2nd Dance and that the running order makes for a highly enjoyable play starting with such early tracks as American Girl running through such gems as I Need To Know, Refugee, Don't Come Around Here No More and I Won't Back Down with a lack of anything resembling padding so in just over 68 minutes the case for Tom Petty is made convincingly in song and arrangements.
The four side splits are chosen well so you get the opportunity changing them to reflect on what you have heard and in non technical terms the sound and pressing quality of this European lp set is really high with the grooves cut by Chris Bell.
The picture last Friday was of my turntable playing this!

 Before the Heartbreakers were formed, there were a group of guys who played with Tom Petty In Gainsville, Florida and that band was reformed for an album in 2007 and this, Mudcrutch2, is their new offering also bought on vinyl issued May 20th with shared song writing between the band and Tom.

The "ShallowMemory special" phono cartridge part II

Way back in 2013 I wrote  a bit about how for those of us who use turntables that use removable (SME) type headshells we could have a easy to fit and install cartridge for getting the music on our records  to our amplifiers phono input so we could enjoy.
Link:
The shallowmemory special phono cartridge

To recap, the long bit from the screw in fitting to the tip where the red dot is comprises of the Ortofon Concorde Pro cartridge usually seen with a robust stylus for dj work such as scratching but by fitting a more home Hifi type stylus and setting the downforce appropriately, we can get a great sound knowing unlike mounting a conventional cartridge into a headshell this it well perfectly aligned geometrically for optimum performance at the factory.
Following changing the record deck recently and the main amplifier, I had heard a good deal more detail coming from it and three years on was thinking about at least getting a new stylus for it as they do wear in time.

What I was interested in was getting was a stylus that was a more accurate fit to the groove in the record so fine detail would be clearer especially on loud tracks toward the end of the record that would just push on so I'd use the older one for, say, 45's and testing used records with and this the better one for albums.
*Fitted and playing Tom Petty's Greatest Hits (Universal/ Geffen  records)

When fitted and set to around 1.6 grams downforce, it gives cleaner sound on 'hot' cut albums and less surface noise provided obviously you've cleaned your records plus copes with those last tracks on the side better.
Although expensive it gives a performance comparable to Ortofon's 2M Blue but without the complications of mounting and aligning it properly in a separate headshell which, believe more many forests have been written with charts and print out protractors to use!
School geometry did have a practical application after all!
Now to continue cleaning out a jammed email inbox brought to my attention by Lucy last night!

Changesonebowie redux

Between studying I have been listening to some music and arriving last Friday was this, the vinyl reissue of the very first David Bowie compilation entitled changesonebowie that came out originally in 1976.

It was the first album that featured John I'm Only Dancing and in the eyes of many had a seamless unity running through the selection that made it most satisfying to play from start to finish starting with Space Oddity through Jean Genie to Golden Years from his Station to Station album issued early in 1976.
The cover photograph is very iconic.

 It was reissued May 20th  in random form with half the copies on standard black vinyl an the other clear like the above one on my turntable with no indication which you'll be getting!
Although this is sourced from high resolution digital files it does sound better than the original UK album overall and is noticeably cheaper to buy compared to a used original!
Having so many of my favourite 45's from childhood playing this was a enjoyable trip through time so I'm glad to have gotten it.

Oxide edition

Phew, what a hot weekend,eh? Not that I'd of missed any of it  for anything in the World you understand but you don't really want to resemble a well cooked Lobster!
I rested for a day and  a bit taking the trouble to ensure I got my sleep in as sometimes the things that may if I'm not paying sufficient attention put me at risk of accidents happen in part because I'm tired and it makes sense to deal with it.

 When you next raise yourself from your chair or propel your wheelchair, do look at this picture and check the year of your calendar, you know the one on your wall as it was taken in 2016, honest!
Two long playing records 30cm (or 12" to Brits and Americans) pictured next to a cassette and its case complete with filled out J-card (insert) that hold a recording of both records with a TDK tape from the period 1977 thru 1978!
It is my handwriting on it, really, I'm not just some internet blogger, I am very much for real and that tape is from my collection as are the records which are my originals from when I was younger at least officially!
I did actually record a few tapes from records this week from my new to me turntable that turned out well on some still sealed tapes from the late 90's as apart from a few most of my last cassettes from that period came from compact discs, sometimes rearranged a bit usually for playing on personal players as changing a tape was easier than a cd those days.

Getting groovy

Yes, there was no extra edition on Friday simply because I was too pawley tm to write one and do all links across sites for the entry never mind being unable to do any written work in my studying this weekend gone.
Meanwhile back to the this weeks entry..
The last time I touched on the topic of vinyl reproduction was on May 5th 2013 when I talked about a 'plug and play' cartridge for tone arms with screw fitting headshell, saving some of the work involved in setting up your turntable.
Link: The Shallow Memory special
Quite a few things have happened since then like adding new sources for digital reproduction and gosh! getting a cassette deck but this last week saw something else arrive

 There always has been a turntable in my stereo systems from the first I had when I was ten when it was the only decent source of hearing pre-recorded music to my more recent system where unlike some people it's not just about playing 'legacy' albums and 45's but even getting new recordings on vinyl.
Since around 2006 that role had been taken by a Pioneer PL12D turntable from the 1970's as too many Hifi turntables new lacked easy speed changing for 45's and albums and I find being able to change cartridges say for more worn 45's rather than my very well looked after album collection is handy.
I had been considering getting a new turntable more like that for around £300 of which there a few reasonable models out their by people like Pioneer and Audio Technica when rather suddenly a family friend died who had a lot of Hifi and Ham radio stuff finding they'd left this in the Will for me.
The Marantz 6170 is what is called a Direct Drive turntable so the motor directly moves the platter your record is on without using a belt or Idler to transmit the motor movement to cause it to turn around.
This removes any slight slipping from a belt and noise from being transmitted by it.
The other big advantage is the speed is monitored and adjusted in real time electronically so it is absolutely constant having been set by an electronic circuit precisely.
The funny display toward the front right is the illuminate strobe used to visually confirm the settings are spot on.
In practical terms this means the reproduction of percussion as they are struck sounds rock solid in its timing.
The arm may offend mainly UK based purists but is a low mass 'S' shaped arm which is lowered and raised by push buttons, which is good for damaged pawed of us and it has the option of being sat over the record where it will lower and start playing and then lift and turn itself off at the end although you can do it by hand if you prefer.  It certainly felt freer than the one on the Pioneer.
It takes almost universal SME screw type headshells that easy to get being used in 'classic'  record based DJing which meant I could just screw my old ones straight in, just adjusting the downforce and anti-skate if needed.
On the left there is slot to house a spare headshell ready to swap over.
It just required a smidgen of tlc, it cleaning up, making sure any parts that needed to be free were and the output plugs changing to decent RCA plugs to plug to my Rotel phono stage before entering my amplifier (it has no built in circuit for record decks).
It does sound really good having heard a few  extra details from albums I'm very familiar with and is proving to very enjoyable to use.
A few comments on my main system:
Currently it has a Stanton 681EEE cartridge in it and it needs something to make its output much bigger and adjust the sound from the cartridge so it matches that the record was cut with (when you cut a record you reduce the low notes and increase the high ones to reduce surface noise and increase playing time). I had such a unit by Hart Electronics but the output was too high causing distortion and even putting reducers in the output leads didn't quite cure it all as I think it was getting a little distorted in its internal circuits.
As it happened Rotel made a unit specifically for my integrated amplifier and a few similar products whose output matched exactly the sort it's input stage was designed for.

 It needless to say is a perfect visual match for my integrated amplifier.

The unit can handle standard Moving magnet as well as dearer Moving Coil cartridges selected using a switch at the rear. Its previous owner was only selling it cos he had another similar unit so it was spare.
After quickly plugging the wires in and connecting the grounding tag on the record deck to a special connector on the unit, I tried a few records I know well. The obvious thing was the loss of a niggling feeling of harshness in the louder passages where the other unit was close to overloading, sweeter high notes and a better sense of where in a stereo mix the different instruments are located in space.
To be honest, had I of planned to have gotten this amplifier first I'd of gotten this unit straightaway.
It makes listening to records old or new ones such as David Bowie's The Next Day that I have on vinyl so much more enjoyable.

Teenbeat XVII-the RED and BLUE edition

Where do I begin with this entry? What I'm reviewing has a very long past, which is why it's  here as a Teenbeat featurette as these two records were originally issued on lp record, cassette and  super clunky 8 Track cartridge way way back in May of 1973 when I was officially young.
While two compilations had been issued by the Beatles in the UK ("A Collection of Oldies but Goldies") and North America ("Hey Jude") there had not  been a career covering set issued officially so on the backs of a unofficial multi disc set issued a year before, two two record sets were issued that took in all the UK singles A sides plus highlights from their studio lps.

This was timely as by 1973 each former Beatle had their own solo following and indeed in Paul McCartney's instance a new and highly popular band called Wings so there was a lot of interest by fans of the same for something that clued them into the past as well as those fans from the 60's who wanted a nice tidy set to remember The Beatles by.
The front cover was an alternate take to that used on their UK Please Please Me lp cover and the front for the 1967-1970 one a remake from 1969 intend for the scrapped Get Back lp.
Below are the original UK cassette inlay cards showing the covers in colour

Unlike the tapes we had in North America, those lucky Brits had each album on a single cassette and 8 Track in better quality!
These albums remained on catalogue in their original forms until September 1993 where the first cd versions were issued and then re-issued using the 2009 remasters in 2010 but for reason best known to Apple, a number of different versions were subsituted for the cd and lp/cassette reissues in 1993.

Here's a short summary:
Stereo replaced by Mono-
Please Please Me
From Me To You
Fake stereo to Mono-
Love Me Do (album version)
She Loves You
Original 1965 stereo mixes to 1986 digitally remixed with echo(!) -
Yesterday
Ticket To Ride
Help
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Drive My Car
Norewegian Wood
Nowhere Man
In My Life
Michelle
Girl
US stereo mix for UK stereo -
Day Tripper
Faded in lp to cold start -
A Day In The Life

So you can see what we've had for twenty years wasn't what we originally had!
Fast forward to November 24th 2014 in the UK and Europe and these lps have been newly re-issued but from the actual analogue master tapes used for the originals except for the two fake stereo tracks that were rightly put into mono.
What that means is on vinyl we can have the mixes we used to have all over again and taking advantage of modern thinking about lp cutting more effort has been put in to keeping the low notes in for deep bass and more extended treble  as as a bit more of a gap between the loudest and softest sounds in each song and a good example of this is on From Me To You which in stereo has never sounded better.
As the 2012 stereo re-issue lps were digitally sourced for now at least it's the only new spot for much of the stereo material mastered they way it used to be and sounding that much better for it.
I bought both and have to say these reissues are superior to my UK originals in so many ways it's amazing and works well with the mono albums issued a few months back much the same way.
Issued in North America December 9th by Capitol.

Teenbeat XVI - Rumer

After the last few posts here's a return post in our Teenbeat series that does link a bit to the previous posts in that they are connected to past rituals if not likes from my actual childhood.

 

No, that wasn't my actual phonograph although it does so perfectly depict that whole girls gathered around it listening thing perfectly that we did.

Now on to the featured artist, a Pakistan born Britisher going by the stage name of Rumer ('real' name Sarah Joyce) with her new lp entitled Into Colour released this month that features the much airplayed track Dangerous.
It's usually a dangerous task to define an artist by others, but it's fair to say her style is very much routed in the singer songwriter mode and has many things in common with the late Karen Carpenter, which as seasoned blog readers know was the stuff very much on my stereo back in the 70's when I was a child (one can hardly say growing up with a straight face!).

Much to some peoples surprise in 2012 she released this album, Boy's Don't Cry which was a covers album drawing from the 70's although the lead off single P.F.Stone actually goes back to the 60's.
Initially some folk issued groans thinking she was jumping on the lucrative covers bandwagon but she makes every single song on it sound as if it was her own. 

 This was the album that started off her solo career, 2010's Seasons Of My Soul which as belatedly issued in the States the following year featuring the singles Slow and Aretha which were followed by an EP recorded with Burt Bacharach on download and very limited 7" vinyl.
She performed A House is not a Home, a  Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis song at the White House May 9th 2012 event honouring Burt.

Rumer's lp's feature different cover art from the corresponding cd and digital download editions usually designed by her and it is in that form  my collection of her recordings exists and is enjoyed.

I have made 'vintage' minidisc editions of these albums for posterity with the first two combined to a single 'extended play' disc.

Teenbeat XV - The Beatles in mono

The genius of this entry goes back three weeks ago to September 8th at least in the UK as  that was when a rather special set of vinyl lp records was issued in both individual and boxed set form with the box set featuring a big book with a history of the records , pictures of tape boxes and naturally enough, the artists themselves.
It is also a follow one to November 2012's Teenbeat special that was timed to do with the stereo vinyl re-issues and how that slotted into my collection started in my earlier life.

The first thing to say is in this set there are 11 albums, the first 9 UK titles, the American compiled but later adopted in the UK Magical Mystery Tour and the new Triple Mono Masters compilation.
I opted to buy them individually as with a bit of searching I could get the whole set for much less than I anticipated and it's not every day you can get a set of brand new mono albums made directly from the tapes, the way they did in the 60's with not one jolt of digital processing involved.

An indication of the attention to detail in this set is the label above being a copy of the one used on the very first copies of the Please Please Me album from March 1963, the other UK original albums through Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band have period Yellow and Black labels with the White Album (aka "The Beatles") and the new Mono Masters triple having dark green Granny Smith Apple designs.

This one being American in origin has a replica Capitol colourband rim design as original Capitol lps did back then. Originally the songs from the film were issued in the UK on two 7 inch singles in a book and the stereo lp was eventually issued in November 1976 for that territory.
The sleeve construction owning a few originals is the same although the way the glossy lamination is achieved is different.
The White Album has individual issue numbers stamped on the front to each copy and top opening slots for each record, the four pictures and poster just like the originals did.
I have just one of them left to arrive but overall these sound at least as good as in number of instances better than my originals such as of the UK Revolver or early 80's extremely limited edition mono issues (the so-called '81's) like my copy of With The Beatles while I've never owned the White Album and Magical Mystery Tour in their mono  forms.
It seems using the tapes directly and altering the sound slightly per track while making the lacquers used to make the records has given them a transparency that has never been on any previous lps and in comparison with the Beatles in mono cd box set  is lacking from that.
While not  much processing  to the tone was done on the cd box set, it's obvious some tidying up like editing and click removing  was done digitally when you compare the actual records to the cds but it doesn't undermine the value of the cd set for those who prefer that media.
Why mono? Because for much of 60's the final mix was done first to mono, the one speaker systems most people had taking a lot of care with the impact and critically with the Beatles they were present during that process.
In the UK All the singles from Love Me Do to Get Back were only released in mono so the original mixes were the mono ones although from 1970's many compilation albums featured only stereo mixes done later.
In so far as original studio albums go the stereo mixes were done later usually by engineers in a half hour or so with no input from the Beatles so these mono mixes were more what they wanted their fans to hear and there are a good number of significant differences  between them with Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band sounding more finished, nay arresting as a listening experience compared to the stereo.
It's important to note the first two UK albums were not recorded with any aim of making a stereo record so much as using two tracks to fine tune the balance between vocals and instruments later on which why in 'stereo' you have that odd backing in one speaker, vocals on the other effect.
The final album in this series, Mono Masters is a triple album that has those singles with flip sides and other tracks not originally  released in the UK on album form from the original single mix of Love Me Do to You Know My Name from the b side of the Let It Be via such singles as I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, Day Tripper, Hey Jude and the last UK mono single Get Back. It also has the entire Long Tall Sally EP plus dedicated mixes made a projected EP of songs from the Yellow Submarine that were never issued given a separate lp side meaning if you don't need the stereo versions, the Yellow Submarine album isn't really needed as there were only two other songs that are on it by the Beatles and they were issued on previous albums anyway.
Like most people who bought it, I feel compared to the 7 inch singles the sound is that much fuller for having more vinyl space to accommodate the full range of loud and soft passages and low notes in this unique compilation. It also is more convenient too than flipping 45's every two and half to three minutes with the 6 sides covering fairly well defined eras in the group.

The records:
Please Please Me
With The Beatles *
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles (better know as the "White Album"**
Mono Masters.
*= Known to Canadians as Beatlemania with the beatles, the first album we had!
** not issued in mono in Canada and the States, ever.

This set slots nicely into my collection replacing a number of copies whose sound I wasn't so happy with and enabled me to remove a couple of albums whose contents are now totally replicated in better sound, generally tidying matters up.

A somethings extra post

With apology to the marvel that is Stevie Wonder's songwriting abilities, seeing it was the Bank Holiday and I has been playing a few of his albums here (see the Music Posts for a selection of his discs I have) here's an extra edition.

Those who follow the album charts can't helped to notice Tom Petty recently topped it in the States with Hypnotic Eye that came on cd in late July but it wasn't until last week I got my copy because it is the 140 gram German lp pressing simply cos it sounds a bit better (and has more dynamics) than the cd version plus came with a free download code for 24bit (48K) High Definition lossless digital audio and regular slightly more compressed Mp3. Amazon did also give me a free Mp3 but I didn't think it sounded too good personally.
Being the sort I am I downloaded the 24bit and downsampled myself a Mp3 from that using the Batch Format convertor in my cd copying program which sounded much better.
Favourites from this altogether really good comeback album are Burnt Out Town which with American Dream Plan B  and Power Drunk are good examples of Tom Petty drawing from current affairs to write spirited songs about the World we live in.

As some of you are aware, I do buy specialty reissues that offer better sound than the originals and one that recently landed my was this, the late 1989 Presto album by ace Canadian rockers, Rush that I bought when it first came out. 
I felt around the time they issued Hold Your Fire! in 1987, they were losing their way, sounding too close to bland 'Stadium  Rock' for a band who impressed me from a very early age with more complex lyrics and musicianship but This had what was missing - 'bite' in the lyrics.
It also helped some of the songs used childhood settings such as playing Rock,Paper,Scissors in Hand Over Fist and examining self deception and vanity through play in War Paint  to make their points clearly.
This copy sounded warmer and less brittle than the original.

Earlier in the year, this rather more longer Progressive rock inspired opus from 1978 was re-issued that not only completed the space fantasy story of Cygnus X1 started in 1977's A Farewell To Kings album, give us a parable on forced equality in the form of The Trees but gives us La Ville Stranglato a marathon over 9 minute totally amazing work out just showing how accomplished at playing their instruments the band really are.

 I also picked up the 2013 issue in this series of Counterparts from 1993 which includes Animate, Cut To The Chase and Cold Fire.
All three of  these discs are super audio compact discs  (sacd)  designed to give better sound on suitable players that also  have a regular cd player for the rest of us.

August musings

Take one early August evening  where it's been dull during the day even if the activities during the course of were anything but and I usually start thinking about  writing up this weeks blog.
It's always nice to see 'old faces' return to sites so hi to Liesel and Maya plus it's also good  to see new faces like Edwin in Chat who seems to like my sense of humour!
It's also nice where you can be in a space  that is accepting of you even if as this great manga cell makes the point, it's your life.

Certainly I live mine as I feel to best extent possible for me although everybody's circumstances are different so limiting what maybe you are able to.

Also I spent part of the day recreating Mp3 versions of albums that for various reasons the labels who own the recording rights decline to issue on cd although though they had been out for eons in the record era where I recall owning or hearing them played so form a part of my childhood. Just hearing those track sequences brings back memories!

Before I forget, thanks to everyone who read last weeks more technical blog entry

Brb sidechange

Well the bank holiday weekend starts here with sun even in Manchester of all places so being out of doors is kinda on the horizon even if you take some creature comforts with you which these days might include your cellphone or e-book reader.
However for some of the stuff we'd of taken with us would of been different way back in the day such as portable record players, a radio or even a tape player for entertainment like this cult 70's singles player you just slot the disc into  and it plays.
Wacky technology like this is what some of us grew up with and before anyone laughs people did try having an in car version too!!! The draw back being the need to change disc every few minutes which isn't too practical while driving and requiring a fair number of discs in the portable version to keep you entertained something like ten of an hours worth or so of playing.
That's  why If I'm chatting to you   and you see "Brb side change" you'll know I'm spinning discs and had get up to change disc side and clean the side before resuming play! They're part of the rituals of living in my time although I usually spin long players.

The "ShallowMemory special" phono cartridge

This ones for hipsters, mixers and for those of us who still run records be they olde records or new limited edition copies.
One thing that can put people off getting into playing records via a decent stereo is the business involved in fitting a cartridge -the thing that gets the sound from them there grooves - to a record deck.
It's one reason why decks pre-fitted are popular although many hifi type decks today from people like Rega and Pro-ject of the Czech Republic lack such creature comforts as easy to change speed controls or removable headshells.
If you own a deck or are planning to get one that has a removable headshell such as the Technics 1200 series (or look a likes) or older Japanese decks that do such as Pioneers, there is simple option.
The "ShallowMemory special" is a cheap way of achieving something Kab in the States offers - a plug and play preset hifi cartridge - for such decks as most types are designed for dj work and don't give good enough sound.
The start point is getting the Ortofon Pro S cartridge designed for use in discos that plugs straight in where the headshell goes.

You can pick these up either new from DJ suppliers or used often with a damaged stylus which doesn't matter as we won't be using the original.
The cartridge itself is a Ortofon Super design but preassembled to go to the SME type headshell plug which you then just push on and tighten up the collared nut to the playing arm.Because of its design all that messing about with geometry getting the thing mounted right isn't needed.
What we do is remove the original dj stylus from the front (the bit with the red dot) by pulling it toward you.
Having ordered a type 10 or 20 stylus you take that out of the packaging and push it on so it fits tightly. You now have in effect a Ortofon Super 10/20 cartridge that just plugs straight in.
All you do is set the playing weight and anti-skating settings to 1.5 grams and you're good to go.
Stockist of type 10 stylus in the UK include Manta Audio and "The Stylus Lady" on ebay.