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I've spent a pleasant couple of days listening to some of my 45rpm single records collection, most of which are the originals I bought back in the '70s and '80s. A couple or so are replacements because my brother, to whom I'd given them at some stage, never looked after them properly, resulting in me asking for them back a year or two later. His ready response in the affirmative tends to suggest he wasn't really into them to begin with (being more of a Heavy Metal fan), and I suspect he gave some to his pals as they mostly weren't really his thing, but there's yet quite a stash of originals I'd purchased back in the day.
I bought them while living in my current home first time around (1972-'83) and it's good to hear them here again as my memories seem more vivid. Over the years I've also bought replacements for singles my brother owned in our previous house (1965-'72) and they likewise bring memories rushing back. But let's stick with the music I acquired as a teenager and young adult. I recall leaving my pal Alan's flat for the final time as we made our way to the YMCA (no, never bought that record) in the Old Village quarter, where he was going to stay for a while before moving to Cornwall to start his training in the Royal Navy.
Another friend was with us (Joe? Stu?) and one had a radio, from which Marvin Hamlisch's Bond '77 was playing, as The Spy Who Loved Me hadn't long been released. It was a lovely sunny day and I ordered or bought the single from my local Boots The Chemist's record department, either that very day or not long after. As I listened to the tune again earlier this evening, it brought it all back to me. If Joe was the other pal on the day, both of them are now dead, so it's a gateway to an earlier time when I'd more friends than I do now. The fact it's the actual single I had back then adds to its poignancy.
So what else? Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney), Mull Of Kintyre (Mr. McCartney again), The Old Rugged Cross (Lena Martell), A Windmill In Old Amsterdam (Ronnie Hilton), Don't Let The Rain Come Down (Ronnie again), Edelweiss (Vince Hill), and various others from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. I have several cases of singles and I just played them as they came out of the case, regardless of sequence and year of release. Some of my own original singles I haven't listened to in at least 30 years, so my plan is to go through all my cases until I've heard them all again. (I don't like ignoring them.)
Some others were Down Deep Inside (Donna Summer), Oxygene (Jean-Michel Jarre), Pearl's A Singer (Elkie Brookes), Magic Fly (Space), Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Julie Covington), all from the '70s. I worked nightshift in Safeways in 1977, so that's when I probably bought most of them. Happy memories.
So, Crivvies, do any of you, in a melancholic moment ever dig out your old singles (if you still have them) and have a 'play-fest', remembering people, places, and times from your youth, amazed at how close they still seem to you (even though they may be long-gone), but never more so than when you're actually listening to them? Tell all.
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Honesty compels me to admit the cover at the top of this post isn't mine, as my record came in just a standard white sleeve. I nicked the above image from the Internet.
Good question. I don't need to dig out my records to remind myself of the past as hearing familiar songs on the radio performs that function. I still have a lot of old records up in the attic so I might bring them down for a play someday.
ReplyDeleteSorry for delay in replying, postie came to the door and I was reading the comic he brought me. I had all my LPs in the loft 'til a year or so back, then bought record cases for them which I keep in my living-room. Once I've worked my way through the singles, it'll be the LPs next.
DeleteI don't own any old singles but if a song pops into my head that I haven't heard in a long time I'll go to YouTube and listen to it. That happened a couple of days ago when I remembered a song called 'For America' by Red Box which was a hit back in late 1986.
ReplyDeleteYour comment came in while I was typing my response to PF, CJ, so they might be out-of-sequence. Do you remember what you were doing around the time when the song first came out? What associations, if any, does it remind you of?
DeleteI can't think of any particular associations with the song, Kid, but I recalled it having a rather sad, haunting quality that I can't quite explain and it was nice to hear it again. Another song I recently listened to on YouTube was Billy Ocean's first ever UK hit 'Love Really Hurts Without You' because it came up on Steve Does Comics (Steve provided a link to the UK pop chart of exactly 50 years ago).
ReplyDeleteI'll maybe give it a listen, CJ. However, this blog has a policy of not advertising lesser blogs in its comments section, so wash your mouth out with soap. (Or give your typing finger a wash.) Remember - "There is only one!"
DeleteKid, I still have all of my singles bought back in the 70's & 80's, which total somewhere around 1,600 (some are EP's). They are all in singles cases, each of which hold some 30 ~ 40 singles (from memory, I can't recall the exact amount). They have been in the bottom of a built in robe for over 35 years.
ReplyDeleteI also still have some 400 ~ 500 LP's.
I think I've got every record I ever bought, JC, though a few are replacements. You're obviously like me and can't bear to get rid of anything. Any plans for giving them at least one last play?
DeleteThe beauty of some singles is that they sometimes have "B" sides that don't appear on any albums / CD's, and can be quite good in their own right. There have been occasions where the "B" sides proved more popular than the material on the "A" side. I have quite a few limited edition singles, some with picture sleeves, coloured vinyl, & even one shaped like a guitar. On a couple of my LP's, they are laser etched. Hopefully, sometime in the future, I would like to think I will listen to some of them once more.
DeleteFunny you should say that, JC, 'cos I've just listened to King Of The Road by Roger Miller (around 20 mins ago) and I was reminded that the B side (Atta Boy Girl) isn't on any CDs I've ever seen in the shops. It's a great wee tune, but seems restricted to the single for some reason. Still working through my singles cases, will listen to more tonight.
DeleteThe first single I bought ( with my pocket and birthday money) was Ob-la-de-oh-bla-da by the Marmalade and Lilly the Pink by the Scaffold . I joined "financial forces" ( went "halfers")with my brother, so those songs remind me of the day we bought these.. So many songs remind me of of places, people etc. I only have a handful of singles left in a box in my loft including the above 2 tunes but I listen to any songs now on Spotify .
ReplyDeleteHad both these singles back in the day, McS, though they were my brother's. Bought a replacement for Lily The Pink in Fratton in 1978, which I've still got, though I bought a better copy a few years back. Replaced the Marmalade single decades ago, I think. I like the process of removing a record from its sleeve and carefully laying it on the turntable, so no Spotify for me.
DeleteI totally agree that nothings better than playing a single/LP but Spotify gives you access to almost every song ever and no clutter. I do still listen to the odd CD but mostly YouTube and Spotify now for me.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, McS, I generally prefer listening to CDs these days, but when it comes to old singles and LPs that have personal history, then I like to pretend it's the '60s & '70s again and re-create the experience I had back then. Ye cannae whack it!
DeleteThe only two 45s that I have are "Telstar" and "Locomotion With Me", both by the Tornados. These were records that my Dad purchased around 1962, and they bring back memories of lying on the carpet in the back room in front of the PYE radiogram. I was fascinated by the mechanism that dropped the discs onto the turntable. Other 45s my parents owned were "76 Trombones" from The Music Man, and various Harry Secombe singles (e.g. "If I Ruled the World"), plus LPs of Jim Reeves and a Mario Lanza box set from Readers Digest. Somehow they all disappeared over the years - no idea how I came to get rid of them. All of my own 1970s LPs and singles (mainly pop and Original Soundtracks) were sold to Ross Records in Kingston Road, sometime in the 1980s or 1990s, probably as I replaced them with shiny CDs.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember Jack's record shop, B, which was near Boulton Road, before moving to bigger premises in Fratton? I think I've still got every record I bought there. I think his stock was mainly 2nd-hand.
DeleteThere were two Jim Reeves boxed sets, one from World Records, the other from Reader's Digest. I have both of them, though haven't played them in ages. I now own just about every JR record ever released as well as some that weren't (not until relatively recently, that is) on CD.