Mix Six “From Me LPs”

Download the full mix HERE!

Welcome to it! Friday…Mix Six…Feeling good…oh, and and wrote this last week and have set it up to post today. 🙂

Today is a very special day indeed! I’m taking part in the Vinyl Record Day Blogswarm in celebration of the invention of the phonograph. Other great music bloggers who are in on the festivities include:

The organizer of the event:  JB at The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ 

AM Then FM, Bloggerhythms, Davewillieradio, Echoes in the Wind, Fufu Stew, Funky16Corners, Good Rockin’ Tonight, Got the Fever, The Stepfather of Soul, Lost in the 80s, Retro Remixes, and Jefito. There may be others that have been added since I wrote this, so if I left anyone out of the list…my humble apologies.

So, if you want to relive the golden age of vinyl, you can do so here, and at the blogs above.

Since I like doing this Mix Six thing, what you’re going to get today is stuff from my collection. So, here we go!
“Precious” (Live) The Pretenders (Download)I like to say that Chrissie Hynde was my high school girlfriend since I had such a crush on her. She was the cool tough chick who wrote songs and played guitar. What teenage guy wouldn’t love that? Well, I’m sure there are some, but they’re idiots. This version of Precious isn’t really available on CD (as far as I know), so while the live recording isn’t the best quality, it’s probably my favorite live version of this song (I have three in various formats including a cassette dubbed from the radio).

“The Minister For Overseas Development” Monty Python (Download) Like many o’ strange kid, I loved Monty Python so much I used to do their skits for acting class assignments during my high school years. I had made friends with other kids who shared a love for all things Python, so we used to annoy the crap out of our fellow students (and our teacher) whenever it was our turn to perform. Nine times out of ten it was a Python skit. And nine times out of ten, I could see the collective eyes in the audience roll when our scenes started. I started collecting the Python LPs during high school and my first year of college, and LP this bit came off of (“Matching Tie and Handkerchief”) was one of their best — well, in my opinion anyway.

“Close Again” Mental As Anything (Download) When J and I started dating at the tail end of 1987, she used to play a cassette of a popular group from New Zealand called D.D. Smash. I had never heard of them, but one of her friends from NZ was a huge fan and he gave her the cassette when he came for a visit. Well, it was during this time I also bought a compilation LP called “Maiden Australia” that had a bunch of popular bands from “down under.” D.D. Smash was on there, but this cool ditty was on there, too. I like the kind of whimsical quality to the song…and it just kind of sticks in your head, too.

“Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts” Dire Straits (Download) This is another one you can’t get on CD, and it’s the only Dire Straits song that I know of that goes full on jazz with Mark Knopfler doing some bad scatting. Still, it’s a funny song when you consider that the lyrics are from the point of view of annoying and drunk fans showing up backstage to ask for free stuff while telling you (or in this case, Knopfler) about their lives.

“96 Degrees in the Shade” Third World (Download) I bought this LP during my only trip to Guyana (in 1988). I was in a record store in Georgetown and asked the clerk to basically hook me up with what he considered classic LPs and some new stuff as well. He immediately went and got this LP and said “Listen to the title track…it’s pretty political.” And indeed it is. The song is about an 1865 slave revolt against the English. In the non-political realm, Third World is known as a hell of a great live band– or so I’ve read.

“Ever So Lonely” Monsoon (Download) Before Bally Sagoo, Talvin Singh, and a whole host of other Indo-English fusion artists that released some great stuff in the late 90s, there was Sheila Chandra who recorded this song in 1982 — which went to the top of the British pop charts. I was in London visiting family with my folks and bought the single and played it until it wore out. Well, I was able to make another trip to the UK in 1986, I went used record shopping and found the full LP at “Record, Tape & Video Exchange” at 38 Notting Hill Gate (W11) for 2 quid! The LP was in pretty good shape, but there were some pops and scratches, so I bought this special sleeve by Discwasher called the V.R.P. (Valuable Record Protector) so keep the record in decent shape. Anyway, the V.R.P. sleeve seemed to have worked out pretty well ’cause the LP sounds good.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fun. Also, I hope you go and check out the other bloggers who are taking part in this celebration of the anniversary of the invention of the phonograph on August 12, 1877.

–PK