PUNK & ALTERNATIVE ROCK RARITIES

Over the coming weeks I will be sorting through a large collection of mostly punk/alternative rock 7" & 12"
There are a number of the mainstream punk bands featured but also a few rarer names. The first few bands that I will be selling are the DICKIES - SKIDS - CLASH - WIRE - SKREWDRIVER  & THE REZILLOS to name a few. One of the rarest items is the 1st 7" single by SKREWDRIVER - "YOU'RE SO DUMB" Unfortunately after listing it last night the ebay police removed it as being "hateful material" so it is now live on AMAZON & DISCOGS instead see below for links

CHISWICK S11 - 1st PRESSING - MATRIX A1/B1 1997

Discogs listings for Vinyl_Spurs
Amazon listing for Vinyl_Spurs

The single was initially released in the green cover in limited numbers and then I think there are a couple of other versions available one being an orange P/S. The band came from near Blackpool as you can see they have featured the Blackpool tower on the back cover. They started out as a punk band without any political agenda but this changed as the band evolved. Another band who were starting out about the same time were WIRE from London and they were signed to the prog label Harvest who were dabbling in the punk market with bands like WIRE - THE SAINTS & THE BANNED. Currently listed on ebay I have a great copy of their first 7" single MANEQUIN - HAR 5144 from 1977









ebay listing for WIRE 7" Vinyl_Spurs

I was working in living and working in London at the time, but the punk era largely passed me by as I was already heavily into rock & prog! But now I think I can appreciate them a lot more. And recently went to see the Undertones & Stranglers some  30 years + past their heyday. Much more punk/alternative to follow especially some of the more diverse & bizarre bands.........see you again soon and thanks for reading.

THE WHO 1st LP MY GENERATION - BRUNSWICK LAT 8616

THE WHO 1965 1st LP MY GENERATION 

BRUNSWICK LAT 8616 - MONO

Although I have a few early who LP's this is the first copy of  "My Generation" I have had my hands on. Whilst the condition of the LP is far from mint the audio quality is still great, yes it has a good number of clicks but you get a real feel for the 60's MOD sound with this LP and of course some of the classic WHO tracks. Of course the title track but also "The kids are alright" "The Ox" & "I'm a man" - The WHO at their stunning best in the swinging 60's.
The LP is now live on ebay but only for a few days & finishes on Friday night, full details can be found via this link
THE WHO - MY GENERATION
(Nice lads but shame about the haircuts)  - For the winner of the auction there is also a free Roger Daltrey mounted photo sporting the same barnet (Barnet fair = hair)

The Brunswick label is black with silver text and unusually has a grooved edge and is not completely flat. Released in 1965 the LP has become the holy grail for WHO collectors, with record collector listing mint copies at £400 but copies can hit the market at nearer £600 occasionally. This copy will fetch far less due to heavy wear but it is still a great piece of ROCK VINYL memorabilia.

PINK FLOYD 7" RELEASES WORLDWIDE

Good morning to all you vinylheads out there! Today I am having a look at part of my Floyd collection and specifically the 7" singles. As you probably already know, they did not release any UK 7" between 1968 & 1979! but there was a lot of releases elsewhere in the world to meet the demand particularly in Europe & the US. Pictured below are a selection between 1967 & 1994

Before I tell you more about the releases can you tell me how many different countries releases are featured here & name them? Answers within the next 24hrs please - the first person to guess correctly will get a free 7" copy of  Another brick in the wall from my amazon store. 

See you again tomorrow for answers, KEEP VINYL ALIVE  - Vinyl_Spurs

Well either you all have a copy of Pink Floyd's first UK release for 11 years in 1979 or there is a problem with the blogger comment box. 

Anyway the correct answer was 5 and the countries were UK (of course) US Syd Barrett Pink Vinyl 7" & Money- ITALY - 70's P/S Free Four & Point me at the sky - NETHERLANDS - Have a cigar & GREECE 60's re-issues of Arnold Layne & See Emily play. 

So you want to know some more about some of the releases? 

Back where it all started, a 1967 copy of the Pink Floyd's 2nd UK single See Emily Play

COLUMBIA DB 8214 released in a red Columbia company sleeve and still one of their most sought after early releases. Below is a Greek re-issue from 1974 B side The Scarecrow

HARVEST HARG 1522 

Also released at the same time is a Greek re-issue of Arnold Layne/Candy & the currant bun

HARVEST HARG 1521

The 2 Italian releases feature more obscure tracks that are probably not so widely known to a lot of people (as pictured below) 

EMI Italiana 3C 006 05459 - Point me at the sky/Careful with that axe Eugene 1973

EMI Italiana 3C 006 05086 - Free Four/The gold it's in the............ 1972

As well as other countries released various singles in the 70's including Holland/Netherlands - shown below is a copy of the P/S for Have a cigar/ SOYCD from wish you were here, with the iconic machine handshake

HARVEST  - 5C 006-97 357 - 1976

Moving forward to Division Bell & Pulse, a lot of material was released around this time and below is a copy of high hopes 7" with the fold out poster cover & clear vinyl pressing of High Hopes / Keep Talking. Probably the 2 best tracks from the Division Bell LP 

EMI  - EM 342 - Clear Vinyl

There are of course a large number of other releases from around the world, and if you want to share items from your Floyd collection I would be glad to hear from you. By the way (hush hush) I have just picked up a collection of Rock memorabilia which includes Floyd vinyl & books so keep your eyes open on Vinyl_Spurs sites for them hitting the stores real soon! 

Vinyl_Spurs - BEATLES + PINK FLOYD ON EBAY 

PINK FLOYD - THE SCREAMING ABDAB BOOTLEG

I don't normally buy bootleg copies but this is the only one I ever bought back in the 70's
Recorded at London WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL (As it was at the time) from the Floyd's November 1974 British Winter tour- Although it states WEMBLEY STADIUM on the cover, they didn't actually play the stadium until the "Momentary lapse of reason tour" on 5th August 1988 (A gig I attended with my brother)

The LP features 3 tracks  - side 1 - SOYCD  - side 2 Raving & Drooling & You gotta be crazy, which were earlier names for Sheep & Dogs respectively.

The recording quality and the size of the venue give it a very echoing booming sound but SOYCD is still not bad, but the sound on side 2 is somewhat harsher with the vocals. All in all though still not a bad recording as bootlegs go.

ANOTHER RARE FOLK PRIVATE PRESSING

Having recently featured a copy of the "Ark of the Covenant" rare private pressing LP TAC 001
I now have TAC 003 GROUNDSWELL - IMAGINATIVE IDEAS IN POSITIVE THOUGHT aslo a private pressing from London studios by band members of the aforementioned "Ark of the Covenant"
The LP is from 1990 and signed by Tony Voller it is also a limited edition # 022/100 or 500 I cannot confirm exactly how many were actually made as information on this pressing is very scarce.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=141018642827&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

RARE PRIVATE PRESSING FOLK VINYL - THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

Just a quick update on a rare LP I acquired this week which is currently on live auction on ebay
" The Ark of the Covenant" S/T LP is an excellent folk LP made in London in 1985 by a Folk trio as pictured on the excellent hand drawn cover.

The private pressing was made at Elephant studios in London cat no TAC 001 but no record label stated on the LP or cover. See below rear cover with track & band information.
There is not a lot of information on the web about the band or the LP except the last copy appears to have sold in 2010. Click the link below to go to the live ebay auction which has just launched and ends on the 11th June 2013. The Ark of the Covenant TAC 001

 

 

PINK FLOYD - VINYL BOX SETS

Both PULSE & ECHOES were released in 4 LP box set versions in addition to the main release of CD format, but are they really worth collecting? or do they just sit untouched on the shelf or in storage to keep them in Mint / NM condition.

 

ECHOES 4 LP 2001 BOXED SET - EMI 5361111

 

PULSE 4 LP + BOOK 1995 BOXED SET  - EMI EMD 1078

 

My view is that no collection will be complete without them and if you are a completist you will have or want them. As usual the larger format gives scope for expanding the wonderful artwork or Storm Thorgerson. Pulse coming with a LP sized hardback book with loads of concert footage photos

 

 

1994 at Earls Court feels like a very long time ago, what a fantastic gig that was, with many of the classic Floyd tracks sounding as good as ever. My personal highlights were One of these days, High hopes and of course SOYCD.

A lot of the other graphics on the box set are very familar from the CD format but look even better on larger images. (see below)

 

 

I bought my copy 2nd hand a long time ago and unfortunately the outer casing has picked up a lot of surface marks, which is very disappointing seeing as though it has spent most of it's life either hidden in the cupboard or on the shelf. They generally go for somewhere between £200-£300 when they come up for sale, so it's not a cheap to add to your collection.

 

ECHOES BOX SET (aka Greatest Hits)

 

 

 The Echoes box set is just the 4 LP's with no books or posters etc, the images are in a similar format on each sleeve and depict various old images from Floyd's LP's in different formats and works well enough. Personally I haven't actually played my copy and whole Box is in NM condition. I guess that's just the greatest hits thing, that I would rather listen to the individual LP's in their own context if you know what I mean.

 

 

There are still other box sets that I don't own but I am not sure that I will ever collect everything!