Squeeze’s first album is a fantastic, British firework of pop explosion. Here, it’s presented in fire-red vinyl, with the sticker promoting the classic, Take Me, I’m Yours. I can offer nothing more than this printed, advertisement, and an early morning photo of said fire-red record. If you don’t know Squeeze, you don’t know. 
Tag Archives: record collecting
Off With Their Heads!
As the long-told, infrequently-forgotten story goes, the sunshine-happy-give-us-your-money band featured on the back cover of Dead Kennedy’s debut, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was used without the band’s consent, and resulted in a threatened lawsuit causing variations of the Bay area’s backside cover art. LA-based Sounds of Sunshine (aforementioned sunshine-happy-give-us-your-money band), wasn’t quite satisfied with their work-around beheading, and the Dead Kennedy’s were forced to come up with a new back cover concept altogether (replaced the sunshine-happy-give-us-your-money band sans heads with four vintage living room-dwellers sitting under a framed Alternative Tentacles logo… subsequent lawsuit forthcoming).
If any morals are to be learned from this tug-and-pull fiasco, they are forever silenced by the timeless music contained within.
The Devil Sat Down and Cried
The magnificent beast of violent vulgarity sat crying on a damp, dusty slab. Under the weight of 78 tears, the Devil weighed his options, and settled on inevitable defeat. Not even Harry James and his Orchestra could coerce the Devil from his lamenting hysteria, and the Devil knew it. His number had been called, and he knew it was his turn.
He had been licked, this sultry workhorse, and the new champion was ushered in atop a crowd of hope, and a flock of aspiration. He knew he was no longer feared, and with that, he knew there was nothing left. The world stood by with gaping mouths, as The Devil Sat Down and Cried.
George Hurley – Back Cover
So often do priceless nuggets of cultural significance go overlooked. Featured, as far as I can tell, ONLY on the back of 1981’s The Punch Line LP (15 mins for 18 songs…), this industrial landscape not only shows promise of conviction, it also showcases the many, astute talents of an already gifted musician, George Hurley (drummer for Minutemen).
Like so many onion-like layers of creative mystique the Minutemen continue to provide, this alternate, artistic expression by one of the world’s best drummers, Mr. George Hurley, was / is good enough for cover art, but for a prolific band such as this, takes sidecar, and settles for a prominent, yet secondary place on the back cover.
No filler did plague the Minutemen. History has converted this opinion into fact.
Been into These Guys Lately
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Whatever Happened to Billy Ocean?
I’ve recently found… that “tough” in fact, ISN’T spelled with an “8” (to8gh). That’s just something I’m going to have to learn to live with. IN THE MEANTIME… whatever happened to Billy Ocean?!
Tradition vs. Technology
To embrace technology is to abandon tradition. That is, until said technology becomes a tradition, which in that case, to embrace technology would be to embrace tradition. A seemingly inevitable and unavoidable campaign, we in the now adapt, learn, and apply (like wide-eyed infants), on an infinite, exponentially increasing loop until our ingrained, lethargic tradition is rendered obsolete.
Seen here is a not-so-recent action shot of my current digitizing setup. My analog converting process has now become a tradition, whose technology has been wholly embraced.Perusing with Alex
I just wanted to share a pleasant little discovery I made this past weekend while watching Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Pausing, shot by shot through Alex’s (record) hunting scene, I noticed a familiar album cover behind the cleverly placed 2001 soundtrack in the “Underground” section.
Rushing to the collection, I confirmed that peaking behind A Space Odyssey was Fever Tree’s 1968 debut, Fever Tree. Nothing Earth-shattering, but a fun discovery nonetheless.
(Apologies for the hastily taken photos)
Demonstration Not For Sale
Likely offered by a swagger-heavy, weight-showcasing, morally questionable record distributor to a (less than known) San Fernando Valley country music DJ (for a bootlegged case of high-octane tequila), this 1978 album of live material by the late, great Waylon Jennings is branded, not unlike a herd of grass-eating, nose-licking bovines, with this shimmering, gold flaked, “Demonstration Not For Sale” imprint.
I’ve seen many a promo in my day, but I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of eyeing one with gold leaf. This here, was a promo with promise! Probably purchased by a prima donna wearing plaid pants.
When Music Wasn’t Enough
RCA Victor, with their Popular Collector’s Issue series, and their motto, “The Stars who make the Hits are on RCA Victor Records,” have manifested an abnormally eloquent designed 45 sleeve, as evident by these shoes on the feet of this Glenn Miller box of singles.
His Master’s Voice was certainly not in need of top-of-the-line design, as evident by their continued, timeless, design.
Your Faith Has Been Bootlegged
Percy Faith is, in fact, NOT a dirty-nosed socialite unwilling to show her teeth when faking a smile, but instead, a master of mood music essentials. A Canadian who reigned throughout the 50s and 60s, Mr. Faith recorded into the mid-70s until his untimely death of cancer in 1976. This, a Taiwanese bootleg record on Taiwanese colored vinyl, serves as a subtle homage to a favored orchestral composer.
Dance ‘Till You Can’t Dance ‘Till You Can’t Dance No More
There is absolutely no shame in erupting into a volcanic burst of pure, adolescent excitement every once in a while. My most recent enthusiastic explosion was upon discovering this single by the illustrious (yet short lived) electro-pop outfit, C&C Music Factory. Their unforgettable, 1990 effort, Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) was a personal turning point for me, as this was one of the first two compact discs I’d ever owned.
Graduating to the new, crisp sound would come back to haunt me, however, as my instinctive decisions were something I’ve never been able to shake off. Had I known my compulsive hobby would have turned out the way it has, I may have reconsidered my first “official” music choices. I’ve since, over the years, learned to own these erroneous decisions, and am slowly approaching the level of embracement. Now, if I can only find Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, recapturing my tweens would be all but complete.
Jaws Day 2014
Today, July 3rd (or yesterday, for those keeping track), is / was Jaws Day… the annual domestic celebration of all things Jaws related. Apart from the soundtrack looping throughout the restroom, the LP was prominently displayed for all to see, and a respective shot of tequila was downed for every death eloquently showcased from this monumental masterpiece.
This is, and will continue to be an annual tradition… July 3rd, will (eventually) be known as, the Day of Jaws!
Will You Remember or Will You Forget
Adjusted for inflation, this 1916, 78rpm 10”, with the then retail value of $1, would yield a cool $21.09 today. It’s comforting to comprehend that this same 78rpm 10”, 1) still functions, 2) still sounds amazing, and 3) was acquired for the same retail price in 2014 that it sold for in 1916. Yes, I paid $1 for this record, and yes, I’m currently on a 78 kick. 98 year old records make me happy.
A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat… so with haste I offer this heartfelt gesture to the Swedish Refused. Never far from the mind, this unforgettable band creeps up in the unlikeliest of places (like a good hour after the day’s posted deadline, for example). Thank you for your forgiveness. #sniff
A Halfhearted (Politician’s) Promise for Tomorrow
Just like how function trumps fashion, so too shall quality (eventually) trump quantity here at The Prudent Groove. For too long I’ve been lacksadaisically (it’s a word… I think) thumbing my procrastination button and parading through an inferior product (since day one). So, as a mission statement (if only to myself), I, out-of-turnly proclaim, that tomorrow’s focus will showcase a much more thought out analysis (read: sarcastic observation).
What you see here (obviously), is an 8-track cassette of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album. Acquired today for a cool $1.99, this lil’ jammer will squat within the vacant garage currently residing in our living room in the shape of an empty (wood-paneled) 8-track player. Gone (and thoroughly missed), is my red cassette copy of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and in its place, and abridged version of Zeppelin’s most commercially proclaimed outing.
“Do you own an 8-track player?’ – Record story Guy
“Have you read The Groove?” – Me (to myself, and several hours later)
Sunday… Lazy Folks
So, all I can offer this fine evening is the most recent addition to the discogs.com labyrinth. John Peterson Presents Western Moods… an album, rich and ripe of tomfoolery, a topic, clearly, with which I will tackle at a later time.
Enjoy your Sunday evenings, buckaroos!
This is… in Stereo
I was able to find a stereo copy of This is Tim Hardin today at a thrifty little (unorganized) shop down in Long Beach. Already having been the owner of the original mono version, I couldn’t turn my back on this artificial (only because it was electronically re-recorded to simulate STEREO) stereo version for a cool $6. Possibly the best record I’ve ever laid ears on, I managed to acquire both copies the guy had (stereo for me, mono for a fellow Hardin-admiring buddy).
I am currently in possession of three This is Tim Hardin albums, and something tells me, it’s not enough.
“Are you ready to check out? You want both copies?!” – Guy
“Yes, guy! I have cash… why do you question the willing?” – Me, in my head
Beats, a Birthday, and a Boat
Combining a portable turntable, the annual spinning of the Earth revolving around the Sun, and luxuries of 1930’s, high-class travel, yields a few, important last-minute notions: 1) None of us, especially me, are getting any younger and, 2) Holding a record over an open porthole is, I guess, something I thought I’d never do.
If there is a will, there is a time for anything.
Op Klompen
I can’t say I’ve ever owned a pair of clogs, or op klompen, but I doubt I could rock the boisterous, and seemingly uncomfortable, style quite like the German King, James Last. Acquired maybe 8 or so years ago, I’d just gotten around to listening to the fascinating record the other day, and let me start by saying it wasn’t at all what I’d expected. I’d half expected some cartoon clown banging a trash can, a screaming eel tap dancing atop a tin roof, or some other such sort of unthinkable nonsense, but what I got was a lighthearted, easy listening, and slightly somber, orchestral odyssey through various, and at times very similar, instrumental interpretations celebrating the clog.
Now that I know this title’s meaning, I’ll have to go back and try and detect any actual musical use of the clog, but as it stands, Op Klompen exists as one of those albums with a necessary cover, which far outreaches the music within.
The Prudent Groove 