Popular Post Pete S Posted November 6, 2004 Popular Post Share Posted November 6, 2004 (edited) LAUREL AITKEN - RISE AND FALL - J.J. 1197 Okay gather round because it's story time again. And this is one long long story. It's about a young lad and a record. Between the ages of 12 and 15, the highlight of the year was when the travelling fairground came to our village for a week every summer. It was a pretty crap fair, with only bumping cars and waltzers, but we loved it. I especially loved it because I was the only kid in school who liked reggae (I liked soul as well but that came after reggae) and all the music that was played on the waltzers was...reggae. But reggae after a fashion. The waltzers' turntable only played on 33 for a couple of visits! So I distinctly remember hearing Big Six for the first time at 33rpm! Okay well one of the records that they used to play on the waltzers began with the intro to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the only lyrics I could make out were "Push it up, push it up". This sounds great thought I, so on the last day of the fair I plucked up the courage to walk across the waltzer to the booth were this pikey operated the machine. I'm 13 at the time remember, it was a big deal. I asked him what the record was, he tells me it's Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. He holds the record up and says "Do you want to buy it?". Shocked, I quickly uttered the immortal words "No thanks mate, I'll order it from Beatties in town". What a nobhead. So the following Saturday, I went into Wolverhampton, off to Beatties department store, ordered the record and of course they told me "Sorry, it's been deleted". The fair had gone, so I couldn't get it from there, what the hell was I going to do now? The next thing that happened was that in around 1973, a reggae-only shop opened in Cleveland Street in town. It was called Sir Christopher Musicland and it had this like entrance hall where they showed album sleeves (I remember several Prince Buster sleeves being on display) but then you had to go up a flight of stairs. Who knows what lay at the top of those stairs. Well, I did, because one day this 5 foot nothing 13 year old marched up the stairs into a room full of dreads and rude boys and in a high pitched voice asked the immortal question... (Now here I have to tell you that all the black guys in the room had stopped what they were doing just to stare at me, preparing for a good old laugh I suspect when I asked for the latest Slade record..it was like a scene from a film and I SWEAR every word of this is true) "Have you got Rise And Fall by Laurel Aitken please"? The astounded customers looked at each other in amazement. The guy behind the counter almost passed out, then he cracked a smile and went to the shelves which groaned under the weight of thousands of singles. "No sorry mate, it's deleted" f***! Fast forward, what, four years now. It's now early 1977, I'd forgotten Rise And Fall, I was massively into Northern Soul but still liked the reggae, as you do. I took the two buses to Max Millward's at Wednesfield and had a browse through his second hand singles. What should I find, for 25p - yes, f*cking Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. I looked at it, picked it up, asked Max to play it and I heard it at THE CORRECT SPEED for the first time ever. So I said to Max, I've been looking for this record since 1972...except I couldn't buy it because the latest lot of pressings had come in and I really needed that latest emidisc, so like a twat I left it there. Go forward now to 1981, and it was my 21st birthday. Me and my then girlfriend Debbie decided to go to Birmingham for a day to do a bit of shopping. Now I don't know Birmingham at all, in fact apart from visiting the Locarno and the old Birmingham Odeon, I've only ever been to the shops there twice in my life. But I somehow managed to find Reddingtons Rare Records. Guess what I found in there then? Yes, it was Rise And Fall and I thought "right you bastard, you've eluded me for almost 10 years, I'm having you this time". Then the bloke behind the counter told me the price. "That's £5 please mate" "£5??? Are you joking? It's only worth a quid" "Well go and find one somewhere else for a quid then" "I f*cking will, it's all overpriced in here anyway" So I stormed out of the shop due to this appalling customer service and left the record in there. Ok well the 80's came and went, I never did see another copy of Rise And Fall until one day, in 1993, I was in Rye, a small town near Hastings, in Grammar School Records. "Got a few reggae bits in there Pete" says Fat Andy, sales assistant and friend. So I had a look. Boring. Boring. Boring. Got it. Crap. Boring. RISE AND FALL! HOLY SHIT! (I think I said all this out loud. I distinctly remember shouting out "woo-hoo" a la Homer Simpson when I found a Frankie & Johnny on Decca at a boot sale 2 years later). So after all this time, 21 long years, I had finally found my copy of Rise And Fall. It didn't have a centre, and it was only £5 but it was mine! The copy I have now does have a centre but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from - I know I don't have the no centre copy anymore. So for half of my entire life I was looking for a record, and when I got it, I took it home and played it and...erm, well it wasn't that great after all! Well onto the actual record now and let's leave the past behind. It does indeed kick off with a cheesy three blind mice played on what sounds like a Bontempi organ, before the drums crash in and a riff begins, played ostensibly by the electric organ and guitar, and with a good solid bassline..."Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this one is called The Rise And Fall Of Laurel Aitken - Laurel Aitken rides again - sock it to me sock it to sock it to me sock it to me". Laurel then goes on to say "You feel it - you touch it - you love it - you push it up you push it up " and so on, until near the end where he instructs "Don't bite it, don't bite it". The tune is the same throughout the whole song with only very minor chord changes and some more intricate organ playing at the end, and it really is a bit of a nothing record, except I can imagine what it would sound like played loud and it really does have something about it. Oh, and did I tell you it took me 21 years to find a copy? Edited October 6, 2008 by Pete S 6 Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
John May Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 WOW that is one hell of a story, great stuff ! JM Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
vaultofsouler Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 Seem to remember reading "your story" on this record somewhere else Pete.... still interesting to re-read it though.... Never say never, eh?.... and good things come to those who wait Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Mark, I don't know if you remember but about 18 months ago I did a reggae compilation 68-70, I was going to do some sleeve notes for it and make a nice insert but once I started writing I got a bit carried away and eventually every copy of the cd came with a 24 page magazine called Reggae Hit The Town. That story was included in that magazine but someone asked me if I could find it out and post it up, so I did... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
vaultofsouler Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 Mark, I don't know if you remember but about 18 months ago I did a reggae compilation 68-70, I was going to do some sleeve notes for it and make a nice insert but once I started writing I got a bit carried away and eventually every copy of the cd came with a 24 page magazine called Reggae Hit The Town. That story was included in that magazine but someone asked me if I could find it out and post it up, so I did... link Din't have that Pete.... BUT do re-call reading it somewhere.... KTF? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest cC B Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 A great story & one of my fave records by Laurel Aitken Oh, yeah... and you could have traded my copy for some great soul records... Do feel free to send on your rock-steady/reggae wantslist... I do still have quite a few UK and JA 45rpms & LP's from my collecting days of 'blue beat' music. Still want an original copy of Prince Buster's "Linger on" (VOICE OF THE PEOPLE) for 'old times sake' by the way... Cheers, Christian B Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Christian I don't actually have a wants list, I just buy any quality ska and rocksteady and a early (68) reggae, I'd certainly be interested to know what you have, I will happily send you an advance copy of my next list before anyone else sees it Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest cC B Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 I would love to receive your JA-lists @ christian.brodsjo@gmail.com Cheers! Christian B Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Sorry Christian, I meant northern lists! Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Wiganer1 Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 nice story but so much effort wasted on a reggae 45 Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Tubbs Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 KINDA CAN RELATE TO YOUR STORY. IN 1983 WENT TO AN ALLNIGHTER IN ABERDEEN HAD £24 WITH ME. ON THE WAY THERE MY MATE SAID FANCY GOING FOR A WIMPY. OF COURSE I HAD TO HAVE ONE AS WELL. PAID MY £4 ENTRY TO THE ALLNIGHTER THAT LEFT ME WITH £18 AFTER THE WIMPY. LOOKING THROUGH A BOX OF RECORDS I SAW MY NUMBER ONE WANT RAY POLLARD THE DRIFTER ON AN ISSUE. THE GUY WANTED £20 FOR IT AND WOULDN'T BUDGE. f*** IF I HADN'T BOUGHT THAT WIMPY I'D HAVE HAD IT. ANYWAY LISTS FROM DEALERS CAME AND WENT EVERYTIME IT WAS ON I'D ASK FOR IT ONLY TO BE TOLD SORRY IT'S SOLD. 10 YEARS AGO WENT TO A RECORD FAIR IN GLASGOW LOOKING THROUGH A BOX CAME ACROSS A UK WHITE DEMO ASKED HOW MUCH HE WANTED £60 WAS THE REPLY BUT IT'S BADLY WARPED. f*** NOT AGAIN I THOUGHT SO JUST LEFT IT. THEN FINALLY 4 YEARS AGO LOOKING THROUGH TIMES SQUARE RECORDS UPDATES AND THERE IT WAS $100 FOR A MINT W/D.AT LAST I'D FINALLY FOUND A COPY Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Tell you what though Tubbs, Wimpy's are so rare round here now I think I would swap a Ray Pollard for a good old slap up Wimpy quaterpounder with cheese meal...I only know of 2 Wimpys left, both are in bowling alleys and are crap. They have completely disappeared from the High Streets round here. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest micksmith Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 Seem to remember reading "your story" on this record somewhere else Pete.... still interesting to re-read it though.... Never say never, eh?.... and good things come to those who wait link PETE I THINK YOU SHOULD GET OUT MORE OFTEN. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 PETE I THINK YOU SHOULD GET OUT MORE OFTEN. link If I did that you wouldn't be able to find out about records and stuff would you? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 nice story but so much effort wasted on a reggae 45 link Mark you'll never get it mate, you think reggae is 100% shit, yet I see Jamaican rocksteady on a par with mid 60's American soul. To each his own. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Gene-R Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Tell you what though Tubbs, Wimpy's are so rare round here now I think I would swap a Ray Pollard for a good old slap up Wimpy quaterpounder with cheese meal...I only know of 2 Wimpys left, both are in bowling alleys and are crap. They have completely disappeared from the High Streets round here. link Come to London Pete, and I'll take you to lunch - I owe you more than one as it is mate!! Gene PS: Bring the Ray Pollard with you! Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Just rediscovered this, hope those who haven';t seen it find it amusing... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Eddie Hubbard Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Tell you what though Tubbs, Wimpy's are so rare round here now I think I would swap a Ray Pollard for a good old slap up Wimpy quaterpounder with cheese meal...I only know of 2 Wimpys left, both are in bowling alleys and are crap. They have completely disappeared from the High Streets round here. Dead right Pete , used to love the way they cut those sausages into a circle , and the knickerbockerglories !! Great story mate .Best,Eddie Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Ian Dewhirst Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 You'd have been in heaven on Saturday night Pete. I played a gig with Jerry Dammers (of the Specials fame) and he played a stonking set of reggae 7"'s.......... Ian D Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
ZapatootheTiger Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 nice story but so much effort wasted on a reggae 45Us dyed-in-the-wool Reggae fans have a passion for Reggae records that is matched only by your (and our) love for Soul records. It has to be done. I mentioned on Pama a nice story, but so much more interesting than my experience of buying RISE AND FALL, which entailed me walking into my local favourite record shop (in about early 1970), asking to hear it and 5 minutes later forking over 6/8d and walking out the shop... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Peter99 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Great story Pete. It's the way yer tell em. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
TOAD Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 had some great finds in reddingtons, was great getting things cheap from under there noses when they had the record collector guide behind the counter GREAT STORY PETE. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest Beeks Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Brilliant Story Pete...some things(Eventually) are just meant to be! Great taste BTW...love this track and own a copy myself Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
KevH Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 sory Pete aint read it all.It wasn't just behind a cushion all along then? .Like when you find a quid at the back of the sofa? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest Beeks Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I played a gig with Jerry Dammers (of the Specials fame) and he played a stonking set of reggae 7"'s.......... Ian D Jerry is a great DJ Ian...he played a blinding set for Eyes Down going back a few years... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Jules Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 pete, you are correct about reddingtons, right rip off merchants they were, I remember seeing bella dellena- the markettes pinned on the wall for £30 on brit WB in 77 !!!! and I was in there one saturday about 77-78 when this lady came in wanting to buy abrham martin john - marvin, the guy pulls out a tmg in good nick and asks £12 for it!! believe they closed down a few years ago, no chuffin surprise there. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Eddie Hubbard Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 had some great finds in reddingtons, was great getting things cheap from under there noses when they had the record collector guide behind the counter GREAT STORY PETE. Yeah miserable gits wern't they Tim .Got Rick Sheppard " Can we share it [ Columbia issue ] out of there for £1 - felt soooooo good !! Best ,Eddie Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
TOAD Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Yeah miserable gits wern't they Tim .Got Rick Sheppard " Can we share it [ Columbia issue ] out of there for £1 - felt soooooo good !! Best ,Eddie 5 frank wilson demos @£1 2 in ps judy clay ray charles wailers pre release £5 fab wd thats just a few over the years Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
ste Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Mark, I don't know if you remember but about 18 months ago I did a reggae compilation 68-70, I was going to do some sleeve notes for it and make a nice insert but once I started writing I got a bit carried away and eventually every copy of the cd came with a 24 page magazine called Reggae Hit The Town. That story was included in that magazine but someone asked me if I could find it out and post it up, so I did... ............................ pretty sure it was a bit longer back than that Pete when you did RHTT. along with some stuff from Gordy, changed my buying outlook on records greatly, found myself buying 5 ska/reggae/rocksteady to 1 northern for long time, still trying to preach to the unconverted though. steve Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest Mrs Simsy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 If I did that you wouldn't be able to find out about records and stuff would you? Stay in Pete! Great story! Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Wilxy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 LAUREL AITKEN - RISE AND FALL - J.J. 1197 Okay gather round because it's story time again. And this is one long long story. It's about a young lad and a record. Between the ages of 12 and 15, the highlight of the year was when the travelling fairground came to our village for a week every summer. It was a pretty crap fair, with only bumping cars and waltzers, but we loved it. I especially loved it because I was the only kid in school who liked reggae (I liked soul as well but that came after reggae) and all the music that was played on the waltzers was...reggae. But reggae after a fashion. The waltzers' turntable only played on 33 for a couple of visits! So I distinctly remember hearing Big Six for the first time at 33rpm! Okay well one of the records that they used to play on the waltzers began with the intro to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the only lyrics I could make out were "Push it up, push it up". This sounds great thought I, so on the last day of the fair I plucked up the courage to walk across the waltzer to the booth were this pikey operated the machine. I'm 13 at the time remember, it was a big deal. I asked him what the record was, he tells me it's Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. He holds the record up and says "Do you want to buy it?". Shocked, I quickly uttered the immortal words "No thanks mate, I'll order it from Beatties in town". What a nobhead. So the following Saturday, I went into Wolverhampton, off to Beatties department store, ordered the record and of course they told me "Sorry, it's been deleted". The fair had gone, so I couldn't get it from there, what the hell was I going to do now? The next thing that happened was that in around 1973, a reggae-only shop opened in Cleveland Street in town. It was called Sir Christopher Musicland and it had this like entrance hall where they showed album sleeves (I remember several Prince Buster sleeves being on display) but then you had to go up a flight of stairs. Who knows what lay at the top of those stairs. Well, I did, because one day this 5 foot nothing 13 year old marched up the stairs into a room full of dreads and rude boys and in a high pitched voice asked the immortal question... (Now here I have to tell you that all the black guys in the room had stopped what they were doing just to stare at me, preparing for a good old laugh I suspect when I asked for the latest Slade record..it was like a scene from a film and I SWEAR every word of this is true) "Have you got Rise And Fall by Laurel Aitken please"? The astounded customers looked at each other in amazement. The guy behind the counter almost passed out, then he cracked a smile and went to the shelves which groaned under the weight of thousands of singles. "No sorry mate, it's deleted" f***! Fast forward, what, four years now. It's now early 1977, I'd forgotten Rise And Fall, I was massively into Northern Soul but still liked the reggae, as you do. I took the two buses to Max Millward's at Wednesfield and had a browse through his second hand singles. What should I find, for 25p - yes, f*cking Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. I looked at it, picked it up, asked Max to play it and I heard it at THE CORRECT SPEED for the first time ever. So I said to Max, I've been looking for this record since 1972...except I couldn't buy it because the latest lot of pressings had come in and I really needed that latest emidisc, so like a twat I left it there. Go forward now to 1981, and it was my 21st birthday. Me and my then girlfriend Debbie decided to go to Birmingham for a day to do a bit of shopping. Now I don't know Birmingham at all, in fact apart from visiting the Locarno and the old Birmingham Odeon, I've only ever been to the shops there twice in my life. But I somehow managed to find Reddingtons Rare Records. Guess what I found in there then? Yes, it was Rise And Fall and I thought "right you bastard, you've eluded me for almost 10 years, I'm having you this time". Then the bloke behind the counter told me the price. "That's £5 please mate" "£5??? Are you joking? It's only worth a quid" "Well go and find one somewhere else for a quid then" "I f*cking will, it's all overpriced in here anyway" So I stormed out of the shop due to this appalling customer service and left the record in there. Ok well the 80's came and went, I never did see another copy of Rise And Fall until one day, in 1993, I was in Rye, a small town near Hastings, in Grammar School Records. "Got a few reggae bits in there Pete" says Fat Andy, sales assistant and friend. So I had a look. Boring. Boring. Boring. Got it. Crap. Boring. RISE AND FALL! HOLY SHIT! (I think I said all this out loud. I distinctly remember shouting out "woo-hoo" a la Homer Simpson when I found a Frankie & Johnny on Decca at a boot sale 2 years later). So after all this time, 21 long years, I had finally found my copy of Rise And Fall. It didn't have a centre, and it was only £5 but it was mine! The copy I have now does have a centre but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from - I know I don't have the no centre copy anymore. So for half of my entire life I was looking for a record, and when I got it, I took it home and played it and...erm, well it wasn't that great after all! Well onto the actual record now and let's leave the past behind. It does indeed kick off with a cheesy three blind mice played on what sounds like a Bontempi organ, before the drums crash in and a riff begins, played ostensibly by the electric organ and guitar, and with a good solid bassline..."Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this one is called The Rise And Fall Of Laurel Aitken - Laurel Aitken rides again - sock it to me sock it to sock it to me sock it to me". Laurel then goes on to say "You feel it - you touch it - you love it - you push it up you push it up " and so on, until near the end where he instructs "Don't bite it, don't bite it". The tune is the same throughout the whole song with only very minor chord changes and some more intricate organ playing at the end, and it really is a bit of a nothing record, except I can imagine what it would sound like played loud and it really does have something about it. Oh, and did I tell you it took me 21 years to find a copy? Having just listened to it Pete......I'd take it back mate Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
paup-ine Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Hello, Do you like Casandra - Never Let You Go (Lucky) ? Nice tune that. P Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Having just listened to it Pete......I'd take it back mate Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hello, Do you like Casandra - Never Let You Go (Lucky) ? Nice tune that. P ??????????? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Ernie Andrews Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Well Ive been looking for a record by Linval Thompson for Fookin 35 years and no luck and now Im so old I cannot remember the the bloody Title! Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Well Ive been looking for a record by Linval Thompson for Fookin 35 years and no luck and now Im so old I cannot remember the the bloody Title! Oh dear, not a good start then, but I've got this humongous reggae database (50,000+ items) which will search by artist, I could do you a print off of all his titles if you want, try and remember a word or a label Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest Mrs Simsy Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Well Ive been looking for a record by Linval Thompson for Fookin 35 years and no luck and now Im so old I cannot remember the the bloody Title! PMSL Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
gazman Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Pete Great story, I love reading stuff like this. Oh and the tune's none too shabby as well! gary Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Ezzie Brown Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) LAUREL AITKEN - RISE AND FALL - J.J. 1197 Okay gather round because it's story time again. And this is one long long story. It's about a young lad and a record. Between the ages of 12 and 15, the highlight of the year was when the travelling fairground came to our village for a week every summer. It was a pretty crap fair, with only bumping cars and waltzers, but we loved it. I especially loved it because I was the only kid in school who liked reggae (I liked soul as well but that came after reggae) and all the music that was played on the waltzers was...reggae. But reggae after a fashion. The waltzers' turntable only played on 33 for a couple of visits! So I distinctly remember hearing Big Six for the first time at 33rpm! Okay well one of the records that they used to play on the waltzers began with the intro to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the only lyrics I could make out were "Push it up, push it up". This sounds great thought I, so on the last day of the fair I plucked up the courage to walk across the waltzer to the booth were this pikey operated the machine. I'm 13 at the time remember, it was a big deal. I asked him what the record was, he tells me it's Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. He holds the record up and says "Do you want to buy it?". Shocked, I quickly uttered the immortal words "No thanks mate, I'll order it from Beatties in town". What a nobhead. So the following Saturday, I went into Wolverhampton, off to Beatties department store, ordered the record and of course they told me "Sorry, it's been deleted". The fair had gone, so I couldn't get it from there, what the hell was I going to do now? The next thing that happened was that in around 1973, a reggae-only shop opened in Cleveland Street in town. It was called Sir Christopher Musicland and it had this like entrance hall where they showed album sleeves (I remember several Prince Buster sleeves being on display) but then you had to go up a flight of stairs. Who knows what lay at the top of those stairs. Well, I did, because one day this 5 foot nothing 13 year old marched up the stairs into a room full of dreads and rude boys and in a high pitched voice asked the immortal question... (Now here I have to tell you that all the black guys in the room had stopped what they were doing just to stare at me, preparing for a good old laugh I suspect when I asked for the latest Slade record..it was like a scene from a film and I SWEAR every word of this is true) "Have you got Rise And Fall by Laurel Aitken please"? The astounded customers looked at each other in amazement. The guy behind the counter almost passed out, then he cracked a smile and went to the shelves which groaned under the weight of thousands of singles. "No sorry mate, it's deleted" f***! Fast forward, what, four years now. It's now early 1977, I'd forgotten Rise And Fall, I was massively into Northern Soul but still liked the reggae, as you do. I took the two buses to Max Millward's at Wednesfield and had a browse through his second hand singles. What should I find, for 25p - yes, f*cking Laurel Aitken - Rise And Fall. I looked at it, picked it up, asked Max to play it and I heard it at THE CORRECT SPEED for the first time ever. So I said to Max, I've been looking for this record since 1972...except I couldn't buy it because the latest lot of pressings had come in and I really needed that latest emidisc, so like a twat I left it there. Go forward now to 1981, and it was my 21st birthday. Me and my then girlfriend Debbie decided to go to Birmingham for a day to do a bit of shopping. Now I don't know Birmingham at all, in fact apart from visiting the Locarno and the old Birmingham Odeon, I've only ever been to the shops there twice in my life. But I somehow managed to find Reddingtons Rare Records. Guess what I found in there then? Yes, it was Rise And Fall and I thought "right you bastard, you've eluded me for almost 10 years, I'm having you this time". Then the bloke behind the counter told me the price. "That's £5 please mate" "£5??? Are you joking? It's only worth a quid" "Well go and find one somewhere else for a quid then" "I f*cking will, it's all overpriced in here anyway" So I stormed out of the shop due to this appalling customer service and left the record in there. Ok well the 80's came and went, I never did see another copy of Rise And Fall until one day, in 1993, I was in Rye, a small town near Hastings, in Grammar School Records. "Got a few reggae bits in there Pete" says Fat Andy, sales assistant and friend. So I had a look. Boring. Boring. Boring. Got it. Crap. Boring. RISE AND FALL! HOLY SHIT! (I think I said all this out loud. I distinctly remember shouting out "woo-hoo" a la Homer Simpson when I found a Frankie & Johnny on Decca at a boot sale 2 years later). So after all this time, 21 long years, I had finally found my copy of Rise And Fall. It didn't have a centre, and it was only £5 but it was mine! The copy I have now does have a centre but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from - I know I don't have the no centre copy anymore. So for half of my entire life I was looking for a record, and when I got it, I took it home and played it and...erm, well it wasn't that great after all! Well onto the actual record now and let's leave the past behind. It does indeed kick off with a cheesy three blind mice played on what sounds like a Bontempi organ, before the drums crash in and a riff begins, played ostensibly by the electric organ and guitar, and with a good solid bassline..."Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this one is called The Rise And Fall Of Laurel Aitken - Laurel Aitken rides again - sock it to me sock it to sock it to me sock it to me". Laurel then goes on to say "You feel it - you touch it - you love it - you push it up you push it up " and so on, until near the end where he instructs "Don't bite it, don't bite it". The tune is the same throughout the whole song with only very minor chord changes and some more intricate organ playing at the end, and it really is a bit of a nothing record, except I can imagine what it would sound like played loud and it really does have something about it. Oh, and did I tell you it took me 21 years to find a copy? brill story pete.............brings all our generations early interests and immature attempts to nail down what we really liked musically to life.......mine was " a change is gonna come" sam cook found it in woolworths,gloucs in 65, i think, on an lp, 17/6 i think, changes your life,brill, ez Edited October 7, 2008 by ezzie brown Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
wolfie66 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Nice story Pete, I always like a happy ending - reminds me of the fairs I used to go to back in the day, music was always top-notch classic soul motown & ska/two tone - "Out on the floor" "Ghost in my house" "Fortune Teller" "The Snake" and "This ol' heart of mine" - great musical taste those boys!! But on a different note Harry J's "Liquidator" always takes me back to my first 'scrap' with boneheads as a suited & booted mod. 15 and sh*tting bricks, never been so happy to see the Gavvers turn up Every time I hear it I get a sore lip Don't go now, they're rubbish round here, but do they still play good stuff I wonder? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Spacehopper Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 great story pete..the bit that made me smile is going to a 'black' reggae shop and everyone looking !...been there done that soooooo many times....mainly in london dub vendor record shack was the size of a garden shed... still surprises me when i play reggae in a 'black' pub in bristol the shocked faces when a white man pulls out a top tune ! but as someone said the passion for revival reggae is as big as soul...and every generation of youngsters love it (could be the weed !) so as they say 'respect is due '... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
paup-ine Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 ??????????? Re: Casandra If I can work the refosoul thing, I will try and put it up. P Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Daved Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Good story Pete. I'm pleased that someone got something good/unusual out of Grammar School Records in Rye, because I've never had any luck there. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Good story Pete. I'm pleased that someone got something good/unusual out of Grammar School Records in Rye, because I've never had any luck there. I used to get tons mate, when Andy worked there - Tony Colton Pye demo, Billy Eckstine on Motown for a quid, Homer Banks Liberty demo, Apostilic Intervention Immediate demo, John Children Track pic sleeve, oh those were the days Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest moggy Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 pete, you are correct about reddingtons, right rip off merchants they were, I remember seeing bella dellena- the markettes pinned on the wall for £30 on brit WB in 77 !!!! and I was in there one saturday about 77-78 when this lady came in wanting to buy abrham martin john - marvin, the guy pulls out a tmg in good nick and asks £12 for it!! believe they closed down a few years ago, no chuffin surprise there. Reddingtons Rare Records remember it/them well At least Dick Turpin wore a fookin mask spot on with the shit none customer care just cos we were young they assumed we knew fook all, a Green Inferno re-release of Chairman of the Board "Dangling on a string" EP up on the wall at £8, I told the assistant that was bollocks, he said " I'll sell it no problem" I replied "So if I can get you say 10-15 copies would you buy them off me for half price he politly told me to go forth and multiply Fook em, a few years earlier I had 5 copies of Kiki on Fontana "Magic Carpet Ride" for 25p each They have closed now, but at the prices they were asking, It's more likely they have retiered on a Carribean island with the money they must have made. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Gene-R Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Nice story Pete. In fact, I remember phoning you up just as you'd got home from buying Rise and Fall those years ago! A brilliant record - only got it as an album track though. Completely innocent song about how to eat boiled sweets! Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Guest POTTERIESPECK Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 HORRACE NOTICE. - BLACK PEARL. ? don't know about the spelling. BOB & MARCIA. --- YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 HORRACE NOTICE. - BLACK PEARL. ? don't know about the spelling. BOB & MARCIA. --- YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK. Horace Faith - Black Pearl? Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Dirk Tiggler Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Horace Faith - Black Pearl? Yeah, I think Horace Notice was a local (WM) boxer Ade Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Joefromupnorth Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Reddingtons Rare Records remember it/them well At least Dick Turpin wore a fookin mask spot on with the shit none customer care just cos we were young they assumed we knew fook all, a Green Inferno re-release of Chairman of the Board "Dangling on a string" EP up on the wall at £8, I told the assistant that was bollocks, he said " I'll sell it no problem" I replied "So if I can get you say 10-15 copies would you buy them off me for half price he politly told me to go forth and multiply Fook em, a few years earlier I had 5 copies of Kiki on Fontana "Magic Carpet Ride" for 25p each They have closed now, but at the prices they were asking, It's more likely they have retiered on a Carribean island with the money they must have made. Reddington's " RIIIIIIIDE " ( say it rude boy style) again on the net , you'll find them on " Netsounds " i think it sounds like they are one and the same ?........been awaiting a record from them now for a month or more Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
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