Amsterdam Russ

Just back home yesterday afternoon after three glorious weeks in Molyvos. It really is a wonderful place, and somewhere more people should visit. The refugee crisis that hit the castle-topped village on the northern tip of Lesvos is over. Tourism, however, is still down. Last year saw a 60-80% decline in tourism across the season. This year could be worse, but let's hope not. Glad to be back home? No way! The pic was taken with a GoPro. Bought it specifically for holiday and enjoyed using it very much. Got loads of underwater video clips to string together now. Watch this space...

Underwater selfie taken a few days ago while snorkelling in the crystal clear waters of Molyvos on the Greek island of Lesvos...

More photos from the beautiful Greek island of Lesvos.

A new sport I've invented here on the island of Lesvos - beer snorkelling!

Greetings from Molyvos, on the Greek island of Lesbos, where the sun is shining and the food is beyond exception!

Squirrel! And it looks as windy there as it is here!

Wonder if they're related.

A classic Dutch scene - the historic windmills of Zanse Schans.

Cheers, Steve. It's all very remarkable for our little corner of the Netherlands, that's for sure. Obviously some criminal element has moved in with interests beyond the usual illicit growing and harvesting of weed, which is all too common by virtue of the fact we're in the heartland of the country's horticultural industry. The huge and world-famous flower market – FloraHolland – is just up the road from us. Usually the crime reports in the local newspaper consist of a couple of burglaries, a bike theft or two, pickpocketing and failed shoplifters. These shooting incidents have taken things to a whole new level!

Something different, photographically, for this thread... At 04:15 this morning, I heard three gun shots outside. I dashed to the windows, but didn't see anything. This follows on from an identical incident one month ago in which three shots were fired into the windows of the hotel/restaurant opposite - a place us local expat soulies meet in for a beer ever now and again. In fact, we were there just the other day. This was the scene at 06:00 this morning as seen from our front balcony. Using my zoom lens at maximum range and then cropping the pic quite closely, you can see the bullet holes in the windows. As the same business has now been shot at twice in the space of a month, I can only think it possible some sort of local protection racket is going on and the owners of the business aren't giving in to the wannabe gangsta's demands. Of course, it could be another reason entirely, but it seems logical. Where we live – a very small town close to Schiphol – is a sleepy sort of place, so this type of activity is by no means the norm. Such is life, today!

Always very reassuring to know Rod was there looking after sales. You will be missed.

Not seen this, but from the comments made so far, it sounds very much like the award winning four-part documentary series "American Roots Music", which came out in 2001. It's narrated by Kris Kristofferson, but don't let that put anyone off as it's absolutely excellent.

The seller had two unknown Huey P. Meaux discs. I have both of them, so four tracks in total. I also have a copy of the unreleased Marilyn Fowler R&B acetate that was getting some spins a few years back. If of the slightest bit of interest to Tony...

Just checked the website name via Whois and it's no longer registered to anyone. Searching on Google.nl brings up nothing current, and a look via Google Street shows the address in Den Bosch is now a Tunisian/Moroccan restaurant.

I have the 1991 12" (Deconstruction PT44856) featuring the "Classic Mix" and "Club Mix". Don't know if the Classic Mix is the same as the 45 though. Happy to record it for you if required.

In some respects I'm surprised to see the Elvis market go in decline, simply because I guess I've always considered him to be musically immortal. But, as has been pointed out, with older collectors dying and new ones being fewer, the demand - and the interest - is clearly fading. I guess the other aspect is the generational one: those who loved Elvis first time around passed on their enthusiasm to their own kids, who would have seen and heard The King on TV/radio, etc. The grandchildren of the original generation will have their own kids, making Elvis as much as four generations away from the present day. What Elvis needs is another comeback. Or rather, his estate does. Just as the Northern Soul film and ongoing media interest has fuelled something of a resurgence on the scene, so Elvis needs to be a presence in modern life if he is not to be forgotten. I recall when Prince was going through his "no name" phase, he was described by a music journalist as "The man formerely known as collectable". Of course, Prince gave the greatest gift to his estate and his legacy by up and dying. Prince is the new Elvis in posthumous terms, perhaps. The decline of the "Northern" scene and thus the collectability of the records is inevitable - at some point. My own feeling is that in the shorter term "Northern Soul" be subsumed into a greater vintage "Black Music" scene. The collecting aspect will focus on whatever the preferred style of the day might be, and filter out stuff that doesn't meet that criteria - pretty much like today, of course. And just as Doo-Wop is breathing its last as a collectible musical form, so 90 per cent of Northern will go out of vogue except for a few die-hards, who'll continue to pay handsomely for the rarest of the rare.

I've no idea of the provenance or originality of the disc, but I must point out that having non-corresponding sides on an acetate - ie, two sides that weren't paired up on a 45 - doesn't point to it being fake. There could be many reasons why these two sides were put back-to-back. As an example, here's an Allegro Sound acetate which has a track by the G Clefs on each side. Both tracks were released on the Loma label with "Party '66" coming out on Loma 2034 (released March 1966 as the flip to the dire "Little lonely boy"), and "I can't stand it" being released three months later, in June 1966, on Loma 2048 (paired with "Whirlwind"). In this instance I'd consider the likely story to be that the G Clefs acetate was cut so it could be touted around to record labels that might be interested in buying or licensing and subsequently releasing it - in this case Loma. I could also show you a Bell Sound Studios acetate with The Toys "Lover's concerto" on one side and "I've got a man" on the other. The latter track, of course, was never released as a 45 in the US. As said, just because the tracks on an acetate don't correspond to both sides of a 45 does not necessarily, by itself, point to it being a fake. The New Wanderer's acetate has some degree of provenance, having allegedly passed through some well-known hands. They should be able to prove the background that'll help determine whether it's real or not. Also, it should be noted that the track times on the acetate are longer than those given on the respective 45s. Times on labels aren't always accurate, but regardless I'd sure want to give both acetate cuts a listen to see whether they are slightly longer takes that were shortened or faded out on the actual releases.

A visit to the Marolles flea market in Brussels the other weekend - and a suitable breakfast, continental style!

Sunrise from our front balcony. I was just heading to bed at the time.

Thanks for that, Mick. Much appreciated.

(Added a comment in the Video Bite section & now seen this thread, so reposting here…) Oh, my God! What have they done? And just wondering - have they added a drum machine over the track to emphasise the 4/4 beat, or is it a remixed version?