Amsterdam Russ

And the Molyvos adventure continues...

It is exactly that - unspoiled and traditional Greece. Back in the decades when Spain was building high-rise hotels with mass tourism in mind, the island of Lesvos made a conscious decision not to go down that route and change the nature of the place forever. In fact, buildings here are only allowed to be two storeys high (with one or two rare exceptions, in which case they have three floors). That's ensured the traditional feel of the place. As a result of its unspoiled nature the island was designated a World Heritage Site. It's a very simple place, and all the better for it...

More Molyvos adventures... The classic shot of octopus drying in the sun - and a completely unexpected moment when a butterfly chose to partake of our ouzo. Luckily it wasn't able to unscrew the lid and help itself.

Having a great time out here, Peter, as we always do. Just wanted to say that some fantastic pics have been posted here by people of recent. Please do excuse me for not doing much in the way of "liking" but am only online for a very short period of time each day - such is the nature of holidays - but do know that I've seen and very much admired them!

Had a brief storm yesterday evening - great to see and even better, it brought some cool air with it. Been a bit hot out here that even the locals have been wilting!

Wonderful lazy swim this evening in the cool water of Molyvos bay with the backdrop of a splendid sunset as a bonus...

Still largely unspoilt, Steve. And it's exactly the "old world charm" that's brought us back to the island for what I think is now the 7th time. Sadly, as a result if the refugee crisis, tourism is very badly hit this year - just at the time when the wonderful local people need every penny they can get. Chocolate ice cream crepe...

Phew, it's a tough life here in Molyvos, but someone's got to live it...

Turned out nice again...

And more greetings from Molyvos

Greetings from Molyvos on the wonderful Greek island of Lesvos.

Not sure if this got a release on Teako or not - Lawanda Bell's take on the Bettye Scott song "Down, down, down". (Or did Lawanda Bell cut it first only for it to be shelved in favour of Bettye's version?)

Shame they couldn't get his name right more than once! I'll bet the young trainee or intern tasked with putting up the info on the web had never hear of him before!

Interesting article on Sky News about a master forger of classic paintings with the headline "Copycat artist defends sale of "Grand Masters"". Reading it I couldn't help but substitute references to the art world with those of the rare soul world and the eternal (and ever-increasing) problem of bootlegs, especially those that look so much like originals. https://news.sky.com/story/1696494/copycat-artist-defends-sale-of-grand-masters Two sides to the argument mirror those of the rare soul scene: one, that making rare treasures accessible as "copies" ensures that they're appreciated by a wider audience, while the other side of the argument is that it's just plain illegal. Thoughts?

The seller has added the following comment to the item...

There's a Facebook group devoted entirely to the Gold Star studios and its output here... https://www.facebook.com/goldstarrecordingstudios/

Fine, if there are a load of track you no longer wish to have. Plus, the 7-LP set has wonderful sleeve notes that prove a rich insight into the history of the label, even if some of the observations proved to be inaccurate. The new 4-LP set is a fantastic addition to the history of Loma, and I look forward to reading the revised interpretation of its existence and any new insights to come from the paper archives, but wow, what an ambitious and truly wonderful labour of love that 70s compilation was. It'll be a real pleasure to have both sets of albums on my shelves.

Well enough here, Steve. Even better now that the swifts are here. Didn't bring any decent weather with them, though, did they? That's a bit inconsiderate. Perhaps the sun's coming with the house martins. They're still missing from our annual migrant influx. Maybe tomorrow…

First swifts of the year spotted in our part of the Netherlands. Saw half a dozen from the balcony a short while ago. That must mean summer's just around the corner. Doesn't it?

Lucky Carmichael's definitely one of the toughest on the label to find. As for the others you mention, they all have demos. I've had a complete label run for a few years (minus the Bob & Earl, of course), although chose not to collect both issues and demos. Just to confirm the existence of the demos you mentioned, I had a quick trawl online a little while ago and scans are readily available for Clyde & the Blue Jays and all of Dick Jensen's and Linda's 45s. As you say, there's a huge difference between now and pre-internet days. Even with the internet it took me ages to create a complete discography for Loma as there wasn't a single source available online. I had to make do with snippets culled from multiple sources. Little did I know at that point that the label's complete output had already been catalogued in a couple of "old-fashioned" music fanzines a good few years before the digital age!

Are there any releases for which a demo doesn't exist? To my mind the only exception as such is Lucky Carmichael's Hey girl/Blues with a feeling (Loma 2006), which is unusual in that it's the only yellow-labelled release with 'promo' stars on one side (Hey girl) indicating to DJs which is the plug side. Thus it's both a promo and an issue. Would love to be corrected on that. Scans here... https://www.lomarecords.com/loma2006-lucky-carmicheal.html

I'm guessing so, but not sure. Widely available on 45 as a 'reissue'!

Sounds like it is...

Steve G's spot on in saying that people shouldn't look at this from a "Northern Soul" perspective. Loma's diversity of output goes well beyond such narrow pigeon-holing. Also, no matter which tracks the compilers chose, someone's always going to complain about what's out rather than celebrate what's in. In this case you get a number of unreleased tracks, which, considering the attention this relatively minor label has received over the years, is a long time coming. What's it been? The 7-LP compilation courtesy of Claude Nobs and WEA in the '70s; the Best Of Loma Records CD from 1995 (featuring a few tracks that were actually WB rather than Loma releases), and the possibly countless "Northern Soul" CD comps featuring dance floor faves from the label. Loma's had a pretty good time of being in the spotlight. That said, all the attention has been focused only on Loma's soul output (that said, vol 3 of the This is Loma series did concentrate on the R&B side of the label's releases), which is bit of a shame, although I expect that's a sentiment not shared by many on here. About half a dozen years ago, I had an exchange of emails with someone at reissue label Rhino (itself a part of the Warner empire) who was working on a project to put out a complete anthology of the Loma label. They were just about ready to go digging in the archives for unlreleased material when Rhino announced cutbacks and redundancies, so I've always presumed that the anthology project was shelved. I don't have a set of the LPs yet, but understand the liner notes include rare ephemera, so that's an extra bonus. More importantly, new generations of music lovers have been born since the 7-LP set came out in the 70s. And even the Loma CD was over 20 years ago. While people on here may have very long memories (not to mention a sometimes very tight focus in terms of musical preferences), there's a whole world out there for whom Loma is (and to quote Kim Fowley's Loma release from 1966) something new and different.

Northern Soul Amsterdam woven patches now for sale via Etsy for a limited time. Click through for all info... https://www.etsy.com/listing/277048318/northern-soul-embroidered-sew-on-badge