Gene-r

Aurally challenged if you please, Pete!!

Absolutely - but for my sins, I have to say that I love the Leonard Whiting cover version that came out on UK Pye in 1965. Leonard was only 13 when he recorded it (3 years before he starred in the film dramatisation of Romeo & Juliet) and, on a serious point, is there any truth in the rumour that it was covered up as Bobbie Smith, because of the fact he sung it long before his voice broke?

And when you consider the song was "Uphill Climb To The Bottom", it doesn't bear thinking about, does it!

Look well neat! Thing is, most of the sleeves in the photos (bar the Fraternity and Atco ones) seem to date from the 50s.

It does, doesn't it!

There were tears in my eyes when I saw Eddie Holman sing "Hey There Lonely Girl" at Stafford........the bastard standing next to me was on my foot and wouldn't get off!

Compost................. No, seriously, there are quite a few records that fall into that category. My personal grower, which grew on me and continues to, is the Mar-J's "Got To Find A Way Out".

Just imagine being approached at an all-niter in two years time with "Psst! Wanna buy some tobacco"?

Oh please! I looked at the title of the thread and thought it was another "now that we have your undivided attention" thingies about free beer and sex!

Not unless one of my colleagues has spiked my coffee Stuart!

Agree Tony - the record in the books as "You're My Everything" is so rare to the point that it doesn't exist!! It's "Your Love Is Everything" that they forgot to mention!!

"It's an uphill climb to the bottom", thought the spider to himself as he slowly edged his way up the man's leg.

This is the first time I have paid attention to the lyrics - aren't they just awesome! Pulls at the heart strings in just a few lines!

Hi Ady, Thanks for the Gogate help. Really good to see you all last Friday! Have a good weekend, and look forward to catching up with you soon. All the best, Gene

Probably - I've always been led to believe that "Just Wait & See" by Little John is an only known copy. But I think there are a few copies of "A Letter A Day" by the Trent Sisters.

Updated - two bits sold and taken off, and a new item added........

And here, from my personal collection, is one of the first American coloured vinyl 45s. It dates back to 1949, the year 45s were first made available in the USA. It's released by RCA, who were the first record company to issue coloured vinyl 45s. This would have been their 4th release; "Cool Water" by Sons Of The Pioneers.

You'll certainly stand out a mile at the next Solid Hit Soul then, Warren!!

Martin....so you got a Pink sweater too then mate?, I bet you look better than me in yours though Gene Robertson (plagiarising the words of Mark Bicknell)!!

Hmmm.....well, my belief is that original coloured vinyl in America, during the 50s and 60s was made for radio DJs, rather than for public domain. The reason being is that DJs would have to rake through pile upon pile of new releases every week for their radio show, and the coloured vinyl promos were a way of making the records stand out amongst the mundane black vinyl promos. The hope was that, because they looked attractive, they would encourage DJs to pay more attention to them, and give them airplay simply because they looked cute. There is another possible side to it. Remember that demos and promos were almost, always pressed on virgin vinyl, rather than recycled vinyl, which was used for a lot of stock copies, since the sound quality would have been ten times better, particularly for broadcast purposes. The same can also be said for coloured vinyl; sound quality appears to be a lot better. I've come across boxes of doo-wop boots & reissues in rock & roll/swing shops, and quite a sizeable amount of these had been pressed on coloured vinyl. However, it's easy to tell that they're boots, mainly due to the way the grooves look, and also checking the slapdash quality of any run-out markings. Other than that, I wonder if the odd coloured vinyl stock copy was the work of a pressing plant worker, who either pressed a few up for his own collection, or wanted to brighten up a boring day at the plant by pouring coloured crystals in the vat just to see what came out? Perhaps it was one or two of these that just happened to leak out from his hands. Certainly looking at Tefteller's website (whcih Miss Popcorn has kindly provided a link for on here), it's amazing to see how many of the coloured vinyl pressings were "found at the home of a pressing plant worker in 1999"! Hope this helps you Ged, and hope I haven't gone off into a tangent! Gene

Polishing a record is carried out to remove all light scratches off the surface. If a record has been polished, it will have a blurred or very unnatural glaze to it. Sometimes it may even sound awful, and/or play out white residue, depending what's been used. UK records are polished using steam to soften the surface, and by pressing down on the hot surface in a cleaning action. It can improve some UK records, but on others, the consequences are disastrous, causing mottling and and audible hiss. The same can't be said for US records; steam heat doesn't take to them as easily. Other types of fluid cleanser seems to be used for these, but don't ask me what! Not sure if some form of heat is used in the process.

A lot of doo-wop/rock & roll 45s were booted on coloured vinyl. They didn't use original stampers in all cases, as far as I am aware (if any). It's my understanding that they're all out-and-out bootlegs Ged. Some early '70s doo-wop/rock & roll boots will have "Reissued 1973" or something like that pressed in the run-out area.

Been told it was a US re-issue from around 1966. I had one of these on yellow vinyl - wonder if it was pressed on any other colours?

Pink sweater, but no short skirt, and no knickers mate!! See, even in the early '60s, pink sweaters were fashionable for us guys!!! Gene

Quite......."she wears short shirts, knickers and my pink sweater...."?????????