Crackle and Pop 1

Its autumn 1963, I’m 10 years old and I’m off to buy my first piece of vinyl. I’m with my best mate Roger and ….. my dad! This was the deal, Roger would buy the “Twist and Shout” ep and I would buy “The Beatles Hits “ ep. Sensible lads eh?
We dumped dad on the way back, took the records straight back to Rogers house and loaded up his Radiogram. Now this was an impressive bit of kit, an immense wooden cabinet with a radio and record deck.
Then complete with two tennis rackets we proceeded to sing along to both eps, Roger doing John and me opting for left handed Paul. You had to make your own entertainment etc….. Though this was probably a scenario being echoed up and down the UK.

“The Beatles Hits” was originally released in September 1963 and lots of anoraky details can be found here on Steves Beatles site.


Interesting detail from the cover is that all songs are credited to “McCartney-Lennon” though the blurb on the back refers to the songs as being by Lennon and McCartney. Paul has obviously never forgiven Lennon for this.
A favourite of mine was “Thank You Girl” originally the b side of “From Me to You” released in April 1963. I particularly liked the wailing harmonica and the pounding drums.

All the mp3 files featured are taken from my original vinyl, so the quality is…crap, obviously. But you can’t beat the authentic sounds of crackle and pop.!

Thank You Girl (mp3)

My Vinyl Record

I wanted to give some focus to this blog and the purchasing of a new record deck (I know its cheap!) and an iMic have given me the technology and the excuse I need!
I’m still going to do ad hoc posts but I now have something to aim for. I’m going on a journey through my collection of vinyl singles and eps, starting with the early sixties and continuing through the decades.
I’m quite excited about this and I hope you will discover some stuff you don’t know or have forgotten about. There will be crap anecdotes from my early record buying years and scans of scuffed and torn record sleeves, great!

"It's quiet on the prairie"

Saw Kid Dakota perform on tour with Low and was completely blown away with the songs and the performance.
Darren Jackson, leader of this Minneapolis indie band is most often associated with drummer Christopher McGuire and aided on this tour by both Zak and Alan from Low.
The drumming of McGuire has to be experienced to be believed and was worth the price of admission alone.

Two cds are available "So Pretty" and "The West is the Future". Or order from the wonderful Norman Records.

So Pretty (mp3)

10,000 Lakes (mp3)