Some pics of an old Decca Hi - Fi I've been working on. The cartridge and stylus is pretty interesting. It's got two needles. One for 45's and L.P.'s, the other for old 78's that required a much thicker needle. A switch at the tip of the tone arm rotates the housing that the needles are mounted on for access to either one.
And I'm really gonna have to start conserving my leisure spending if I want to be a part of it. However, I have been able to make a couple trips out to the racks recently which yielded both new and old awesomeness.
First off,... no, first, OFF!
The boxed set of their first four 7" E.P.'s. Easily my pick for best new band 2010. Featuring Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Buglite) Steve Shane McDonald (Red Kross), Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt), and Demitri Coats of Burning Brides.
I have been following the band since the release of their first 7", but never got my shit together to order any of them as they came out. A side effect of living in a city with a comfortable number of good record shops.
And that's where I found the boxed set, a block and a half away from my apartment. And at a mere $20.99, it's the best twenty bux I've spent in a long time.
Each 7" has cover art by Raymond Pettibon, best known for all the art he's done throughout the years for Black Flag and other SST releases. And with a download code, I've been spreading this shit around like syphilis. ("hey man, you gotta hear this!")
They've got some video's on Youtube and from the looks of it, this show is gonna be a blast when they come here April 3rd. My buddy Paul summed up the way I feel about watching them in action, "Anytime I see someone ripping shit up on stage who's older than me, I take heart. That's more purely inspiring than most things actually."
I have new hope for the future. With most new punk bands making me wish I would have died young with fond memories, here come the old pro's to remind everyone how it's done. With more energy in one 50 second song than the entire last five years worth of what passes for "Punk Rock" now.
Moving on, I've finally obtained a very clean, original copy of "High Time" by the MC5. My love for this band grows deeper with every passing year. This seems to be the band I study the most lately. And to be perfectly honest, I've never really spent a lot of time listening to this one purely due to the fact that I never owned it.
And I fucking love it.
Pure and simple. I fully expect to wear this copy out. But considering how long it took me to find one this good, I may just by a nice 180 gram re-issue before I start burning through needles on this. Well worth the wait. And the $30.00.
In recent months, I've been kickin around bins for 60's garage punk and freakbeat stuff. An area I'm relatively new, but none the less increasingly attracted to.
My latest instalment is Beatrocket Records 1998 re-issue of "Intruducing The Sonics: Featuring The Witch And Psycho" (BR 114)
I'm quickly becoming consumed with this "new to me" 40+ year old genre, and am looking forward to my new subject in "Rock and Roll Home-Schooling".
Finally, I purchased Motorhead's latest, "The World Is Yours". What's most impressive about Motorhead, is not only are they legends who have been responsible for so many classic moments of Rock and Roll, not only is Lemmy a God, and just as old as one, not only are they STILL one of, if not the loudest and blistering live acts, (proven to me yet again last month) but they have continued to produce new material on a consistently regular basis.
And it seems to me that they have a trend of every three or so albums, they bring one that is filled with new classic songs. Not to say the the material that connects them is inferior, but "The World is Yours" has moments I haven't heard since "Sacrifice, then "Over Night Sensation", then, "We Are Motorhead", etc.
And this has been one of those moments. It's Motorhead, pure and simple. and it's damn good.
Okay, after the last post I did about my Husker Du collection, more and more questions came about and I can not help these people, I AM ONE OF THEM!
FIRST, I thought I had thee shit with my "Black Flag" bug sprayer, like a proper old-school poison containing bug killing Black Flag sprayer! Sweet! Then, that big assed autographed Joan Jett framed poster shows up in my dumpster... what the..
fuck man, really?! These are all really good scores, but then this Husker Du record walked into my life.
How do I react?
like the time I found a MONO press of "Strange Days" at CHEAPO for like $5.60. A MONO COPY! Brown label...! (I hope someone got fired for that.)
For those of you not up yo pace.. I got a copy of"METAL CIRCUS" by Husker Du, and, for some reason, side 2 plays side 4 of "ZEN ARCADE"!!! Who would do this?
especially to me!
At the time of purchase, the sticker on the poly said "The Infamous mispress, plays side 4 of Zen Arcade" INFAMOUS implies that there is more information out there, so where is it! I would like to sign up for this information,
I can not find one shred of information about this fuck-up.
Help me please! Just a link, anything,..
Now I need HELP! Just type Husker Du in the subject line of mikeqp666@yahoo.com
Or, you can comment on it here on the post for us all to learn something.... bring it!
Explanation please.
husker du or don't
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Between You and Bobby Roberts
Bobby Roberts January 27 at 8:19pm Report
Mike, hello and top greetings, we discussed that husker du and none of us are sure, so we are going to ask some other contacts and get back to you on that either way, best wishes and thanks again
Probably my favorite local band of all time, there's not a lot I could write about this band that already hasn't been heavily documented. In fact, I'm just beginning the book by Andrew Earles.
But my own collection isn't too shabby. I just really wish I had more flyers... and being from Minneapolis hasn't made that any easier.
-The earliest piece of vinyl I have is the "Amusement" b/w "Statues" 7" on Reflex Records from 1980. Reflex was odd in the sense that it cataloged it's releases by letter, therefore their first 7" was aptly cataloged as Reflex "A".
I always thought this was strange because after "Z", where do you go? "AA" and so on? Could it be that the band could clearly see their end? I suppose depending on who you ask, that could be the case.
-"Everything Falls Apart" (Reflex "D") 1982 12" on 45 RPM. Fucking brilliant e.p. if you ask me. Absolutely essential.
I've always been curious about the matrix lettering on this. Besides the words "Barefoot And Pregnant" appearing in the inscription, unless you go by the track listing, side one and side two aren't specified on the label OR the matrix inscription. Instead, one side has a black label, the other blue. On the record, where the matrix number would normally appear, it says "Refelx Black" & "Reflex Blue" respectively.
I've got two copies of this. One of which, I cant bare to remove from the shrink wrap.
I know.
-The next album, "Land Speed Record" is the same case. I just can't bring myself to open it, since it's a copy on "New Alliance" from 1981 (NAR-007)
This album was my introduction to Husker Du. And I still think of the fact that this was recorded in a room that I spend so much of my time in, The 7th St. Entry.
The first pressings of this came with an insert with tour dates and was a run of 6000. The second press had an insert but no tour dates and the covers are on a heavier stock for the first two pressings than the third and fourth, which state "Marketed by SST records" on the back cover.
Re-issues on SST have changed a bit over the years and eventually anything that said New Alliance was removed. With the addition of a U.P.C. barcode. The stock is of a lighter weight and is white on the inside.
It was also released in the U.K. by Alternative Tentacles in the early '80's.
-"Eight Miles High" b/w "Masochism World" 7" Released in 1984 and was apparently out of print until about '90 when it was re-issued on different colors. (vinyl) It was also re-issued as a 10" together with the " Makes No Sense At All" 7" in the '90's.
-I have an early press of Zen Arcade. (No barcode, extra heavy card stock) (SST # 027) 1984. This double record is insane awesome. It's gotta be up there with some of the finest material the band has ever done.
It can be hard to date some of Husker Du's records since the packaging hasn't really changed all that much. And that seems to be the case for a lot of SST releases. You really have to know what you're looking for when you're dating them. The card-stock can be different, even the construction of the cover itself can all come into play. And even the matrix numbers aren't always be helpful. (see "Everything Falls Apart")
From what I've read about SST pressings, is when it comes to re-issues, they didn't really keep that great of tabs on how many were made. It seems they would do a random colored vinyl press of 1,000, and when they sold out or got low on them, they would press 1,000 more on a different color.
I believe all of these copies were ones that carried a U.P.C. code on the back cover.
That can be a "tell", at least to some extent. Earlier copies didn't have a U.P.C. on the back.
-"Metal Circus" SST Records (sst 020) 12" 45 RPM. No Barcode.
*** I have another copy of Metal Circus that's a mis-press and plays side 4 of "Zen Arcade." Does ANYBODY have any more information about this record!? It even shares the same etching in the run-off section.
I bought it at a local record fair from a guy who said his brother used to work at Northern Lights back in the day. He did have some cool shit. Including the only Ramones album I've ever seen signed by the entire band. A copy of "Leave Home" (with Tommy!!!)
I've looked for info about this but have found nothing. Not even the insanely thorough "Husker Du Database" was able to yield me any info.
-"New Day Rising" (SST # 031) 1985 was for the longest time, my absolute favorite release from this band. (I've since held that opinion about most of the catalog). I have two copies of this L.P., the first press and a re-issue on blue vinyl.
-"Makes No Sense At All" b/w "Love is All Around" 7" (SST # 051) 1985 Orig. press.
-"Flip Your Wig" L.P. (SST 055) 1985. Early copy, no u.p.c.
-"Candy Apple Grey" L.P. (Warner Bros. # 25385-1) 1986. Their first release for Warner Bros.
-I've yet another sealed Husker's release and it's a 12" single of "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely", a single from Candy Apple Grey.
-4 song 7" compilation that was a freebie with N.M.E and features 1 song from Husker Du, a version of "Ticket To Ride" by the Beatles. It's interesting...
-"Warehouse: Songs And Stories" 2XL.P. w/ a promo sticker and stamp.
"Warehouse" is another of my favorites, this one showcasing their latter years.
-And finally, I have a promotional double L.P. called "The Warehouse Interview". It's got song clips and interviews about the album. I've came across this a few times and have upgraded my copy twice now.
To date, this is my entire Husker Du collection. There's plenty of singles, and more out there. The rarest, are probably the cassette compilations put out by Reflex back in the day of bands from the local scene. Any leeds....?
I've got eight Ramones 12" Picture cover E.P.'s. Some of them look to be part of a series, and therefore I feel I'm missing pieces, but for what it's worth, here's what I've found so far...
The first is 3 songs from the first L.P. "Rockaway Beach", Teenage Lobotomy", and "Beat On The Brat". It's got the Sire catalog # 6078 611, and it's from Belgium marketed by Phonogram of London. I've also got a Dead Boys 12" e.p. that matches this very closely. I'm guessing it's one part of a Sire Punk series promoting new punk bands of the time.
Side One:
"Rockaway Beach"
Side Two:
"Teenage Labotomy"
"Beat On The Brat"
(45 RPM)
The next three were issued by Sire in '78, '79, and '81 respectively, were made in the U.S.A., and are obviously part of a trend of "Radio Samplers" of the time. All of them clearly state "For Promotional Use Only-Not For Sale" on the back of the cover.
The first is from "Road To Ruin" (Sire PRO-A-756)
Side One:
Questioningly
Don't Come Close
Side Two:
Needles And Pins
I Just Want To Have Something To Do
I Wanna Be Sedated
The second one, and probably the coolest, is a sampler from the "Rock 'N' Roll High School" soundtrack. It comes with 6 b/w 8X10 glossies of photos of the band, and various promo shots for the movie.
Side One:
Rock 'N' Roll High School -Ramones
I Want You Around -Ramones
Side Two:
Come On Let's Go -The Paley Brothers/Ramones
(Sire # PRO-A-805) 33 1/3 RPM
The third is from "Pleasant Dreams"
(Sire #PRO-A-966) 33 1/3 RPM
Side One:
"We Want The Airwaves"
"It's Not My Place"
(In The 9 to 5 World)
Side Two:
She's A Sensation
The next one seems to be a sampler from "Too Tough To Die" and is released by Beggars Banquet and printed in the U.K. (#BEG 128 TP) 45 RPM.
The cool part of this one is the two unreleased tracks on side two.
Side One contains:
"Chasing The Night" and
"Howling At The Moon" (Sha-La-La), both from "Too Tough To Die".
Side Two however, contain:
"Smash You" (Richie Beau a.k.a Richie Ramone)
and The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man"(Jagger/Richards)
two non-L.P. tracks.
It's copyright 1984 Sire, but 1985 Beggars Banquet.
The next is a two song promo from the"Animal Boy" L.P.
with the catalog # PRO-A-2510 33 1/3 RPM
Side One:
"Something to Believe In"
Side Two:
"My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down" (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)
It's got a pretty generic cover with the silhouette of Joey on the front cover and the back cover blank.
However it is similar to the next one "I Wanna Be Sedated" in the sense that it's a promo from the "Ramones Mania" Greatest Hits compilation, has a generic front cover (which I can't entirely figure out) and a blank back cover.
Side One:
"I Wanna Be Sedated" (The Updated Sedated Radio Mix) *2:29
Side Two"
"I Wanna Be Sedated" ("Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix") *5:12
"Indian Giver" (L.P. Version)
*notice the difference in the times.
The last one is a pretty typical "Specially Priced Maxi-Single" of "Pet Sematary" and carries a gold print promo stamp on the front cover. It's Sire #0-21182, 33 1/3 RPM
Side One:
"Pet Sematary" (Single Version)
Side Two:
"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"
"Life Goes On" (by Joey Ramone)
It states that "Pet Sematary" is from the forth-coming Ramones album on Sire Records, but does not state the title. Which convinces me this was released prior to "Brain Drain" which I don't even think they had a title for at this point in time.
I know there's more out there folks....
and I'll find 'em.
Back in the mid-to-late '80's I used to listen to radio shows on KFAI/Fresh Air Radio and late at night and for the life of me, I can't recall one name of one show. But it did turn me on to a lot of new shit. It was almost like sitting around with the 2 people on the air, just spinning random records and discussing them.
It's where I first heard Helmet, Alice Donut, and you guessed it, Pailhead. It wouldn't be surprising to hear those particular bands played back to back with "Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem" from the Muppets mixed into the set. If I'm not mistaken, I believe I was briefly in love with the Hostess of this program.
I first heard "I Will Refused" on one of these shows. In fact, I taped the entire show and would listen to it regularly. Now, if I still had this tape in my possession....... like gold in my hand!
I remember it took me a long time to identify that it was Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) singing. What threw me even more, once someone finally hipped me to who exactly it was, was the fact that it was a collaboration between him and Al Jorgansen of Ministry.
"Trait" 12" e.p.
The vinyl I found from them was the "I Will Refuse" b/w "No Bunny" 12" E.P. and the "Trait" E.P. both on Wax Trax from Chicago. The "Trait" E.P. had 4 songs, and was essentially two 7" e.p.'s on one 12". "Don't Stand in Line" b/w "Ballad", and "Man Should Surrender" b/w "Anthem".
"I Will Refuse" b/w "No Bunny" 12"
Years later I eventually found both of these 7"'s, but I've still yet to find the "I Will Refuse" single on 7" form.
The music is killer. You wouldn't put it together on your own, but once you hear the "drum-machine heavy" pounding rhythms, and the signature piercing of Ministry's guitar sound, combined with Ian MacKaye's "I'm fucking shouting at the top of my lungs!!!" vocals (see "Man Should Surrender", or the chorus on "I Will Refuse") you can feel exactly what they were going for, and it rips.
Highly recommended.
It's sad that this is pretty much all there is of this. All the above songs have been released together as a C.D. and I believe some of it appeared on a Ministry compilation, but that's it. Unless someone cracks open a vault, and providing there is anything even in that vault, there's no more material.
They say; "Allways leave 'em wanting more!", and these days, it's extremely rare for a band to sit on anything that can be sold.
Or Channel 3, or, CH3, whichever way you spell it, it always spells one of my top 10 favorite bands, and what I feel is one of the most grossly under-rated bands of all time. And a band I've never been particularly lucky with as far as collecting goes.
I've never seen them live, never owned one of their shirts, and to date have only acquired a few records and one C.D.
My first exposure to the band came in the form of a mid-grade scotch cassette tape compiled of songs recorded from my friends vinyl collection he gave me for what I think, was my 21st. birthday.
And I played that tape almost endlessly from the day he gave it to me (we popped it in right away) until it eventually fell apart. Four years and three tours later.
There's very few bands that ever hold my attention like that from first exposure.
The song "I Didn't Know" from the "After The Lights Go Out" L.P. is regarded by many, that I know anyway, to be one of the finest Punk Rock love songs ever recorded.
The tape was crammed on both sides with his personal favorites as well as what he felt were "The Hits" and I still to this day, don't have all those songs.
What I do have, is this....
I'm by no means a biographer and I would be an absolute twat to try and come off as one in this post, but the Core of the band consists of Mike Magrann, and Kim Gardener. It seems they had some-what of a steady lineup on their earlier stuff, but eventually they've gone through a few drummers and bass players.
The band has been compared to T.S.O.L. by some losers because of the fact that an ugly part of the '80's kinda crept up on them and fashion mistakes were made. But there is one very important difference.
T.S.O.L. sucks, and Channel 3 does not.
They started out on Posh Boy records in the early '80's and eventually ended up on Enigma. With a couple others throughout the years. "Rejected", was released in Canada on Lone Wolf, Get Back has since done re-issues, and I'm not entirely sure of the labels that have issued C.D.'s.
My first CH3 vinyl purchase was $3.60 for a used copy of "Rejected". I remember being frustrated by the fact that only one song from the tape was on it, but hell, the song was "Gone Drinking" which is wonderfully simple and poetic, and a great showcasing of Mike Magrann's "Damned if you do, period" writing style.
"Rejected" L.P.
A song any self-loathing lonely drunk like me would play over, and over, getting just a little bit more from it each time.
Visualizing each scenario of that song with an un-canny familiarity. Ahh, cheers Mike!
See, bastard's got me writing like him already.
The story that accompanies the album tells why each song was pushed aside throughout their career (to that point, anyway) and how each of the tracks was ultimately for one reason or another "Rejected" hence the title.
Nothing like reading the back of the book first!
My next two finds came with an early B.Y.O. compilations "Something To Believe in". "Indian Summer" was the track, and it was a different version than the one on the tape. I later found the 12" single of "Airborne". Which has another version of "I Wanna Know Why" than I was used to.
"Airborne" 12"
I found a sealed copy of "Last Time I Drank". on tour, and sat on it for about a year. I figured "Hey, I's on a rather big label, I'll find another one", bullshit. I STILL have never seen another copy. Finally, I got so frustrated with trying to find more CH3 that I just caved in and opened the fucker. I was glad. It's really good. I hadn't heard songs like "Mary", and the title track is probably one of my favorites.
"Last Time I Drank" L.P. - Enigma
Let's see, I got that tape for my 21st., that means it was 1993. It wasn't until 2003 with the re-issues of "I Got A Gun" & "After The Lights Go Out" on Get Back that I found one single piece of CH3 vinyl. Ten years! And I look for CH3 on every record outing I go on.
They're on my permanent "always look" mental list.
"After the Lights Go Out" L.P. - Posh Boy
I did however find the "Skinhead Years" C.D. and that's helped me get through tough times. But I found no other vinyl until around '04 or '05 when I found a live L.P. on a label from Grmany called Re-Force! (cat# RE002) and has a paragraph written by Kimm Gardener and Mike Magrann in April, '94 on the back cover. It also states that it was originally released on C.D. in 1994 on Lost & Found.
I love it. And what kills me is that it really makes me want to see this band live. Even if it is 20 years after the fact. It's not that they're not around, they are, but they never come anywhere around here and times are tough. Money is scarce and I'm not young enough anymore to go skippin town for the sake of just seein' a band. It sucks, I know, but I got the job and the wife. You know?!
At least not this month...
I did get lucky recently with a little help from Ollie Stench. I've gotten a lot of kick ass slabs from this kat through the years, and he always delivers the goods!
"CH3" - Posh Boy
Self titled 4 song 12", "I'll sell it for what I paid for it, back then." Score! He even threw me the "I'll Take My Chances" b/w "How Come?" 7" single. Nice one Brad, Cheers!
The last piece I've acquired I bought off ebay. An original copy of "After The Lights Go Out". A very nice copy. That's the thing with ebay, I almost never bid on a record that isn't practically flawless. To me, that's the point of it. Otherwise, It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase!
I suggest you look 'em up if you can, maybe even take in a show if you have the chance. They play out, I know because they write about it. They've got a killer blog right here.
Again, those spoiled fuckers in CA. don't know how good they've got it.
