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On 2/14/2020 at 1:29 PM, trogg said:

We now have two brilliant wordsmiths on this forum,

 

Only two?  ;)

 

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Dear Fiends - sorry, Friends   Well another bright, shiny day in paradise!   And Happy Valentines Day! Thank you for all the cards, many of which would make a Bishop blush.

Dear Hearts, How very kind some of you are.   At least three kind postings have flooded in and I’m overwhelmed (do we know of anyone, anywhere that has ever been underwhelmed – and what

Hi Margie,   Thank you for your kind comments.  Where our ages are concerned, and judging from your photo, that makes me 27!   I must confess I'm very new to this "posting" but it'

P.S.  Old 78 records could be easily softened by placing in a 'moderate' oven for a few minutes, whereupon they would become pliable, and could.. if you were a Philistine, be turned into a short lived plant pot or similar receptacle.  I personally took the view that recordings were 'social documents'  and didn't do such things.

I've always valued records of any sort.. except for a large consignment of James Last LPs all in mint condition, which I was given.  I have always regarded James Last's conception of 'music' as an offence to humanity, and gave them away to a charity.  I still feel guilty about that... The Charity clearly didn't deserve such treatment..

 

I did just once soften a record and then quickly place it back on a mechanical player and set the steel needle into the blank 'run out' grooveat the end of the record.  I then yelled at the top of my voice down the horn and recorded my voice.  That's proper science is that...

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8 hours ago, MargieH said:

Trevor, I will be leaving behind my 'large number of trombones' in March, a bit ahead of you!  But I thought I would be entering 'Sunset Strip'... not having anything to do with old LPs because I thought they were 33?

 

That troubled me too. 

A 'large number of Trombones' is likely 76.

'Old LP's' is likely to mean the old 12" 78 r.p.m. discs of which you needed several to replay a decent symphony. (As distinct from the 'standard' 10" 78 r.p.m. 'single'.)

 

I know of no standard record, either from the 'shellac' period, or the 'vinyl' era, which ran at 77.

 

And ohhh.. no fault of anybody here.. but I am becoming increasingly exasperated by so called 'experts' on TV antiques programmes, who.. when confronted with what is clearly a 78 player, or a 78 record.. go on to say 'Ahh. Good old vinyl'  It isnt vinyl.. you muppet!!  Except that it might be,, because Pye in particular in the UK, pressed a number of 78 rpm issues, with the 78 stylus profile.. on vinyl.. during the 1950s.

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In the early 60s the family Hi- Fi system consisted of a BSR Monarch U8 turntable plugged into the pickup sockets on the back of my dad's Grundig 3028 radio. He bought the radio in the late 50s and it was an excellent bit of kit of which he was very proud. It had “3D sound” which was actually three speakers each with frequency filters, a green magic eye for optimising the tuning, piano key band selection and four plastic wheels for adjusting the frequency response ie tone. It was in a dark wood veneered cabinet and pretty much state of the art in the late 50s. It must have been quite expensive when he first bought it.There's a restored one on eBay at the moment which looks great. I might take the plunge one day.

The turntable was very versatile and had four speeds 78,45,33⅓ and 16 rpm. When playing 78s you had to flip over the stylus in the cartridge. I was always fascinated by the 16 rpm setting which I later learned was used for some speech only records which I have never seen to this day. It was all mono of course but it still produced a good sound when I played my sister's early Beatles LPs and 45s.

Around 1967 my dad bought a Baird Stereogram from Radio Rentals on Friar Lane and in the Winter of 1967 I'd scraped enough money together to buy The Beatles Sgnt. Pepper in stereo. I remember being blown away when I heard it for the first time. I've still got it. It's in excellent condition with all the cutouts intact.

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48 minutes ago, Mess said:

The turntable was very versatile and had four speeds 78,45,33⅓ and 16 rpm. When playing 78s you had to flip over the stylus in the cartridge. I was always fascinated by the 16 rpm setting which I later learned was used for some speech only records which I have never seen to this day.

 

I remember we had something like that in my young days. We had a setting for 16 rpm which was never used, and I'd forgotten about the flipping-over cartridge which we definitely did use.

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8 hours ago, DJ360 said:

 

Hi Beekay.  Most 78s were made of 'Shellac' (q.v.)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

 

..which was mixed with ground slate, and usually 'carbon black', to make it.. err black.

 

Some early records were also made of things such as vulcanised rubber and other materials.

 

 

Hi DJ., thanks for the update. I realised as soon as posted that I were wrong. Celluloid of course was film material. Just couldn't be arsed putting it right, ( I knew somebody would correct me). The 78s were very brittle and could be easily smashed when dropped or whacked, as often seen in films.

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3 hours ago, Mess said:

In the early 60s the family Hi- Fi system consisted of a BSR Monarch U8 turntable plugged into the pickup sockets on the back of my dad's Grundig 3028 radio. He bought the radio in the late 50s and it was an excellent bit of kit of which he was very proud. It had “3D sound” which was actually three speakers each with frequency filters, a green magic eye for optimising the tuning, piano key band selection and four plastic wheels for adjusting the frequency response ie tone. It was in a dark wood veneered cabinet and pretty much state of the art in the late 50s. It must have been quite expensive when he first bought it.There's a restored one on eBay at the moment which looks great. I might take the plunge one day.

The turntable was very versatile and had four speeds 78,45,33⅓ and 16 rpm. When playing 78s you had to flip over the stylus in the cartridge. I was always fascinated by the 16 rpm setting which I later learned was used for some speech only records which I have never seen to this day. It was all mono of course but it still produced a good sound when I played my sister's early Beatles LPs and 45s.

Around 1967 my dad bought a Baird Stereogram from Radio Rentals on Friar Lane and in the Winter of 1967 I'd scraped enough money together to buy The Beatles Sgnt. Pepper in stereo. I remember being blown away when I heard it for the first time. I've still got it. It's in excellent condition with all the cutouts intact.

 

I think that many of us had a Dansette or similar.  In the popular consciousness (Which included mine...) ..the only thing better was some sort of 'Radiogram'.  I was just vaguely aware that there was better stuff out there, but since I'd have no chance of owning it.. I pushed it out of my mind.  Through the 60s I became a little more aware of the real 'quality kit', such as amplifiers made by QUAD, Radford, Leak and a few others, 'Transcription' turntables from Garrard, Goldring-Lenco or Thorens, and speakers ranging from massive Tannoy 'horn' types, to somewhat more modest offerings from Wharfedale, Goodmans etc.

 

I too have never seen a 16 2/3 rds RPM 'speech' record.

 

Knowing what I know now, I'm surprised just how good a decent Dansette can sound.  They had a decent enough small valve amplifier, which would put out a very few watts into the usually single 'ELAC' elliptical speaker. (Ours had two... we were proper posh...)  Ours also had separate Bass and Treble controls, but I remember 'taking on board' what the salesman in the shop said. Words to the effect that the idea of 'High Fidelity' is to faithfully reproduce what is on the record.. not to mess with it.. and the best 'kit' gets this right without resort to tone controls.  My present system.. which cost something north of £10k.. has no tone controls, and doesn't need them.

 

It was the BSR autochanger 'deck' normally fitted to Dansettes, which really shouldn't have produced anything resembling music.  From a hi-fi point of view, almost everything was wrong with it. 

-Firstly, it was stuck in a plywood box, which was very 'resonant' and pretty much bound to 'feed back', vibrational energy from the speaker to the stylus. 

-The bearing, which is usually seen as the 'heart' of a record player, was very basic.

-The platter was a piece of pressed steel which rang like a bell

-The completely mad 'autochange' system was a rattly collection of gears, levers etc.. but worked. However, the noise it made in operation was audible both mechanically, but also electronically, as it was picked up by the stylus/cartridge assembly and amplified before being heard through the speaker.

-The tonearm was heavy and had very rudimentary bearings.  I don't recall how 'stylus tracking weight' was set, but I think it may have involved a spring.

- Most loony was that as a stack of played records built up on the platter, the stylus was pushed upwards in relation to its bearing and this in turn altered the 'rake angle' of the stylus relative to the record.  Also, the record below the one being played, became the platter...

-The stylus, typically a TC-8, was a pretty unsophisticated lump of diamond, ( or sapphire if you were poor)held into the (ceramic?) cartridge, by a little grub screw.  The 'cantilever' on which the stylus was mounted was very wobbly, compared to quality versions, which tend to use a tubular cantilever, made from aluminium or something stiffer.  My present one has a 'micro-ridge' stylus bonded to a 1.8mm long diamond rod, which forms the cantilever.  The 'flip over' feature was of course useful if you still had 78s, but didn't help with the structural integrity of the whole thing.

 

Somehow, despite all of the above..a Dansette sounded pretty good, and from what I recall. much better than similar offerings from competitors, some of which had clearly audible 'wow and flutter', caused by poor motor control.  A Dansette was an object lesson in engineering to a cost.

 

It's no surprise that many prefer the early Beatles music in mono.  The stereo versions of the first few albums were recorded with all vocals on one track and all instruments on the other.. which sounds very odd. It was a common misunderstanding among recording engineers apparently, as they didn't quite 'get' the way stereo was intended to work.  Later Beatles stereo is fine.

 

Depending on which pressing, condition of the record, the label and the cover etc., your Sgt. Pepper could be worth up to about £100-£120 or a little more for 'mint'. Early pressings tend to be worth more than '2nd or 3rd presses etc. And mint means mint..  I've seen many records which their owners regard as 'mint', which I wouldn't give house room to.

 

When it comes to 'vintage' but quality kit.. the usual suspects these days are the 1950s to 1970s Garrard 301 and 401 decks.  Early tonearms such as the  3009 series 3 from SME, Players by Thorens, notably the TD124.  Valve amps from QUAD, Pye, (Mozart) Rogers (Cadet) Leak (Stereo 20, 'Point One', etc.  Speakers from Rogers, (JR 149)  Various early BBC designed LS3-5A monitors, manufactured under licence by Rogers, KEF, Chartwell and others.  Early Tannoy cabinets, and the Dual Concentric Drive units used in them.  Rogers ESL-57 and ESL 63 'electrostatic' panel speakers.

There are numerous restorers etc., out there.  Also a very knowedgeable chap called Haden Boardman, who lives up the road a bit from here, near Wigan.  His knowledge of vintage amps, tuners etc., is legendary.

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The above posts pretty much sum up my early experiences.  my turntable was a BSR auto, amplified by an old Pye radio. The FI was definitely not HI.  I was just starting to develop an interest in clasical.  I soon began to realize that my stuff produced a sound far from close to any live performance I ever heard.  Thus began my long and expensive climb towards something that came even close to realistic.

BTW I did have a Lonnie Donegan 78 on vinyl.  Lost in the mists of  antiquity.  probably not worth much anyway.  Never had a Dansette.  Couldn't afford one.

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I very much enjoyed your Hi-Fi memories DJ360.
My Beatles LPs were all bought on the day of release so I assume they’re first pressings. I usually bought them from Boots on Pelham St where as a Boots employee (D10 Beeston 1968-72) I could use my discount card and get 10% off. After Sgt. Pepper I bought Yellow Submarine, The White Album, Abbey Road and The Let it Be boxed set. I'm quite OCDC so they are in outstanding condition although not mint because I've played them all (carefully) a good few times. As I'm sure you know the later Beatles albums in mono are more valuable than their stereo counterparts because they were less common in the late 60s.

My first wife's father was very into H-Fi and In the late 60s he had a Linear Stereo 30 (transistorised) with some excellent speakers and high quality turntable although I regret I don't remember the manufacturers. It was the most impressive sounding setup I'd heard up until then. He also used to play his Uher Report reel to reel through this system. Later on he bought two huge floor standing Wharfedale Teasdale speakers and a Quad amp which was stunning. He then added two more Wharfedales and a Pioneer quadraphonic amp but as you may remember quadraphonic sound didn't really catch on.

I well remember the early Beatles stereo albums which were a Godsend for a guitarist/vocalist such as myself where you could hear the instrumental parts and vocal harmonies so much better. 
IIRC when the Beatles albums first came out on CD in 1986 the first four were in mono but the fifth, Rubber Soul was in stereo and the vocal/instruments separation was preserved. When the albums were remixed/remastered in the early 90s the sound engineers put the vocals in the centre of the mix and also adjusted the stereo image of the instruments.

Finally in my collection of Beatles LPs I'm very fortunate to have a first pressing copy of Beatles for Sale which was given to me by first wife's father. The cover shows slight signs of wear but the record itself is in excellent condition. The vocal/instrument separation makes for very interesting listening.

I bet the other early albums are also fascinating to listen to in stereo.

 

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Again with a few corrections. I told you I was a bit OCDC lol.

 

I very much enjoyed your Hi-Fi memories DJ360.
My Beatles LPs were all bought on the day of release so I assume they’re first pressings. I usually bought them from Boots on Pelham St where as a Boots employee (D10 Beeston 1968-72) I could use my discount card and get 10% off. After Sgt. Pepper I bought Yellow Submarine, The White Album, Abbey Road and The Let it Be boxed set. I'm a bit OCDC so they are in outstanding condition although not mint because I've played them all (carefully) a good few times. As I'm sure you know the later Beatles albums in mono are more valuable than their stereo counterparts because they were less common in the late 60s.

My first wife's father was very into H-Fi and in the late 60s he had a Leak Stereo 30 Plus amp (transistorised) with some excellent KEF speakers and a Thorens turntable. It was the most impressive sounding setup I'd heard up until then. He also used to play his Uher Report reel to reel through this system. Later on he bought two huge floor standing Wharfedale Teesdale speakers and a Quad amp which was stunning. He then added two more Wharfedales and a Pioneer quadraphonic amp but as you may remember quadraphonic sound didn't really catch on.

I well remember the early Beatles stereo albums which were a Godsend for a guitarist/vocalist such as myself where you could hear the instrumental parts and vocal harmonies so much better. 
IIRC when the Beatles albums first came out on CD in 1986 the first four were in mono but  Rubber Soul was in stereo and the vocal/instruments separation was preserved. When the albums were remixed/remastered in 2009 the sound engineers put the vocals in the centre of the mix and also adjusted the stereo image of the instruments.

Finally in my collection of Beatles LPs I'm very fortunate to have a first pressing copy of Beatles for Sale in stereo which was given to me by my first wife's father. The cover shows slight signs of wear but the record itself is in excellent condition. The vocal/instrument separation makes for very interesting listening.

I bet the other early albums are also fascinating to listen to in stereo.

 

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20 hours ago, denshaw said:

I had a Dansette Conquest record player, it had a 16 speed which used to play children's nursery rhymes, I think they were brightly coloured.

I’ve got a red Dansette Conquest on legs I’m selling.

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Our Dansette had one of those BSR Autochanger decks, I think it may have had a Monarch tone arm (not sure) but I know you had to turn the stylus over to play 78's. The autochanger never worked reliably, it would often drop three of four of the ten records at one time and even drop one on top of a record when it was playing.

I do have a 16rpm record, it is an instructional disc on how to remove and service a gearbox, YouTube is much better these days.

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3 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

Our Dansette had one of those BSR Autochanger decks, I think it may have had a Monarch tone arm (not sure) but I know you had to turn the stylus over to play 78's. The autochanger never worked reliably, it would often drop three of four of the ten records at one time and even drop one on top of a record when it was playing.

I do have a 16rpm record, it is an instructional disc on how to remove and service a gearbox, YouTube is much better these days.

 

Dear Hearts,

 

Just a short response today…oh yeah, pull the other one, it’s got bells on...  (Hang on, why would the likelihood of someone being somewhat economical with the truth result in the recipient of such a communication feel that not only had one of their lower limbs been subject of a yank – not of course receiving attention from one of our brethren across the broad Atlantic. No, not that sort of Yank, more of a jerk. Although thinking about it, which I try not to do but seldom succeed, in the case of the present incumbent of Maison Blanc you can see why the two might be synonymous one – and the other limb be festooned with bells?)

 

Still following me? Really?!? OK… Historians, Folklore Experts and Linguaphiles will now no doubt refer back to jesters, shaman, one-man-bands and others with an unusual musical bent, and no doubt wax lyrical about legs with bells on and other similarly musical limbs. But with a surname like mine, I can’t afford to pursue the theme of bent, musical or otherwise.

 

So, onward, ever onward…

 

First an apology.  Margie, I was mistaken. I had left the trombones last year (I’d been on the slide long before then however. See, musical bent again. For heaven’s sake control yourself. Sorry, bit of a sour note there) – and in April I’m about to leave Sunset Strip.  This means saying goodbye to Efrem Zimbalist Jr. who played someone called Stu Bailey I believe (he may have been originally from Dublin I suppose, which would of course have made him an Irish Stew. But I doubt it) as well as Cookie, Suzanne and Jeff, all of whom inhabited number 77.

Please blame my abacus (which needs a new battery anyway) for misleading you about my age.  Yes, it’s forward to the old LP speed - and from thence, who knows?  However, I was distressed to read about the discussion concerning LPs that followed (and their speed which was indeed 78rpm).  Fancy melting down that wonderful music, especially James Last of blessed memory.  And using them as frisbees !!.  Didn’t your Mum tell you that you could have had someone’s eye out with that, especially if you were running with scissors at the time. Most probably trying to get away from a swan that could break your arm with its wing. Which may or may not have had bells on. Somebody should really try to find that swan and tell it to stop it. And it’s no good telling me it was ‘armless.

 

At my end of Bilborough we were very much into recycling at the time. Melting plant pots and flattening them out to make LPs.  Where do you think Flower Power music began?  Not in Haight Ashbury my dear friend. No, it was from downtown Bilborough! There were lots of cakes left out in the rain in those days, oh yes. If not Smokin’ then we were certainly Smouldering.  Of course we were all high in those days, either from sniffing Bassets Sherbet Dabs or climbing ladders. In the dark. Health and Safety gone mad.

 

Nurse, the screens. Quickly!

 

Now, where was I? Oh yes.  Loppy Lugs. You’re right It was John Lightbown who was the Area Manager, and he had Raymond Smith as Area Secretary and John Thompson as Area Accountant. When I joined the EMEB it was in Creditors Accounts at Carrington Street and I had to do payroll runs that included Caythorpe and Talbot Street, so I may have paid you at one point. Which reminds me, you didn’t pay up for incorrect use of white and coloured wipers so you owe EMEB £1.17s 7d. However, I’m prepared to let you off if you can reassure me that Smyrna still has the best mint juleps. I loved it when I was there.

 

Whilst in Creditors Accounts under Tom Seaman, (no not really under him, just figuratively. Try and keep up for heaven’s sake) I literally bumped into Mr. Smith (management were like Gods in those days weren’t they? You could scarcely speak to them without an appointment) and I instinctively threw out my arms, which accidentally went around him, to prevent myself from falling. So there we were, clutching each other in mutual astonishment and all I could think to say was “Shall we dance?”. Shortly after that he recommended I work in the showrooms instead of accounts which, I believe, became the making of me (obviously bad workmanship there). And of course the showrooms came under the Area Commercial engineer. Derek Kenworthy, remember him?

 

Oh, and did your Lonnie Donnegan loose his Chewing Gum on the Rock Island Line overnight? Or was his Old Man a Dustman at the Battle of New Orleans? We all know what was on the B side. It’s wings, just like on the other side of the bee.  Or was “Wings” Senator Paul McCarthy, late of the Reds under the Beds and other colourful carpeting?

 

Now DJ360….”and whether pigs have wings”.  Whilst I can quite understand why you should spurn James Last,  possibly because you fear it may be true that the Last shall come First (which in that case might mean that “a load of cobblers” will be at the front of the queue), and that you are rightly remorseful about your disgraceful treatment of the charity to whom you dedicated you mint condition album set, do I detect from your profile information quoting   Tweedledum and Tweedledee that your preference is for the Carpenter or perhaps The Carpenters? Certainly not walruses (walrusi?). And wasn’t “Of Cabbages and Kings” the debut album of the Blue Oyster Cult Tribute Band called Bilborough Boys?

 

Clearly I will l need to walk a little faster…….

 

Nonetheless in doing so I step back in awe of your knowledge and experience of audio equipment shown in your later posting, and see that Loppy Lugs, Mees, letsavagoo and others share your commendation of the Dansette. Though he, like me, probably never actually owned one, we clearly both enjoyed those of others.  In my case it was on the rug with members of the fairer sex, despite their oft stated penchant for Billy Fury or somebody called Presley.

 

Dear Readers, do I need to explain the reference to “on the rug” (not cutting a rug) further? Surely it must be self-evident that this was the preferred position for listening to a Dansette as it was closer to the speaker and made changing the record easier. At least that was the explanation I gave to the parents of the young ladies with whom I found myself in that position from time to time.

 

Nonetheless we did have a radiogram. And it did have an auto-changer. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the make or model, but it did at least have Kalundborg, Hilversum, Droitwich and – of blessed memory – Luxembourg, on the radio dial. This in turn enabled me to learn how to spell Keynsham with Horace Bachelor’s Infra Draw Method, hear the Mekon really, really upset Dan Dare, and of course hear the latest top twenty from the late 50s onward whilst cleaning my shoes in readiness for school in the morning.

 

However, notwithstanding its many attractions in terms of depth, tone and slow closing lid, it gradually lost its appeal to me with the onset of reel to reel tape recorders and the dominance of Grundig and Telefunken (the LG and Samsung of their day).  I made mention in an earlier posting of my time lugging a Grundig TK30 to Wollaton from Bilborough (and it resulting in my just avoiding a hernia, slipped disc and unnaturally long arms) but omitted my Grundig TK1 – a truly portable reel-to-reel tape recorder which enabled me to play Wonderful Land by the Shadds on deck during a particularly rough crossing of the North Sea on the way back from Sweden.  

 

Remind me to mention sometime my vox-pop recording of steam trains on Midland Station and my precocious interview with an engine driver about the change to diesel.

 

Clearly though I was Lo-Fi compared to other contributors. Mind you, I did have a green light tube on the tape recorders which flickered back and forth and told me that whoever I was recording was screaming too loud. Could this perhaps qualify me as Mid-Fi?  No? OK, I’ll remain Lo-Fi and shut up. 

 

But oh, the never-ending pursuit of pure sound and the inevitable disappointment that failing hearing brings with age….What’s that? Alright, no need to shout, I will put some clothes on.

 

Enough of this Percy Flage!  What about the crazes?

 

Last time I asked if anyone remembered the crazes that seemed to suddenly turn up out of nowhere during our Golden Lives In Bilborough (GLIB for short).  And not one of you responded to this.  Am I wasting this deathless prose? These golden epithets? This epigrammatic cornucopia?  Or did no one else in Bilborough ever hula hoop, hopscotch, make catapults, drag half a tree and rubbish through the streets for the bonfire, swap comics or indulge in any other craze?

 

Or was I all alone, palely loitering, waiting for Whirligig with Mr. Turnip and Humphrey Lestoq or The Rangebusters with Crash Corrigan, to start on the television? My parents couldn’t afford a television set for years until we rented a 21inch from Wigfalls, and so like Blanche Dubois, I relied upon the kindness of strangers (well not actually strangers, although many had parents that were. Strange I mean.  No, they were just good friends actually) to see the “telly”.

 

So, crazes. Answers on a twenty-pound note please.  And remember, they won’t let me have anything sharp in here.

 

Toodle pip!

 

Trevor

 

     

 

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15 hours ago, Mess said:

IIRC when the Beatles albums first came out on CD in 1986 the first four were in mono but  Rubber Soul was in stereo and the vocal/instruments separation was preserved. When the albums were remixed/remastered in 2009 the sound engineers put the vocals in the centre of the mix and also adjusted the stereo image of the instruments.

 

Hi Mess,

It's a complex subject as there were numerous pressings of the Beatles LPs once they really 'kicked in'.  As I mentioned above, some records were pressed by 'rival' companies such as PYE and Decca on a contract basis, just to meet demand.  Apparently some of them actually look red when viewed in strong light.  Then we get into the 'digital' era, when who knows what was done to the original masters, in terms of 'digital re-mastering' etc.  As a general rule I try to avoid most 'digital re-masters' as they generally don't improve things and often make them worse.  There are exceptions.. such as Jimmy Page's remaster of Led Zeppelin 1, which sounds pretty good to me. That album was a revelation in terms of music and production, but also riven with plagiarism and a sort of arrogance.  I went right off them after that album though and still fail to understand their mass appeal.

 

Back to the Beatles... I never bought their stuff first time round simply because everybody else did, so I spent my limited funds on less ubiquitous stuff.  There have been various more modern re-pressings/re-masters, both by EMI/Parlophone and by specialist 'audiophile' labels such as 'Mobile Fidelity'.  All have their fans.

 

When I  started buying the DeAgostini 'Jazz at 33/3rd RPM' series on vinyl.. they also started putting out all of the Beatles stuff.  General reports were very favourable, even though the DeAgostini vinyl re-presses are actually derived from  (EMI) digital remasters.  I gave it a lot of thought.  EMI have done a posh, all analogue 're-issue' of the Beatles Studio albums.  It is not cheap.  By contrast, DeAgostini offered all studio albums plus 'Love', 'Beatles at the BBC' etc., the 'Red and Blue' albums and 'Past Masters' at about £14 per disc.  I reasoned that having heard the Beatles at time of release either on Dansettes, or on AM radio.. I really didn't know exactly what they should sound like anyway, so anything that wasn't obviously wrong, would do for me... and I got the DeAgostini series.  I don't regret it and they all sound excellent on my Michell Orbe etc.. set up.

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@JT Wakes  the reason no-one responded to your mention of childhood games was possibly because there is already a topic on here somewhere about this (but not necessarily in Bilborough!). 

Do you ever look at any of the other topics on Nottstalgia?  Perhaps a moderator or someone will put a link to where you might find the one about childhood toys and games?

Also, why do you have 2 accounts on here?  (Trevor Askew is also JT Wakes I presume?). That can certainly cause problems, as it has done in the past!

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Hi again DJ360

I've been reading up on the various Beatles recordings/formats/mixes etc and the DeAgostini Beatles vinyls get very good reviews. I was tempted myself when I saw them but I have so much Beatle music already I decided to pass. They were certainly a cost effect way to buy The Beatles on vinyl without a drop in quality.

It would seem I was wrong about the 1987 Rubber Soul CD. It appears it's a remix of the 1965 vinyl stereo version and rectifys the vocal/instrument separation. I also discovered that I have a CBS CD of Rubber Soul that contains the mono mix and stereo mix from 1965. BTW the US release of Rubber Soul had a slightly different track listing to the UK release. Don't ask me why.

I guess you've deduced by now that Rubber Soul is my favourite Beatles LP. I've even got an original EMI 2 track mono reel to reel tape of it. I've always been a big fan of reel to reel. I've got a 1974 ex BBC 2-track Ferrograph Logic 7 if you know what that is. I restored it a few years back and it is superb but weighs in at 26Kg. Ferrographs were the last of the great British reel to reel machines before the Japanese took over.

Now before the moderators delete or relocate this post I must get back on track and remind readers I initially posted on this thread because I lived on Elstree Drive from 1950 to 1961. I think the first record I remember my dad bringing home was Bill Haley and his Comets "Rock around the clock" on a shellac 78 in 1956. The B side was called Thirteen Women which I thought was a bit odd. It's not a great song but most B sides weren't.

Back then we had a huge HMV radiogram which only played 78s and when 45s came along dad went and bought the BSR deck which he played through the Grundig radio.

My wife and I regularly visit antique and collectors fairs and we're always struck by how beautifully made the cabinets that house the early radio and TVs were.

I think the first 45 my dad bought for the new setup was Lonnie Donegan's "Does your Chewing Gum lose it's flavour (On the Bedpost overnight?)" I loved Lonnie Donegan and his rendition of "Have a drink on me" is still a favourite.

BTW I recently discovered that "Does your chewing gum etc" is actually a cover of a 1924 recording by The Happiness Boys called Does the spearmint lose it's flavor on the Bedpost overnight? The title had to be changed because Spearmint is a registered trademark in the UK.

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Quick response for Trevor.

 

The Lonnie Donegan was something about 'Putting on the Style'  can't remember whether that was the A or B side.

I do remember Mr. Kenworthy.  He was one of two men who interviewed me for a job as an electrician.  The other was Ken Viles.   Not sure of the spelling.  He turned out to be our more immediate boss.  

I was told that the letters EMEB stood for 'eight men, eighty bosses. or Eat More Eggs and Bacon.  Take your pick.  Enjoyable days.

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J T Wakes post got me thinking about the “crazes” of my far distant childhood. I was very good at 2 ball and am sure I could also do 3 ball as well, took loads of practice but gave you bragging rights. Snobs was another (was it also called jacks as well or was that different?). It took me ages to master that, could always pick up one or two but after that struggled a bit. Just when I could do it we had moved onto something else.
I loved skipping once I worked out the running in and out without snagging the rope. Mrs Chambers gave us her old washing line and after cutting some off to tie up Fat Michael (very un-pc but I can remember my parents calling him that as well) it was long enough to stretch right across the road. We lived in a close so we weren’t disturbed at all except for the occasional bike. I just can’t remember the chants we used to skip to at all perhaps someone else can refresh my memory? 
Hopscotch was another but always used to cause arguments from what I can remember about whether your foot was in the square or over the line.

Of course there was marbles which regularly ended in tears when someone lost all theirs, you usually ended up having to give them back to prevent fisticuffs. 
Then there was statues and the one where one gave initials of pop stars and everyone else had to guess, can’t remember what that was called. 
There must have been more but can’t think of any more at moment, need. Cup of tea and choccy biscuit after all that remembering!
 

 

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@Stavertongirl  snobs were pastel coloured  cubes - you played with 5 of them.  A century ago they  used to be called 5 stones (because they actually were 5 little stones!!) according to my mum!    Jacks were metal 3D star shapes - you played with 10 of them and there was a little rubber ball which you threw up and then let bounce as you picked up the stars in order, catching the ball after it bounced .....  hope that makes sense.

Here's my original ones.  I lost the little red rubber ball somewhere

 

IMG-4189.jpg

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Did you throw one of the snobs up in the air and then pick up the others or am I confusing them with jacks? Can’t believe you still have them Margie.

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Snobs were quite complicated after the first couple of rounds. There were  Oneses, Twoses, Germans, Frenchies, Overheads etc. You kept going during your turn until you failed. It's quite easy now with adult hands but as a youngster doing 'one down two picks up' was a bit of a challenge. 

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First round, you threw them all in the air and caught 1 on the back of your hand, then threw that up and caught it.  After that you did the same but caught 2 on the back of your hand, carrying on up to all 5.

Second round was 'scatters' which meant you scattered them then threw 1 up and picked 1 up..... kept doing it until you'd picked them all up.    After that you threw 1 up and picked 2 up etc

Third round was 'snatches' or 'nine flies'.  Same routine as before

Fourth round was throwing 2 up and picking 1 up each time

Fifth round was throwing 3 up and picking 1 up each time

 

Why am I writing all this... and more to the point, why can I remember it all.  It was possibly different depending where you lived and which school you went to.  I remember playing snobs with my friends at break time at school

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Not that I ever skipped but can remember the start of one ditty...it went as follows,

,"All in together girls,

Never mind the weather girls....

Can't recall any more. To my utter shame, I'm surprised I knew those two lines.

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