recent vinyl finds

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  • Gardener1

    I've dug up some more postcard / soundcard records, mostly European.

    Released in 1973 to celebrate 500 years of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

    An English greetings card featuring a previously unknown tune called Somebody Loves Me played by the pre Thunderbirds composer Barry Gray and his Quintet.


    A pair of Italian Fonoscope cards.

    Issued by BP in 1958 for European Touring Service, this one is for Holland.


    This is a beautiful German one featuring the song Why Do The Stars Shine So Brightly Tonight? by Maria Pittrich.

  • Gardener9

    I picked up a great score of mid 70's Sri Lankan singles this week all of which sound really delightful and it's a music genre I'd no previous knowledge of. All 6 were in the same 50p box and some are previously unknown, at least from my online searching. The top one in particular I could find nothing about it anywhere, not even the label - perhaps someone knows more?

    This fellow does have a lot of releases with his albums being particularly scarce, this pic sleeve EP is previously unknown and there were 2 of his discs in the box.

    I love the record shop stamps in Sinhala script on the front and rear too.

    A 4 track EP by Amaradewa & Neela released in 1976 on Silverline.

    • You, my friend are like the Madlib / "crate digger" of QBN AND I'm here for it.

      : )
      ideaist
    • aww taaGardener
    • damn, them are some good jamsscruffics
    • That Desmond de Silva song is pretty cheeky.pusherbot
    • Sweet payoff at the end tooGardener
  • imbecile3

  • imbecile-1

    do you have any personal experience with acelerated degradation or a noticeable quality difference when playing a clear / translucent vinyl vs a black vinyl record? This has come up a few times with a couple of friends and I also found this on reddit...

    https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/c…

    • posted in making beats as well
      https://www.qbn.com/…
      imbecile
    • limited 300 copies RSD release on marbled vinyl with > 20 min runtime per side and pressed at GZ = HISSSkingsteven
    • more of a red flag than guaranteed worsekingsteven
    • appreciated. only finding the colored vinyl for sale locally. will probably order the blackimbecile
    • read the release page on discogs, if something is a particularly bad pressing someone will have mentioned it in commentskingsteven
    • ++imbecile
    • No, I haven't.
      Do have an orange with glitter in it record that sounds kind of terrible but that was about how the recordings of that band were at the time.
      webazoot
  • Gardener2

    I've been digging in The Kingdom of Fife (across the sea from me) for vinyl treasures in the past few weeks, I managed to turn up some unusual finds including acetates, weird Xian Folk and self help albums, along with a few flexi-discs including these half dozen.

    It's always nice when I find ones I've not seen or heard of before and especially ones like this one sided card disc which features a song recorded for a toy doll by Paul Revere & The Raiders issued in 1968.

    Roger Cook & Roger Greenaway were song masters in the 60's & 70's and this is one they did for an advert which came in a bird n' booze picture sleeve.

    Also on a drink tip is this card backed disc promoting cognac, too strong for me I'm a red wine chap, hic.

    Fancy one sided promo disc featuring a colour chart of Robbialac Paint and a comedy sketch by Punch Magazine satirist Basil Boothroyd on the record side, released in 1967.


    Pushing it a bit to call it an album perhaps but this Sounds mag freebie does feature 5 tracks.


    Promotional competition disc with the opportunity to win a car or a scooter, given away at car showrooms in the early 60's.

    Late 60's flexi featuring music by Jack Shaindlin and a narrated story about the whaling ship the George W. Morgan.


  • Gardener5

    Seven inch finds mostly from boxes under trestle tables in the past few weeks, I've noticed early booters are ignoring singles more these days but it's their loss as I love 'em!

    Years before Live Aid there was this 4 track charity record, the info on the back mentions refugee camps in Austria of all places which I never knew anything about.


    A pleasant listen but a shame it's isn't some lost psychedelic folk treasure, I have found a few of these discs pressed at Craighall Studio before.

    A great disc from 1962 featuring experimental futuristic sounds in lovely condition.

    A one sided promo for the gas turbine industry released on an unsuspecting public in 1964.


    A 1962 E.P. of songs about Seán South a member of the IRA who was killed during an attack on Brookeborough barracks in 1957.

    Late 60's tri-centred single from the Rhodesian comedian, folk singer, news presenter and archer, the flip has a sketch about golf.

    Five track mid 70's promo available via Boots Farm Sales for a wild oat herbicide aka Difenzoquat.

    Released in 1965 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis.

    • Just wanna let you know your mania is much appreciated.garbage
    • aww tyGardener
  • Gardener1

    Put up the sleeves of some of the LP's I've picked up in July on the shelves.

    Left to right top to bottom.

    A late 70's Canadian self help record - Irish sing-a-long songs by Sean Clancy Seven released in 1970 - Late 70's DISCO versions of Beatles songs - Late 60's kids songs.

    Brand new double LP bought online - Early 70's Funk - 50p find in my local charity shop this morning! - Car boot surprise last Sunday in a box of tatty old chuff, turns out to be pretty rare.

    Another charity shop find in Northampton - 2 x LP compilation in an auction win - Not seen this Argo compilation of Sicilian music before - Sealed re-issue from a market stall where all LP's were a fiver!

    Martha & The Muffins 50p car boot find - Laid back East Coast Blues on UK Riverside - Early 70's release by the prolific folk guitarist - Another sealed coloured vinyl re-issue.

  • Gardener1

    Found this rare UK 78rpm Phonocard circa 1931 with a message from the Chairman of Raleigh Bikes today. The image on the card side was reproduced as a poster in the 40's. This card measures 3.5" x 5.5". It cost me 30p!

    A few years later Raleigh Bikes changed the image for this advertising poster, which I don't have but found online.

  • Gardener2

    A beautiful pair of early 1940's 78rpm sleeves from South Africa.

  • Gardener1

    Finally found a copy of The Yellow Rolls Royce movie soundtrack, these pics are of my mum and dad at a film premiere at The Electra Cinema, Newport Pagnell in 1965, and yes, that is Robert Maxwell flirting with mums hair-do!

    • co-starring Alain Delon who passed earlier todayGardener
    • lol @ "the father of the convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell" :Pscruffics
    • also... is that fur coat made of... [rubs eyes] ...dalmations?scruffics
  • Gardener2

    It's been a busy few weeks digging and mixing and maybe a little nasty on the side but I have found several gems which I mercilessly sold and some better records I swapped with copies I already had but not as minty. The nicest find was an original UK copy of a cassette tape of Bowie's TMWSTW 'dress cover sleeve' on Mercury from 1971, which I first found many years ago and let it go cheap in the back of some magazine. But the price of it has skyrocketed in recent years, so I'll no doubt sell it as I don't have a tape player anymore but I'm sure it'll fetch more than the £40 I got for it in the early 80's. Other nice finds recently include this lot.

    A couple of mid 70's jingles for the American record label/shop recorded by Larry, who isn't with us anymore.

    Rarely seen drug company lecture discs 2 & 3 from a set of 6, which now leaves me looking out for the others, one of them asks the question Steroids or ACTH? hmmm...


    A cool £1 find on a trip to Wales recently, thank you weird clothing emporium in Llangollen.

    A couple of nice singles from Scotland's largest weekly car boot which always turns up something.


    With it's original UK picture sleeve I never even knew existed!


    Stamped (& signed?) Scottish prog from the late 70's.

    Along with a few albums too.


    I bought this sight unseen at the boot too as I do love a bit of Bowlly and this copy turned out to be a test pressing, which was nice.


    Daft Scottish actor reading a totally daft Scottish poets poems, most likely a keeper.

    The guy on the stall wanted a tenner for this but as I never seen it before so it gave it a punt, side 2's talking is more interesting to me than the classical stuff on the flip.

    The guy I bought the Bowie tape off also had a good box of albums including all 3 editions of the Earcom compilations. I nearly bought the other 2, one has Joy Division on it and the other is a double pack of singles but I was more taken by this one with bands I didn't know, a poster and a flesh coloured cardboard disc with the FAST Records logo on it and adhesive stickers on the back, it tickled me so I had to have it!

    • Earcom looks worth it for the artwork alone.microkorg
  • Gardener0

    I found a few nice singles out and about in the fields this morning, including this one sided bootleg featuring Bowie + Bolan and the recently passed Herbie Flowers performing "Heroes" on the Marc TV show a couple of days before Bolan was killed.
    The recording is mostly Bowie singing live before Marc comes in to jam as the credits roll signing off with "thank you goodbye from all the boys in the band, David, everybody, all the cats you know who they are".

    a pic from the recording, Herbie Flowers R.I.P.

  • Gardener0

    I picked up lot's of 7" finds on a recent trip down south one shop was knocking them out for 25p each which I just couldn't resist, these are some of the highlights.


    Cheap and VERY large records indeed!

    Some nice European greetings card flexi's and EP's


    Unposted and still in it's paper bag!


    60's French 4 tracker.


    Scarce UK issue by the great comic.


    70's promo for shock absorbers, probably not rare but I've not seen it before.


    The Top Of The Pops dance group's debut, they went on to make four singles overall and I never knew they even made one until I came across this.


    I found a few records by the Carry On film star in one of the 23 charity shops I went to in Milton Keynes, including an album of poetry which turned out to be just delightful. It was kinda spooky as on the long drive down south I was listening to a selection of old Desert Island Disc show I had downloaded from the Radio 4 website and Kenneth Williams was talking about making just such a record and blimey charlie it turned in an Age Concern shop for 50p!


    UK demo for an early 60's harmony group who featured a 19 year old Stephen Stills yet to find fame in CSN&Y.


    This is pretty trashy really but I couldn't resist getting it for the title alone.


    BBC promo singles don't turn up often especially in the orange company sleeve but this was a sweet find.

    Nice find at the car boot this morning for a couple of quid, promo featuring artists from the 2nd Stiff Records Tour all doing their take on 'Be Stiff' by Devo.

    I had a big clear-out on Saturday too, all these (including the apples) went to the Cat's Protection League shop in Newburgh, gotta look after the cats!

  • Gardener0

    Digging finds on a visit to friends and family in England recently came up with mixed results, the stuff I didn't like has already gone back into the charity racks, albeit in another country.


    Four tunes by Harpo and his harp on this Spanish EP from the late 50's.

    Frank takes the rhyme out of the nursery.

    "Ol' Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o
    And on this farm there was a chick
    The prettiest chick I know
    With a little curve here and a little curve there
    This chick she had curves everywhere
    Ol' Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o"

    I have a 43 minute version of this on a CD by the Dick Slessig Combo which will be featured in a forthcoming mix, but this is the pretty nippy 3 minute UK promo edition.

    They hit big with Snoopy vs. The Red Baron but the psychedelic b side of the follow up 7" was never going to bother the air (waves).

    A strange pairing from 1964 with at least 8 different label variations, whatever happened to B&J, bless them.

    https://i.imgur.com/ohppPiG.jpg[…

    These are some of the selection of albums I picked up on a trip to Milton Keynes recently. The shop was doing the 4 x £1 so I filled my (car) boots. There were lots of Indian soundtracks which I have yet to listen to but the weird spoken word and sound effects albums will keep me going for some time. God knows what I must have missed as they said they put them all out a month earlier!

    An interesting track-list and informative glossary on the back.

  • imbecile0

  • Gardener2

    Picked up loads of lovely records wandering around the 2 halls at the Groovy Record Fayre in London yesterday (more pics soon) including a copy of Bill Nelson's album 'Getting the Holy Ghost Across'. I bought it from Lawrence (Felt, Denim and Go-Kart Mozart, etc) who had a great stall selling his personal records, many with hand written opinion inserts, but for this one he wrote out a full A4 page!

  • Gardener1

    It's been another busy few weeks of digging and clearing out, most recently at Jonny Trunk's Groovy Record Fayre IV in North London. It's only on once a year but I have done every one so far and it is one of my favourite fairs of the year. There are always more interesting stalls than the usual fare served at the ones in leisure centres and market halls across the country. There is a lady who specialises in unusual, mostly weird foreign 7"s who always has amazing stuff (well I think so). plenty of odd music biz folk selling up their collections as well as independent labels with their latest albums. I spent quite a bit this year , more than I usually do, but I sold well too so it was totally justified coming home with treasure I never knew I needed. Pictured below are some of the albums I found, I'll post up the singles in a bit, but before I headed into the big city reluctantly paying a bloody pointless ULEZ charge just for driving in, I dropped by a Northampton recycling depot with good fortune hiding deep in the trash.

    A super rare late 60's album by a lady who was one of David Bowie's friends and also covered his song Andy Warhol. One of the tracks on this album is titled 'For David, The Next Day' so no doubt where he got the inspiration from 44 years later.

    One of the sellers was selling clothes and records that belonged to his brother who had worked with Stereolab and associated artists before his recent passing. The albums he brought along were incredible (and priced accordingly) but it was nice just to see My Bloody Valentine, Nick Cave, PiL, Fugazi originals in minty condition but I couldn't afford them. The T-shirts were amazing and again as new but... they were £150 EACH, so I don't think he sold many, they were all early 90's and many unique one off designs.

    More finds from Laurence (mentioned in a previous post) and a few from Jonny Trunk's boxes.


    This was cheap but I couldn't resist the sleeve.

    Another cheap find but couldn't find ANY info online about it. It's a compilation of 6 rock and electronic pop bands from the early 90's possibly from the Scunthorpe area. If anyone knows more please let me know as this is a real mystery disc - the only info on the run out which might reveal more is SRT 92L 3350.


    3 x sealed albums at a fiver a pop by electronic synth musician Suzanne Ciana from the Finders Keepers Records stall.


    The '66 debut album of sleazy easy listening sax by Danny Moss featuring the great Tony Carr who played with Harold McNair and John Cameron on the drums.

    A well spent fiver for this mid 60's folk album produced and arranged and the writer of the sleeve notes, ladies and gentlemen Mr. Jimmy Page.

  • Gardener0

    It took some deep searching but I have unearthed some clippings from a local Scunthorpe newspaper Oct/Nov 1992 had more info on the Mousetrap compilation I posted earlier.

  • Gardener1

    Delightful 7"s from the GRF and a couple of charity shops in Milton Keynes, nothing cost over a quid.

    Top 12 pick of the 7" pops

    Best find of the trip was ironically a Scottish record found in England made in America. I had no idea who they were but the name & title drew me in. Turns out they were a Scottish psych rock trio who went to the states for a short tour, made this one release while they were there and unsurprisingly it now turns out to be pretty scarce. I liked the fact that according to the US printers that Edinburgh is apparently in England.

    • dang! some absolute gold there. you don’t see many Jazzman records out there in the wild, for one.scruffics
  • _niko1

    Gardener, where is the best place to find rare/valuable or just hidden gems?

    Thrift stores? yard sales? somewhere else?

    I find used record stores might have some but they price them quite high.

    • car boots at 6am, small charity shops not Oxfam etc, ads in local shops, works for me!Gardener
    • ok cool, and lol at car boots at 6am, I can just picture cops coming around a corner and spotting the deal taking place and then you and the seller scattering_niko
    • i find good stuff in charity shops all the time, but not like Gardener. Gardener finds some ridiculously good stuff.scruffics
    • I started when I was 12 and my father paid me in records for working in his second hand shopGardener