Mrs Fripp is at it again he must be saving a fortune in heating Bill's, worried she will catch one of her Frippenie bits in the guitar strap
No 5. The absolutely classic Black Album plaque design, so prevalent on the back of leather jackets. Originally, it featured on a larger design of a grave stone on the 'History of the World' single cover (which was released in advance of the album). Subsequently, the album cover focussed in solely on the plaque. Dave Vanian kept the original art work but alas, being made solely for the one photo shoot, it didn't survive intact for very long and is no longer in existence. The bloke who commissioned the glow in the dark gravestones (as featured previously) is having some of the plaques made....I've already ordered one. Such is my love for this artwork and the album, this isn't the last that you'll see of this image in the chart...
Fripp-ny (guitar) bits + Toyahs' (uncovered) t*ts. If one of the latter gets loose, does Fripp automatically switch to playing an Eno track ??
This is supposed to be the worst rock video of all time, to the extent that it killed Squier's career. I thought, "How bad can it be?", but then I watched it....
I thought that it might just be a male reaction...so, I showed it to Mrs B. When she stops laughing enough to speak, I'll let you know.
No 4. The black cat (no. 13) hoodie. My mother used to have a black cat. Everyone else called it 'Silky'...but I called it 'Vanian'. Lovely cat and a very nice hoodie with Vince Ray designed lettering...
No 3. Some outtake shots from Peter Gravelle's DDD cover session with the advertising legend "Album out now. Play it at your sister". You can buy prints of the outtakes. Signed (by the photographer, not the band), they come in at £600 - £800 a go....or you could buy the t shirt for about £15 on ebay. It's a licensed product but never been sold by the band, so it's the shirt that draws the most frequent comments when I wear it. I'm going to wear it to the 1st night of the reunion gigs....if they take place.
Before Christmas I moved my vynyl collection out of storage , this week I've built a large storage unit from a Swedish manufacturer and cleaned every record and Sleeve and catalogued all 485 of them , tough job but someone had to do it , who am I kidding I loved every minute of it
I've got a couple of working record decks and love playing stuff in the traditional way. I've been thinking of compiling my 12 favourite single/album covers from my collection (not the single/album, just the cover). I'm half way on the albums as 6 hang in the bathroom (silicon sealed behind glass). However, first...and by popular demand........I have to complete my Damned t shirt/hoodie Top 20...
No 2. Friday 13th. This is a partial representation of the cover of the EP by the same name, released between The Black Album and Strawberries in late '81. It's the only release on NEMS and represents a highpoint of the band's creativity during Paul Gray's first stay. It's my oldest remaining shirt, dating back to the mid/late 80's. It's slowly becoming shapeless (like its owner) and is fading markedly in places. Like Mr Vanian, it's best kept away from daylight.
For years I went down the CD route and lately streamed or down loaded, but one day last year my grand son found an Lp in the house and wanted to hear it play so I went up into the loft and dragged out my old pioneer separates system , the album was Dark side of the moon and you should have seen his face when I played Time and Great Gig in the Sky , I just love the sound and act of playing an LP and the sleeve art and notes and it's better for you as you have to get off your arse to flip it over every 20 mins
My kids used to think vinyl and cassette tapes were hilarious....but no longer. They both have record decks and a growing collection of records by The Sherlocks, The Hunna, Panic at the Disco!, etc., etc. No sign of any tapes, as yet...
Vinyl has outlasted quite a number of other mediums. There's a few labels now that sell you an album both as the physical product and also as a download. You get the collectable, sometimes limited edition LP and the more portable version for one price. Sensible way to go.
Somewhere I have a Motorola 8 track and only had 4 tapes , Rod Stewart " Every picture tells a story, Deep Purple in rock , Motown chart busters vol 6 and for the ladies a Gordon lightfoot album , I can still hear the buzzing from the unsurpessed engine and it changing channel half way through a track , wonder why they never caught on ? Still got boxes of cassettes but nothing to play them on I think that the Mini disc was the only music format that I never tried although my brother still swears by them as he was into disco, dance and funk and a lot of the DJs used that format