Dinner music for people who aren’t very hungry

I used to spend time at a record shop mostly talking to the owner and rummaging through for anything interesting or on my list of things to find. I’d ended up finding a copy of a kate bush compilation and Alchemy by dire straits and thought I’d pick out one more just to close it out, ended up finding this hi fi testing record that looked quirky. It’s not very musical but its a good way to kill time haha, the original us pressing was in 1957, this is from the first run of pressings in Sydney but I’m not able to find an exact year

Guns N Raoses – Appetite for Destruction

This was the first record I bought with my own money (not the oldest record I own but one that’s been with me the longest). I was 13 and I bought it from Dales Music, in Tenby, Wales, where I grew up. I love the fact that it’s got the original cover art (I got it early on its release). From that day on, I would go in Dales and ask Laurie Dale and Richie all sorts of music questions and bought all my vinyl there in those teenage years, before I left for University. Dales music has been operating in the town since the late 1940s, and Laurie has worked been there ever since he was a young boy, helping his dad. Now he owns it and is over 90 years old, still there, in the shop that’s almost 75 years old. Richie, the manager, is still there as well – unbelievable! It’s great knowing I bought from an independent retailer all those years ago, and they’re still there. The store features in the doco Last Shop Standing, and the book Vinyl Revival and the shops that made it happen. This record has travelled with me from Wales, to London, Madrid, and now Sydney. So many memories and stories when I pull this one out – plus, it’s one of the best debut records I own!

Harry Styles – Fine Line

I had never owned any records or a record player before but I had always really wanted one. Then one day at a jb hi fi my brother pointed out this vinyl and Harry Styles is my absolute favourite artist so I impulsively bought it with a cheap suitcase turntable

Abba / Arrival 1976

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I have an extensive range of vinyl. My first purchase with the generosity of my Mother’s expansive purse strings (and a little coercion) was ABBA®’s fourth studio album ‘Arrival’ back in October 1976 (RCA Victor, VPL1-4034).

This recording was a sumptuous aesthetic journey and ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ (total-work-of-art) in sound, design and packaging. Even today I have listened to it and my enjoyment is heightened by its purity and melodic prowess; complete with the “inverted-B” copyrighted ABBA® logo in a (News Gothic) sans serif font. This led to my everlasting connection to purchasing music on vinyl and curating a large archival collection. Unfortunately it has taken a good percentage of my income over the years and restricted my worldwide travel plans.

Sadly the original first pressing went missing from an over zealous and misguided art-school colleague that thought ABBA® was a “kitsch” proposition in 1987. You know who you are Kylie. I brought the 40th Anniversary Edition (Abbey Road Studios, Half-Speed Remaster, 2LP, Polar, 4794565) in all it’s aeronautical jumpsuit gatefold replica sleeve glory in 2016. One of things that made it so special is that it’s cover and interior told a story of ABBA® in full-flight. My next destination (purchase) would see me traverse to the southern German city and “creative hub of Europe” Munich, where Giorgio Moroder’s Eurodisco synchronisations would drastically alter the direction in sound design for future generations, but that’s another story. To be continued.

Rating: Five Stars. The dark masterpiece of the album was the ultimate underground ABBA® track; the haunting ‘Arrival’. One for the intellectuals. Nordic-cool. Archie
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Bloody Tourists 10cc

Turned my radio on just as a song called Ca plane pour moi was on. When the song finished the Dj said “you have just heard Dreadlock Holiday” So I went and purchased the album. I listened to the entire album waiting for ca plane pour moi, although I wasn’t disappointed with my purchase, great album.

Natural High, Commodores

My Dad has great taste in music. This was part of his funky collection. This album inspired me to become a musician and introduced me to the world of funk music. …..and yes I have this copy still in my possession today along with many more classic albums. My daughter now has her own classic vinyl collection and this album will some day be part of hers too!

Fong Fei Fei – Collection of Fujian Songs

My aunt in Singapore found out that I bought a record player here in Melbourne, and as a surprise, gifted me her old collection of records that she still kept from 50 years ago. This is one of the oldest ones, and still has the lyric sheet inside! It’s a record of a famous Taiwanese singer Fong Fei-fei.

Don Byrd / Gigi Gryce – Jazz Lab

This was a super random find in a record store in Toronto. A snowy day I stumbled across a little record store downtown & got flicking through the second hand crates. I gave it a quick listen & it just seemed to match the blizzard outside perfectly. I couldn’t not buy.