Okay, we’re up a mountain and there are records everywhere. People are pulling records out of the sleeves, little kids are getting their sticky fingers on them, many were scratched and skipping. It was clear something had to be done. Iggy had a word with David and asked him to sort it all out.
And David Bowie spoke these words:
I have released much of my Golden Years of music on the best format. That which brought you out of the Swing Boom of the 1950s, out of the slavery of singing other people’s songs and into the Land of 1000 Dances with the cheap vinyl seven inch singles of Rock and Roll, Tamla Motown, Beatlemania, Glam Rock and so on. I also brought out Tin Machine on 12 inch Vinyl which we don’t tend to talketh about so much but it is my most affordable album on the preowned market these days so maybe it’s time for a reappraisal…
Just sayin’.
Anyone?
Okay, moving on, going forward etc… Here are the rules.
1. You shall have no other format above Vinyl.
2. You shall not make Vinyl in the image of another. Basically avoideth rare records at a cheap price –they could be counterfeiteths. I’m thinking about the copies of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon that have been kicking about Edinburgh at 15 shekels for some time. Don’t worry it was officially resurrected the other year like pretty much my entireth back catalogue other than Tin Machine (see above).
3. You shall not take the name of ‘Vinyl’ in vain. Ahem, they are collectively called ‘Records’ or ‘Vinyl’ but a single record should never be called ‘a Vinyl’ and many records are never ever ‘Vinyls’. Otherwise you will feeleth the tut-tut-slow-head-shaking wrath of the old farteth record collectors. See Vinyl vs Vinyls blog post.
4. Remember the Sabbath day… After working a week of hard toil, you are allowed a special record based listening treat with Ozzy and Co. On this day you will not work. You will force everyone; sons, daughters, servants and animals to listen to your swirly vertigo 1st press of Paranoid. They will thank you for it later. Why they recorded a song called Changes in 1972 for their 4th album the same year I released my version remains a mystery. How someone hasn’t already thought to mash them up on YouTube is perhaps a bigger mystery. Perhaps my record company taketh away unofficial recordings?
5. Honour your father and mother’s record collections. Though the box may be worth more than the records, your embarrassing parents may have been into some weird stuff in the 1960s that they have never before told you about and you could well be inheriting some gems. Forgiveth them the Dancing in the Street duet with Mick Jagger that is most definitely in there, for they kneweth not what they were doing in the 1980s.
6. You shall not kill (even if into Black Metal). Seriously dude, seek help! But thou canst still probably eat meat despite what Morrissey sayeth with the title of the final The Smiths album. I never did get over Steven’s sniping at me after pulling out of my Outside tour in 1995 but after recent stories I suppose it could have been worse. All the same, please look for British pork and the Free Rangeth chicken which just seems sensible.
7. You shall not commit adultery with Amazon and other onlineth retailers despite them sometimes being cheaper than your local Record Temple. Keep an eye for an aniscoric eye out for special editions which are often offered to independent Temples that are not available in the behemoth’s massive warehouse.
8. You shall not steal. Yeah man! Well ideas are up for grabs obviously, I’m a chameleon and that. But erm you know don’t be stealing records from anyone. There’s a guy that comes in on Sundays with a big puffy jacket on in the summer and I’m sure he has been nicking stuff. Spotify and streaming? ***Shrugs*** “Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity,” I told the New York Times in 2003. Well, please try to payeth for music you like in some way.
I’m watching you, Sunday guy
9. You shall not bear false witness about Record Store Day in the Edinburgh Evening News. It has many well documented flaws but on balance it is better to have it and the inevitable 4 different NEW officially sanctioned editions of my records. Contradictory, repetitive doom-mongering is doing no favours to the Record Temples that are still open and getting by.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s record room nor his amplifier, turntable and fancy speakers. Nor his radio show/podcast and blog. Your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor his diamond dogs, nor anything that is your neighbour’s. (Eh? -Ed) Basically don’t be coveting things and don’t try to wham bam thank you ma’am any of the neighbours or their things.
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the speakers rumble and saw the amplifier in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to David Bowie, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have Iggy speak to us or we will die.”
Bowie said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Iggy has come to test you by releasing a mix of great and terrible albums…”
Continues with even more commandments and don’t get Iggy/Ziggy started on their preferred record cleaning fluid.
After this piece of procrastination, some may be pleased to know that the full VoxBox RSD list will be typed and published tomorrow evening.
The VoxBox Backroom has been refitted as a private skincare and beauty clinic. VoxBox Botox will smooth you out. “It’s all filler, a bit like Steel Wheels” says Keef. The Tumbling Price… For a limited time, half price patented Jagger Lip Filler with any of our daily specials.
Monday -Charlie Warts removal
Ruby Tuesdays -Rosacea skin peel
Orange Wednesdays -Paint It Orange fake tan.
Thursday -Tattoo You removal.
Friday -Under My Thumb blackhead squeezing.
Saturday -Jumpin’ Jack Lemon FLASH teeth whitening.
Sunday -As Tears Go By intimate waxing.
Adam and Dom look forward to helping you get what you need.
Hi ______,
This guy just popped into the shop and now hangs about a bit stopping Andy from doing any work.
I met him the other day and he said he was a musician and was incredibly friendly and I thought. Ok yeah.
Then Andy said his tunes were really good and we should get him in for a session… I listened to his tunes… They are killer songs. Not cheery new neighbour friendly tunes at all.
“I met a man with a one eyed pet crow
He had a dog he trained to talk.
He kept goldfish in his hat
and I asked him how he lived.”
As far as the music goes, he sounds as serious as they come.
He has a hypnotic fingerpicking style that makes me think that if Kathryn Joseph was a very tall thin bearded man playing guitar and singing song poems, this is it. He has not been in Edinburgh long and already released an album with a couple of videos. From the People’s Story Museum:
There’s a bit of RM Hubbie and Nick Cave, Waits, Nebraska Springsteen, Molina there too.
Something for the folk that likes deep dark tunes and maybe an album ____ would like.
Give it 30mins (2 listens) See what you think. I don’t think he’s done any promo emailing. So a post from ____ would be a surprise.
You could blow his mind with a just a burst of a good few people downloading his stuff or you never know.
He has not invented anything new but the guitar playing is sometimes incredibly intricate.
It sounds like two people playing.
Listen to Stalk of Corn or Horsey Horsey.
Glad to hear things are going well _________________. Perseverance with talent will always pay off.
I’m busy with a second child who’s 5 months old. Otherwise I’d say let me know when you’re at an Edinburgh gig. But I don’t get out much.
Saying that, DO let me know and I might well get out especially.
______
VoxBox
Now look at that face. This man invented the tartan covered Highland Entertainer and so is responsible for much of what you are about to see… He was a superstar in his day. Arise Sir Harry Lauder you cheeky cheeky man.
Niven is pretty intense!
Bill McCue has a present for you.
Jimmy Logan shares his surname with a berry. I’ve an idea!
Not any more.
Another candidate for Scotland’s favourite singer.
Camp as a row of tents. Canadians also loved this stuff.
Hi Jock.
If you half close your eyes, The Piper looks like a bird of paradise.
Jimmy Shand practically invented the standing in an empty field playing accordion look as a young man. Happy hours ahead! Auchtermuchty style.
WIll Starr. The Sound of Starr. Splitting the atom with his accordion. Those eyes!
On foggy hillsides all over Scotland are accordionists like Will Starr. Be warned.
Jack Stitt serenades a rock with his accordion.
Bill Smith in a field
Kilts? Check. Accordion? Check. Loch with castle in the distance? Check. Now lift your right leg a bit…
Yours Accordionly…
Accordionly Yours… Spink was there first.
Bert Shorthouse, the life and soul of the party.
Double accordion! Looks like fun.
Pat Neary knew best how to sell accordion music.
Let’s Have A Ceilidh! outside.
Ranald MacDonald. Just walking around in my day wear, enjoying my loch and singing away.
Calum Kennedy on his way to work.
You’ve got Jimmy in the centre in front of the fireplace with his accordion right? Oh, that’ll do.
An Evening With The Tartan Lads. Almost a Sharon Stone moment…
Scots Wha’ Ha’e by Barry Nesbit. A Canadian so we can forgive the extra apostrophe; he gets the idea.
Will Star is The Daddy of Them All. No fire, but I’m not arguing…
Now that’s a proper fire.
Those were different times.
Twa Braw Lads. The brawest in the land.
We know Andy, we know. Which explains why you aren’t wearing yer troosers again.
Kilts were getting pretty popular.
You can tell Jim is well up for it lassie. (A dance)
Jim Outside.
Jim Outside by the hills. A tad underdressed for hillwalking.
Sorry world, it’s the best we could do.
Whistlebinkies outside in the sunshine.
The Battlefield Band. Home Is Where The Van Is. In this case home is in the middle of a field.
Contemporary Campbells outside
Boys of the Lough. Lochaber No More. And they are not happy about it.
A fashionable Runrig pose for debut album Play Gaelic in a field.
Capercaillie moved Scottish folk music into the 1980s.
Paul McCartney has a lot to answer for.
Poor Mouth?
Home is a ruined castle.
Bothy/Barn Bobby Colgan’s Bothy Nicht. Let’s get the piglets drunk. Paintbrush sporran??
Again! Oh no! Better start taking my meds.
. Going to an Orkney Barn Dance? Hamnavoe will kick out the jams.
Kathy Kay. Chickens, now that’s how to sell records!
Sheep!
Scotland in Song or what are you looking at?
Lonnie Donegan had already converted the UK to Skiffle and the Blues before this LP came out in 1959.
Donovan feeling it.
Whistle-Binkies for the Germans.
Whistlebinkies Portrait 1.
Whistlebinkies Portrait 5. A life on the road and outside can take its toll.
This is fantastic.
Jimmy Hits The Bottle…
O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us! Australia.
In a Shetland Garden by Shirley and Larry Peterson. This is just too sweet.
Ed McCurdy A Box of Dalliance. A Canadian folksinger but this rare box set belongs here.
The Sounds of John Leslie Scotland A’GoGo
The Islanders debut LP in 1965.
Coaldust Ballads. An album about coalmining. Powerful stuff.
Robin Hall and Jimmy MacGregor. Scotch and Irish. Tartan bunnets all round.
The Jack Sinclair Showband on a Highland Holiday.
Tartan and Trad Jazz together at last.
Highlands and Lowlands with Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor
Joe and Sally seem close.
Fae Aberdeen. Ann & Laura Brand You’re Welcome Here. Thanks!
Mike Korb plays The Dancing Queen of Aberdeen. A rare 7 inch single.
The Seekers outside Edinburgh Castle. An Australian Band and some cunning old fashioned photoshoppery.
The McCalmans No Strings Attached. Scandanavia, you won’t know what hit you.
The Bay City Rollers Breakout the mullets in ’85.
Gaberlunzie Take The Road.
Welcome to the Dance. You, me and a crate of booze.
Phil, sit on that box for a second. Perfect.
Rangers. Both the cover and what’s inside could be worse.
Rufus Harley plays jazz on the bagpipes.
And he gets better.
Laugh along with Dot Foubister
Man recently rescued from phone box has picture taken for album sleeve.
Just For The Crack tells it’s own story. Craic ruins lives. Wait a minute…
Hello Jaqui and Bridie.
Hamish was a master of the folk song and I guess liked a pint or two.
Seems like only yesterday I left my mind behind… Watt Nicol is from the stable that produced Imlach, McGinn and Billy Connolly.
Matt McGinn here reminds me of another Glaswegian, great friend of the shop and ex-employee, Nigel.
Ever wake up after a night out in a tree?
Billy’s nose.
An album of songs about how to turn leftovers into a meal the next day. Stovies.
Wait, maybe they are leftover songs turned into an album?
Edinburgh folk trio The Cairn released A Collection of “Scotch” Folk for the Americans. Bottle of “scotch” whisk(e)y included.
Company Policy is “more hair the better” and one of you is letting the side down.
Something Old, Something New by The Alexander Brothers. Can you undo a few more buttons and pretend you’re holding lightsabres?
The Jacobites. They’ve got the leg right.
Jesse Rae modelling Scottish beach wear.
These were the good times for the Bay City Rollers which is why they’re smiling.
Grey skies, hands on hips and Dedication is all you need. Glam Loch.
Willie Sutherland on Grampian Records with some good advice.
Looking like a badass preacher from Louisiana here Willie!
THE TOP 20
By this stage Rufus was mainlining $200 of tartan a day.
A Gordon for me? Thanks!
Moira takes the car to get the shopping. For running errands around town she takes the horse.
Frank Begbie’s dad. Don’t forget the cairds!
A lonely Hogmanay with Arthur Spink. As it’s almost New Year, if you are lucky he might even turn the fire on.
A warning to all those wanting a selfie with the Big Yin. You Take My Photograph (I Break Your Face)
Nailed it this time Jimmy Shand Jr!
Heeeere’s Krankie! Two Sides Of The Krankies is wrong in so many ways.
Kymm’s self titled second album released on Nevis records. As it says on the back: “Listen to this LP and you will be convinced that here is a star in the making! You’ll be hearing lots more of Kymm -Lots more.”
Normal for Fife.
Scottish Love Songs by the Corries. AKA Up The Dirt Track. Nothing says Love in Scotland more than 2 hairy men up a muddy road on a dreich winter’s day.
An Old Raincoat Won’t Let You Down. Bloody hell Rod! How can a song about homelessness turn into this?
I can’t even begin to know what this is. The Average White Band’s debut album, Show Your Hand was probably still offensive in 1973. The bum logo was a big improvement.
Alastair MacDonald Sings Robert Burns and Davy Handlebar Moustache.
They look really friendly. Looking the wrong WAY, Shetland’s Rhythym Group.
One of the greatest mysteries of Scottish music, Borderline by Nigel Denver. Complete with paintbrush sporran.
Gaberlunzie with Scotland AGAIN! Reminds me of Olaf from Wide Days with Ian Rankin on guitar.
The MacNish Distillery Pipe Band. “Quick Lads the Sun’s out, let’s get that album picture!”
After reaching the end, you are probably feeling like this. Comes with printed lyrics so you can have a greet too.
The Wally Dugs, The Road to Dundee! Even Frodo would turn back.
The Marlettes from Rutherglen/Cambuslang. Still gigging.
My favourite. Those jeans are a bit tight at the groin. Gaughan “That’ll do Dick!”
The album thread is very much a work in progress. Please get in touch with pics of any gems that we’ve missed. There are a few smaller themed posts in the pipeline but for now, this will do.
I got an email a few years ago asking if I have a copy of an old Scottish EP called White Heather Memories by James Urquhart. No doubt the sender must have first looked with Google with no luck and then contacted a few Scottish shops in hope. It just so happened that a large collection of singles had come in the week before and I recognised the title. The collection was mainly 1960s pop music on labels like PYE, Decca, Columbia and Parlophone with The Good The Bad and the Ugly (quite literally) hits of the day. and the EP had stood out as not belonging there. I love looking through old singles, reading names written on the records and imagining the parties in Scottish living rooms in the 1960s. Bacardi for the ladies, Tennent’s cans with “Ann” on them for the men and fag ash nonchalantly flicked onto the carpet.
You are in luck I said. How much? he asked. And that is the question. How do you value a record that doesn’t seem to exist? For indeed there were no previous sales documented to reference as a guide and there can’t still be many around.* This style of traditional Scottish music is pretty hard to sell in Record Shops (or anywhere) and most will either donate them to charity shops or throw them out. I would have put my copy in The Backroom for £1.50 for a while to give it a chance. But I cleaned it and played tested it and graded it a strong VG+. Being a ruthless businessman, that’ll be a fiver I said. Thank you very much, he replied, this will make James Urquhart’s 80 year old brother very happy! And he sent me a nice old fashioned cheque in the post.**
Thistle Records RWEP 630
You don’t see liner notes these days. Ah, memories.
So a happy ending and something that has since made me reluctant to let go of obscure but essentially worthless records which only begins to explains the state of my garage at home. A large part of dealing in used records is memories and the history of music itself. Hearing old songs can take you right back to a tremendous place. Sometimes a place that you’ve never been. White Heather Imaginings? Call it nostalgia if you like but it is a topic I would like to explore a wee bit in the weeks ahead.
I couldn’t find a link to the music on the record but the songs are pretty straight easy listening ballads with orchestra rather than accordion and a slight Scottish lilt. It must have sounded old-fashioned even at the time and I suppose that is where the title comes in. It was certainly at odds with what was in the charts in that era.
Melody Maker Pop 50 1965. Goldie and the Gingerbreads!? Now, you don’t see that often…
Anyway, here’s a link to a livelier James Urquhart tune that might cheer you up as the days are getting longer again and it’s hopefully no longer dark when you get up to go to work.
*While typing this I’ve actually found 2 copies for sale online. One ebay seller at £1.99 with free postage and one Canadian seller on discogs asking £7.
**A cheque that, in the age of internet banking, I never did get round to cashing.
Finally we’ll have a chance of keeping up with Mark E. Smith’s output.
We have a machine at home that has hundreds of CDs downloaded onto it and a few of mine have made it there. Every now and then, when the machine is on random my wife says “is that The Fall”. And she’ll ask to skip to the next track. Yes, darling, if it sounds like The Fall then it is bound to be The Fall again. I love the band but I often have had to agree and say “yes, please skip it”.
I found The Fall in the 1990s with their album The Infotainment Scan. A friend gave me the CD. If you have a friend that finds you music, please hug them regularly for they are the best of your friends. I thought the album was great and in that vein I shared it with my friends. “Sounds like Louis D____ on drugs” said another friend who felt that Louis D_____ already mumbled a lot. “Paranoid man… Puts head down when girls pass in the street… Got my hat and my corny brown leather jacket” some lyrics seemed profound; others just stream of consciousness.
So I looked for other albums and found a SMILE… The Best of the Fall that was pretty terrible -there are much better ones. Then a tape of Code Selfish that was great. Then getting into records, and you rarely see original Fall records -the people that own them tend to keep them as you don’t get into the Fall temporarily. Finding Code Selfish restored my Fall fandom and I became a Fall fan and I discovered The Monks. Thank you Mark for that.
But I gave up seeking out the earlier music after deciding I couldn’t afford it! In John Peel’s words, “Always different, always the same.” I was never able to keep up with The Fall. But I’d always read the interviews, read the book and kept an eye out for a live show.
I went to see The Fall at the Edinburgh Picturehouse a few years ago before it closed and Mark came out for 10 minutes then spent the rest of the gig singing incomprehensibly from the dressing room. The band were really tight but it was a pretty terrible gig experience. Play the hits! What hits? It’s an underground band… We left early and pretty disappointed. I put on Bend Sinister when I got home and all was well again.
Mark sacked so many members of his band that we’ve had a shop joke that everyone has either been in the Fall or is related to someone that has been in The Fall…
I found a 7 inch copy of an early single, Totally Wired (on Rough Trade records) in a second hand collection last year and of course as a fan, I took it home. It sounds amazing. If ever there’s a single to show how records can sound better than digital, it is this one. Which is no use to you reading this. Sorry.
This is just meant as a brief blog post salute to a renegade music maker who has my utmost respect.
I’d like to say that I’ll get Totally Wired and that I’m going to drink a jar of coffee and take some E in homage to Mark E. Smith but I will probably just go to work as usual and make a point of not eating any vegetables tomorrow.
I love The Fall and there is so much to love.
Thank you Mark!
Lost in Music.
Bill Is Dead
Last week after “Dynasty”
I had crows feet under my eyes
Paid two days for getting high
Freezing
Wheezing
Got pasted in a bar
I hope I’ve got the number
These are finest times of my life
This is the greatest time of my life
This is the greatest time of my life
These are the biggest times of my life
But just lately seeing you
I rise a.m. off pink sheets
I am renewed
I am aglow
Red brick and green is the streets
You dressed today as if for riding school
Your legs are so cool
Came twice
You thrice
These are the greatest times of my life
Every now and then we get a nice email asking for us to take some flyers and otherwise help promote a music project. We’ll always say yes but after reading this email I asked for a couple of tickets to competition off and said I’d write a blog post, take flyers, post on FB, twitter, Instagram and basically shout from the roof.
The email was letting me know about this film showing in the Cameo on 8th July. The Grant Green Story. It’s a biopic about a cultish Blue Note guitar player. I even don’t know a whole lot about the man myself but I have known for a long time that he was a kick-ass guitarist and that he recorded with the best jazz label of all time, Blue Note. He recorded with the best and made some records that are now incredibly rare. (His early records sell for about £400 and basically never ever turn up). Maybe the 1960s focused on the brass with trumpeters like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker and Coltrane on the saxophone or maybe his records’ scarcity means that over the years thee are haven’t been enough collectors getting hold of them to able to spread the word about how great they are, “look at what I just picked up!”, “hear this guy play!”. The result is that a guitarist like Grant Green has maybe not had the widespread recognition he deserves. A good proportion of our jazz customers will know his music well and have heard his playing on some classic Blue Notes but won’t know his story. Green’s own son didn’t know his father’s story and that is essentially what the film is about.
A good place to begin. You’re in for a long trip!
I just dipped in to the Grant Green back catalogue and instantly recognised a riff used by Public Enemy.
That’s Grant Green Ain’t It Funky Now. He’s certainly been sampled a lot by hip hop diggers.
Before the Trainspotting soundtrack, there was the Blue Note label and Green was one of many jazz musicians of the era to find heroin a bit moreish. He has a stellar back catalogue -as well as his own releases, he performed on countless Blue Note albums- which may be some compensation for a life cut short but this doesn’t apply as much for the family as it may do for the fan. The Blue Note album covers were always gorgeous and so many have become iconic although they didn’t really have to give some of Grant Green’s a hint of green… But they work for me all the same. [I just found out that he loved the colour green and drove a green Cadillac and so on] I’m really looking forward to seeing this movie and I’m sure it will help bring his music to a whole new audience. His daughter in law, Sharony Green, co-directed the movie and hosts the Q&A afterwards.
Here’s the film promo, trailer and some useful links:
Join us for the first screening in Europe for the soon-to-released documentary on the late jazz guitarist Grant Green, one of the most recorded artists for Blue Note Records, America’s first independent jazz label. This feature length film presents a son’s search for his father, the guitar legend, via his own memories and those of others. Since the 1990s, Grant’s music has been sampled by everyone from A Tribe Called Quest to Kendrick Lamar. Learn more about the backstory involving the man whose guitar licks inspired a generation of jazz and hip hop listeners alike. The film features, Lou Donaldson and George Benson, among others. 61 minutes followed by Q & A.
For more about the film, visit www.grantgreenabluenote.com
It is that time of year again. This is Record Store Day’s 10th year and this will be our 6th year taking part. The backroom is full to the roof with empty cardboard boxes and only half of the records have arrived so far. We now have the largest Record Store Day event in the UK with 14 bands and one book launch. On top of that we will have most of the exclusive Record Store Day exclusives and a good allocation of almost all of the most sought after titles. The shop opens at 8am on Saturday -an hour earlier than in previous years.
We have put all of the Record Store Day and band information on our dedicated webpage here: http://voxboxmusic.co.uk/rsd/
VoxBox Andy has put on An Evening of The Grateful Dead tribute gig (starring The Workingman’s Dead) at the Voodoo Rooms that night. Two live 45 minute sets of cosmic rock music. “Come down and have a long strange trip.” An Evening of the Grateful Dead Tickets
This is the list of RSD artists we are stocking. All the acts playing live on the day have recent releases so please check them out too.
12 Stone Toddler
999
Air
Airbourne
Afriquoi
Alfonso Noel Lovo
Alice in Chains
Alien Sex Fiend
Allen Touissant
Altered Images
Andre 3000
Animal Collective
Animals
Anna Calvi
Anton Maiovvi
Aqua LP and single
Arthur Verocai
Art of Noise
Asobi Seksu
A Thousand Horses
Atomic Bomb Band
Babymetal
Banks & Steelz
Bastille
Batmobile
Beaver Otoboke
Ben Folds &WASO
Beny More
Bert Jansch
Beverley Martyn
Bill Evans
Biters
Black Angels
Blackberry Smoke
Blackstreet
Blossoms
Bochum Weit
Bonnie Prince Billy (May not arrive)
Boogie Times Tribe
Brett Anderson
Brian Auger
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Brian Gibson
British Sea Power
Brother Ali
Bruce Springsteen Box
Bryan Lee
BP Fallon & David Holmes
Breakwater
Bullet For My Valentine
Buggles
Byrds
CABBAGE
Cadillac Three
Calypso Rose
Camera
Cars
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Cheap Trick
Chelsea
Chemical Brothers
Ciaran Lavery
Cleaners From Venus
Cocteau Twins x2
Coheed & Cambria
Commander Cody
Congos
Coral
Courteeners
Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Creation
Creation Rebel
Cribs
Crystal Fighters
Curtis Knigh & Jimi Hendrix
Cure (Acoustic and Live)
Darkthrone
Darlingside
Dave Clarke
David Bowie BOWPROMO
David Bowie Cracked Actor 3LP live album
David Bowie No Plan 12” single
Dead Naked Hippies
Dear or Alive
Deee-Lite
Def Leppard
Dennis Wilson
Devil Sold His Soul
Diana Ross
Dimitri Shostakovich/Mstislav
Dirty Three
Discharge
Distillers
DJ Hype
DJ Pierre Presents
Dolly Parton
Don Blackman
Doors
Dr Robert and PP Arnold
Drive By Truckers
Dubkasm
Duke Spirit
Dwayne Jensen
Elastica
Elbow
ELP
Elvis
Emeli Sande
Ennio Morricone
Eric Church
Evan Dando
Eyelids (feat Gary Jarman-Cribs)
Fall –Live album and the single
Fat Freddy’s Drop
Fawlty Towers
Feeder
Felice Brothers
Fickle Friends
Field Music
Flaming Lips
Fleur de Lys Box
Frank Zappa
Fleetwood Mac (also have the Stevie Nicks)
Flower Travellin’ Band
Follkazoid ft J. Spaceman
Future Sounds of London
GBH
Georgie Fame
Gilbert O’Sullivan
Ginger Wildheart
Glenn Jones & Matthew Azevedo
Goat
Goblin
Gold Panda
Goldie
Goo Goo Dolls Box Set
Graham Parker & the Rumour
Grateful Dead Live
Greg Graffin
Halestorm
Harry Nilsson
Hawkwing
Hawklords
Headhunters
High Contrast –Shotgun Mouthwash –from T2 soundtrack
Hopetown Lewis/ Vin Gordon
House of Joy Box
Hudson Mohawke
Ian Hunter
Idris Muhammad
Iggy Pop Post Pop Depression Live (very dear)
Inna Baba Coulibaly
Iron and Wine
Izzy Bizu
Jaco Pistorius Box
Jah Screechy & SL2
Jamiroquai
Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales
Jason Isbel and the 400 Unit
Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes
Joe Jackson
Johnny Cash
HiFi Sean
Jan Demis
Joe Higgs
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
John Renbourn/Wizz Jones
Julian Cope LP and DOPE compilation
Kalaedoscope
K’Alexi Shelby
Kasabian
Katatonia
Kate Nash
Kate Tempest
Kathryn Williams
Keane
Ken Boothe/Dillinger/Smart x1
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Morby
Kiko Bun
Klaus DingerKrome and Time
La Dusseldorf
Leszek Mozdzer
Lou Reed
LANY
Laura Marling
Lion Vibes
Little Mix
London Grammar
Lovebirds ft Galliano
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Hello,
The Coroner’s report on George Michael’s death on Christmas Day has finally been released: The post-mortem found that he had dilated cardiomyopathy and myocarditis. That means that he had a dilated and enlarged heart that would be less efficient than it should be and tat there was also some inflammation of the heart muscle itself. There are a handful of common causes of this kind of problem. He also had a fatty liver as a lot of us overweight Scots will also be living with. Eat more fruit and veg and cut out the bread… I was a doctor before I opened VoxBox six years ago and am still. Maybe because of that, I was never happy with the initial reporting that George Michael may have died of a heroin overdose and I mentioned the shoddy reporting by The Daily Telegraph in the last blog. The worldwide press had already quoted and spread the Telegraph’s report.
My reasoning that he died of something other than a heroin overdose was simply that heroin addicts tend to die quickly when they overdose. They will stop breathing shortly after injecting or snorting and they will therefore have the signs of drug use around them. A needle and syringe and a tourniquet won’t be far away and that would be seen by the police. An addict in recovery who has been prescribed methadone can overdose with nothing suspicious seen around the body. However, the pharmacies and his GP could quickly establish if he was prescribed this. Street methadone is harder to obtain than heroin but not impossible. However, George Michael’s closest relatives had quickly said that he was not using opiates. Opiates can usually be found rapidly on toxicology testing.
I’m no Columbo but George Michael was very candid about drug use to the press and presumably to those close to him. The family’s immediate response made me think that the opiate claim was going to be wrong. It is pretty difficult to hide heroin addiction from close friends and family. Close friends and family will usually know that something isn’t right -Not always, but the story didn’t sound right to me.
And another thing… They are also likely to be aware of other things that could have been much more likely to have caused the death. Their instant refutation made me feel that they were likely to be right and should have been listened to.
This doesn’t look like heroin to me. Maybe we should wait for the toxicology.
Anyway, with the Coroner’s report hot off the press, I’ve written a complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation for the first time in my life. I feel they breached their code of practice. I had wondered about offering alternative reasons as to why he could have died but it’s not the right thing to do and The General Medical Council and other ethical bodies say that doctors shouldn’t publicly speculate about diagnoses of people in the public eye. (For example some Psychiatrists are excusing diagnosing Donald Trump with various neuroses as being for the good of the world). If I were to have speculated as to the cause of George Michael’s death on this blog I’d be in real trouble with the GMC. And rightly so. I believe that when a journalist quotes an unnamed source and creates a wave of worldwide gossip that they should be held to account. They can’t just say “he told me so” or “well he told me they were related” and then publish these things.
This is not a subject I wanted to have to blog about but I respect George Michael a lot and grew up with some of his songs that I really didn’t like (Mostly Wham) and wasn’t much interested in the charts in the Careless Whisper period. But I was impressed by the huge comeback circa 1996 with the Fastlove stuff which I thought was great.
We don’t sell many Wham or George Michael records but I liked the man a lot and his struggle for control of the use of his music against his label in the 1990s was eyeopening as to how the music industry works. It’s all on Youtube. But ultimately, I’d like to try to stop this kind of lazy speculative reporting. Instead of informing us, it really makes us all dumber. Is this “Fake News”?
Sorry about the miserable subject of this.
Lots of good things to come but I just had to get this off my chest.
Here’s the email sent to IPSO today. I hope they act on it. Click on the tune below before you begin to read as it is a dull read and you may well need something to help you as you go through it.
Dear IPSO,
My complaint is regarding the publication of two articles by The Daily Telegraph following the death of singer George Michael. The first article appeared on the 27th December, two days after his death. This speculated that he may have died of a drug overdose. The journalist quoted an anonymous source who had allegedly said that George Michael had been using heroin, had been rushed to hospital earlier in the year with an overdose (without saying what drug he allegedly overdosed on). I can’t find the original article online. The later article was published on the 30th December following a post-mortmen that had failed to find an exact cause of death. This article actually refers to the earlier Telegraph article when the journalist writes, “More tests will be conducted on the star, who, it has been claimed, has battled heroin addiction this year, and are expected to take a number of weeks.” This rehashing of the original anonymous source published by the Telegraph adds emphasis to the speculation. The fact that the people who perhaps knew George Michael best -family, friends and legal team, all denied that he had used heroin in the weeks prior to his death was acknowledged in the article but the stress of the article was not the diagnostic uncertainty but the speculation.
The first line is “Singer George Michael’s death could be linked to heroin”! The singer’s death could also have been rumoured to be linked to careless whispering or having free drinks at Club Tropicana but unless they are corroborated they should be reported on as speculation (or ideally not at all). The story was picked up by the press worldwide who could then honestly report the speculation by saying “it has been reported that George Micahel was using heroin”. All due to an anonymous source quoted by The Daily Telegraph. The Coroner’s report is now available and he has been deemed to have died of “natural causes”. Toxicology that would have shown opiates in his system was negative. I feel they have breached the Code of Practice: i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text. This information was poor quality and corroboration with people that knew him well could have prevented this error and the following wildfire of speculative coverage. I believe that his cousin may have been revealed now as the source. Although family, he would surely have had to prove that he was close to George. I have 16 cousins many of whom I haven’t spoken to in many years. It would be absurd for anyone to quote them about circumstances of my untimely demise without checking the closeness of the relationship. It simply reeked of poor reporting.
The second complaint was regarding IPSO 6 which states: “In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. These provisions should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.”
The media circus following George Michael’s death would have been difficult for his family and friends to endure. The false accusations of heroin addiction and perhaps the stigma attached to drug addiction led to them feeling the need to challenge the speculation publicly only two days following his death. I’m sure that if the close family and friends had been told about the speculation that was about to be published they would have been distressed and pleaded that it was untrue. -and it has now been proven to be untrue. I feel that the reporting has put George Michael’s family under unnecessary stress and with no sympathy or discretion at a time of deep personal grief and upheaval.
I am glad that the family have been vindicated following the Coroner’s report. However some of the public will always think that he was a heroin addict at the time of his death. Some will still believe that he died of an overdose. George Michael was always candid about past drug use but I think he never claimed in an interview to have ever been a heroin user. I’m not a fan as such but I have a small record shop and a love of music and I despise shoddy reporting like this. The initial story never rang true to me and now that the Coroner’s report is available, I think that now is the time to raise a formal complaint.
Thank You For Your Complaint
*A few parts of the email sent to IPSO have been edited for the blog post to help with clarity and the odd spelling mistake. But let us see what happens.
O Death. These blog posts actually started with Whitney Houston’s early death in 2012 and there is a wee bit mentioning the death of Monkee Davy Jones but I didn’t want it to be an obituary blog so hadn’t mentioned several high profile music stars passing. I broke this when David Bowie died. However many of us mere mortals will have had some bad news this year and yet life goes on and the clock keeps ticking steadily away like an old undertaker’s hammer driving the nails into a new coffin lid.
This past year had seen a proven spike of high profile deaths. It is normal to ask ‘who’s next? The (remaining) Who?’ Could it even be that we are approaching peak celebrity death? I don’t think so: There is a lot more to come… Television and radio made many more people stars and reached a global audience from the late 1950s onwards. Not just seeing photos and hearing the music but the whole thing. From the inception of Radio 1 to television and then Top of the Pops to the birth of the music festival. The mass production of records was a major factor also. Photographers and film crews followed artists, the music documentary was born. Heroes were becoming more accessible and you now knew what they looked like and what they sound like talking. Their personalities can shine through and we have become emotionally involved in an awful lot of people. It is heartening that most of the heroes from the 1960s are actually still alive. A lot of heroes from the 1950s’ Rock and Roll Boom are still alive too and the greats Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, with a combined age of 255, are still gigging.
Is it better to burn out or fade away? Sometimes you get a warning… Country music legend Glen Campbell did his farewell tour in 2011 following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and although still on the line, he is now nursed in a care home. He is reported to be in the end stages but doing fine. It is difficult to sell his records today. Maybe it will be easier when he has gone. It is sad to see that artists can sell really well after death but also nice that they get recognition. It’s a uncomfortable sensation. Should a shop display your recently deceased artists more to take advantage? We don’t in VoxBox really; maybe we should. After Freddie Mercury died in 1991, an Edinburgh record shop (Hot Wax) put all the Queen and Freddie Mercury solo records in the basement. Customers who came in and asked for them were treated to “If it wasn’t good enough to buy when Freddie was alive… You’re not getting it now he’s dead!” Bert was one of the great Edinburgh record shop owners. An archetype and it is a great anecdote but not a sensible business model then or now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B49YDR6OMIE
It’s remarkable that many great 1960s bands are still in one piece. All of Black Sabbath are still alive and a Rolling Stone hasn’t faded away for almost 50 years. Despite a diet consisting only of fags and Shepherd’s pie, Keith Richards is alive and climbing coconut trees. Saying that, these superstars and the MOJO Magazine sellers like Bob Dylan and Neil Young can’t last forever although the ability of these two in particular to create albums has accelerated. Maybe they feel the pressure of time. Perhaps it’s simply to pay for their recent divorces. Dylan got the Nobel prize which I think was well deserved and I think he has a while to go and I do want to read the sequel to his Chronicles: Volume I biography. I have a theory that he wants to die on stage hence the never-ending touring. Anyway the point of this is that I always think that the wrong time to celebrate a musician is after they are dead.
Maybe the media is just more focussed on reporting deaths just now. I remember watching the Six O’clock News waiting to hear the piece about Edinburgh guitar maestro Bert Jansch passing away a few years ago but it never came. I hung on through Reporting Scotland at half past. Nope. Then I watched the Channel 4 news hoping in vain. These days, I like to think he’d get a mention. It is not without irony that a man who wrote about the dangers of opiates should die of lung cancer. Those great old pics would often have a cigarette hanging from his lips. In drug terms, nicotine is the biggest killer of them all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9C9tx-Bv3w
As an aside, there does not appear to be an excess of illegal drugs and even then, it is not usually ‘hard’ drugs that are killing musicians these days. Many of the premature deaths were of smokers and smoking is known to take an average of ten years off your life. Prince is now known to have died of a fentanyl overdose. Doctors are being warned off prescribing opiates like this for chronic non-cancer pain. Studies have shown they simply don’t work in the long-term so it seems an accident that should not have been allowed to happen. As to a doctor prescribing propofol to help a patient sleep? That is lunacy (Michael Jackson’s cause of death).
The Patch of Death?
I was not surprised to find out that the BBC actually keeps a whole stash of pre-written obituaries and some musicians will have had their obituary written for decades. What Is Shane MacGowan up to these days? Does anyone care about him today? Van Morrison doesn’t look too healthy: Better play Astral Weeks again. Have you visited your granny enough this year? It must be a strange experience knowing there is an obituary and a collection of clips ready for playing once you are dead. Shouldn’t you be allowed to see it for a fact check? Hell, you could add an interview. That would be weird but compelling. “Hi, I’m David Bowie and this is my BBC death montage.”
The BBC actually produced a documentary on Shane MacGowan in 1997:
An older friend of mine has stopped buying the Grateful Dead box sets he loves as he might not have time to listen to them all. He was joking as he already has more Grateful Dead than he can listen to but illness can focus the mind. Not always in a healthy way so we need to be able to deal with knowing and caring about the life and death of more people than any group of humans have had to before. Working in the NHS some describe “compassion fatigue” and I can see that happening for celebrity deaths too. Will even more celebrity deaths be the saviour of newspapers as they knock out the 12 page spread on the dead stars in their souvenir editions or will we all get bored of mass grieving? In the future I’d like to see some newspaper journalists chased down for the disrespectful, often made up/speculation coverage. A “source” was quoted in the Daily Telegraph as saying George Michael was a heroin addict. He wasn’t though. Was there a source or was it made up? After the toxicology is out, if negative, I think the author of the article should be investigated.
Ach I don’t know, maybe we shouldn’t act so shocked; “Grandpa died last week and he’s buried in the rocks, everybody still talks about how badly they were shocked…” (Dylan). We should celebrate the life and the successes, the 30 album glorious careers and the successful careers and burn outs of so many that have led chaotic lives in a harsh music industry. I was touched by Leonard Cohen’s letter written to long time muse Marianne when he found out she was ill and it is this kind of beautiful and poetic reflection that can help you take a step back and find a way to come to terms with loss.
For the year ahead, let us celebrate the career geniuses and the one hit wonders, the bums the punks, the old sluts on junk. And do it now. Dig out your favourite albums and play them. We don’t always do that enough. Keep in touch with those you care about as you never know if there is a double decker bus around the corner. Some of your favourite artists who were once superstars could easily now be answering their own emails these days. You can drop them a line and let them know what they mean to you. We are truly lucky to be able to share the planet with such talent. To be missed shows you have been doing something right.
Luckily, if you are 65 just now, you will probably live to be 85 or so and the odds are that if you are alive just now whatever your age, you will more probably than not, still be alive at the end of next year.
You can make tiny changes to Earth in 2017.
Start by quitting the fags again. We’d like our customers, like our rock stars, to stay alive those extra 10 years.
Happy New Year!
‘Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road’ Leonard Cohen
VoxBox Music became the newest record shop in the world on May 21st 2011. We buy and sell vinyl and other formats of music. We are independent and sell mostly pre-owned records although we are slowly branching into new vinyl too.
