Open Up And Say... Ahh!

A few months back I bought a couple of LPs missing their outer sleeves, which I didn't mind a bit, as they were only 50p each.  The first was Pink Floyd's Obscured By Clouds.

Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds (1972)
Side 1 label

Sleeve art

This was the band's 7th album and is based on their soundtrack to a film by French director Barbet Schroeder about a woman's voyage of self-discovery.  After a disagreement with the film company, Pink Floyd released the work under the name Obscured By Clouds instead of the intended La Vallée, the name of the movie.

It was recorded during hurried sessions between those for Dark Side Of The Moon, and consists of instrumental mood pieces (Obscured By Clouds, When You're In), conventional rock songs (The Gold It's In The...), and more recognisably - to me at least, as a casual fan - Floydian ones (Wot's... Uh The Deal? and Childhood's End).  It lacks the grandeur of the albums either side of it; no bad thing, as it's still an engaging yet gentle listen, although some of it feels unfinished, with Burning Bridges and When You're In coming to an end just as I'm getting into them.

Final track Absolutely Curtains finishes with an extended section of chanting, performed by members of the Mapuga tribe of the cloud-covered rainforest of New Guinea where the film is set.

The second sleeveless find was one disc of the double LP Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye.

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear (1978)
Side 2 label

Since the other disc was missing, I've in fact got sides 2 and 3 thanks to Motown's habit of pairing 2 with 3 and 1 with 4.  Apparently this was for ease of use with a turntable stacking system, although 1+3 and 2+4 would seem to me a better option as all four sides also could be played in successive order on twin decks.

Here's what I have (I've since listened to the missing tracks online):

Side 2.
5.  Is That Enough
6.  Everybody Needs Love
7.  Time To get It Together

Side 3.
8.  Sparrow
9.  Anna's Song
10. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You? (Instrumental)

Half of the royalties for the album were to be paid to Gaye's ex-wife Anna, as part of their divorce settlement (I wonder whose half of the album I have?), and at first he'd planned to churn something out quickly, merely to meet this requirement.  For whatever reason he changed his mind and ended up pouring himself into it, resulting in one of his greatest pieces of work, not to mention a masterclass on washing one's dirty laundry in public.

After the long, slow funk of Is That Enough with it's slinky, mournful sax, Marvin gets into list mode, noting all those he believes need love, from flowers to babies, and bluebirds to, er, mountains, his voice never sweeter and never more full of pain.  The album is characterised by layered vocal harmonies (all his own) and mid-paced, mostly unstructured soul grooves with horns, synths and funk guitar.  Sparrow has a hint of jazz, and although it seems to be about his ex-wife, I do wonder if it doesn't have something to do with Diana Ross, whose nickname was Sparrow.

Cover art, which along
with the innner sleeve illustrations
contains further digs at Anna.

Throughout the record his emotions are raw, confessional and mainly bitter, and there are plenty of digs at Anna mixed with his regret at a failed marriage.  If Here, My Dear is a Motown 'Blood On The Tracks', then You Can Leave, But It's Going To Cost You is the vicious 'Idiot Wind', and if we were to take this shaky analogy further, A Funky Space Reincarnation is 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack Of Hearts', i.e. a fun but long-winded diversion that has little to do with the rest of the album (although AFSP is a plodder in contrast to the spirited Lily...).

It's definitely an album that takes some time to appreciate, due to its initial one-paced feel and lack of traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, but the songs really do distinguish themselves with repeated listening.  I now just need to keep an eye out at future boot sales for the missing disc.  Oh, and the sleeve.


One warm Sunday last September I picked up INXS's X, for £1.

INXS - X (1990)
The Roman numeral in the title is meant to represent
the ten years since they recorded their 1980 debut.

This was the band's 7th album, following 1987's Kick, and like Kick it was produced by Chris Thomas.  The biggest single from it was of course the fantastic Suicide Blonde, which features an absolutely corking sample of bluesman Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica.  Musselwhite also recorded some new parts for tracks On My Way and Who Pays The Price.  X contains the same kind of muscular pop-rock as Kick, but for me the songs are not quite as strong.  Surprisingly it got as high as no.2 in the UK album chart, seven places higher than its predecessor, although Kick remained on the chart much longer; 103 weeks, compared to X's 44.

All four of X's singles cracked the top 50 over here, the highest being Suicide Blonde's no.11 placing.  Disappear was the next most successful, peaking at no.21.


At another boot sale a few weeks later, I took a £2 punt on their 1993 album Full Moon, Dirty Hearts.

INXS - Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (1993)
Cheer up lads, it's not that ba... oh, wait.

This follow-up to 1992's Welcome To Wherever You Are has all the bombast of X but sadly none of the tunes.  Even roping in Chrissie Hynde on the title track and Ray Charles for Please (You Got That...) isn't enough to save this frankly boring LP from the dumper (or in this case the charity shop).  It somehow managed to max out at no.3 on the UK chart, although it dropped out of sight after just a couple of months.


Most of the time I don't have the patience to go through 45s, but when vinyl is thin on the ground at a car boot sale I'll occasionally flip through a box of singles.  I bought this half-dozen of late 80s 7-inchers last autumn for 50p each.

L-R: Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real (1989)
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody (Remix) (1989)
New Order - Blue Monday 88 (1988)
Spagna - Call Me (1987)
Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield - What Have I Done To Deserve This? (1987)
Pseudo Echo - Funky Town (1987)

The original Blue Monday came out in 1983 and reached no.9.  This 1988 version was remixed by Quincy Jones and John Potoker and bested it, peaking at no.3.  The remix of Ain't Nobody performed a similar feat, climbing two places higher than the '84 original, achieving a no.6 placing.  It also appeared on Chaka's chart-topping album of dance mixes the same year: http://carbootvinyldiaries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/life-is-dance.html

The Pseudo Echo record is a version of Lipps Inc.'s much-covered Funkytown, and if any of the singles here can be classified as a guilty pleasure (not a notion I usually subscribe to!), it's this one.  The Australian new wave-ers' rockier take on the disco-funk oddity was the most successful single of their entire career, reaching no.1 in their home country as well as New Zealand and Canada.

All six of these singles were top ten hits in the UK.


If the weather is decent enough, one of my local car boot sales runs until late December and resumes just a month or so later.  In early February this year I spied this curiosity in a box of 80s pop.  It caught my eye as this is the school where my better half (Mr Breakfast) currently works.

Music from Sir John Leman High School 1631 - 1981 (1981)
Private press.  The name Margaret is written in the top
right corner.

The school band, orchestra and choir were recorded at a local church for county radio to celebrate 350 years since the school was established.  Beccles tradesman John Leman did rather well for himself and became Lord Mayor of London in 1616.  On his death he provided funds for the education of 44 boys from the town plus two others from the nearby parish of Ringsfield and two from Gillingham, on the condition they could all read and write before they enrolled.  The building, which was already a school when Leman gave it to the town, is now a museum, and the modern establishment is currently an academy.

Printed insert with credits and track listing.
The record's label reads "St. John Leman", still a common mistake
according to Mr Breakfast.

Back in 1981 when this wonky but charming collection of music was recorded, the school was a comprehensive high for boys and girls aged 13-18.  After giving it a listen I donated it to the school as they didn't have a copy.  It's now in their archive.


Also costing a pound was this from US rock tarts Poison.

Poison - Open Up And Say... Ahh! (1988)

This album is quite important to me, as I remember taping a copy from the local library and being absolutely wowed by it.  It was the record that got me listening to guitar music, in particular Guns N' Roses, whom I fell for hard in my high school years.

The album cover was changed
to this after complaints about
the original.

1988 was a golden time for hair-centric hard rock; Open Up... was kept off the top spot that year by Gn'R's Appetite For Destruction, Bon Jovi's New Jersey and Def Leppard's world-eating monster Hysteria.  It reached a high of no.18 here in the UK.

If you're into double entendres, single entendres, cheesy overproduced party rock and stoopid hair and makeup, this record will be right up your street.  Having played my C90 to death aged 13 then not hearing it in years, the whole album now gives me an enormous Proustian rush, but no song more than Fallen Angel.  Right, I'm off to jump on my bed, alternately punching the air and playing air drums.

*******************************

Word Of Mouth

At a car boot sale last September I bought this Isley Brothers record for the smashing sum of 50p:

Isley Brothers - Greatest Hits (1970)
Released by EMI on Starline in the UK
and Regal in the US.

Last time I thought I'd bought a Motown-era Isley's compilation (albeit with a very different tracklist), the sleeve turned out to contain something quite different.

The Brothers had (and continue to have) a long and diverse career, changing genres, members and labels across the years but always remaining identifiably Isley.  This material is from their short stint at the Detroit record company from 1965 until they left under a bit of a cloud (like several others did) in '68, after they failed to produce a follow-up to their US no.12/UK no. 3 hit This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You).  This and their other big UK seller Put Yourself In My Place kick off the album, followed by a clutch of singles that flopped worldwide despite their high quality, such as the fabulous Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While), later a hit for another set of brothers: the Doobies.

There's some typical Motown recycling on display in the shape of Stop! In The Name Of Love (Supremes) and Nowhere To Run (Martha & the Vandellas); these and a few other songs on this collection were originally album tracks on the Isley's 1966 album This Old Heart Of Mine. There are also four songs from their second and final album with Motown, Soul On The Rocks, including Behind A Painted Smile (previously recorded by Kim Weston), which failed to chart in their home country, but climbed to no.13 here when it was reissued in 1969.  Like most of their songs, it came from the wonderful H-D-H- team.

After they left Motown, the lads went on to revive their own T-Neck label, where they achieved further success, including several Gold and Platinum-selling albums such as Harvest For The World.  Their last album released to date was the festive I'll Be Home For Christmas, in 2007.


From the same seller, and also for 50p, I picked up this Mary Wells compilation:

Mary Wells - Greatest Hits including 'My Guy'' (1973)

Released on Music For Pleasure's "Sounds Superb" label in the early 70s, this record gathers together various singles, b-sides and album tracks from one of the quintessential Motown artists.  Surprisingly (well, to me anyway) only two of her singles charted here in the UK; My Guy reached no. 5 in May 1964, and then no.14 upon its re-release in 1972. The other was Once Upon A Time which peaked at no. 50 and strangely isn't included here.  As a result much of this excellent collection was unknown to me, so was definitely fifty pence very well spent.  Of the twelve tracks, most were written by Smokey Robinson, who took the sweet-voiced Detroit native Wells under his wing after she signed to Motown aged 17.

All from 1962, The One Who Really Loves You, You Beat Me To The Punch and Two Lovers represent Mary's greatest run of US singles aside from the world-conquering My Guy, all entering the top ten.  When I'm Gone was cancelled in 1964 when she quit the Gordy empire at the peak of her superstardom, and the song was re-recorded by the newly-signed Brenda Holloway who took it to no. 25 in the Billboard chart.  The b-side of this aborted single, Guarantee (For A Lifetime), is included here too, as well as Honey Boy and One Block From Heaven which were also unissued at the time but appeared on a 1966 cash-in compilation called Vintage Stock put out by Motown two years after Wells left them for 20th Century Fox.

As well as the Funk Brothers of course, Wells is backed on most of these songs by label session groups The Adantes (female vocal trio) and the male Love Tones.

Hiding amongst the easy listening one Sunday morning last November was a well-loved copy of Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus.  It cost me £1.

Various Artists - Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus (1978)

This 10" EP was recorded over the two farewell nights of Manchester's Electric Circus venue on the 1st and 2nd of October 1977, and was released the following June.

Side 1.
1. The Fall - Stepping Out
2. John Cooper Clarke (You Never See A Nipple In The) Daily Express
3. Joy Division- At A Later Date
4. The Drones - Persecution Complex

Side 2.
1. Steel Pulse - Makka Splaff (The Colly Man)
2. John Cooper Clarke - I Married A Monster From Outer Space
3. The Fall - Last Orders
4. Buzzcocks - Time's Up

Rear cover

Inner sleeve front and rear

At the time of recording Joy Division were still calling themselves "Warsaw", but are credited here with their new name.  The EP represents The Fall's first ever release, so is quite collectible for fans.  It came out on black, blue and yellow vinyl, and there was an orange promo, the most collectible version of all.  There was also an early re-release on black vinyl only with red and green labels.  Mine is the blue-labelled original on black wax.

Labels

They seem to go for a variety of prices on Discogs, the most expensive being the version that came with a poster and bonus 7".  I doubt my one is worth more than a tenner as the sleeves are a bit scrappy, but I'm hanging on to it anyway, as it's a great find.


Thinking it was just a standard Atlantic soul compilation, I picked this up last autumn for £1:

Various Artists - AtlantiClassics (1972)

AtlantiClassics is in fact a fine compilation, but the 12 songs are introduced, interrupted, and in some cases completely talked over (I'm looking at you, Soul Finger) by the US DJ Emperor Rosko, who urges us to get down to our local "rekkid shop" to seek out these singles.

Side 1:
The Beginning of the End – Funky Nassau Part 1
Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers – Sock It To ‘Em J.B. Part 1
Arthur Conley – Funky Street
Bar-Kays – Soul Finger
The Drifters – Baby What I Mean
Wilson Pickett – Don’t Knock My Love Part 1

Side 2:
Aretha Franklin – Spanish Harlem
King Floyd – Groove Me
Ben E. King & The Drifters – Save The Last Dance For Me
Booker T. & The M.G.s – Green Onions
Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman
Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay

Side 1 label

DJ Emperor Rosko

Emperor Rosko (Michael J. Pasternak) began his UK radio career at pirate station Radio Caroline in 1964, then joined BBC Radio from its launch in '67, staying until '76.  A big advocate of American soul, he MC'd the British dates of the Stax/Volt tour in 1967, as well as several other soul packages visiting the UK.

This collection is presented in a similar (some might say nauseating) manner to other soul compilations bearing his name released in the same decade; a bombastic style of radio patter, interspersed with jingles and sound effects. This Billboard article from April 15th 1972 reveals "AtlantiClassics" to be a marketing tool for a big UK promotion of 16 Atlantic soul singles:

From Billboard Magazine, 15th April 1972

Rosko is now 73 and continues to broadcast in Europe on internet and satellite radio.


I paid 50p for this LP at a boot sale towards the end of September last year:

Rod Stewart & Steampacket (1977)
Released on Springboard Records, a budget label
and subsidiary of Springboard International Records Inc.

As well as Rod the Mod, Steampacket consisted of organist Brian Auger, singer Julie Driscoll, guitarist and vocalist Long John Baldry, Mick Waller on drums, Ricky Brown on bass, and guitarist and future Animal Victor Briggs.  The tracks here were all recorded at rehearsals in 1965; due to the complication of members all having different managers and belonging to different record labels, the band never recorded an official album.  This 7-track compilation was released in 1977, and from the cover photo it's clear that this was to cash in on Rod's later success, as he in fact only sings on one song, a cover of the H-D-H-penned Can I Get A Witness?  The rest is all covers too, such as Tim Hardin's Red Balloon, the gospel number Lord Remember Me and some Chicago blues in the shape of Bright Lights Big City sung by LJB.  My favourite tracks are the two instrumentals: Jimmy Smith's Back At The Chicken Shack and a Ramsey Lewis Trio-style The In Crowd.  Only the former is identified as an instrumental on the cover; perhaps the compilers thought that more than one might put off Rod's fans from purchasing.  I can imagine a few of them being rather disappointed upon getting this on the turntable, but I love it, and it's one of my favourite finds from 2015.

The band broke up shortly after Rod departed in 1966 for the short-lived Shotgun Express (with Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood), before he joined the Jeff Beck Group.  Here's Brian's organ in all its glory.

If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed that I'm partial to a bit of cheese, and I picked up this album by the King of Easy listening a few months back, for 10p:

Bert Kaempfert & his Orchestra - If I Had You (1963)

Here writer, arranger and producer Bert Kaempfert presents us with a dozen jazz and popular standards, played in a smooth, slow-paced style ideal for relaxing in one's groovy shag-pad with a green drink and a menthol fag on the go.  As well as Moonglow, Sentimental Journey and Doris Day's Secret Love, there are a couple of Bertie originals called Sweet Dreams and Magnolia Blossoms, which are as easy on the ear as you'd imagine.  Kaempfert's many albums are ubiquitous in the second-hand world, and are an enjoyable and essential part of any self-respecting car booter's record collection.

For twice the price of the Kaempfert album, i.e. 20p, I bought Toni Basil's debut LP on the following Sunday.

Toni Basil - Word Of Mouth (1981)
As you can see from the cover, the album was also available
on VHS and Betamax.

Of course everyone knows Toni for her mega-hit Mickey and the accompanying cheerleader video, but aside from this bubblegum-pop number, Word Of Mouth is a very respectable pop/new wave album.  Alongside a cover of Bacharach's Red Book and the flop single Nobody, there are three Devo cover versions.  Basil was a friend and early supporter of Devo (she was in a relationship with Gerald Casale for a time) and here they back her up on their own Be Stiff, Space Girls (a cover of their demo Space Girl Blues) and You Gotta Problem (previously Pity You).

Basil is well known for her work as a choreographer, including for Bowie's Diamond Dogs and Glass Spider tours.  Take a few minutes to read her Wiki page and you'll find a fascinating and impressive account of her other careers as a dancer, filmmaker, actor and more.

This UK version of Word Of Mouth has a slightly different tracklist to the US one, which came out the following year and included the single Shoppin' From A-Z plus a song written by Davis Essex called Rock On, while omitting my favourite here, Hanging Around.

That's all for now, I'll be back soon with more car boot sale and chazza vinyl.  Tune into my Twitter feed on Sunday evenings to keep up with my latest finds, and please do tell me about yours.

Cleaning vinyl records

I frequently get asked how I clean my car boot and charity shop records, so instead of repeating myself endlessly, I thought I'd jot it all down here in one handy blog post.

All secondhand records could benefit from a clean; not only does it improve playback, it also protects your stylus from excessive wear, so it's worth a little time and effort.  Even if a record looks shiny and clean, you never know what mucky horrors may be lurking within those grooves.  I've tried various methods over the years, and the following is what works for me.

1. Pre-clean:
I do my record cleaning with the bath and label clamp that make up part of the Knosti Disco Antistat kit, and it's done at the kitchen sink, which if you knew how cack-handed I am, you'd agree that this is the safest option.

First, the clamp is attached over the label, protecting it from getting a soaking and allowing the record to spin through the bath evenly.

Ooh, would you look at that dust.

Clampy hub-thing in place.  Don't screw it on too tightly.

I usually give the record a quick blast under the tap (warm, not hot!) to remove excess dust/sand/soil - you get all sorts of crap on car boot records.  Then it goes into the Disco bath, which is filled with warm water and a drop or two of washing up liquid, and I usually give each record at least 8 full turns in each direction.

Do as The Byrds said: "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

The bath has a soft brush inside (goat's hair, I think, sorry vegans) that sweeps the grooves thoroughly, dislodging dirt particles.  If there's something stuck on part of the record's surface such as paper or a sticky label, I leave that part soaking below the water line for a few mins first and it comes away easily.

2. Rinse:
My records get two rinses: one under a warm tap to remove all traces of detergent, and a second with a spray bottle filled with distilled water, to flush away the mineral-laden tap water.  I live in a hard water area, and if I forget this stage the records are left with white streaks of lime if allowed to dry before the second clean.

3. Second clean:
Once I've pre-cleaned and rinsed a few records, it's time to empty and rinse out the Disco bath for the next stage.  For this second clean I use a homemade solution, and to make one litre I mix 900ml of distilled water (available from local chemist's) with 100ml of 99% isopropyl alcohol.  I used to get the latter from the chemist's too, but the last time I asked for some they looked at me like I was a substance abuser and said "Oh, we're not allowed to sell that anymore!", so now I get it from eBay, who are much less judgemental.

This mixture works pretty well as it is, but I've now started adding 2ml of a photographic wetting agent to every litre (many recipes online say 5ml per litre but I found this to make the fluid far too sudsy).  It acts as a surfactant, not only preventing the fluid from beading on the record's surface, but also helping it to get properly into the grooves (as recommended by Madonna circa 1985).  The Disco bath is filled with the homemade fluid (it holds around half a litre) and the process is the same as in the pre-clean, i.e. 8 full turns in each direction.

"Let's go round again...".  (Hey, who moved my tap across to the other side?)

After about an hour in the drying rack for a decent airing, the records are then given a quick check and a buff with a large spectacles cloth.  Occasionally a record will have a speck of something like paint, tippex or some unidentified yukkiness on it that doesn't come off during the normal cleaning process, but it's easily removed with a couple of drops of undiluted isopropyl alcohol and the soft cloth.  It's a good idea to give the inner and outer record sleeves a shake over the sink; there's not much point in putting a freshly cleaned record back inside a dusty sleeve.

The plastic caps on the ends of the drying rack seemed to me
a bit scratchy, so I removed them and replaced them with soft
electrical tape.  The rack holds 15 records.

Miscellaneous:

• The surfactant I use is Ilford Ilfotol Wetting Agent and can only be bought by the litre, so will probably last one person a lifetime, although I've noticed lately that some eBay sellers are now decanting these to sell in smaller quantities.  
• I re-use the homemade fluid until I can see dust particles floating around in it. It never gets to the stage where it looks actually 'dirty', as it's only used on properly pre-cleaned records.
• The pouring lip on the Disco bath is a bit rubbish, so I decant the cleaning fluid into a jug first, before pouring it back into the bottle.
• The cleaning liquid that comes with the Disco Antistat is expensive to replace (around £15 for a litre, i.e. the same as vodka) but it is good for reducing static crackle.  I only use it occasionally and swear like a trooper if I spill some. 
• Sometimes the clamp's hub doesn't quite cover the record's label.  This doesn't seem to matter, as once it dries, it looks quite perfect again.  I've never had a label suffer damage from getting a bit wet.
• As with any cleaning solution, particularly one containing alcohol, it goes without saying that it should be stored safely away from kids, pets and alcoholic relatives, and used in a well-ventilated room.
• Umm... I think that's it.  If you've any questions, do leave them in the comments or tweet me @VinylCarBooty.

Don't Leave Me This Way

The blog has sat neglected for quite a while (the last proper post was almost a year ago!), as my spare time has been spent elsewhere, but the seemingly unquenchable thirst for bargain vinyl remains, and I've continued to scour car boot sales and charity shops for records.  There's a lot to catch up with, so let's make a start...

Cher released her 19th album Heart Of Stone in 1989, and I bought a copy at a chilly boot sale last spring for 50p.

Cher - Heart Of Stone (1989)
This artwork, a painting by Octavio Ocampo,
was changed not long after release for a
much less interesting, conventional studio portrait.
Look carefully at the image to see a skull.

This collection of synthy soft rock and blistering, blustering power ballads is front-loaded with its three best songs; Just Like Jesse James which got to no. 11 in the UK, If I Could Turn Back Time which reached no. 6 and of course spawned that video filmed aboard the USS Missouri, and You Wouldn't Know Love, which amazingly only got as high as no. 55 here, despite being a stonker of a tune.

The title track is actually a Bucks Fizz cover, which was news to me, although it did come out at the fag-end of their career, in 1988.  Their version barely scraped into the chart at no. 55; Cher's fared slightly better the following year at 43.  Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore? sounds terrifically like Livin' On A Prayer, which unsurprisingly turns out to have been written by two members of Bon Jovi.

The cheesiest moments come courtesy of a cover of Desmond Child's Love On A Rooftop and the none-more-80s Emotional Fire featuring Bonnie Tyler and Michael Bolton on backing vox.  It must be said that the album as a whole is firmly of its time, but Ms Sarkisian belts out its mostly well-written songs with a satisfying gusto.  Heart Of Stone peaked at no. 7 in the UK, and remained on the album chart for a staggering 82 weeks. Here's that video:

At an Easter Sunday boot sale last year I got Roger McGuinn's self-titled solo debut as part of a 3-for-£5 deal.

Roger McGuinn (1973)

I say solo, the four other original members of The Byrds all appear on the jazzy My New Woman, about a new squeeze who aspires to be "more than a lay".  The album boasts an eclectic mix of styles; acoustic folk-pop opener I'm So Restless is my favourite track, name-checking Dylan, Jagger and Lennon, and even featuring Mr D himself on harmonica.  Like many of the songs here it was co-written with Jacques Levy, who had already collaborated with McGuinn on Chestnut Mare, and who'd later work with Dylan on his Desire album.

Bag Full Of Money is a country tune that expands on the true story of "DB Cooper" who in 1971 hijacked a Boeing 727 and extorted $200,000 from the authorities before parachuting away, never to be seen again.  Aside from his ex band-mates, McGuinn's other guests include Spanky McFarlane on backing vocals for the traditional sea shanty Heave Away, Bruce Johnston joining David Crosby to provide harmony vocals on another trad cover The Water Is Wide, and Bruce again both singing and playing piano on the sunny, unsurprisingly Beach Boys-esque Draggin'.  There's plenty of musical variety to keep things interesting; as well as the jazzy feel of the aforementioned My New Woman courtesy of Charles Lloyd and his sax, sci-fi ballad Time Cube even has a bit of Moog squelching between the banjo picking.  The rather sickly Jimmy Joyce Children's Chorus blight the beginning of Stone, a cover of the Oldham/Penn gospel track, here featuring Spooner himself on piano, but thankfully they disappear for good after about 30 seconds.

Altogether it's a great album, due to its diversity of styles and McGuinn's unfussy production, as well as some strong songwriting and cover choices.

Found nestling amongst the Tijuana brass and bought for just a pound last April was this Ride album:

Ride - Meltdown (1991)

Recorded live at Wembley Arena and the Town & Country Club in early 1991, and drawing on their three EPs from the year before (Ride, Play and Fall) as well as material from '91's Today Forever EP and debut album Nowhere, Meltdown is a snapshot of a band arguably at their peak.  It manages to capture their gigantic, rolling wave of sound, combining a distorted but melodic jangle with hazy harmony vocals.  It's thrilling, and made even more exciting by the fact that it's a fairly rare bootleg, on XS Records (did I mention it was a pound?).

Deadwax etchings 

On the same day last April I picked up The Communards' second album Red for 50p, a couple of months after finding their self-titled debut in a local hospice shop for £1.

The Communards - Red (1987)

The Communards - Communards (1986)

These were the duo's only two albums, between Jimi Somerville's short stay in Bronski Beat and his subsequent solo career, and of course some time before Richard became the Rev Coles.

Inner gatefold of 'Communards'.

Both albums consist of Hi-NRG synth-pop interspersed with thoughtful piano ballads, and the best-selling single from each album was a disco-inspired cover of a cover; Don't Leave Me This Way (Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes→Thelma Houston) stayed at no.1 for 4 weeks in September '86, and Never Can Say Goodbye (Jackson 5→Gloria Gaynor) peaked at no. 2 the following year.  Red boasts the particularly moving For A Friend, written in memory of the band's close friend Mark Ashton.

Flowers by Julie Felix cost me just 20p, bought the same day as the Roger McGuinn record.

Julie Felix - Flowers (1967)

The Californian folk-pop artist of Native American and Mexican descent found fame in Britain when she signed with Decca in 1964.  Flowers is her sixth album overall and her second on Fontana, to whom she switched in 1966.  She became a regular guest on The Frost Report as their resident singer, and even hosted her own TV variety programmes on the BBC between 1968 and '70.

I mainly bought the album for the two Dylan songs (Chimes Of Freedom and The Gates Of Eden) but there are several other pleasant enough covers including two Donovan numbers, as well as her own composition Berlin, featuring a jazzy sax outro. There's nothing outstanding here, but since I was only expecting acoustic hippie strumming/warbling, the harpsichord, organ and flute on some of the tracks came as a nice surprise and keep things interesting.

On the same morning as I found Ride and The Communards' Red (not to mention four different LPs with the word 'Tijuana' in the title, but more of that another day...), I bought Missing... Presumed Having A Good Time by the Notting Hillbillies. It was the end of the morning and my pocketful of car boot change was much depleted.  The record was supposed to be £2, but the seller kindly accepted my last £1.79.

The Notting Hillbillies - Missing... Presumed Having A Good Time (1990)

The is the sole release from Mark Knopfler's country-rock side project formed in 1986, and consists mainly of covers, plus a couple of originals in Your Own Sweet Way with Knopfler taking lead vocal for the only time, and Will You Miss Me? written and sung by Steve Phillips.  The band sound great throughout, playing the sort of laid-back pre-rock 'n' roll Americana that fans of Dylan's 21st century albums will likely enjoy.  Banjo, keys, Knopfler's unmistakeable guitar sound and some beautiful pedal steel from Paul Franklin combine with agreeable vocal harmonies on eleven tracks of country, bluegrass, calypso and blues, although it may be a little on the smooth side for some tastes.

Back in 1990 my dad and my eldest sister went to see the Notting Hillbillies play locally at Snape Maltings (as did the future Mr Breakfast), which was broadcast on TV (Channel 4 I think) and is now on youtube in full, with three extra songs:

Last (for now) but by no means least is Dylan's live Hard Rain album, found in May last year for £1.

Bob Dylan - Hard Rain (1976)

I spent much of 2015 (and a little of 2016) listening to Dylan's back catalogue via the 47-disc Complete Album Collection box set, blogging my impressions as I went.  You can read what I thought of Hard Rain here:

http://bobsbigbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/19-hard-rain-1976.html

and find the rest of the BobBox blog here:

http://bobsbigbox.blogspot.co.uk/

That's it for now, I'll be back soon with more car boot sale and charity shop vinyl.  If you'd like to keep up with my bargain hunting in 'real time', follow me on Twitter @VinylCarBooty (there's a button at the top of the page).  I generally tweet boot sale records on a Sunday evening, and charity shop ones as and when I find them.  Please do share your bargains with me either here on the blog via the comments, or over in Twitter land, I'd love to hear about them!