Hello mortals. I, the almighty all-powerful 1537 have been neglecting you recently. Life, including still, the after affects of Covid* has got in the way of blogging.
I have been on holiday, fulfilled substitute father-of-the-bride duties at my sister-in-law’s wedding^, rescued a baby hedgehog from a busy road, won the national lottery^^, aged, endured ridiculous heat and even thought a bit about doing some DIY since I last posted here.
I know, sorry to keep you out of the loop.
Very sadly and more relevantly to this blog I inherited my uncle Alastair’s record collection a fortnight ago too. Well, his record collection after all his Iron Maiden stuff had been stolen in the early 90’s, to be precise. Five big shopping bags full of LPs.
It is really difficult because I remember him showing me a good number of the records here at one time or another when I was a spotty teen and when I first got them home and jammed into the record room^* it was overwhelmingly sad. I am the only one who remembers his stories about them, they live only in me.
So it’s my job to cherish, appreciate and above all listen to them.
I’m no hypocrite though, it is exciting and I won’t need to buy any records for a long time to come now. There are surprisingly few duplicates with my own too.
Like I said 5 bags full of lots of rock and metal, as well as some surprising changes of pace. An incomplete list includes: Anvil, original John Mayall albums*^, Tank, Motörhead singles, Magnum, Savatage, lots of Saxon goodies, Rock Goddess, original Stones LPs, Nazareth, original early Beatles, later Hawkwind, Dio, lots of Ozzy, Stevie Nicks, Eloy, Badger, Amon Düül II, Thunder, Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep, Budgie …
The real treasures so far are a pretty complete Rush collection, well up until Power Windows when he got bored with them. When I say complete I mean there are 3 separate different copies of Hemispheres alone (coloured vinyl, 2 different picture discs), that complete. Loads of 12″ singles and signed tour programmes. So far I have explored and liked Permanent Waves I’ll get back to you on the others.
A copy of Black Sabbath We Sold Our Soul To Rock ‘n Roll signed by that singer bloke and the banjo player. Wow.
On the Sabbath, have a look at the Wikipedia page about WSOSTRAR, I wonder if my uncle was one of the fans mentioned? I’d like to think so.
‘Despite the album being an official release, Iommi has been quoted as saying that the first time the band knew of it was when asked to autograph copies which fans presented after concerts‘
For all his love of his music my uncle appears to have used his records pretty hard. So a lot of cleaning, some gluing and judicious touching up is required here and there. I fear gentle reader that he may actually have played and enjoyed his albums!! I know!! Apparently a lot of old schools guys like him made that mistake^^^, drinking, smoking, enjoying them with friends. It was a generational thing.
Now my uncle was a heavy smoker all his life and each and every record here reeks of it, some having been marinated in fug for 50+ years. So I am doing my best to clean every one of them and air them, with mixed results so far. Don’t do cigarettes kids!
So life continues apace here at 1537 Towers with NWOBHM archaeology and hedgehog wrangling, I may even find spare coupla hours to blog again.
1143 Down (still).
PS: Quite liking this.
*weirdly I do find it harder to write now, than I did before getting ill. I’m a fully functioning citizen again, have been for 4 months now but this one thing is still tough. I should probably blame Bill Gates, or whoever made those voting machines in the US**, or something.
**only joking, highly paid lawyers, only joking.
^my speech was so good and I looked so great in my suit that it made the national news and I now have a lucrative side line in selling autographed copies of the DVD. True story.
^^£3.20. I have vowed not to let my winnings change me as a person, as much as I can help it.
^*thank you long-suffering Mrs 1537.
*^A Hard Road is a great listen, way better than the Clapton one.
^^^a line stolen from HMO.
Hi, I hope it’s not poor blog-iquette to comment on such a personal post so long after the fact ( apologies if it is). As I’ve been ploughing through the 1537 back pages I’ve really enjoyed the metal posts, and I’ve only just read that your NWOBHM Uncle Alastair is no longer with you, which I was saddened to discover. His legacy is secure though, clearly. Any Diamond Head or Saracen in the bags, perchance?
Hi Tim, no blogiquette here except be kind. Thank you, there was a Saracen LP but it was amongst a very small number that had to be put down because it was in such terrible condition (along with a Hawkwind comp and another I can’t recall).
Uncle Ali was a big reason I got into metal at all, I remember how cool and adult it seemed in his room – he’d painted a pentagram on his wall inset with a couple small red diodes and there were scary LP covers he’d show me. Later I loved pumping him for info about gigs and musicians he’d met.
It’s why I was so stoked to see Saxon support Priest, he rated them as the best of any of those bands live.
Who you calling “mortal”? I kinda like it.
I also received a bunch of music from someone I really dug. I play a lot of it frequently and it never fails to pull up good thoughts. Rescuing a “hedgehog” is also something we have in common (Big Earl my son can take credit).
Sorry for your loss! I am sure that, wherever he may be, he is happy his collection is safe with someone who will cherish and appreciate it. Keep them spinning in his memory!
Thanks Matt, that’s kind.
Sorry for your loss, dude – a lovely tribute though.
I’m finding the same with writing after my daily chlorine and horse de-worming regimen failed me.
Cheers Tony. Those horse worming pills are a right mare.
Great that you wound up with the collection (sorry for why you got it), but at least it is with someone who actually cares about it. It has found a great home.
Nice tribute to uncle Alistair there. I agree with Caress being a good start, Hemispheres is when the true pomp of Rush blossomed. I am very envious of the Budgie records. Every snap crackle and pop will carry a memory in those records.
Thanks fella. Only one Budgie, In For The Kill (great title that). Caress it is then.
Will you extend the 1537?
I haven’t counted my uncle’s records yet but my blog should already be called 2800. It could be a life sentence at this rate!
Man, what an honour to receive those records, very cool. And great to have you back, Lego man!
Thanks Canadian dude. I’ve asked others too, where do I start with Rush (away from 2112 and Waves)?
The beginning. Work up chronologically.
Done
Man you are in for a treat!
Moved. Jealous. Sad. Pleased… so many emotions.
Ignore the naysayers and (comparative) children, Caress of Steel to taste the primordial soup from which 2112 crawled!!
An elder of the tribe has spoken from behind his beloved waterfall.
Caress will get spun this week.
Yes, we elders did that a lot, actually listening to our albums. I can only hope future generations can learn from our mistakes, lmao. Looks like you hit the record jackpot!
Crazy fools! Didn’t you realise the whole point of LPs was not to listen to them?!
Wonderful collection. Keep those stories alive.
Keeping the stories alive is the whole point of this blogging thing, eh?
Where should I start on Savatage and Rush? I need assistance Mike.
Wow nice collection for you to get. I bought two Anvil albums back in the day FIF and Metal On Metal. Rush is amazing … Also that Saxon TEHL is awesome. That one was my entry world into the world of the Steve Dawson look! lol
Now u can bounce over to HMO’s and jam Lets Put The X In Sex together.
Nice memory to have from your Uncle!
Cheers pal
Yeah its great stuff, loads of 12″ singles, coloured vinyl. pic discs – all the metal stuff I like best.
It’s all still very sad though, but good to remember what he told me about the records and the bands he saw live (everyone, basically!).
Have you read ‘Denim & Leather’ about NWOBHM? best music book I’ve read for years – a lot of Steve Dawson in there!
The Rush stuff is a bit daunting, I only really knew 2112 before. Where would you start?
I need to get that book. I will head to Amazon when I’m done here..lol My discovery point of RUSH was of course Moving Pictures than onto Exit Stage than Signals…
You should check out the 40th Anniversary of Moving Pictures with the full unedited show from 81. It’s possibly the best live RUSH album out there…
So Moving Pictures then? There’s only one version of that here. I was going to give Farewell To Kings a go.
Or maybe one of the 3 versions of Hemispheres?
Actually yeah hit that one up as well…
Touching and wonderful. I like to think Alastair would be grinning.
And gee, I love that Badger cover. Possibly my favourite Roger Dean, then bonus points for the pop up badger!
Look forward to seeing and hearing about your explorations.
Cheers Bruce, as we discussed, it is really sad but also quite exciting. I just need to remember what he told me about all the records and gigs.
He never mentioned the Sabbath one to me though – possibly very wisely in case I nicked it!
The LP art for Badger is great, they look a bit prog though – mind you he like Eloy and Amon Duul II (Wolf City?). Do you know/rate Eloy? or the Wolf City album?
Badger are prog, yes. The band includes Tony Kaye, the first keyboard player in Yes.
I like Eloy – German symphonic prog – and have about 10 of theirs.
Wolf City came out as Amon Duul II were moving a little more towards the mainstream. It’s more structured than the earlier psychedelic/cosmic jam work. But a strong, enjoyable album for sure.
Delighted how rich your prog rock holding is getting, Joe!
I just bought Gutter Ballet! But I haven’t listened to it yet cause I’m not old school like you.
On a first listen, it’s made a favourable impression. There’s 3 of theirs here.
I will provide a Rush albums ranking in a few weeks. Watch for it!
Savatage – Mountain King, Gutter Ballet, Streets, Sirens!
Will do Mike, I can play along up to and including Power Windows anyway.
I have Gutter Ballet, Fight For The Rock and Power Of The Night.