The singular adventures of the Beatles

This week we're going back to an old style post for a reason the way things were around 2006 to early 2008 where posts often had "icon" images of which the standard one I used for posts about anything covering the Beatles, common enough in those Capitol Albums Vol:2 days was a cheerleader, part an attempt at projecting the feminine me and part a play on being a cheerleader for the groups legacy.

 

Like most artists, their singles were issued to an agreed  timetable often comprising of recording not in the studio albums and in the UK came in fairly plain Parlophone or Apple sleeves unlike much of Europe or North America that used picture covers.

Because of the dominance by the end of the nineteen sixties and into early seventies of the lp having issued the 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 double compilations, while still available to order there was little interest in the preserving of the singles 7 inch form as a vehicle for telling their story although their reputation and fame was made as much at 45 rpm as 33 1/3.

With a nod towards the resurgence of the single that as New Wave dislodged the old which was more singles focused, EMI Records mail order section, World Records put together a box set of singles  many of which charted separately in April 1976.

These had a fairly generic green front with a handful of images for the rears.

To the original twenty-two UK singles a couple of others were added, Yesterday in April 1976 that had never been issued as a single in the UK although it was the title of a four track seven inch EP in 1966 and Back In The USSR from 1976's Rock N' Roll Music double compilation and these were in stereo too.

In 1978 Sgt Pepper became a single and this had a more familiar full picture cover on front and rear, being added to later versions of the box set.

There you might of felt this set would of stayed.

1982 was an important year for the Beatles, October as I well recall in school at the time was the 20th anniversary of their first single, Love Me Do that upon reissue in a period paper label became a top five hit - better than it did first time.

This had a picture sleeve and set the tone for a second attempt at doing a singles collection with a new design of box featuring their signatures.

Each Parlophone or Apple single now had its very own picture cover, period correct which really looked the part.

The 1976 singles had new covers made too looking more like a regular modern reissue with real fan appeal

You could say adding 1978's Sgt Pepper showed the difference in the original set  from the 24 initially issued 1976 and the more modern and this was just apaper rather than card version of the original.

In 1982 their films started coming out on Video and taking its cue at the Medley-mania  of the previous year with Stars on 45 and the Hollies Holidaze medley of hollies hits, a movie medley was issued  and a song from the movies album "Reel Music" was issued.

I have the Capitol version with a special booklet.

The box set came out in late 1982 ready for the Christmas market while the individual discs were issued in dribs and drabs.

I had the early set in it's original 24 single form and it's still here although the actual box with flip down lid has a air bit of wear and tear but have acquired the much nicer later version for presenting well a bunch of singles that helped change popular music both by subject and by the music itself.

The fact recently a remixed version of Rubber Soul has topped the album chart shows how today's young people get and value this music in a way some fifty years ago would have seemed unthinkable

 

The fall girl

It's been a cold, rather wet week, the sort that can send you layers upon layers and have the legs well covered up.

Mom always was a one for seeing to it I was well wrapped up, even before I moved into full femininity she had me in thick tights in the winter, something I needed in those less tolerant days I had to keep away from boys attention.

Her instincts were right although it's really the damp that bothers me more than cold un;ess we're heading well below freezing.

In fact my BFF reckons I have dragon's blood apparently. She also thinks I'd make a cute maid but that's another thing xD!

No surprises as I type this I have a blouse, cardi and plaid skirt on just relaxing being the more the girl I was and with the support over the years of those in the broad Trans umbella.

Being me is priceless

R.I.P. Pat

 Modern current affairs is often a very fractious affair with people arguing about multiple truths, thinking only they alone have "the answer" with name calling and outright lying but there are those on all side  who are above all of that.

Photo credits: Manchester City Council

I was sad to hear Pat Karney had died on Wednesday morning following a long battle with cancer being treated at Christies, Manchester.

Different politics to mine but he was a brilliant spokesperson for Manchester and excellent ward councillor for Harpurhay and Collysworth representing a community that has acute issues but great people that he did a lot for. 

Even until his last moments he was in bed with his paperwork, working on things when many others would of simply said, I'm too ill for this which showed his total determination to do what he could even in those circumstances.

Together with Richard Leese, faced with the damage to the Arndale Centre due to the murderous activities of the IRA, he decided to rebuild the centre of Manchester, make it the best it could be.

Pat was a massive supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, attending prides, leading Manchester's opposition to 1988's Section 28 of the Local Government Act which in practise prevented the acknowledgement and support children and young people needed when they "came out" or if they were struggling with finding a parent was gay or lesbian.

He always managed to find the right words when events needed them such as the Manchester Synagogue attacks, reassuring but clear in his condemnation with no if's or but's  

Class man who knew what representing people was all about and did it in spades

Resouled

In the week that saw Rubber Soul return to top the lp charts amazingly and reviewed on the other blog going back to the era where we first had the Beatles on cd, something else got bought then but as forward looking as we saw ourselves those were on cd.

Michelle Antoinette Wallen MBE was born  on 27 April 1969 but is better known professionally as Mica Paris is a British singer, presenter, and actress and as a fan of soul music it wasn't before I got to hear just what her voice had to offer.

Her debut album, So Good, was released in 1988, spawning the singles "My One Temptation" and "Where Is the Love" which like anything by a new artist then was bought on cd as I felt at the the time much of my vinyl would go and didn't wish to start new sub collections in it.

You might say in 2026 so much for that!

 She has since gone on to release seven further albums

Contribution came out in 1990 and again that was bought on cd although the original cd suffered from "cd rot" and ended up being replaced.

This album extended her soul and gospel influences to bring in hip-hop and house music and featured the track "Contribution" (No. 33), "South of the River" (No. 50) and "If I Love U 2 Nite", (No.43) written by Prince and recorded at his Paisley Park studios.

In the UK this was a long 65 minute 14 track album even on vinyl while North American versions  made do with just 11 tracks outside of special limited import versions of the lp and the cd in a "long box".

Phillysoul and especially the Philadelphia International Records label was a massive thing with me from the early 70's onwards but while I had this compilation on cd, that cd as good as it is saw light in lp form in 1973.

The record was issued here a year later in 1974 and so gain two most desirable tracks, I'll Always Love My Mama (Part 1) and (Win, Place or Show) She's A Winner, both UK singles hits that year making this version more complete in addition to the original 12.

I was able to get a copy locally quite cheaply in mint condition.

Unlike in 1988 when I felt vinyl was on its way out and even being prepared to jettison chunks of it for shiny cds we're selectively adding titles that we enjoyed back then in that format. 

Into October and mound of vinyl

 

After a wet few days I did get out and do a bit more film photography, finding more "muscle memory" came back after a shocking few days with migraine which helped as I find migraines often cause memory issues for a few days afterwards. 

It's also shaping up to be buys time with a number of records arriving which will be reviewed as time permits on the other blog not least the big Rubber Soul remixed deluxe box set that should be arriving as I type this - it did in minutes! -  and the much delayed Now Yearbook 1971 lp set.

I did buy on release the first two Bluetones albums on vinyl  but by 1999 armed with a MiniDisc recorder and player for on the bus only bought their third album Science And Nature on cd and that's how things stayed un til I recent bough this, the 2016 Demon records re-issue on translucent vinyl.

It contained the hit single Keep The Home Fires Burning

That for £24.99 delivered was much appreciated.

Philosophy behind the viewfinder

 Yesterday was quite a bright, warmish day so I went out for a short while armed with a old school film single lens reflex camera and a Cosina 20mm ultra wide angle lens photographing trees with a roll of ISO 100 colour print film.

Yes really in 2026 with digital everything coming out of our ears I left all of that behind.

That in a rambling kind of a way was really what I was getting at last week and there's some back issue of photo magazines I've been looking from some thirty and thirty five years ago I was looking at.

Doing that yesterday really brought very much into focus what some called and there was actually a book called Zen and the Art of Photography inspired by Pirsigs book on Motorcycle Maintenance which were were encourage to read in General Studies way back when I was in what Brits call "The Sixth Form".

Put basically Zen and the art of photography is the practice of combining the mindful, present-moment awareness of Zen Buddhism with the creative act of seeing and capturing images.

Core Principles

Shoshin (Beginner's Mind): Approaching every scene without preconceptions, expectations, or ego, just like a child seeing things for the first time.

The Empty Mind: Letting go of over-analytical thoughts about gear or settings so that intuition takes over.

Becoming One with the Subject: Dissolving the separation between the photographer (the archer), the camera (the bow), and the scene (the target).

Simplicity and Essence: Focusing on minimalism, natural light, and the raw spirit of a moment rather than a literal, crowded recording of reality.

Key Practices

The Decisive Moment: Waiting in stillness for the precise fraction of a second when action, light, and emotion align harmoniously.

Daily Seeing: Treating the camera—or a smartphone—as a visual journal to practice deep attention rather than just collecting snapshots.

Letting the Photo Take You: Allowing the subject to move you deeply, treating the shutter release as an act of gratitude toward life.

Much of that came flooding back to me cos sometimes we get so wrapped up in the technical side  even if as well exposed picture is a basic, we lose track of the actual image we're trying to capture or with some disciplines like still lifes, create.

When you are devoid of any automation the connection between you and the camera is total: It's your reflexes, your skills that determine the outcome.

And we learn from that.

Post 1,100 plus one

Well, we do make a bit of an anniversary this week given some twenty odd years and One Thousand and One Hundred posts ago we started this this blog following on and for a time duo-posting with a blog on the long gone Friends Reunited website.

It's pretty amazing that after all that time we still find things to talk about even if we start on some things but find they drift away cos either we've moved on or rather like MiniDiscs one minute they're the hottest thing around and no they're no longer a thing with no new machines and discs being made.

I've just portable recorder around for legacy discs I made at the time.

That grown up thing Politics as as messy as it ever was both domestically and especially internationally that is leading to shortages of oil pushing up prices while the impact of "Global Warming" has lead to rising food prices due to shortages and both fed into a unresolved refugee crisis.

Photography was also a thing in the early days of the blog as we wrestled with blogging which is an electronic publishing based thing and the world of analogue film images as while some photographers had at least embraced auto focus cameras if not digital cameras of some sort I didn't have digital camera until mid 2008 and then a fairly basic compact for the blog.

My photo set up remained very much as it had from the mid to late 1990's, film based, focused by hand with collection of quality fixed length lenses with anything likely to go to the blog a good week later being scanned to a cd at the processors with the 7 1/2 x 5 prints.

Technically extremely good but with that lag between taking that image and being able to use it on a blog or email to a friend.

While there's no need for it, often digital images never see light of day as prints on photographic paper printed on quality printers. 

Today most blog images come from a digital camera whose native resolution is beyond what most displays need, sometimes the Nikon D3500, other times the Sony compact with its built in zoom lens when the system camera might be too intrusive on the event.

I miss the "in the moment" feel of setting the camera by dedicated controls, the ease of focusing by hand and winding on of the traditional manual  focus film camera, engaged directly with "the decisive moment" in a way that you don't get especially with viewfinderless compacts.

In someways it feels full circle to be owning a new to me manual focus camera but I think separating out the needs of the blog from what I get what my emotional needs are of making permanent memories matters as much as blogging has created a twenty odd year history of things I did, the interests I had and the live as lived.

It's not one or the other I need, it's both.