Depeche Mode on vinyl

What came first? The chicken or the egg?

That's a good question to ask around bits of my music collection as they started out often in different or even flipped formats as compacts moved from the new kid on the block to the de facto format for new purchases and with the Basildon, Essex group Depeche Mode it was all over the place and in time has some differences between the cd part and the vinyl.

1982 for me was a period still in school, talking about our favourite hits which for me included, Leave In Silence, See You and The Meaning Of Love so I borrowed this album a lot and bought a reissued copy on vinyl.

1983/4 was transitional in my life and while after borrowing on tape 1983's Construction Time Again and eventually getting that on cd, at the time I opted for the July 1984 north american People Are People compilation that all their 1983 singles such as Get The Balance Right, People Are People and a good number of not on U.K. album b sides.

My copy is on Canadian Sire.

Back in 1986, the year I first got a cd player, I bought their 1986 album Black Celebration that contained the hits Stripped, A Question of Time and A Question of Lust on record which it has to be said sounded three dimensional and copied that to tape.

October 1987 saw their next album Music For The Masses that featured Strangelove, Little 15 and Never Let Me Down released and by that point I was buying new albums on cd so originally that was straight to cd here and the cd had extra tracks too.

I decided to get a reissue copy of the album for no better reasons than loving it and holding bigger artwork that was embossed too.

So far in that's my Depeche Mode vinyl although I did at one time have a double 12" single pack of It's Called A Heart.

*Updated 2016 by Caro.

Making an impression

Now this is short and classy!

Much Music

 I got the classic Anime, Akira! cheaply on DVD having fond memories of seeing that on TV in the early 90's.It's a tour-de-force of action never letting up.

Musically, I've drifted back into the 80's – or did they ever go way? - with the first three Howard Jones titles two of which are on the original Teal coloured so-called Target CD's of the early 80's.

Plus I have coming soon the two Naked Eyes LP's a band more appreciated over in the states than here in England.

There are two CD's of hits out but unfortunately not the original albums Naked Eyes (The US 10 track version) or Burning Bridges (UK/JPN 12 track original) from '83 and Fuel For the Fire from '84 which has come over from B.C., Canada. 

Naked Eyes comprised of Pete Byrne on Vocals and the late Rob Fisher on Keyboards/fairlight. He also programmed the Linn drum machine. 

For more on Naked Eyes see this: Naked Eyes

For just about the most oddest item coming to me is the US XDR cassette tape of Kajagoogoo's White Feathers album that unlike it's low tech UK equivalent, has also the 12" Dance Version of Too Shy added to the release. 

I also got the One Way Records CD from 1993 which sounds much better compared to the 2004 UK EMI issue. 

Talking XDR cassettes I recently got the original issues of the first four Duran Duran albums in this form which provided me with my first introduction to the special mixes produced for the second and third US editions of Rio.

Some more Canadian content was gotten recently whilst on vacation in Wales, UK with recordings by Pat Travers, Max Webster and Alannah Myles plus more Edward Bear coming over the Atlantic (see last post for more Bear). I've now completed my bear LP collection. Special thanks to Records By Mail (RBM) in the States for their excellent service. 

For Pat Travers go here: http://www.pattravers.com

Prompted by Sean at SH.tv, I have a compilation by the Montreal based group The Bells who had a Canadian hit with Fly Little White Dove, Fly in the early 70's coming real soon to me. 

I went away at the start of the month which was surprisingly warm for the time of year and the trees were just about to start changing to that crisp golden colour. 

I was over at Betwys -y-Coed walking about having caught the train from Llandudno rail station for the day when I decided to get a Tracy Beaker Latte mug to replace a mug that had acquired a nasty chip in it. 

She's a heroine of mine - you really ought to read the books by the authoress, Jacqueline Wilson, if you never heard of her.

Brother Beyond

Rewind the trax! Back in 1988 i was infatuated if that's the right world with this boy band pop act.
Comprised of David Ben White, Carl Fysh, Steve Alexander and Nathan Moore their attempts at pop stardom took a significant leap following the involvement of the then in demand production team of Stock Aitken and Waterman who remixed several tracks recorded for this album which include 'The Harder I Try' 'He Ain't No Competition', 'Be My Twin' and 'Can You Keep a Secret'.

The band were also famous for their Buddhist religious beliefs.The second album 'Trust' and singles from it all bombed! I still own and enjoy playing this record my sister in law bought me.
Link:Brother Beyond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doll collecting

One fascination I had in my junior years was collecting dolls in their individual national costumes partly as a gateway into finding out about different countries, customs and cultures and also because I just loved dolls with their pretty outfits.
The alpine regions of Italy, Switzerland and Austria also held a fascination for me too.

Frillied

There are times when I do love frilly underwear such as under this sort of outfit.

I think it's very much me.

Edward Bear

I recently feel in love with the sound of Canadian folk-rockers Edward Bear.
I remember growing up listening to their songs but it's been many years since I had last heard them. Recently I had the chance to re-visit them via Toronto's CHUM 1050 radio station which plays many 'oldies' especially by Canadian artists.
The band were formed originally in 1966 by Larry Evoy and Craig Hemming . Soon after a series of gigs they became the house band of Toronto's Yorkville scene and signed to Capitol Records in 1969. Evoy said of the signing "we were only discovered and got a music contract with Capitol, because (producer) Paul White accidentally saw us on a CBC television show... Right place, right time, I guess." Or, in music commentator Ritchie Yorke' s words "the band hit the magic circle of acceptance."
You might well ask what's the story behind the name but it is derived from A.A
Milne's Winnie The Pooh, whose "proper" name is Edward Bear.
Their top singles include "You, Me and Mexico", "Last Song", and "Close Your Eyes", all
of which were top five in Canada and charted well in the States.
The band's greatest chart success came in 1972 when "Last Song" charted at No. 1 in Canada and peaked at No. 3 in the States. In 1973 Edward Bear won a Juno Award in the outstanding group performance category.
Twelve years from formation, thousands of road trip miles, four albums and at least four hit singles later, Edward Bear packed it in and although Evoy rebuilt the band twice it was disbanded in 1974 following a disastrous tour of high school gigs and three club venues.
By the mid-70s, admits Paul Weldon - who played keyboards - "I was in my mid-30s. My wife and I were expecting our first child, and I had an architectural career to tend to."
Evoy went on to a semi-successful solo career but is currently retired. Former member Danny Marks has continued a very successful career as a blues guitar veteran. Paul Weldon, a six year veteran of the band, performs with a jazz combo and teaches at Seneca College in Toronto. Bill Loop, bassist in the early seventies, resides in south-western Ontario and plays locally with various session musicians. He also teaches guitar, Recommended compilation: The Edward Bear Collection Capitol-EMI of Canada 1991 CD available from Amazon UK.