On girlishness

I saw this a few days so and really it's not something I talk about here but it is very much the kind of thing I not just liked when I was younger but still strongly identify with.

There's a awful lot of young girl in me which sometimes shows when I post on sites with an older target audience so it's like how ever the number of times I've gone around the sun, I'm always young and with a child-like mind set. I struggle to keep this part of me separate. 

Magazine

A few days ago a replacent copy of a much loved Heart album arrived.

The first thing to note is that 'sash' on the top left hand corner as it was announced recently by the President of Audio Fidelity that they would no longer be manufacturing 24Kt gold cds anymore a carry over from the days of DCC because of escalating costs and erratic supplies.
To me at least the gold plating was never an issue - it's the actual sound  from the mastering that counted - but I guess the gold plating did suggest 'Gold Standard' for some.
Instead they're using from now on exclusively a disc with a regular cd layer and a high definition super audio cd layer for special players instead.
This album came out in 1978 originally with the consent of Heart who had changed labels but they returned to alter the mix and re-record parts and is a mixture of a few new songs and older unreleased recordings with a few live tracks.
Notwithstanding it's origins, the track Heartless became a   top 30 single and the set does show clearly just how talent they had become covering Without You and I've Got The Music In Me distinctively.
 I originally had the lp and bought the U.S. Capitol XDR tape re-issue in the mid 1980's.
It was issued on cd by Capitol who had acquired the rights to Mushroom Records recordings  in the late 1980's in a so-so transfer with next to no album art but this edition by Steve Hoffman for Audio Fidelity sounds very smooth and is to be much preferred today.

R.I.P Tony Benn

Today it was announced the veteran Labour politician and former Member of Parliament Anthony Wedgewood Benn who was born in 1925 died following a period of illness.
Tony very much lived up to the notion of being who you are and saying what you believe both in and out Government, playing  a major role in the 1964-1970 and 1974-1979 Labour governments holding ministerial office, overseeing the transformation of the then GPO, helped form ICL an big computer player from small private concerns, the creation of a peoples bank, Girobank where you could bank at the Post Office and use mail based services, overseeing the outlawing of pirate pop radio and the introduction of its' legal replacement, BBC Radio 1 and supporting Worker Co-operatives.
He also supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament which I was a supporter of, played a vocal role in campaigning against the Iraq War. In later years he toured theatres giving packed talks about his life and beliefs and wrote a series of diaries.
Politically he was very much an inspiration to me to get engaged with and in the process. He will be missed by all sides in politics.

On relationships

Actually in so far as any relationships go, that's very much where I'm at.
I don't care if you're gay, 'straight' or bi or what your gender history may or may not be, the only thing that matters to me is what you have to offer each other as lovers as a friend of yours and that you'll care for each other. End of.

What a feeling!

Okay, so I'm a little late with posting this week but given how long it's bin since I first set my eyes on this it don't matter.
Summer '83 for me is wrapped up with seeing Flashdance, the movie several times and an infatuation with the songs featured.
I've had this 12 single since it first came out but there's a pressing fault actually several such as  being off centre, a pressed mark at the end of the track and so on.

Finally I've gotten a replacement copy!
In my opinion this was one of last truly great 12" remixes  totally transforming the song.

That was the original Chromedioxide pre-recorded tape of the soundtrack album I bought back then that sounded pretty amazing for a tape back then that by the late 80's had gotten worn out so I bought the cd version that remains one of the best sounding early cds.

Aretha Franklin

After last weeks stormy weather, at last we have some sunshine this week so before I take a break, here's this weeks entry.
The 50's thru the 70's were for many the heyday of Soul - no not that  R&B as in Rap and [insert word] stuff they try to pass off as "Black Music" today but rootsy soul delivered with conviction (rather than having one!) from folks straight out of Gospel singing.
One of the finest examples you can ever hope to hear of that is the recordings of Aretha Franklin during her long period  at Atlantic.

A few weeks ago Mobile Fidelity Inc of Illinois re-issued this stereo compilation of hers from 1969 with a good number of her early hits from when she left Columbia who didn't really know how to use her abilities.
Because of that, it does miss a few gems of hers from the early 70's however in the opinion of many this Super Audio cd that is also playable on regular cd players, has the best ever sounding stereo versions of these early recordings such as Respect, Chain Of Fools and I say A Little Prayer that simply as a soul fan I have to say you really need to hear.
Strongly recommended. Also note the Rhino "Queen Of Soul" 4 cd box set can be had cheaply featuring many mono versions and much of her output to 1976.

Wings over America

You may remember back in August  my post about the DCC Gold Paul McCartney cds I got and how a certain album was being re-released at the time. Well finally it's here!

Packaged like the other McCartney and Stereo beatles releases has the white band to indicate it's a new remaster done by the same team at Abbey Road although this is on Concord records not Capitol/EMI.
It's a digipak rather than true Mini Lp mores the pity with slots for the discs to scrape and a booklet in 1976 was the first time in many years Paul performed his Beatle hits back to back with his solo works with a great band and is one the best live albums issued.
The sound on this is quite a bit better than the original 80's cd version and for the modest price I paid for it well worth the money.