| That 2 page interview in Octobers Record Collector in full
What do you collect, and why?
I first fell in love with music in the 60's, by 1973 I was working for Harlequin Records in Haymarket, a psychedelic dungeon. I was listening to reggae, strange jazz and Eno, mainstream music was having a bit of a bad time. I used to hang out at the Rock On stall in the old Soho Market. I think the true collector in me started with all the punk 7" and the dub 12”, the obsessive behavior started then. I now collect all sorts, psyche, strange jazz but I have a predeliction for exotica and incredibly strange music.
How big is your collection?
I did measure my collection for an article in On magazine in 1995, then it was 60 ft long. Upon a re-measure, I find that it is 75 ft long. which is a surprise 'cos I do go down to Record and Tape Exchange every now and then to get rid of stuff. I guess I do generally come back with more!
How much is it worth?
I did try to insure it a while ago - not because I think anyone would nick it (it's too heavy) but against fire. No-one would touch it! It's not that I collect for value at all, I'm not a stamp collector. Re-issues are OK, vinyl is best!
How/ Where do you store it?
This week I'm building more shelves - for cd's. The vinyl is mostly on shelves, in the living room, with the record player, some are upstairs in the spare room, and I have a couple of boxes too. I really must put them all in alphabetical order. Sometimes I get an urge to play something and it takes days to locate. Alphabetical is the way forward!
What's the rarest/ most unusual/ most valuable item you have?
I really have no idea of the value of my records - although sometimes when I read these pages I get quite a surprise! The weirdest would have to be Jack La Lannes 'Glamour Stretcher Time'. It describes itself as 'The wonderful new way to acquire a lovelier, more exiting figure... done to the rhythm of delightful organ music'. Dated 1959, it's a 10" on see-through blue vinyl and is magnificently awful. I have a few more contenders - 'How to strip for your husband' by Ann Corrio and 'They said it couldn't be done! But they didn't reckon with the' Mighty Accordion Band', which has a picture of a guerrilla on the front playing the accordion, stunningly bad music! The 'Wide Weird World' of Oscar Peterstein is a pretty weird record, but it tells you it is, so that's cheating!! I guess some of the rarest stuff I have is by Sun Ra, I think some of this is worth a lot.
What gem are you still looking for?
There are so many I can't really remember them all, I tend to read encyclopedia's of music from A-Z. 'The Tapestry of Delights' by Vernon Joynson is a great read, and RE's 'Incredibly Strange Music' Vol 1 & 2 are great too, full of great sleeves and idea's for the next purchase, it's like the search for the lost chord. I wouldn't mind a copy of Les Baxter's 'Space Escapades' I keep seeing it around but I really won't spend that much money for just a sleeve (I have a crack copy on cd - It's not Les's greatest hour) Ultimately it's that rare find - something that I don't know about that is the biggest thrill.
What's given you the biggest thrill?
That has to have been playing the Filmore in San Fransisco. Wandering around the upstairs restaurant, it's like an art gallery with all those amazing bands from the 60's. Everyone who was anyone played there. It was like trawling through my past in music. Just like being in a record shop but it was all psychedelic posters, all by my heroes from the 60's Captain Beefheart, Zappa, Miles Davis, Love and many more! So cool to have done that. The very next day we were taken to Saturn Records in Oakland by the guys from Meat Beat Manifesto. Now that shop cost me, I don't think I've ever spent so much money in one hit. I spent so much money in there, that the shop assistant gave me discount and the T shirt. That was a cool couple of days to say the least!
How do you track stuff down?
Record shops to me is the best way. It's something about the racks the dusty smell of old vinyl, the mood, the flicking through for that obscurity. There is an element of excitement in a shop that's hard to describe! Sometimes it can be disappointing too, so I'll come home and do an Amazon for a cd!! I haven't done the ebay thing yet, I feel if I start that it could be disasterous.
What's your favourite record shop?
Saturn and Amoeba in San Fransico! I love wandering down Portobello Rd, great shops a plenty, Stand Out in particular, a great Psyche shop. Ultimately I have to give a nod to my local Sounds Original, on the South Ealing Road, it's a collectors paradise, loads of original 50's and 60's vinyl. I've spent a few exiting hours trawling through that shop I can tell you and spent a few bob too!
How often do you listen to the stuff in your collection?
I'd like to say every day, but sometimes events overtake me - right now I'm listening to Harvey Mandel, one of my favorite guitar players, and vastly underated.
Is there a visual side to your collecting for you?
Yeah! of course there is, it's half the experience. It's why vinyl rules over cd's everytime. I bought the Strawberry Alarm Clock's first album, original UK version just 'cos I saw that sleeve. It looked like a psychedelic piss take! These straight people all dressed up like Frisco hippies, as it turned out I liked the record too. So many albums have great sleeves, which is mostly the reason for the Exotica. Such great sleeves, some of the music is awful, some of it is wonderfully weird, truly great stuff. Les Baxter and Arthur Lyman are great, Yma Sumac too, just fantastic.
The other side to collecting this stuff is the titles. If an album has voodoo in the title you are guaranteed an interesting ride. There are a few key words, space, exotic, paradise, psychedelic. The titles are really important, mostly the words are a big clue.
How will you eventually dispose of your collection?
With difficulty and I don't have a pension plan. So I'll mp3 all the best stuff. Photograph my 365 favorite sleeves, use them as screen savers on my laptop. My collection is terribly personal - my kids won't want it. I'll sell it off to pay for our mobile home. My wife and I have already decided to get one and travel through our retirement, North Africa, Spain, Italy to the soundtrack of 'The Golden Apples of the Sun' on Bastet. And a song I'll have to write will be called '59 Forever'. I don't look forward to being old - but that's a way to go, I can see it now, my wife and I singing along over the hill but 59 forever! driving into the sunset.
What's your all time favorite record, regardless of value or rarity?
Well I used to say 'Trout Mask Replica' or the first Pop Group record, but now I reckon it has to be Alice Coltrane's 'Reflection On Creation And Space' (A Five Year View) or Can's 'Tago Mago' or Dan Hick's 'Take The Money' or......... I could go on. I've just discovered Karen Dalton - great! But what about Tom Waits and Nelson Riddle. The list could go on. I always used to want to be on John Peel...... but now I'd like to do Desert Island Discs!
What's your greatest regret?
Losing all those 7" punk records. Some were crud but some were marvellous!! I lived on a boat for 5 years and everything went into storage. Those records never made it back!
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