Last week a friend of mine rescued a big bag of 45s from the skip at the charity shop where she volunteers. Knowing how much I love my vinyl she invited me over to do some cherry picking over a lovely pint of Cornish ale. She would give the rest of the records to a friend, who makes bowls out of them. To be honest I thought it was going to be 99% rubbish, but I was amazed of what came out of that bag! These were all singles from the sixties, I think from a jukebox (as they had no sleeves). There were The Beatles and The Stones, there were some crooners (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones), some rock 'n roll (Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, Brenda Lee) and some Motown and soul (Al Green, Sam Cooke, Ike and Tina, The Supremes, The Four Tops). I also took a few with intriguing titles, like The Human Jungle/Onward, Christian Spacemen by The John Barry Seven. Lucky me!!
Now I didn't expect these records to be in mint condition (they came in a plastic carrier bag - without sleeves...). But the biggest problem was that they were disgustingly dirty! So I went on the internet and Googled for cleaning advice for vinyl. Enter Nerdworld. I found all sorts home made recipes for cleaning fluid, using various amounts of distilled water, washing up liquid, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, Triton X-100, and/or tile cleaner. There was one guy who swore by using a diaper (a cotton one that is). Big no no's are using ordinary tap water and playing your records wet.A good way of drying them is putting them on a drill and then spinning them at the highest speed! Though this might be a myth.
They probably need a good clean in one of those machines, which "will apply the record cleaning solution, properly scrub the record and finally vacuum the dirt and liquid off leaving you with a dry and pristine vinyl record". But with these records 'a blind horse couldn't do any damage' (as we say in Holland), so I thought I'd just give it a go with some water with a few drops of washing up liquid and some cotton pads. I probably broke all the golden rules of record cleaning, but it helped. Somewhat. Just look at the dirt that came off!
Ieeew!! It took me an entire evening to brush and wipe them all off, but here they are now, nicely stacked in crisp white sleeves that I ordered on eBay.
Listen to a few of the treasures I received. Luckily for you guys I don't have one of those USB record players, so these MP3s are with out the crackles, scratches and dust :-)
I am extremely happy that Fingertips I and IIby Little Stevie Wonder (aged 12 at the time!) was saved from the bin. It's a live take cut in two, so the jam just continues on the B-side. "Stomp your feet, jump up and down and do anything that you wanna do!"
Little Stevie Wonder - Fingertips I & II. Get it here (YSI).
Nice bluesy swing/big band tune, until 'Raelette' Margie Hendrix rips it up after a minute and a half. Holy shit.
Ray Charles - You Are My Sunshine. Get it here (YSI).
Another gem is Al Green's beautiful Tired Of Being Alone. But the B-side Right Now, Right Now is also a great track. Very funky, very Papa-Was-A-Rolling-Stone-esk.
Al Green - Right No, Right Now. Get it here (YSI).
This must be one of the weirdest places we’re ever going to DJ (though our party in the elevator, that got stuck by us jumping, is one for the books too)… Tomorrow we’re going to play in the bathroom of a hotel room. Somewhere between the bathtub, the sink and the toilet Dutch Dolls are going to whoop it up! How appropriate for a festival called F.A.R.T.. All kinds of artists have been asked to fill the rooms of the hotel and hostel with installations, mini-exhibitions and performances. At 23.00 the warehouses open up for DJs and live performances.
So on invitation of Johan Kleinjan we’re playing at his SUPERRRMINIFEEST in Room 31 of Boutique Hotel Quartier du Port from 20.00 till +/- 22.30. We already got some great suggestions what to play, from Piss Up A Rope and Don’t Shit Where You Eat by Ween, Ring Of Fire, Drop It Like It’s Hot, Push It, Earth Wind and Fire and Golden Brown by the Strangles, to anything by George Michael. Alas, since it’s vinyl only this rather limits our selection of bathroom-themed songs. But don’t worry we’ll be bringing some other great stuff to make sure it gets hot and steamy in there! Better leave your kids at home...
At 22.30 we’re crossing the street to the Westelijk Handelsterrein where we’ll play a set over a proper PA in warehouse no.15. Come and shake your booty between 23.00 and 24.00, and stick around for more great performances by the likes of zZz, Doktor Schnitt, J.C. Thomaz & The Missing Slippers, DJ Shitmeister T!!
Love love loved that tacky record cover my Dollegue put up here a couple of days ago! Well last week I found quite a unique sleeve myself while I was charity shopping in London (in a completely different genre though):Being a big Morrissey and The Smiths fan myself, my heart started to melt when I spotted this embodiment of pure Mozzer dedication. This fan just couldn't stand having this great single sitting in a dull, plain white sleeve! I love the back cover even more. The His Masters Voice dog is there (twice), plus production and photo credits ("Smash Hits" - haha). Too bad there are no credits for the artwork!
I already own a copy of the 7", but I was happy to pay 50p for this amazing piece of teenage cut-and-past-work. Plus it is a truly great single. Suedehead is nothing short of brilliant, but I Know Very Well How I Got My Name on the flip side is so beautiful it makes me cry.
It has been yeeaars since I've been to a festival. But last weekend was my first in about six years: Reggae Geel in Belgium.
White folks with dreads, hippies, stoners, red-yellow-black and green, it was all there. Including my heroes Busy Signal and Mavado, the ones who were supposed to rock my world. Apart from the backspins that drove me absolutely BONKERS, they really did rock my world.
But crazy enough, something else rocked my world even more. For a musicfanatic, finding a rare record might have the same effect as going to a concert. And it was just sitting there, in a box, waiting to be found: Dancehall Daughters, a compilation of female dancehall from the eighties. The best thing about this record is the cover, obviously. Which must be the tackiest thing I ever saw. Take a look at it above (and please click to enlarge). I have tried to find this record on discogs, and I have tried to find mp3's from the artists that are on it. But no such luck (I don't know if it's that rare, or that bad), so for now you'll have to settle for a similar sound by Yami Bolo. Who isn't a daughter, but sure sounds like one!
Dutch Dolls is a Design + DJ duo. This is our blog. Here we write about our designs, upcoming gigs, events and exhibitions, our latest musical findings, inspirations and whatever goes on in our daily lives...
All music and images posted on this blog are for promotional purposes only. Downloads are available for about a week. You like what you hear? Buy it!!! Links to the artists' websites are always provided in the posts.
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