My first singles
I was eleven when I bought my first singles. They cost me 5P each and I bought five of them.
They were second hand off my older friend Clive Hansell. He had a limited taste in music. The only artists he liked were Buddy Holly and Adam Faith. I didn’t notice at the time that Adam Faith was modelling himself on Buddy Holly. He put that same little warbling affectation into his songs. I also didn’t notice that the quality of the British production was naff. My eleven year old self was not as discerning.
While America, used to authentic country music, was great at producing Rock ‘n’ Roll, Britain was out of its depth. The backing and arrangement was crap. Very few British Rock releases from the late fifties and early sixties came up to scratch on that front. What the producers were aiming for was a more middle of the road market. Raunchy, raw and rockin’ weren’t in their vocabulary.
My friend Clive unloaded all the singles, which he had played to death, on me. That was probably a good deal for both of us.
Over the course of a year I got to inherit the entire output of Adam Faith and Buddy Holly. I still have them all. I’m a collector.
For 25p I bought five Adam Faith singles. I remember playing great numbers like Who Am I, How About That, Someone Else’s Baby, and What Do You Want, on my old Dansette. I loved them.
I progressed to Buddy Holly when Clive became tired with them. For a while they were my only singles.
The first single I bought new was From Me To You by the Beatles. I had been knocked for six by the Please Please Me album and rushed out to buy the album and single.
After that I bought every Beatles, Kinks, Downliners Sect and Stones single on the day of release except for Honky Tonk Women. I was given that in Hyde Park for helping clean up the litter.
I did not tend to buy too many singles. I was always looking for the best value for money (having a limited amount) so I tended to buy albums. But I still have a collection of around five hundred singles that I have accumulated over time.
I miss that excitement of rushing back from the shop and putting that single on the record player in my bedroom with the arm up so that it played on repeat. It would blast out and I’d play it endlessly until I had absorbed every note. Then I’d flip it over and do the same with the B-side. Those singles are seared into my mind.
The experience these days is just not the same, not so visceral. Those singles captured the vitality of my youth.
Every morning I would load my Dansette up with six singles of choice. They would blast out as I got washed, dressed and breakfasted. I knew I had to be out of the house by the time the sixth finished.
Singles were the start to my day.
I hope you still have that old “Dansette” they are worth a bit of money these days. I purchased a new Vinyl record player this year a “Denon” that was not exactly cheap. Nothing like vinyls very popular this year they are back, well for some they never went away.
Morning Anna. No, I’m afraid I don’t. It got left at my parents, worked its way to the garage and the dump.
I love my old vinyl.
How are you this morning? Feeling better?
Good Morning Opher. Yes thank you, I think going to bed for three hours just music playing helped. Shame about your record player, but who was to believe all those years ago things that were thought of as beyond their use would be worth money. I love the vinyls you just feel you are in the recording studio with them, or at least I do, all the sounds you don’t get on a CD make them magic. Looking forward to Christmas Opher?
If only we had the ability to see into the future? All those things that slipped through our hands.
Yes I’m looking forward to having all the kids together. Though I don’t like all this stress. We’re going to have a housefull for two weeks. It’ll stop me doing anything. All this planning and work and then it all goes in a flash.
It will be lovely all of you be together but you are right you blink and it is all gone, very busy time for your Wife. Get you away from all your writing for a while. Believe it or not David still works on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, there are always people who want to place orders and he can’t afford to turn the money day – Patrick in Romania who works for him will be off so more for David to do.
Yes – it’s tough for many. My son Dylan is a Nurse Practitioner. He usually works Christmas. His wife is in the police and does too. This year they’re off because they adopted the three boys.
All little ones they adopted, babies?
Three boys three and under – all brothers.
Oh thats wonderful, boys are great to bring up, no trouble.
I think it was rather jumping in at the deep end but they are loving it.
That is unusual to be able to adopt such young ones and all Brothers, fantastic. Good luck to them.
Yes. They wanted to keep the boys together. They’ll make a go of it. I think they deserve a medal. The youngest was six months, a two year old and one just turned three. A bit of a change of lifestyle. Everyone was worried about them coping. But Dylan said: ‘It has to work. We’re not sending them back.’
That is really lovely and such young ages, fantastic that the little ones have all been kept together. I suppose your Daughter-in-Law has now given up her job to look after the Children – must be fun in the house.
Daughter-in-law is taking a year off. That’s all they can afford. I think they are delighting in being a family.
I bet they are, what a wonderful thing for them to do, and the Boys will have a good home.
Yeah – I’m very proud of them.
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
I have drawers of those old singles but I never play them anymore. I keep thinking about getting an old jukebox and putting some of them in it.
I’ve never bought tapes or CD’s but I wish I had! It sounds fun.
I love my music – CDs, Vinyl. It’s great.