VINYL LOVE

One of my life-long hobbies is music. I started playing guitar when I was six or seven- about the same time I got my first grown-up record and portable record player. My dad was working as a sound engineer at the time and my grandmother was busy teaching flute and playing as principal flutist for the Greenwich Symphony. I spent time between each of their houses and my ears filled with Debussy and the bluesy sounds of our "house" band, the Twinkies (starring family pal Chance Browne/Hi and Lois). In my room, I enjoyed watching records spin around as the music punched its way out of the single speaker in glorious mono. That first record? The Beatles Help! A family friend eventually gave me her entire collection of first US pressings and I was quickly immersed in a record hobby that continues to thrive today. I have fond memories of searching for Beatles cards and memorabilia at flea markets and tag sales, which my dad and I frequented on weekends. You could still find treasures on a $5 allowance back then. I once bought a massive scrapbook from a family (I think their daughter got married and moved away). The pages were filled with newspaper clippings from the band's early visits to the US. It was thrilling to look through the images, and at the album art itself, as I listened to my growing collection. Ever dedicated to promoting cool culture, I made cassette tape mixes for kids at school. The Beatles remained the center of focus, and even became a social activity when my childhood pal, Alec, and I would lip-synch to their records in his downstairs studio/playroom. We used badminton rackets for guitars. Below: a great photo that engineer Steve Hoffman put on my radar today of a gal shopping for The Beatles Help!. I love the go go boots in the background!

With all of the live music being created around me, my interests also expanded to collecting other genres besides rock. The love of Blues records fed back into my own guitar playing, so the whole passion came full circle. Why is record collecting so vital? I think the key ingredient is curiosity. Walt Disney said that creation comes from curiosity. And if you have ever flipped through stacks of vinyl, you know the thrill of that moment when a cover design, batch of song titles, or an ensemble of musicians ignites your imagination. It is the pursuit of Art! There is nothing like the sound of vinyl. The music moves through the air with warmth and round tones, and it just has a human quality. I'm excited to see records are returning to the mainstream. Many of my students are collectors and musicians, and I see local shops being revived by Record Store Day events. For those Spy Vibers starting out, I urge you to look for used stereo components and speakers, rather than buying a cheap portable player. You'll notice quite a jump in sound quality! I also recommend looking for original pressings rather than new re-releases. Although there are exceptions, original pre-digital pressings usually do a better job capturing the magic vibe of the live performance in the studio. I created an archive of Vintage Vinyl images on Pinterest. Here are some highlights below. George Harrison was such a record fan, he even had a record player installed in his Jaguar XKE! Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds sign autographs at a shop. Like the old movie palaces, some record stores (like HMV) were designed to stimulate both eyes and ears with artistic care. These places were like cathedrals! Dig those listening booths! Want to find your local record stores? Check out the Vinyl District App and happy hunting! Great record collecting stories: Desperate Man Blues, Vinyl Junkies, and the Tower Records documentary, All Things Must Pass. Spy Vibe's post about the 8-Track Museum here. Family trivia: My dad produced a strange variety of albums that included DJ/comedian Don Imus and Bach recordings by Anthony Newman. My grandfather was also a composer/musician, who created work with Roger Sessions and Poet Laureate, William Meredith. One of the most interesting things I've been able to do as a musician was to create a re-mix for a song by Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. Things do come full circle! Enjoy!

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HMV LONDON: BEATLES EVENT

Many Spy Vibers have fond memories of those vintage record store days, flipping through miles of vinyl for new releases by our favorite then-current bands. The shop that got the award for best design was the original HMV on Oxford Street in London (1921-2000). With its designated rooms, listening booths, and floors joined by an elegant spiral staircase, the architecture now glows like an Oz castle from old black and white photographs (see below). HMV just re-opened at its original site in September. Story continues below with rare prizes for London Spy Vibers.

To celebrate their return to 363 Oxford Street, HMV is giving away super-rare vinyl to customers all this week. The prizes will be on a first-come-first-serve basis and doors open at 8 a.m. On Monday, the shop will be giving away promo EP pressings of The Beatles Live On Air Vol 2, a new compilation of rare radio performances. In fact, the HMV store played a crucial role in Beatles history. The band's manager, Brian Epstein, visited the shop in February 1962 to see if general manager Bob Boast could help them land a record deal. Boast suggested they take Epstein's two reel-to-reel tapes (recorded in a Decca audition) to the first floor, where they could transfer the songs to 78rpm demonstration discs- much easier to hawk around town. While the HMV engineer, Jim Foy, was cutting the discs, he got excited about what he heard and initiated a conversation with Epstein that led to a call to the top floor of HMV to Ardmore & Beechwood, a music publishing subsidiary of EMI. A chap called Sid Colman came down to listen to the recordings and eventually invited Epstein upstairs to discuss business. This serendipitous chain of events at HMV led to The Beatles signing with EMI and George Martin. 

Stop in tomorrow morning and try to pick up one of the rare EPs of The Beatles On Air. Elvis fans can get a limited-edition color pressing of his 1956 album on Tuesday. Hopefully some of our agents in London will be successful. happy hunting! More vintage photographs of the HMV Oxford Street store below.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, The Prisoner & Captain Scarlet, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series,  Peter Asher, Gerry Marsden tour, Elio Petri on Blu-ray, Sophia Loren, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Beatles fall 2013 releases, A Hard Days Night cinematographer dies, Magic Christian on Blu-ray, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address

VINTAGE VINYL

My greatest passion and life-long hobby is music. I started playing guitar when I was six or seven- about the same time I got my first non-kid record and portable record player. My dad was working as a sound engineer at the time and my grandmother was busy teaching flute and playing as principal flutist for the Greenwich Symphony. I spent time between each of their houses and my ears filled with Debussy and the bluesy sound of our "house" band, the Twinkies (starring family pal Chance Browne/Hi and Lois). In my room, I enjoyed watching that rock record spin around as the music came punching out of the single speaker in glorious mono. That first record? The Beatles Help! A family friend eventually gave me her entire collection of first US pressings and I was quickly immersed in a record hobby that continues to thrive today. I have fond memories of searching for Beatles cards and memorabilia at flea markets and tag sales, which my dad and I frequented on weekends. You could still find treasures on a $5 allowance back then. I once bought a massive scrapbook from a family (I think their daughter got married and moved away). The pages were filled with newspaper clippings from the band's early visits to the US. It was thrilling to look through the images, and at the album art itself, as I listened to my growing collection. Ever dedicated to spreading cool culture, I made cassette tape mixes for kids at school for one cent per song! The Beatles remained the center of focus, and even became a social activity when my childhood pal, Alec, and I would lip-synch to their records in his downstairs studio/playroom. We used badminton rackets for guitars.

With all of the live music being created around me, my interests also expanded out to collecting other genres. The love of Blues records fed back into my own guitar playing, so the whole passion came full circle. Why is record collecting so vital? The key ingredient is curiosity. Walt Disney said that creation comes from curiosity. And if you have ever flipped through stacks of vinyl, you know the thrill of that moment when a cover design, batch of song titles, or an ensemble of musicians ignites your imagination. It is the pursuit of Art!

There is nothing like the sound of vinyl. The music moves through the air with warmth and round tones, and it just has a more human quality. I'm excited to see that records are returning to the mainstream. Many of my students are collectors (and musicians), and I see local shops being revived by Record Store Day events. For those Spy Vibers starting out, I urge you to look for used stereo components and speakers, rather than buying a cheap portable player. You'll notice quite a jump in sound quality! 

Record collecting has always been a passionate hobby for music fans. I recently created an archive of Vintage Vinyl images on Pinterest. Here are some highlights below: George Harrison was such a record fan, he even had a record player installed in his Jaguar XKE; Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds sign autographs at a shop; Like the old movie palaces, some record stores (like HMV) were designed to stimulate both eyes and ears with artistic care; Dig those listening booths! 

Want to find your local record stores? Check out the Vinyl District App and happy hunting! Great record collecting stories: Desperate Man Blues, Vinyl Junkies. Spy Vibe's post about the 8-Track Museum here. Family trivia: My dad produced a strange variety of albums that included DJ/comedian Don Imus, banjo pioneer Bill Crofut, and Bach recordings by Anthony Newman. My grandfather was also a composer/musician, who created work with Roger Sessions and Poet Laureate, William Meredith. One of the most interesting things I've been able to do as a musician was to create a re-mix for a song by Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. Things do come full circle :)

Get ready to meet MIKI ZERO, a Japanese fashion model and spy from 1965! I've written a novel inspired by Spy Vibe. More info at my website here. Can you help Spy Vibe maintain the rising costs of managing the domain? Please make a donation through our secure link at the the top-left of this page.  Recent Spy Vibe posts: Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Zatoichi Box Set, Hitchcocktribute, Ian Fleming memorial, Emma Peel Megaset returns.