sofakingmanyrecords

[sofakingmanyrecords]

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I am really starting to distance myself from the internet. The fact that I can no longer share content across platforms easily is so stupid to me. If this shit keeps devolving I’ll probably just stop bothering with social media as a whole. I’m getting old, it’s been fun but it is no longer much fun, so who cares? All I ever see on my TikTok-lite Instagram feed are ads, not my friend’s content, and suggested reels of OnlyFans ladies that I have no interest in. Like, what the fuck? I really think the only way to maybe even consider getting these fucking data harvesting corporations to bother listening to the public is to just stop using their currently shitty platforms because this is just stupid!

So that’s the end of my rant. Here’s my stupid fucking Instagram post:

I listened to the rest of the album on Spotify and felt the same about most of the rest of it as I had felt about her first album. But my love for that one song necessitated my owning it on vinyl.

Upon seeing the prices used reissues were going for I realized I wouldn’t get this unless it was reissued yet again.

Luckily, in 2021 the 50 year anniversary edition was released. I pre-ordered this 3/11/2022 and it finally arrived today, 5/30/2023.

Never have I ever waited so long for an album to ship.

In a few years this won’t be a problem anymore. The US and the rest of the world will have more new record pressing plants and the majority of the people who got into vinyl in the last 3 years will have either stopped collecting vinyl because they realized it was stupid to pay $25+ for a reissue of something like Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” or if they have truly found fun in audio, some will realize they prefer buying new gear as opposed to new records and that a well thought digital system sounds just as good or better than analog and that shit takes up WAAAAAAYYY less space. On top of the fact that old CD’s and quality streaming services are far cheaper than new vinyl and decent turntables. At which point the market will be flooded with even more copies of all the truly unnecessary reissues of the past 10 years and the people still left buying new vinyl will no longer have to wait over 15 months to get record that still somehow comes to you with a slight warp and pressed on noisy vinyl.

By the way, I am not hating on the newcomers to this hobby but hating on the record companies that keep pushing out reissues of shit like Frampton Comes Alive and the like that created these log jams at the pressing plants and now they don’t even have the decency to give you a digital download.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Morphine “Cure For Pain” LP. I spent a fair amount out time listening to this album during the 90’s. That’s not to say I know it front to back, but I’m pretty well familiar with it. This is the first time I played this 2011 press since I overhauled all my gear with new stuff (the ST70 tube amp and oscilloscope are the exceptions) and I definitely heard nuances never heard on prior listenings over the years. Anyway, it’s *probably* my favorite album of theirs and while I wouldn’t be shocked if I were in the minority with that call, I would be surprised. #LP #Vinyl #Records #Morphine #CureForPain #MorphineCureForPain https://www.instagram.com/p/CpTqFRwujRD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

John Coltrane “Blue Train” 2xLP. I like jazz. I may even love it. But I have always tried to approach The Jazz with innocence. While I love learning about music, I have taken a purposefully unacademic approach to cultivating my jazz tastes. As such, I am pretty easy to please with the big classics. However, I also appreciate the more dense jazzular expressions as well, but am slightly more selective there. I grabbed this during a holiday sale for thirty-some-odd bucks. Today I was finally in the mood to lavish in its splendor. Since the cover is so beautifully glossy, even on a grey day such as it is in Northeast Ohio, the great room was still flooded with enough natural light to make my normal shot not very easy to capture. So instead I took a picture of our giant Dumb Cane “tree” with the album cover in the shot and got weird with it. And why not? Second picture is my best normal attempt. It was alright but I could still see the reflection of one of the wood ceiling beams and it frustrated me. Plus, I like messing around 🙂 #LP #Vinyl #Records #JohnColtrane #BlueTrain #BlueNote #TonePoet #Jazz #Coltrane https://www.instagram.com/p/CpTe7AqOhdz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Madonna “The Immaculate Collection” 2xLP. Madonna was just becoming a phenomenon around the time I started having lasting memories. I just remember her being everywhere in 1985 and thinking as a 3 or 4 year old how glamorous she was because of the “Material Girl” video, obviously not having a clue who Marilyn Monroe was yet. Anyway, this song has been in my head all week and today I decided to bust out the vinyl. This is a reissue from a few years back and I was really impressed by how dead quiet the vinyl was. Material Girl is probably my favorite Madonna song as a whole as I think it’s a great production and Tony Thompson’s playing on this is just perfect to me. He was one of those players who you could feel. I dunno, it’s hard to explain. So on top of that and that it basically is the perfect representation of the 1980’s as a whole pop-culture-wise. #LP #Vinyl #Records #Madonna #TheImmaculateCollection #MaterialGirl #80s https://www.instagram.com/p/Cof9IXeuoNk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

This past year was a trying one. Music got me through it. According to Spotify I listened to 146,197 minutes of their service. That’s 101 solid days.

I’ve done a lot of thinking and I resent a lot of things about existing but not enough to want to not keep going and see what this life holds.

This playlist is a strange amalgamation of a life heard through an off kilter brain, which would be mine.

Influences, found love, introspection, loss, exhilaration, exuberance, self doubt, loosely controlled rage, profound sadness, courage, and hope. Maybe happiness?

In the end, we all feel the same, we just experience our dread and wonderment differently and that’s what makes living interesting.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

While I have never been a big Fleetwood Mac fan as a whole, I have always liked her songs, starting as a little boy in the late 80’s. Even as a small child I found her voice sensual.

As I got older and learned more about the band and their history I found I gravitated towards her works. She was a great songwriter and certainly had a style and a vibe that you could feel plus she had that sultry voice.

So I was taken aback when I got that BBC notification and saddened.

“Everywhere” will always remind me of Thanksgiving/Christmas season of 1987. My family had just moved to Pittsburgh and I was about to get a sibling and Pittsburgh radio often played this song and I has stuck with me since.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

While I am not denying it or anything, I was taken aback by the hyper-specific genre of Brill Building Pop in my Spotify Wrapped. You don’t see that term thrown around much anymore. Some great tunes and timeless classics came out of therefor sure.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Even if you don’t like his music, you gotta appreciate his insightfulness from well over 30 years ago.

Frank Zappa saw it coming.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

In the 18 years I’ve been selling records online, I have developed a certain affinity for the Living Stereo banner not only aesthetically but also for teaching me about quality recording, even if I am not the biggest fan of classical music. I used to be able to find old mint shaded dog records in thrifts for a quarter or fifty cents apiece far easier than good rock to sell, so I learned a lot about this stuff out of necessity.

But really, RCA releases were always attractive to me. They made me curious. Compare RCA’s Living Stereo banner along with overall art and design to Mercury’s Living Presence banner and general album design and you’ll often find the RCA release visually far more enticing. Quality-wise, they are both phenomenal examples and time capsules of early stereo recording and the brilliance of the mid-century orchestra.

RCA has released 3 box sets of 60 CD’s each, this being the third set. To some it is a leftover’s collection, but that is an over simplification of things. Sure, there are less big names featured so far as composers, performers, conductors, and orchestras are concerned. More than half the releases in this box are getting their first CD issue ever. If anything, this set is a bit more obscure but just as deserving.

On top of it all, it has beautiful packaging. I wish I would have bought all three sets a few years back when they were far cheaper as people are starting to recognize the value of these sets. Originally they were about $2 a disc for the first 2 sets. I paid about $4.40 a disc for this third set.

Guess I’m really going to start examining classical music soon.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

"Master Tapes for the Velvet Underground at Scepter Studios", 1966, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Glad I wasn’t the only one thinking it.

welcome back your dreams were your ticket out welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about

well the names have all changed since you hung around but those dreams have remained and they've turned around

who'd have thought they'd lead you

back here where we need you?

[sofakingmanyrecords]

The power went out right as I was about to taxi my wife, brother in law, and their friend to AFI downtown at The Agora. So I took a picture of my records as these lights were battery powered.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Replace the church with Twitter and God with tumblr and you’re looking at me. Hopefully others of the past will follow. This place and LiveJournal have been my most favorite social media platforms over the past 20 years.

I love Instagram but it’s milquetoast compared to the wonderfulness of vintage tumblr.

While this is mainly my record-related account, it’ll probably be slow with new content as I’m not at a PC a lot working with vinyl like I used to be (but soon…) yet my reblog-blog (@thingsofstuffilike) and my personal blog will probably end their dormancy starting now-ish.

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Mike Oldfield “Tubular Bells” LP. Somehow I managed to keep this album out of my personal collection till I bought a small collection a few years ago that had this half speed master in it. It’s not worth much and I like instrumental music so I’m probably keeping it, if nothing more, for a Halloween album. While I can’t speak for other regions, in Northeast Ohio thrifts and used record shops 20 years ago this was like the rock and roll equivalent to “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” insofar as its omnipresence. Fun fact: I have never listened to this record until today nor have I ever seen The Exorcist, though maybe I’ll watch it tonight? #LP #Vinyl #Records #MikeOldfield #TubularBells #HalfSpeedMastered #AudiophilePressing #TheExorcist #SpookyTunes https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjtho3AuESY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen "Country Cassanova" LP. I enjoy their rendition of "Everybody's Doin' It". Aside from that, the album does not really move me one way or another. It's competent. #LP #Vinyl #Records #CommanderCodyAndHisLostPlanetAirmen #CountryCassanova #CommanderCody #EverybodysDoinIt #CountryRock #Rockabilly https://www.instagram.com/p/CivoeDYuDJe/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Marvin Gaye "Every Great Motown Hit of..." LP. Another one of my old man's records. A few years ago I was going through stock in the basement and found a small pile of his stuff I didn't want to sell since he'd died for one reason or another. This one was just because it's a solid compilation. For some reason me and Marvin have never really clicked. I think he had a great voice and none of his hits rub me the wrong way but I don't love him like most people do. On the other hand, I have nothing bad t9 say about the fella either. I guess I just don't appreciate his songwriting and/or voice as much as most other people? Regardless, this collection is very enjoyable. It sounds great and flows well. Since this was my old man's and a one-owner LP, it's basically mint which makes the playback even more enjoyable. I gotta say, the four songs with Tammi Terrell are my favorites. They made a great duo. #LP #Vinyl #Records #MarvinGaye #EveryGreatMotownHitOf #TammiTerrell #Motown #Soul https://www.instagram.com/p/Civdj_jufTg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sofakingmanyrecords]

Les Crane "Desiderata" LP. So Les Crane was a disc jockey, not a poet. The guy who wrote "Desiderata", Max Ehrmann, composed the poem circa 1927. Les Crane just turned it into the most schmaltzy 70's schlock you would ever hear. This won a fucking Grammy! It's a shame that such a simple, straight forward, nice piece of writing could get so cheesed up. This copy is a white label promo with the included poster that came with stock copies as well. Still intact. I am pretty sure I have a 45 of the title track somewhere in the house. Even though it is kind of terrible in execution, I appreciate the message. Once I find it and verify it's playable, I will be selling this album as I don't have the space for this, even if to own for it's overall cheesiness. I can only handle one side of this... #LP #Vinyl #Records #LesCrane #Desiderata #MaxEhrmann #ProsePoetry #Grammy #Schlock https://www.instagram.com/p/CivbaLPOG7c/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=