Let me take you back, those old enough to be back that is, to a time of Saturday morning cartoons, three TV channels, no TV remotes, shag carpet, riding in large hunks of metal that looked like station wagons where hardly anyone wore seat belts and those sugary cereals that inundated Saturday morning television with commercials featuring all sorts of cool surprises buried inside and outside of various cereal boxes.

I was only 3 or 4 at the time, and yes I do remember those commercials (barely), but I most certainly remember that in 1969/1970 cardboard records were made available on the back of certain cereals featuring my faves The Monkees as well as Bobby Sherman, The Archies, The Jackson Five and maybe others. Okay, okay, I still have regular vinyl issues of all of the above but I digress …

Now I know that I may be featured on some future episode of one of those hoarders shows but I still own several of these cardboard delights that I, or my mom or brothers or sister, cut off the back of these cereal boxes and played on my portable record player (usually with a coin taped on) for fun.

I vaguely remember badgering my poor mother to buy these. Can you imagine a 3 year old obsessed with music and getting records for birthdays at that age – err, gulp sure do.

I do remember loving seeing these on the back of cereal boxes and even going to a friends house and trying to trade some of these records and play them so certainly others out there over the age of 45 remember these records and had some themselves.

There was even a regular 33 vinyl Monkees album released featuring all the songs on the cardboard records called “The Monkees Golden Hits” that could be mail ordered from the back of the cereal boxes as well. Of course I have that too and will feature it on a later post! (Sigh, really folks I have some semblance of a life, not much, but I do).

Not much to add about these but they’re a great time machine and certainly one of my favorite music memories and physical music collectibles! Try and find some of these nowadays is certainly a challenge.

Though kids, don’t try playing these at home!

Check them out (Monkees are bigger photo of course, lol. Note the groovy bedspread in the photos, Brady Bunch eat your hearts out!):

 

 

“And here’s to you Mrs. Robinson …”

Good things come to those who wait – or so they say.

Last week, I was on vacation and in my usual round of record store hunting (sorry Doug! lol) I found a vinyl album that I have been searching for for over twenty – yes twenty – years. Okay, you have to be a record fan or you might have a bit of a queasy stomach about now.

BUT, I happened upon a mono pressing of Simon and Garfunkel’s best (in my opinion) album called “Bookends”. To say this album in mono is rare is a major understatement. It was released in April 1968 at a time when mono records were being phased out. Thank goodness this copy was under $40 as it tends to go for well over $150 to upwards of $300 if you can even locate a copy. This is the first copy I’ve found out in the wild as they say and not on ebay.

Okay, lesson time: In the 1960’s, pop music was available in either mono or stereo versions or mixes. Mono (one channel) had the sound dead center (all instruments and vocals coming out of the center if you listen on a two speaker stereo system) and stereo had two channels with the instruments and vocals spread out across the two speakers.

Modern stereo includes surround sound with sound coming out of your ears, under your seat and every direction known to man but in the 60’s it was either one or two channels.

Now, readers who aren’t music geeks – gee I’m wondering if you’re still even reading lol – need to know that most pop/rock music before 1968 was produced to be heard on tiny AM radios or small record players with tiny speakers and was predominately mixed in mono.

Mono generally is more in your face, louder and more shall I say it ballsy then stereo especially pre-1965 as stereo was a newer format and producers weren’t used to mixing in stereo. The mono mixes tended to sound more alive and cleaner and were meant to cut over the din of the tiny speakers people were using.

Anyway, back to “Bookends”, the mono mix of this landmark Simon and Garfunkel album is really quite lovely sounding. In fact any young readers out there (or anyone interested in vinyl frankly) should check out the first five Simon and Garfunkel albums which are available in mono (“Wednesday Morning 3 a.m.”, “Sounds of Silence”, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”, “The Graduate” (another really rare mono Lp) and “Bookends”.

The only way to get these albums in mono is to track down the original 60’s vinyl pressings and it’s well worth it. For some reason it’s rumored that Paul Simon won’t allow the Simon and Garfunkel mono versions to be reissued which is a shame if true.

Simon and Garfunkel in mono sound superb. They are punchier, the instruments – especially Paul Simon’s guitar work –  really pop out at you as if you are in the recording studio with them. The stereo vinyl isn’t bad at all mind you. In fact the stereo mixes are great too it’s just that I have a preference for the mono mixes of these albums.

Another note, Columbia Records who own and release Simon and Garfunkel recordings had a practice in the 60’s and 70’s I’ve read in which they used the original master tapes (used to make the vinyl pressings) over and over again instead of making a dub thus wearing out the original tapes.

So if you want to hear Simon and Garfunkel closest to how the masters sounded when they were released, track down original stereo or mono pressings if you can find them in decent shape.

As for this pressing  I just found last week, the cover is kind of worn but the vinyl is in nice shape thank goodness. The album is here in all it’s analog glory.

For those downloaders or streamers out there, you hear in analog and I think the reason some people are attracted to vinyl again is that the analog mixes are much easier on the ears and nervous system.

Instead of the one version available to download, each pressing of an album is unique and can sound different depending on the part of the country it was pressed in, the plant, the engineer, etc. It’s like a treasure hunt finding the best sounding version (okay, okay a tad obsessive I know but that’s what makes collecting fun!).

The mono mix, which I first heard on a bootleg CD and which can probably be tracked down on YouTube, is really the way to hear this album. The opening song “Save the Life of My Child” sounds much more urgent and exciting and the female voices cry out as if from some pit of agony.

“A Hazy Shade of Winter” has much more bite and “Fakin’ It” has a more three dimensional sound if you can believe it and the English interlude has a much different feel than the stereo version. Every song has noticeable differences to their stereo counterparts with vocals and instruments popping up in different levels and places throughout the songs.

If you’re lucky enough to come across a mono copy of this album grab it! I’ve read the promo copy of this album in mono may be a tad more common than the stock mono copy which I bought. Though either would be a treasure in any record collection.

Well, that’s it for now kids. If you’ve made it this far, tune in next time (same Bat Channel, same Bat Blog) for some Rice Crispy records? No really, pass the milk …

Until then, check out some photos of this copy of “Bookends” below:

 

 

Do you stream music on your phone? Are you one of those people who download songs to your Ipod and have never stepped foot inside a record store? What’s a record store you say? Yikes! Well, this blog may give you a headache or hives but I will try to show you some of my collection of old fart physical media (CDs, vinyl, 8-Tracks) featuring some of my favorite artists.

Seriously, any music fan is welcome but this blog will celebrate music in it’s physical form be it vinyl, CD, cassette, 8-Track or even those long forgotten Playtapes from the late 1960s’ (more about those in a future post!).

I may from time to time also talk about something current in the music scene or share some of my interviews with musicians.

I’m a freelance writer part-time and have interviewed people such as Gene Simmons of Kiss, Rick Springfield, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Steely Dan and the group America among many, many others for newspaper articles.

I may also highlight stereo equipment, yes there are other ways of playing music besides the phone or computer!

So sit back, slap on a set of headphones (not my personal choice as I hate headphones) or lean against those aging but still oh so nice pair of Pioneer speakers and as someone whose music I admire greatly said – Roll up for the mystery tour, step right this way …