Medium, Rare and Well Done – Hard To Find NZ LP’s From The 1970’s and Early 80’s
Jun 15
There are some rare little gems from the shaky isles still on vinyl which have never been re-mastered and released on CD and for years it was assumed that they never would. Sadly, this means that they are as rare as hens teeth and attract ridiculous prices from vinyl scalpers around the world.
Case in point are “original presses” of albums like “Ticket – Awake” which up until recently changed hands at prices akin to gold … well not quite, but a 120 gram vinyl record selling for $400 USD has got to be considered gold.
There is some call you’d think to reissue these on CD and thus alleviate the pressure on prices. Only the resellers benefit; the bands themselves get no royalties for second hand sales and as for those who simply want to listen to the music it’s just downright hard to get hold of, if you can.
OK there are a few “Best Of’s” and various artist compilation albums about – but they are largely eclectic collections that leave you somewhat wanting.
Basically, nothing beats getting the original album, with perhaps a few bonus single tracks added.
Now back in the 1980s when I started up my archival music collection (I’m still going some 30 odd years later) I tried to track down bands to see if they would be putting out their records on CD. To my dismay I discovered that record labels like CBS had dumped the original masters. But it gets worse… other producers sold the rights off-shore and as to access to the masters, well, who knows … the bands certainly don’t have the rights! Then you get all the label buy outs and the signing away of rights in perpetuity, so that even if the artists want to release their own works 30 years or more after the so called “sound recording mechanical rights” normally expire – it all just becomes ‘too hard’!
There is some relief in play though – Ticket have released their classic 1971 album AWAKE on CD, so it’s available to the world again (and hopefully this will take the sting out of second hand record prices). You can now buy this in music stores, on eBay and on websites (like www.gocatalogue.com ) around the world. Wellington band ‘Highway’ have re-release their only self titled album on CD – great, I won’t have to try and re-master this from my old 1971 LP record (even if it is in near mint condition) and so have Dunedin band Lutha – their two albums Lutha and Earth are now available on a single disc.
But there are many, many more worthy of re-releasing.
Not only will the hippie generation of the 70s turn around and buy or download them, youngsters who weren’t even a twinkle in their parents imagination will take to this music, thus opening the ears of a whole new generation…
Here’s a little sample of music from the land of the long white cloud which should be re-released:
MEDIUM
Roger Fox Big Band – Let the Good Times Roll. Brass jazz pop album with guest Midge Marsden adding a bluesy touch.
Rockinghorse – Thoroughbred. Good all round album featuring the talents of (ex-Formula) singer/songwriter Wayne Mason. the hit single off this album was “through the Southern Moonlight”. This reminds me of a mid-70s Doobie Brothers.
Nambassa Soundtrack – owning this album is like owning the original “Woodstock” soundtrack. A slice of history which should be preserved.
Golden Harvest – Pop from the late 70s, featuring the hit single “Need Your Love”.
RARE
Living Force – this incredibly rare recording is a mix of jazz/rock/Krishna/fusion, a cross between Santana and George Harrison (All things Must Pass). LPs are next to impossible to find.
The Chapta – rare pop recording from 1971, features the hit singles ‘Say a Prayer’ and the trippy psychedelic ‘Journey to the Sun’. Most of the album is straight out rock-pop. Their second LP “Open Door” featured Dave Kennedy (later to form Link) on lead vocal and guitar. Open door produced two hit singles “Show the World” and “Can’t Get Sunday Out of My Mind.”
1860 Band – Very rare rock/jazz fusion recording from the late 70s. The last of the Chicago, Blood sweat & Tears like bands of the era. Roger Fox was a former member of ‘the Quincy Conserve’ another of those great jazz / rock bands and their album “Listen the Band” is another worthy contender for re-release.
Powerhouse – Life Beyond the Material Sky. Extremely rare live recording of Hendrix style guitar hero Billy TK’s Pacific Rock band from 1975.
Phil Manning w Midge Marsden – Live in New Zealand. Ultra rare blues album featuring a great performance from these two great blues-masters.
WELL DONE
Ticket – Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. This album is not quite as consistent as their debut, but there are some real high points in this psychedelic Hendrix influenced acid rock classic. Vinyl copies of this are even harder to find than Awake.
Farmyard – Looking for a Place. The LP I have is a West German re-issue of their first two albums ‘Learning About Living’ and ‘Back to Fronting’. The debut album is particularly good – a jazz / rock fusion set reminiscent of Traffic and early Jethro Tull.
Borich & Tilders – the Blues Had a Baby. This classic blues album was recorded direct to disk, so presumably there are no masters?? Some years back, KB sent me this CD which (the late) Dutch Tilder’s himself had mastered off vinyl. As much as I adore it, you can hear the snap, crackle & pop off the record he used.
The CDs are now out of press or getting hard to get hold of.
Space Farm – 1972 edition of this psyche classic, featuring guitarist Harvey Mann
Space Farm Live 1971 – rare concert of the band live in Wellington
The Underdogs – Wastin’ My Time (Pig Mann and Edwards) another psyche classic.
The Human Instinct – Stoned Guitar. The re-issue of this pearler contains a number of bonus tracks.
The Human Instinct – Pins In it The Human Instinct – Burning Up Years