Listened to the re-issue of Bowie’s 1975 album Young Americans. It was remixed by Tony Visconti. It sounds brilliant. I was disappointed with some of the remixing done with the Ryko reissue of Young Americans 15 or so years back. I missed the original rippling stereo saxohpone mix on Win for example. This 5.1 remix is luxurious. Win sounds wonderful. I have mixed feelings about the strings on It’s Gonna Be Me. The video stuff from the Dick Cavett show is nice. Why they left off ‘After Today’ from this special edition is a mystery.

Vinyl heaven from the 1960s, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

Wowie Zowie was an album that my old brother Peter had bought about 1969. I eventually picked up a second hand copy many years later. There are some standout tracks on this compilation from Decca. The album was subtitled the “World of Progressive Music”. Many of these tracks still stand the test of time today. There is material from Savoy Brown, John Mayall, Johnny Almond, Keef Hartley Band, The Moody Blues, Touch and others. Great listening and a real trip back in time, man. Grab them while they’re hot.

45RPM singles from the sixties…, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

David Bowie turned 58 on the 8th January. It was Elvis Presley’s birthday too. Anyway, to celebrate Bowie’s birthday I dug up some old 45RPM singles by a number of different artists including the Beatstalkers, Ronnie Hilton, Peter Noone and Oscar. Bowie had written songs for all of these performers when he was still a struggling artist trying to make ends meet. See the single labels here.

The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

This two album set brought together a collection of rarities from the world of recorded music. The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label was a bootleg record label that produced vinyl albums of rare and hard to find recordings. Artists that were bootlegged by TAKRL included the Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Bruce Springsteen and others.

Dr. Terrence H. Tellyfone., originally uploaded by John Larkin.

The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label operated out of Anytown in the USA and was the brainchild of the late Dr. Terrence H. Tellyfone, Art Gnuvo and Deek Kibard. There is a short history of the TAKRL record label here. A history of bootlegs can be found at the Hotwacks web site. Please check out the entire album and eight page TAKRL discography here.