Amsterdam Russ

In some respects I'm surprised to see the Elvis market go in decline, simply because I guess I've always considered him to be musically immortal. But, as has been pointed out, with older collectors dying and new ones being fewer, the demand - and the interest - is clearly fading. I guess the other aspect is the generational one: those who loved Elvis first time around passed on their enthusiasm to their own kids, who would have seen and heard The King on TV/radio, etc. The grandchildren of the original generation will have their own kids, making Elvis as much as four generations away from the present day. What Elvis needs is another comeback. Or rather, his estate does. Just as the Northern Soul film and ongoing media interest has fuelled something of a resurgence on the scene, so Elvis needs to be a presence in modern life if he is not to be forgotten. I recall when Prince was going through his "no name" phase, he was described by a music journalist as "The man formerely known as collectable". Of course, Prince gave the greatest gift to his estate and his legacy by up and dying. Prince is the new Elvis in posthumous terms, perhaps. The decline of the "Northern" scene and thus the collectability of the records is inevitable - at some point. My own feeling is that in the shorter term "Northern Soul" be subsumed into a greater vintage "Black Music" scene. The collecting aspect will focus on whatever the preferred style of the day might be, and filter out stuff that doesn't meet that criteria - pretty much like today, of course. And just as Doo-Wop is breathing its last as a collectible musical form, so 90 per cent of Northern will go out of vogue except for a few die-hards, who'll continue to pay handsomely for the rarest of the rare.

I've no idea of the provenance or originality of the disc, but I must point out that having non-corresponding sides on an acetate - ie, two sides that weren't paired up on a 45 - doesn't point to it being fake. There could be many reasons why these two sides were put back-to-back. As an example, here's an Allegro Sound acetate which has a track by the G Clefs on each side. Both tracks were released on the Loma label with "Party '66" coming out on Loma 2034 (released March 1966 as the flip to the dire "Little lonely boy"), and "I can't stand it" being released three months later, in June 1966, on Loma 2048 (paired with "Whirlwind"). In this instance I'd consider the likely story to be that the G Clefs acetate was cut so it could be touted around to record labels that might be interested in buying or licensing and subsequently releasing it - in this case Loma. I could also show you a Bell Sound Studios acetate with The Toys "Lover's concerto" on one side and "I've got a man" on the other. The latter track, of course, was never released as a 45 in the US. As said, just because the tracks on an acetate don't correspond to both sides of a 45 does not necessarily, by itself, point to it being a fake. The New Wanderer's acetate has some degree of provenance, having allegedly passed through some well-known hands. They should be able to prove the background that'll help determine whether it's real or not. Also, it should be noted that the track times on the acetate are longer than those given on the respective 45s. Times on labels aren't always accurate, but regardless I'd sure want to give both acetate cuts a listen to see whether they are slightly longer takes that were shortened or faded out on the actual releases.

A visit to the Marolles flea market in Brussels the other weekend - and a suitable breakfast, continental style!

Sunrise from our front balcony. I was just heading to bed at the time.

I can't for a moment believe Ray Pollard is singing "Chance for romance". Sounds nothing like him at all, and Pollard must be a good octave deeper! It sounds very obviously like David Coleman.

Oh, my goodness! Camocamerachameleon!

A trip to the pancake house in the Amsterdam woods on a sunny day is always a favourite thing to do. Always great to see a peacock in full display. The one here was quite happy to show off for a good three or four minutes. These pics were taken with my iPhone.

It's not exactly as if the grebes are hanging around waiting for you to get your camera set up and ready before they begin their dance. Sometimes you've just got to be thankful you were there with a camera at all. Well, you know what I'm saying.

Great photos of what is always a spectacular courtship display. Really nice to see. Well done.

Probably the first Joe Bataan song I ever hear. Smooth vocals and rhythms, and a nice latin kick halfway through...

£471.98

As it happens there's one here from last September…

A popular subject for discussion! There's a looong thread on funeral songs via the link below and which is a good read: There's also a shorter thread from 2010, and I'm pretty sure a couple of others from before then.

Excellent news. Not seen any here from the comfort of home yet, although they could already be swooping and skimming across the lake behind us, but which is just out of sight. Will keep an eye open.

A few more pics from yesterday's two-wheeled jaunt through the woods of Amsterdam...

Took a cycle ride through the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam woods) yesterday on what was a gloriously sunny afternoon. Lots of sights to see including the resident Highland cattle, early cherry blossom and deer (tame) at the pancake house where we enjoyed a bit of food and a nice bottle of fizzy bubbles to celebrate my birthday. First time out on the bike for ages. Reckon we did around 35km and, all told, it was a most enjoyable way to spend the afternoon and early evening.

It's a truly wonderful place - a time capsule of Old Greece. It offers bugger all to do in the way of contrived entertainments, which is great. Want to get away from it all and relax, in a traditional setting, with the most splendid food and the warmest, most genuine people it's ever been my pleasure to meet, then Lesvos - and the fabulously picturesque village of Molyvos in particular – are where it's at. We'll be there again mid-June through to early July - staying in a local and very basic apartment (no fancy hotels here, but it is marble floored for coolness) owned by a wife and husband in their very late-70s. I say wife and husband in that order because the man is a right lazy sod, and she, in her old age, still wields a hoe like a demon every day in their well-tended, twice-a-day-watered vegetable plots, which we overlook from the basic, but serene comfort of our balcony. Oh, and neither of them speaks anything other than Greek! Peter, if/when you go, I can hook you up/recommend so many things – and it would be my absolute pleasure to do so.

Very evocative, Peter. Looking forward to summer even more now after that.

Wonder if you'll get an earlier sighting than that this year. I have a feeling you might as it's been such a mild winter and spring has well and truly sprung already. Mind you, if I were a swallow, I'd stop in Lesvos for the year where it's nice and sunny. Being mere humans, all we get are three weeks there a year!

As there's always interest in these threads on the arrivals of swifts, swallows and martins, I thought folk here might like to know that a friend on Facebook posted up pics this evening of the first swallows of the year on the Greek island of Lesvos. It might be a bit premature yet, but summer's coming!

Yup, very easy to find on Google, and used in loads of places online, including Wikipedia. No idea why you should have had such difficulty in obtaining it at all - unless the print belonged to a family member of Hutton or the photographer and they felt the need to protect or be reassured about how you might use it (which you said).