Amsterdam Russ

To be fair, if looking only at monetary aspects then Loma isn't a particularly hard label to collect, so the aspiring DJ could get hold of most of the releases on original 45s without too much difficulty. Barring the yellow issue Soul Shakers "I'm getting weaker", the hardest one to find (based on my experience) is actually under the radar - or there's no interest in it. For me, THE hardest one is a green label variant of a 45 that is cheap as both a yellow stock copy and a white label demo. I'm still looking for one of those. Volume 3 is the R&B comp. Great tracks on that from the likes of James "Lucky" Carmichael, Smiley Lewis, Barry "Barefoot" Beefus and also including James Cotton's two fabulous sides - his cover of the St Louis Jimmy Oden song "Complete this order" and the mighty harmonica romp "Laying in the weeds". Poor sound quality on the clip, but hey... https://youtu.be/fkbetb99DXU

The guy behind it was the legendary Claude Nobs, who was a senior WB exec at that time. Claude founded the even more legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, of course, and is immortalised as "Funky Claude" in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the water". I exchanged a few emails with him about five or six years ago and he said he'd call me on the phone and tell me about how he came to put the tremendously ambitious 7-LP Loma anthology together. To my eternal regret, that phone call didn't happen. Still, I'm honoured that he even bothered to reply to my enquiring email at all. Claude died in January 2013 from injuries sustained in a skiing accident. He was 76-years old.

Ever the optimist, I still hold out hope of finding Loma 2004 - Bob and Earl - Everybody Jerk!

Here you go... Manship did auction this almost exactly three years ago. Here's what he had to say about it... Link:

No, it's not due to wear: mine's pretty much a minty. Exactly as you say, it's a mastering problem. I've listened to numerous copies of this and they've all had the hiss to a lesser or greater degree. First time I heard this was on a Pat Brady tape from the early-mid 80s - it also had the hiss. I'm sure John Manship auctioned one a couple of years back, and it also had the hiss.

My understanding was that they all have the hiss - just some more than others. The one in the clip sounds remarkably clear compared to my copy which has an audible hiss all the way through on both sides..

Here in the Netherlands they have the same contempt for herons for exactly the name reason. But let's get real here. Magpies are not alone in feasting on eggs and young during the breeding season. A whole multitude of creatures survive on the contents of nests of just about every animal. Our feathered friends are not the only ones under attack; every wild creature with young is a target. It's nature's way - and it's deadly out there!

I use goofbid, which is a free sniper service. https://www.goofbid.com It also appears to have tied up with ebay in some way recently as I'm now getting an indication in my ebay invoices of how much I've "saved" relative to my highest snipe bid.

Also read his post about this. He says that he'd hoped to keep the news private, but had to confirm publicly to (my words) stop the gossip mongers once it had become widely known. I echo the sentiments wishing him a speedy recovery.

I thought Ragovoy (Philly born) was working out of NY during his tenure with Loma. Am I wrong?

Technically, a classic from the Loma label! "Mr Creator" was recorded in the same session as Loma 2053 - "Sorry Mama / My Soul Concerto" - but was given over to the parent Warner Bros because it had all the makings of a hit and as such would benefit from their marketing and promotions budgets. They were nearly right.

One of my absolute favourites from the label. Difficult to say why exactly. Not sure if it's about having some sort of empathy with the emotions of the record, or maybe the harmonies - there's certainly something about harmonies that resonates personally - or maybe it's just simply a sublime slice of that music we call "Soul". Whatever, it works for me - big time!

August 23rd 1964 marks the 50th anniversary of the Loma record label. The first ever release (Loma 2001) was Billy Storm - I never want to dream again (There in a garden) / baby don't look down. https://youtu.be/bLalYfXKoBo Happy birthday, Loma Records!

Actually, I could do with a couple. Shipping to Netherlands?

Pete's sold a few records for me in the past and exactly as he says, it's about avoiding all the hassle that goes with it. You read enough of the threads on here about people's bad experiences - buyer or seller - and you realise that as much as it sounds like some sort of dream job to be record dealer, the truth is anything but. Hats off to anyone who makes a living at it. If I were selling up my meagre collection, Pete would probably be my first port of call. He has (as do others like him) the contacts, the reputation and the knowledge to ensure that I would get the best out of whatever might be in my boxes. And paying a cut as commission is a very small price to pay for saving yourself all the hassle that can go with every… single… one… of… those... 45s. As for record sold on here specifically, while I've bought a few here and there - and had some great prices — I do think that with the exception of a few dealers, prices offered are high. Indeed, they're often at a premium. Ebay still works for me.

One offered on here two days ago... No idea if still available or not.

Have to admit that I'd not heard of it before. According to Google Maps, it's about 2-2.5 hours away from us by public transport (we don't have a car and it's a bit too far for cycling!). Looks a very interesting place - I'll do some reading up and find out more. Thanks for the tip.

Two photos taken at visitor attractions within the woods of Amsterdam. One (you'd never guess) is the goat farm, where they also make cheese and offer cuts of goat, lamb, etc. The other is the Boerderij Meerzicht (Lake view farm), which we affectionally call the pancake house because, well, you can guess. The peacocks and hens are there partly as an attraction and partly as an alarm system for those dark woodland nights and for during the closed season. This post also marks the 1,000 post in this long-lived thread - a remarkable achievement. Thanks to everyone for posting and for providing such must-read entertainment and countless wonderful photos. More please…

I'm pretty certain it's a record that featured on one of the very first Pat Brady sales cassettes. That's where I heard it first, anyway.

Prices in dollars, I presume :-)

Again, more house martins over Aalsmeer town. I'm guessing these are just passing through - or they're local birds extending their hunting range. Either way, nice to see, even if they were in a rain-soaked sky.

Razorbill - taken on the Isle of May in Scotland a couple of years back. And I'm wondering if that's a kittiwake blurred in the background.

And caught fish into the bargain! I haven't been fishing since I was a kid and rarely caught anything more than a few tiddlers, usually roach. Like a lot of people, I really enjoyed just being there, sat quietly and enjoying nature - and especially so early evenings when the light softens and turns increasingly golden. Happy days

Saw three late last night, and not long ago spied a house martin out the front windows. The house martin is quite unusual as hardly any were to be seen from home earlier in the summer. This appears to be swift territory with the swallows and martins - I'm guessing - probably located themselves near the lake that's just behind us.

See...