I decided to buy a turntable (or in my eyes; a record player again) and here it is.
It’s not a hugely expensive one with lots of audiophile loveliness; it just plugs into my surround sound system so it sounds great, crackles and all.
Toxic Shock – A dubious deal and my Lenco turntable
 
I missed the demise of the LP or long player in my life. I gave away or sold my collection years ago, keeping a few choice albums that I couldn’t part with.
Toxic Shock
I am playing an album called “A Dubious Deal” by an anarcho-feminist band called Toxic Shock which I can guarantee only a few old anarcho punks will be aware of who they are, even less, will remember them or still have their music. I was so happy to find it again a few years ago on Discogs but hadn’t been able to play the record until now.
I now have a small collection of LPs and singles that I’ve managed to find locally or had stashed away in a box. I also still have lots of cassettes/mixtapes that I’ve had since the 80s.
Music in any form whether, live, vinyl, CDs, cassettes or digital is just wonderful. It’s a huge part of my life in many ways. It enhances my happiness, it makes me laugh, dance around the room (great on your own and with a special someone), it helps me spiritually and it soothes my soul when life can be difficult.
One of the places I live virtually, is Last fm, I use the site as a place to chat about music and find new releases of many bands and singers. I’ve been there for over 13 years. You can also see what I’m listening to (scrobbling) at any given moment. I also use the Vinyl Scrobbler via Discogs to scrobble my vinyl records.
Last fm top artists 14th April 2020
Last fm top artists 7th May 2020
As you can see from the above my taste in music does change all the time.
A small selection of music on Google Music
Article about vinyl on the Guardian – It shows how much tangible products/records have more value and are way more fun!
Music is sooo much more accessible now on my phone. Things are way easier than having lots of music actually on your phone (all those MB eating up your data and storage). The cloud is great idea; though the ownership (I’m a Taurean – I like to have things) of music is important. I like to touch records, clean them, read the sleeves and booklets.
I still buy loads of CDs and used to upload them to my Squeezebox (that was such a wonderful idea though Logitech don’t make the Boom any more). Now I upload CDs’s to Google Music as I tend to buy digital or have a subscription to music that I can’t easily get in UK (like my love of Latin American rock) There’s not a lot of call for it here in the UK.

1977 and The Stranglers

Life changed for a lot of people in 1977; me included. I have memories of Marc Bolan on his TV Show, “Marc”, David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” and Queen “We are the Champions” that’s what I remember rocking my pre-teen world.
I heard the Stranglers on the radio (as back then we taped the music from Radio 1 on a Sunday) They got into the Top 40 (peaked at No.9)  with “Something Better Change”.
https://vimeo.com/165767229
Something Better Change The Stranglers (R.I.P Dave Greenfield)
That was it… The Stranglers changed me and I knew then the music, I liked would be different from that point on. I was only 11 at the time, the music, slowly evolving and I was becoming more aware of it and the impact on my life.
My musical taste starting really changing in 1979/80/81 with the advent of The Specials, The Beat, The Vapors (especially the New Clear Days Album and “Sixty Second Interval”) and bands like Blondie (especially the song Atomic) and The Ruts, The Damned and of course my favourites Crass, the Scars and Stiff Little Fingers. So much good music; it will always be a big part of my life.

The Vapors then and now

I’ve just bought some new vinyl (buy it here) and I’m waiting patiently for my signed album and CD to arrive (May 15th). Just before the lockdown, I managed to finally see one of my favourite bands called The Vapors They’ve reformed (thank god for that!) I thought the couple of albums (New Clear Days and Magnets) I have, would have been it. I never thought in my life they would ever get back together and start gigging again; let alone bring out a new album 40 years after, their debut album New Clear Days!
New album by The Vapors – Together
It’s been great, having fun chats with the Q&A sessions and surprise live music on Facebook with the band. They are all so down to earth and friendly, which is lovely and so refreshing! Great name for the new album too. So apt in these interesting times.
Here’s their promo video from their single “Crazy” from their new album Together. I love this song!!
These albums and single above are excellent; well worth checking them out. So I’ve come full circle from the late 70s/80s punk back to the present day with new music. Enjoy listening to the music selection on this post.

Hugs Diane
Full Moon in Scorpio, May 2020