Passed my driving test in a Morris Minor van. My first car was a Standard 10 that cost me £25. The shock absorbers leaked so badly I gave up refilling them, it was like driving a boat across across Morecambe Bay!
Down Memory Lane
Can’t say I remember the beer keg shampoo Dave but upon seeing that my mind immedieately went to….
Obviously the more sophisticated we’ve become with old age (Ahem!) we now take a bottle of wine to a party.
Pompeyexile ‘For every pouring pierce two holes in the lid!’ Haha no nonsense and waiting around there!!!!
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Pompeyexile God….I remember taking a few of those to parties…… Thought I was the dogs danglies when I dropped one of those onto the table….
Amazing the things you forget until reminded… 👴
Ha! Yep, no party would be complete without one. Half of it went on the carpet 😆
Pompeyexile I’ve been saying that as I get older, my six-pack has become a party seven. Nobody of the youth knows what I’m on about 😂
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Whilst we’re talking about Ye Olde Hie-Fie, I’m currently winding down with some London Grammar through a pair of 1950s Quad II monos, lovingly restored by my amp builder friend at Tron-Electric. When I say restored, they’ve been tweaked, same basic design but precision resistors, big caps on the power supply and beeswax/silver caps on the signal side. Sound lovely into my little Audio Notes, which take next to no driving to sound lively, despite looking desperately unfashionable with the ‘wider than they are deep’ look.
Those “That’s” cassettes really are a blast from the past. I used to do a lot of home taping (It’s killing music, anyone?!) on a fairly expensive Teac which let you tweak bias and level separately, per channel, by recording a test tone which you evened out with the aid of the VU meters (sadly not the analogue ones, I’m talking end 80s early 90s. I think it was called a V-5000. Used to use those That’s cassettes, but not the most expensive ones. Probably the chrome dioxide ones or metal. I still have a lot of my old tapes, but they obviously sound crap now, magnetism being ephemeral. Some of those tapes remind me of darker days than even now is serving up, so I don’t really want to play some of them anyhow. Can’t bin them though, memories are memories even if locked away.
Edit:
http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/teac-v-5000-78.html
I was all up for swapping my Teac for a DAT player. Luckily I thought I’d wait until there were a decent selection of records available on DAT… Which never happened. That saved me from buying a Digital Audio Paperweight, and was the reason I thought twice about MiniDisc. Of course burning your own CDs became easy shortly after.
None of which ‘killed music’ like the record execs told us it would. Remember the skull and crossbones with a cassette as the skull that was printed on the inner sleeves of albums? Now it’s online streaming, some bands even give music away (although probably those like Radiohead who can afford to as a gesture or unknowns going for exposure). For me, the sad thing about streaming is its changed how people listen. The Hotmetalette says “why pay for an album when you only want one song?” but whilst that might apply to bubblegum pop, it misses the point about the album as a curated art form designed to be experienced as one. And even where the album is nothing more than a collection of thematically unrelated songs, I’ve lost count how many albums I bought for the one song you knew, and ended up liking pretty much every other track on the album more, after the catchy number you bought it for has lost its appeal.
I think that is why “home taping didn’t kill music”. You’d tape a few songs off the radio, or your mate would record his latest favourite mix tape and give it to you to demonstrate his impeccable taste, and before you knew it, you’d discovered a load of music you would not have bought because you had never heard of it, but you’d be down Our Price or HMV on Saturday morning with your brown envelope from Friday night in your hand and come out with 2 or 3 LPs off the back of having been given a C60 with ‘pirated’ tunes. And you’d be excited. Now it’s streaming, music is literally consumed like water, electric and gas. Another monthly payment, hit shuffle, ignore. I’m equally guilty of that, I’ve got an Innuos which holds all my CDs, but also streams and plays Internet radio. Sounds at least as good as a good CD player, but I find my attention wanders and it becomes background noise that I find myself consuming rather than mentally engaging with. If I can be bothered to dedicate listening time I play vinyl on my TW Acustic Raven and it’s a completely different experience, just because you go through your record boxes, choose something you want to listen to, cue it up, and for the next 20 minutes or so you listen, until it’s time to turn it over.
I have heard there are even hipster DJs who run nights where everyone sits and listens to an album all the way through like the artist (maybe) intended, as if this is some kind of novelty. It may well be a novelty if you are below a certain age, but years ago that was what most people did.
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Can’t believe down the road from me in Selby a record shop has just opened up, as in selling only new and second hand LP’s…trouble is, if I go in I just know my flexible friend will become my enemy.
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Norvin Nice to see your Planar getting some love. I had a Rega P3 (the reissue of the Planar 3) with the same (?) arm, RB300 and a Zyx R50 and a little Creek phono stage. Was a great deck for what it cost, tbh I sometimes wish I still had it just cos its so carefree. I traded it for the TW Raven after getting to know Thomas Woschnik very well, and Graham still has my old P3 on the test bench, which must speak well for the Rega.
Pompeyexile Can’t believe down the road from me in Selby a record shop has just opened up, as in selling only new and second hand LP’s…trouble is, if I go in I just know my flexible friend will become my enemy.
I remember going into record shops and browsing the records, a very different way of shopping for music. Then around 1985 I think it was someones CD collection got nicked on East Enders, and it was a really big thing because they were so expensive. I think he had a single mantlepiece row of them <lol>.
The main place I would go was Woolworths for my records…because I was cheap. Ah I used to love Woolworths, I can honestly say right up until it closed, I couldn’t pass a Woolies without going in.
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When I was a rep for Harman Kardon I used to go into all the record shops trying to sell them That’s tapes…remember Our Price? Trouble is, they were so entrenched in TDK it was a thankless task.
Woolies was great. Always went there to have my passport photos taken in the booth….. You know you had four flashes of the camera, four chances. On one ocassion I sat still and sensible for the first two that I needed to send off for me passport, then did a couple of silly ones as we all did.
Went to work on the Monday and got a call from my other half saying she had kindly stuck down the envelope and sent my passport application off for me as I had obviously forgot. What she didn’t realise is that all 4 photos were in the envelope.
“No! you didn’t? I hadn’t taken out the two daft photos” I cried.
“Oh well, I wouldn’t worry” she said “they have to use the proper sensible ones.”
Yeh…..right!
Ten years I had that and got stopped at every passport control.
Ah the good old days…you can’t get away with that now….
I’d blank out the Birthday month and day though!
Blast from the past….I always wanted a thunderbird 2, with the yellow underwater thing.
Spot on Norvin, When I was a youngster, my very first dive into the realms of hifi, my dad had an old Awia cassiever and Sony turntable that made horrible rubbing sound, coming out of a pub one lunchtime (a bit worse for wear), i decided i’d get a new turntable, first shop I came too was the wonderful Soundcraft in Ashford high street. Wouldn’t sell me anything that day, insisted I had a dem the following weekend. (Floyd was allowed). Brought my first Rega 3 (with the dodgy arm), as soon after an A&R Cambridge A60ap and a pair of ARC 050 speakers, that had removable crossovers on the back so you could run them actively (never did afford the extra cambridge amp to do that).
18 years later when the arm failed, traded it in for another planer 3 with RB300 arm (travelled from Suffolk back to Ashford to buy it from sondcraft, which is still there today),which i later paired with an Arcam Alpha 10 and Castle Avon speakers, Added a DAVE board for the 10 (and later Arcam AV9 av processor and added another Alpha 10 power amp. (Time has moved on and life got busier so system sat largely unused and was put away when the granddaughter started crawling, Will get it out in a few years again
Back in the early days, my friend has the LP12, Ittock (of which I have a jigsaw off somewhere) and Karma cartridge, powered through Naim Pre-power set up with Hi cap power supply and a pair of Naim Isobarack speakers, for me that was the holy grail, which i never did find. Remember listening to Jacksons thriller album (Not a fan off) but you had to admire the sound quality of the track when the door creaked open and you could hear the silence between each creak of the doors it swung open slowly.
Dave I take our point about hearing (mine is shot now) but you can still tell the difference in sand quality of a good system on the bits you can still hear.
I’m glad it wasn’t just me. Imagine going into Bella Barista and asking to buy an HX machine to be told “ No, we won’t sell you one untill you have come in and done a comparison taste test between espresso s made with a Gaggia Classic, an HX and a double boiler”. So you make an appointment, go in and make suitable appreciative noises with each cup. Then they’ll allow you to buy the HX.
I asked for a brochure for the Rega, expecting a glossy brochure filled with guff and pictures. They gave me a single sheet of printed A4. It gave a long winded story of someone visiting his mate, chewing the fat and saying nothing. It ended by saying something along the lines of ’if you can’t hear the difference, don’t buy it’. Wish I’d kept it.
Norvin And don’t forget to take a selection of your own coffee beans for the demonstration. All quality hifi shops (if you can find one) will demonstrate 1-1 if you want.
If only I was ever that cool Dave!
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“I always wanted a thunderbird 2, with the yellow underwater thing.”
Don’t you mean Thunderbird 4 Dave, that was yellow and went underwater?
I liked The Mole…
Pompeyexile These were all carried inside TB2…mate of mine had a TB2 and the green cargo pod would detach, then TB4 would come down a little ramp.
I was so jealous…..52 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
DavecUK I can remember winning a Thunderbird 2 with detachable pod from a comic competition ( I think it was The Eagle). I was so excited when I opened the package and found what was inside. It was like Christmas and birthday rolled into one.
I was a Thunderbirds fan - all the main TBird pilots were originally based on famous actors of the day (although Lady P was based on Sylvia Anderson).
John was based on Charlton Heston, who apparently was somewhat fancied by the aforementioned Sylvia Anderson.
Gerry Andersons “revenge” (on Charlton Heston) was that poor old John spent most of his time stuck in isolation in space. (Although theoretically, in the back story, John and Alan have a monthly rotation - Throughout the series John was basically stranded).
Drewster John and Alan have a monthly rotation - Throughout the series John was basically stranded).
John had a pretty miserable existence….
there were so many good shows I remember watching as a Kid and a lot of them were really quite well done. The Time Tunnel (Irwin Allen) was really good.
“Space Patrol”. That series gave me a minor triumph at school. Science lesson - teacher asking for types of radiation. I stuck my arm up and said “Gamma Rays” - much laughter. “Quite right” said the teacher, “Any others?” Someone else put their hand up and said, “Yobba Rays.” My turn to laugh…
Rob666 I don’t remember that one at all, I looked it up hoping it would ignite a neurone or two.. All I found was the 50s TV series from USA and a puppet one from 1962.
One of my huge favourites wasn’t a kids program but the more Adult Twilight Zone
“There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone.”
Loved it!
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Fun fact…. Before he became really famous playing Captain James T Kirk, Wiiliam Shatner appeared in the Twilight Zone twice, the first in 1960 in an episode called ‘Nick of Time’ then in 1963…ish called ‘Nightmare at 20,000 feet’ He was a passenger on a plane and it was a stormy night and he suddenly saw this creature on the wing ripping the plane apart that nobody else could see… or did he? Of all the episodes , it seems that episode also became one of the most famous too.
There is a dimension between teatime and the cheese fondue… between the first pint of Double Diamond and the Bell’s or Irish Coffee at the end of the night. In the pit of man’s stomach… we call it the Twiglet Zone.
Hotmetal There is a dimension between teatime and the cheese fondue… between the first pint of Double Diamond and the Bell’s or Irish Coffee at the end of the night. In the pit of man’s stomach… we call it the Twiglet Zone.
All massive blasts from the past…in our house, mainly around Christmas time…not the Fondue of course, far too posh for my parents. My dad loved making Irish coffee and floating the cream on it with the spoon….I liked drinking it to…there you go, I admitted it. I would still have a go today, except you have to use so much sugar to make the cream float, and I don’t use sugar.
One of the things I do remember were the family holidays to Butlins…don’t laugh, but I was only little, and I thought the place was magical….we used to go to the one in Bognor Regis. Disneyworld for the Brits.
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Ha, Bognor Butlins! Me and the lads went there not sooooo long ago for a Ska weekender, which wasn’t 100% Ska, they had Dr and the Medics, Bad Manners (Buster Bloodvessel is now rather slim), a Madness tribute band, Pauline Black out of the Selecter and even Toyah Wilcox banging out Thunder in the Mountains. Memory Lane indeed.
I used to love Irish coffee, not exactly diet friendly though was it? Very 70s/80s. Used to have one at the end of a meal at the Berni Inn…
OMG Butlins! We used to go to to Minehead ( Bournmouth was too close to home to Portsmouth and wouldn’t have seemed like going away) and as a kid I absolutely loved it. I remember having our meals in these big halls on long tables with all the other holiday makers. The free funfair, the penny arcades, chasing the guy dressed as a pirate and throwing him in the pool. When you arrived you were put in a different house (a bit like Harry Potter) and we used to have friendly but very competative competitions against each other. Glamorous Granny and knobbly knees competions and not forgetting the free entertainment, comedians, singers, magicians, dancers and of course the Red Coates. Kids today would just roll their eyes and carry on heads down engrossed in their phones.
The swimming pool with the large glass viewing panel so that you could see under the water like you can do in seaworld to look at the sharks. You went to one of the areas/bars where you got a drink to see it, all the people’s bottom halfs and ocassionally whole if the swam underwater, which I’m not sure is still there or would be allowed today.
We did go to Pontins (book early as Fred used to say) Southport one year, but it wasn’t a patch on Butlins so went back there the following year.
