📜 Feature The May Vinyl Challenge

This is a month of vinyl "challenges" being posted on Instagram. A few of these make no sense (like, what is Day 27: Sleeveface?), but otherwise I can relate to a lot of these. Here is the official list, courtesy of @jennn_erator on IG.



I will be participating on and off on our @lost.and.found.sounds IG account.

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If anyone would like to "play along," feel free to post your picks below. Remember, the days in the challenge correspond to the days in the month, so it's OK to "catch up" but preferably, don't jump ahead.

If you post on IG, use the hashtags #MayVinylChallenge and #MayVinylChallenge2024 .

 

[Rudy]

For my picks so far:

Day 1, album that started me collecting: Dan Hartman's Instant Replay. (I had records before that, but this was the point where I vowed they'd always be put away and properly cared for.)

Day 2, album from a show I attended: Earth Wind & Fire's Touch the World. Saw EW&F on the tour for this record.

Day 3, best album after a hiatus: Steely Dan's Two Against Nature. 20 years since Gaucho, amigo.

Day 4, best album to take into outer space (because May the 4th be with you...): Tomita: Kosmos. As I don't own my favorite version of Holst's The Planets on vinyl, I chose Kosmos as, beyond the first track, it's a space-like fantasy woven out of classical compositions. And coincidentally the first track is the Star Wars theme.

Day 5, great fifth album by an artist: Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, Pat Metheny Group's First Circle, and the TJB's Going Places. IMHO, the latter two are a notable peak, while the Steely Dan is just a good, solid record.

Day 6: I've got nothing yet for "Best vs. Worst for a Favorite Band."

 

[Nemily]

At least it’s only the 6th


Day 1 album that started me collecting: Buffalo Springfield. They only had three studio albums of which I collected them all, I continued with the spin-offs, CSNY I have the first two of them, I have two Crazy Horse with NY albums, and then Neil Young and I have 7 albums so far, mostly early stuff.

Day 2 Album from a show I attended: Captain Fantastic, the now demolished Spectrum went nuts when Elton John did Philadelphia Freedom

Day 3 best album after a hiatus: Santana resurgence was late 90’s but it was Supernatural, that produced his first hits in well over a decade, Smooth and Maria Maria (both collaborations)

Day 4 best album to take to outer space: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Day 5 great fifth album: My sometimes favorite Beatles album Help!

Day 6 Best vs Worst for a favorite Band: Fleetwood Mac worst: Penguin Best: Tusk

 

[Rudy]

At least it’s only the 6th

Great picks! I didn't come up with anything for the 6th yet but I can always catch up later.

I like the pick for Tusk. I haven't heard but maybe a third of their records but I seem to return to Tusk the most.

Today's is all about the 7 inch record. I own very few but have one in mind.

 

[Nemily]

For Day 5 I initially also had !!Going Places!! but then I reread your picks and remembered Help! I was not into collecting at the time. The doodling on the Help! jacket makes me both cry and laugh now

 

[Harry]

Day 1: First record that started me collecting. I'm going to first assume that we're talking about albums here, because my 45 collection started years earlier. I would have to answer this one with either WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS or !!GOING PLACES!! Both were likely gifts from my parents, but they set me on the road to collecting more of these Tijuana Brass records.

Day 2: Album from a show I attended. During a period of being a subscriber to a season or two of the Philadelphia Orchestra, we bought Riccardo Muti's collection of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies there in the lobby of the Academy Of Music.

Day 3: Best album after a hiatus. Here I'll go with RISE from Herb Alpert. Though he had a couple of recordings through the mid 70s with Hugh Masekela, his popularity had slowed a lot. RISE brought him back to prominence and is a tremendous album in its own right.

Day 4: Record to take to outer space. There can be only one in my opinion, the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY original soundtrack.

Day 5: Great fifth album by an artist. I'll have to say !!GOING PLACES!!; it's one of Herb's more iconic albums from the 60s containing Taxi, Flea, and Zorba along with many memorable album tracks.

Day 6: Best vs. worst by a favorite band. I'll go with Paul Simon. Not many claim to love it, but I do, HEARTS AND BONES is one I'd put as best. It took me forever to discover it, but I really like it. And his worst in my estimation has to be SONGS FROM THE CAPEMAN. On a song-by-song examination, I could barely make it through.

Day 7: All about the seven-inch. I've collected many 7-inch singles over the years, but I have to say the most remarkable one I've ever found is the rare promo version of Herb Alpert's "To Wait For Love" with the stereo single version of the song. Other choices would be the Spanish version of "Sing" by the Carpenters with all-Spanish vocals by Karen. Another choice could be "Wade In The Water" by the Tijuana Brass with an alternate stereo mix.

 

[Nemily]

Day 7 - All About the Seven-inch. Herb Alpert "This Guy's In Love With You" B/W Quiet Tear A&M Record 929 is my first owned and most cherished seven-inch. This Bacharach song with Herb's vocal, after all this time, still melts me.

 

[Rudy]

Day 4: Record to take to outer space. There can be only one in my opinion, the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY original soundtrack.

I should have known.

I suppose an alternate could be Deodato's album Prelude. Come to think of it, the Tomita album I posted works "Also Sprach Zarathustra" into Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" held together with Tomita's own composition.

 

[Rudy]

Day 7: I posted five 7-inchers today.

One was the RCA EP by Harry Belafonte which replaced the old copy I grew up with (and which I still own). The next was the Peter Gunn EP. The third was the IRS Records mini-LP Play by Humans. Fourth was the Wilson Pickett single "Land of 1000 Dances," largely because it has this huge over-modulated sound that makes it one of my favorites. The fifth? Sound sheets!

 

[AM Matt]

Still waiting for former Monkee Micky Dolenz doing Lindsey Buckingham & Fleetwood Mac!! Micky did a tribute to R.E.M. last year which was an EP.

 

[AM Matt]

I will stick with Fleetwood Mac 1987 "Tango In The Night" (Deluxe Edition reissue) because it sounds great in speakers.

 

[Harry]

Day 8: Favorite Color | Effect | Picture Disc. For this one, I've got three choices. First is the picture disc that Shout! Factory released for WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS.


My second choice is a Christmas album, the HOME FOR CHRISTMAS album by Amy Grant. A few years ago, the album was re-issued on vinyl for the very first time, and with one of those special deals, Cracker Barrel got the exclusive on the "Coke-Bottle-Green" transparent version. They're apparently fairly pricey now as it was a limited release. I'm happy I found one:


Third is this copy of Carpenters SINGLES 1969-1973 on clear vinyl. It was another exclusive release through Target stores.

 

[Nemily]

Day 8 Favorite Color/Effect/Picture Disc – I don’t have many Limited Edition albums with variants. I have one Limited Edition Carpenters Singles 1969-1973 Clear Vinyl LP, still sealed, but that was a spontaneous purchase because I am a Carpenters Super Fan. I didn’t even know what it looked like so thanks, Harry, for posting that pic! Now I don't have to open it!

I do have two color vinyl releases and I love them both. I have The Beatles White Album on White Vinyl with US decoding/US serial numbers. And I have Herb Alpert’s Double LP Christmas Wish one LP is red and the other is green. I really like the coke-bottle-green Amy Grant - that's sweet.

 

[Nemily]

Day 8 Correction: Beg your pardon. I have the White Vinyl WEISS DMM German LP pressing. I will take a photo as soon as I am able to.

 

[Rudy]

I posted two of my favorite colored-vinyl releases earlier today. Both of these reflect colors in the album cover art.

It's a bit scary that the Mavericks 2 LP set is now ~$200 on Discogs. (An aside--I wanted to get the poster for the cover art on this record, as it's Southwest-themed like my family room, but they were sold out. But I did find the artist's site and he has other works similar to this one.)






The Stray Cats record on the other hand is translucent.

 

[Nemily]

As promised, here is the 1985 Beatles White Album White Vinyl WEISS DMM German LP pressing

 

[Bobberman]

As promised, here is the 1985 Beatles White Album White Vinyl WEISS DMM German LP pressing

Very Nice it's nice to see the old Apple label again.

 

[Nemily]

I like the pick for Tusk. I haven't heard but maybe a third of their records but I seem to return to Tusk the most.

I love this album. They were such a dysfunctional mess in 1979 (judgment free-just a description), coming off an album for the masses, you get the sense with Tusk they were trying to subvert their brand. That’s what draws me to this album. Most bands would have given us Rumors II. They gave us Tusk

 

[Harry]

Day 9: I play this album when I need ________. "Comfort Food". Frankie Laine's HELL BENT FOR LEATHER. I was reminded of this once forgotten early 60s album by a family member that we used to play endlessly on the old phonograph, so I sought it out in one form or another. The first one I got was a really bad CD from a British outfit called Hallmark (no relation to the greeting card company). It was sourced from a mono needledrop - and not a very good one, I might add. My next attempt was to find the original vinyl, and it was successful. I found a really clean Columbia 6-eye version in stereo that sounds awesome. There's nothing like some of those old-school records where care went into the mastering. Frankie sounds like he recorded it yesterday. So warm and analoggy.

I did seek out another CD - don't know why - as it was once released on one of those Collectables 2-fers. It sounds really good too, but I always end up going back to the Columbia 6-eye pressing on vinyl.

It's hard to imagine this album in the hands of youngsters today, with its emphasis on guns, knives and outlaws. Indeed, the first words spoken by Frankie Laine are "Bullet in my shoulder! Blood! runnin' down my vest..." But in the late 50s/early 60s, cowboy stories were everywhere.

 

[Rudy]

I'm kind of slim on today's pick, but have a couple of ideas to post later. When I get my room back, I can pull out a few and get photos.

There's nothing like some of those old-school records where care went into the mastering. Frankie sounds like he recorded it yesterday. So warm and analoggy.

Those old Columbias have a certain magic to them. Some of their jazz titles pressed in the six-eye era are highly sought after and fetch a premium. I don't have too many Columbias from this era, but every one of them has that same magic that I can't even put into words. Well-mastered digital versions can come close, though. I have a Johnny Horton greatest hits album that sounds quite good on CD.

It's similar to RCA's original Living Stereo pressings. Although with the RCAs, the mastering on the LPs wasn't always the greatest, but that combination of limiting, EQ (they tended to roll off the highs on their "popular" LSP titles), and the sound of the Westrex cutting heads was easily identifiable. The original LP versions have a certain romance to them, if you will, but the surprise is how well many of their albums were recorded and, hearing new versions made from their original two- or three-track recordings (especially in classical), you get an idea of how good these recordings sound in our modern era as well. Sound-wise, I think that RCA's two-mic and especially the three-mic recordings of classical works sounds more realistic than today's digital multi-tracked recordings.

 

[Nemily]

Day 9 . I Play this album when I _______. I had a story in mind to tell but I can’t find the LP anywhere to show it, so I am moving on to another story.

Some of my albums are great to listen to. Some of them transport me to a nostalgic chapter of my life. "The Stranger" is both. Nowadays, "The Stranger" is one of my spins when I’m cooking because I can hug a memory for 42 minutes and completely forget about the mess I’m making lol. Two favs are "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna" but all of tracks get to me.

 

[Nemily]

Pictured above on the back cover is Richie Cannata - mainly tenor and soprano sax however is also credited on organ, flute. clarinet and tuba (seated left); Phil Ramone - Producer, Engineer (Standing left); Liberty DeVitto- Drums (Standing Right). The sleeve is of course Billy Joel. Notable backup singer credits include Patty Austin and Phoebe Snow.

 

[Mr Bill]

Sleeveface is (I believe) when you hold up an album cover in such a way they artist's face covers your own. The limitations are that the album has to be a fairly large image of the artist. I saw it done a lot back in the day with one of Huey Lewis's albums...

--Mr Bill

 

[Rudy]

That could be it! Although I'm thinking "sleeve" as in "innersleeve." But in the EU, I believe they're called sleeves.

I'd have to get creative with that one...

 

[Harry]

Though I wasn't thinking of holding the record up to cover my face (I probably should!), I was thinking that the cover would be essentially a giant close-up of the artist. Think Phil Collins FACE VALUE.