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In praise of box sets


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7 hours ago, stevoz said:

 

 

and this 7LP (84 song) $10 Op Shop score, all discs NM:

 

https://img.discogs.com/U7DBy1eF2Ldwmpxgcb7q9bMJJTk=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5422874-1435310745-3390.jpeg.jpg

 

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Solid-Gold-2/release/5422874

 

 

?

 


Ha!

 

I remember this! I bought this back in 1984 and it was a cracker of a compilation.

 

Damn you I'm off to Discogs.

 

edit: dammit none available. Want to make a tidy profit on yours? :)

 

 

 

Edited by Guest
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aussivintage,

 at the end of the 80s' it was the classical crowd who were the first to ditch vinyl which I thought was crazy as classical was pressed on virgin vinyl and the boxed sets always came with full size booklets and in sturdy boxes. Often the cardboard sleeves of 'pop' music just came apart, not to mention the vinyl waswarped as well

 

 I used to go car booting every Saturday and Sunday morning and you could nearly always find whole classical collections were tossed out. Many of these collections came from people who had died and the inheritors just tipped them up at the car boot sales. I never paid more than £2 per box set, in fact all my classical music came from car booting. So unpopular was classical at this time that a friend of mine who had a s/hand vinyl shop was selling excellent classical @ 5 per £1. This way I acquired NM boxed sets of Mahler/Bruckner/Sibelius and so many more.

 

Quite by chance a few years ago there was a 'marche de jardin' happening just down the road and as always there was a small 'puces'/flea section. As I strolled around I saw some cardboard boxes with boxed sets in them. I saw straight away that the boxes were completely undamaged/mint - one set was a Decca 6LPs of Mozart by two famous musicians from 1975 - they had never been played, value about £250, another was a Decca recording - Barber of Seville from 1964, Mint and another was a European pressing from the early 1970s' again Mint.

I

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7 hours ago, Southerly said:

aussivintage,

 at the end of the 80s' it was the classical crowd who were the first to ditch vinyl which I thought was crazy as classical was pressed on virgin vinyl and the boxed sets always came with full size booklets and in sturdy boxes. Often the cardboard sleeves of 'pop' music just came apart, not to mention the vinyl waswarped as well

 

Yes, I have a healthy collection of just such excellently preserved classical sets myself.  Good value today still.

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9 hours ago, Southerly said:

at the end of the 80s' it was the classical crowd who were the first to ditch vinyl which I thought was crazy as classical was pressed on virgin vinyl and the boxed sets always came with full size booklets and in sturdy boxes. Often the cardboard sleeves of 'pop' music just came apart, not to mention the vinyl waswarped as well

The problem with classical music on records as compared to rock, pop etc and would have been a reason that classical music listeners were amongst the first to move to cds was that a full piece of classical music , a symphony, an opera, anything more than one movement really has an interruption when the record comes to an end. With classical this can be an unwelcome, jarring experience that removes you from being immersed in a piece and having to return to the mundane real world of changing sides. Rock music though, especially pre cd days would use this to an advantage. The epic track towards the end of side 1 for example that had you itching to get up to play side 2. Side 2 would start with something special to draw you in all over again and the full album would become almost 2 entities. 4 in the days of double albums that were intended as such rather than the modern habit of having double albums just because modern recordings are 70 minutes rather than the 40 they used to be.

 

In other words cds were perfect for listeners of classical music as finally they could hear a full piece as intended without any long breaks, just the planned small breathing space between movements where you can have a cough and a sniff.

 

As an aside, the removal of time constraints on pop/rock albums when cds came in destroyed the art of track selection and the flow of a record. You would still start and end with a bang but so often I found tracks mired in the middle of a cd- tracks 4,5,6 and 7 for example were often filler, the kind of stuff that would have been b-sides in the past. Or they went on far too long. 6 and 7 minutes used to be an epic track but it became something with multiple repeats of chorus, elongated and pointless noodling by the drummer in the middle and often faded out rather than came to a close as you could tell the band had lost interested and didn't know where to go with the song so it just petered out feebly.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Hergest
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Hergest,

a valid point but no way would a CD  even begin to match the quality reproduction of the vinyl. Secondly it is so easy to scratch a CD and naff it. I use a Kenwood KD/KP  t/t that has end-of-side arm lift and motor turn-off, almost impossible to scratch a side. Plus many who have invested serious money in CDs have found that many CDs have become unplayable. When I lived in Spain I bought a lot of bootlegs sold by West Africans that would visit the bars. One was a compilation of Madonna tracks. Apart from one really weird track it's the best dance music I have, I should have got a copy made straight away - so it goes.

 

It's nice to sit back and read the copious information supplied with these boxed sets, now compare that with the midget notes supplied, if at all in a CD jewel case (does anyone know how this ridiculous name came to be?) - you'll need a magnifying glass to do so.

 

As a footnote - if I had known back at the end of the 80s into the 90s that one day I would have a 3-in-1 package from a French telecoms company that included for free, access to Stingray Brava/Classical and Mezzo music channels that open up the whole world of classical and Jazz music I wouldn't have bought a single piece of classical vinyl. I get to listen and see the very best orchestras/conductors and music venues from the present day and back into the 60s. It's 24/7 and a good reason to turn off the crap on the TV.

 

If you are into classical and Jazz or want to explore these genre then you will not regret paying for access.

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  • 7 months later...

Depeche Mode - "Violator - the 12" Singles"

 

So happy to have snagged a copy of this (at a great price). I have most of these 12" as UK first presses but a couple of the special editions eluded me over the years (as I switched to CD copies).

My second favourite album of all time.

 

_AUG0066.thumb.jpg.2e5e6381d602178e1c948e9f5d4883e6.jpg

 

_AUG0062.thumb.jpg.ef02aaa48603e5313b8411e45c127f8d.jpg

 

_AUG0065.thumb.jpg.211c5719f4e1fd2181e4511e957e2002.jpg

 

_AUG0067.thumb.jpg.f11245204f75bd37d235edc2899af207.jpg

 

_AUG0068.thumb.jpg.4dde6f886d5def4681fbcad533aa8447.jpg

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56 minutes ago, Hydrology said:

Depeche Mode - "Violator - the 12" Singles"

 

So happy to have snagged a copy of this (at a great price). I have most of these 12" as UK first presses but a couple of the special editions eluded me over the years (as I switched to CD copies).

My second favourite album of all time.

 

_AUG0066.thumb.jpg.2e5e6381d602178e1c948e9f5d4883e6.jpg

 

_AUG0062.thumb.jpg.ef02aaa48603e5313b8411e45c127f8d.jpg

 

_AUG0065.thumb.jpg.211c5719f4e1fd2181e4511e957e2002.jpg

 

_AUG0067.thumb.jpg.f11245204f75bd37d235edc2899af207.jpg

 

_AUG0068.thumb.jpg.4dde6f886d5def4681fbcad533aa8447.jpg

 

I would luv that, however prices are OTT.

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  • 1 month later...




1 minute ago, Gandra said:

Agree. Great find 

These sound so close to listening to the bands in bars and restaurants in Havana, it's almost like being there. If you ever manage to get there, regardless of city, just look for the local Casa la Trova, you'll have a ball.

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Thanks. I was actually there some 4, 5 years ago. Spent most of the time in Varadero, but went to Havana on a day trip, so was able to absorb some of that famous atmosphere. 

Similar to you probably, this is one of the main reasons I bought this set. 

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I actually spent 20 days traversing the country, Baracoa, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad de Cuba, Guantanamo, Camaguy, Viñiales. It was sad to leave. I didn't go to Varadero as it seemed to be touristy by the descriptions, and I was more interested in mixing with the locals as much as possible. 

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  • 2 weeks later...


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