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Below is a list of historical blog entries, newest first.

New purchases - Posted by Mike (2023-05-27)

So I haven't purchased so much this year, however I do have a few new items to show you.

Firstly, there were a number of records for the Record Store Day for 2023, including Doctor Who, The Cure, Madness - which seem to regularly sell. This time though there was a twelve inch from Hugh Cornwell (Ex Stranglers) and a separate Suggs / Weller single release added to my collection.

Secondly, another Doctor Who boxed set came out this week. This features another signed art print from Tom Baker ...

Thirdly, There is the 40th anniversary of The Black Adder, this time to complement the records we have the Royal Mail first day cover.

Lastly, I managed to import two more 16 inch records, this time from Canada! I am unsure how these have survived in such good condition bearing in mind they are over 60 years old ...

I hope you are well, bye for now!

Mike

New BBC Transcription purchases - Posted by Mike (2023-01-07)

Today I have added another 20 BBC Transcription discs to my collection meaning I am getting close to having 500 of them in my albums collection!


What was interesting about this set was three of them were printed in the USA, which is interesting. They came from a family where a member had recently died unfortunately but apparently worked for the BBC.


The other interesting thing about this set is that only half of each show was in the collection. I asked if there might have been the other half available, but unfortunately not. Maybe they will come my way soon! As always, if you have these items (or any more which I don't have and are actively collecting) then make contact if they are reasonably priced!

Transcription disc information - Posted by Mike (2023-01-07)

I recently was sent a lot of additional inserts for one of my BBC Transcription Disc purchases late last year.


The information provided gave additional information about the releases that month for the type of disc it came from, in this case the classical music British composers.


What was particularly useful for me was it also provided me with a listing of all other releases in the series! Slowly but surely I am adding additional releases to allow me to show as many BBC records I can as possible in my catalogue.

Jet Black - Posted by Mike (2022-12-09)

Sorry to hear the sad news another Strangler has left our shores for hopefully a better life away from not being to well in this life.


R. I. P.

Does size matter? - Posted by Mike (2022-09-12)

Here are my latest BBC Transcription disc purchases. These ones are some of the older ones around. The smaller discs look like they are 78's - though unusually this is not shown on the labels, while the larger ones are 16 inch (yes 16!) All are from the 1940-50s.


The 78s were the first type of disc used by the BBC to record shows. For a 30 minute broadcast, a DJ would need to swap discs every 3-5 minutes! During the 1950s, the BBC moved to using 16 inch discs. These could have around 13-15 minutes, meaning a DJ would only need to swap discs once in a 30 minute slot - much less active duties!


Later, these discs became 10 inch discs with a similar length, but much smaller and therefore easier to store.


Then these became 12 inch discs but could store an entire 27-28 minutes on one side! Hour programmes still required a disc change.


These days, shows are recorded on compact disc, no disc changes required!


Just a few notes about these 16 inch discs, they apparently play from the centre rather than from the outside on one side, then the more normal outside to inside on the other. They are quite thick and heavy. One of these weighs around 600g! No I do not have any equipment to play the 16 inch discs ...

I've got a lovely bunch of ... - Posted by Mike (2022-08-13)

Not coconuts, records!


So here I have another eight Transcription discs, two white label testing pressings (one is UFO album the other is the The Delian Mode from Delia Derbyshire limited edition single from Record Store Day 2014.)


Maybe more to follow, who knows of dares to dream?

Hitch-Hiker's guide to the galaxy - Posted by Mike (2022-07-11)

I have always loved watching this show when it first appeared on TV in the very early 1980s. I later found out it was originally a radio show and lapped up the official releases when I found a version of the radio shows on vinyl later in the 1980's.


Of course, the radio show was later released as a tape set and a CD set followed by the video released and the DVD, so although I don't have the videos anymore, I have the others.


Then there was the film ... well the screenplay had also been created by Douglas Adams before his untimely death in 2001. You will find the limited edition DVD and book on this site.


Next were a set of six discs (I got mine from Amazon, but different versions were also released) on interesting coloured vinyl and some signatures between 2018-2020.


Finally the original vinyl records were released again as a Record Store Day release in 2020 - was that too soon after the other releases? This is here too!


Here though is the original BBC Transcription Disc from the original show for episodes one and two from 1978! The disc is in excellent condition, bearing in mind it is nearly 53 years old ...

One missing main catalogue LP left! - Posted by Mike (2022-07-04)

Hot on the trail of the last CD, I now own all the LP's I am aware about after getting hold of RE 5 - a single sided LP.


The one remaining to get is:

REB 443 Hold tight - Lena Zavaroni


This LP was from 1982. If you have a copy, get in touch!

I now own all the main CD catalogue - Posted by Mike (2022-07-04)

This week I was lucky enough to find a copy of the last BBCCD disc I was missing.


Although I can't image why it was the Essential animal sound effects CD I was missing, I am not sure! It never seemed to come up for sale on eBay and the price on Discogs was quite high.


Looking at what other CD's I now need, other than the BBC Transcription disc series, I need 1 Pickwick release, a few Prestiege releases and some SFX series discs.


Still a few more to go... !

New home page! - Posted by Mike (2021-07-11)

I have thought about using the BBC Sound Effects cover idea for this website for a while. I think I have finally done it! I hope you like the idea?


The BBC has been recording sound effects and music for Radio and later TV for decades. Internally, they released these as vinyl records (if you search this site you will find them on a number of formats originally pressed since the 1950's.)


During the late 1960's up to the mid 1980, the BBC released 29 albums of sound effects to the general public. These sold (some might say) rather well and had the advantage that as long as you weren't a professional outfit that you could use these for your own use as much as you liked! Some were especially recorded for these records, many others came from the BBC archive and the vinyl records they had internally been releasing for decades previously.


The BBC later released CD's, the original set were not cheap, but the later set released to the masses just before the main catalogues demise at the end of 1989 were far cheaper.


The original design I have used by Roy Curtis-Bramwell has been copied by others, including most famously by The Jam, but also by an interesting set of pictures produced by Scarfolk Council (made up!) Some of the best can be found - https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2016/12/bbc-sound-effects-records-early-1970s.html, enjoy as much as I have!

Doctor Who - AT LAST! - Posted by Mike (2020-07-25)

Getting this disc has taken an age (well getting it at a reasonable price), but at last I have done it!


So pleased!

Transcription discs - Posted by Mike (2020-05-30)

I have spent a bit of time the last few days cataloguing BBC Transcription Discs after I managed to get a complete Doctor Who story!

If you have any I haven't got around to, let me know the details!

Stay safe in these difficult times.

Dave Greenfield - Posted by Mike (2020-05-04)

I have seen the terribly sad news that Dave Greenfield has passed away.

R. I. P.

Mike

Stay safe and here is some other news! - Posted by Mike (2020-04-19)

Hello all, yes I admit I haven't posted anything for a while.


I took a few months off collecting records, but started again at the start of this year. Since then I have collected a fair amount of different items ranging from BBC Transcription discs of Dad's Army to BBC Language courses and to Secret Garden promotional CD singles!


With a large selection of different interests, there is always something out there - just need to get the item at the right price and hope no one else wants it!


I have also managed to get a couple of BBC catalogues, these seem to be fairly rare and when the older ones come up there can be an "online" fight to win it!


Also while we are "stating at home" I have had the opportunity to start cataloguing again. It turns out I have marked one record which I had incorrectly (and don't) and the next item as not having it (when I do!) - could save a fortune by doing a few simple checks!


As always, I am interested in things which I don't have which fall into my core collections - so if you have anything or can get something, then make contact!


In the meantime, stay safe and hopefully will be in contact with you again soon.


(Oh I promise to add new posts more frequently in future!)

Doctor Who - Posted by Mike (2019-08-20)

One of my other growing collections are the recently released Doctor Who vinyl records.

Some of these have been released as part of Record Store Day over the last five or so years - see https://recordstoreday.co.uk/home/ while others have been released in standard and limited editions from certain shops (e.g. Amazon.)

Although I probably have these already in one form or another, I like vinyl! The fact that many of the limited edition ones are in "interesting" colours just adds to the interest for me! Some may argue that these new releases are costly (the Amazon ones are near 70 and above!), I might agree with that to some extent, but you are not going to get these any other way - so I have got almost all of them!

You can see the albums here - https://www.6868.me.uk/view-display.php?version=albums&sub_version=Doctor%20Who&pages=1&layout=Covers

Note that there are a few other formats, so feel free to have a look around!


Happy collecting!

Mike

Singles progress and more BBC Transcription Discs added - Posted by Mike (2019-07-08)

Today I have added all the pictures and tracks to the remaining singles section for the Non-BBC label and have added several more BBC Transcription Discs to my Album listings.

I have also started scripting a way to allow me to write longer items and use my blog entries for shorter updates etc. This particular route needs amending to make it easier for me to add things like pictures / videos in text but still let them be stored in a database for easier storing and updating.

More on this maybe next week!

BBC Transcription Discs - Posted by Mike (2019-06-20)

I have been collecting these transcription discs for a while, but recently I have obtained a fair number of new ones to my collection.

Most of these new ones relate to comedy shows (like Hancock's Half Hour, The Goon Show and Round The Horne) or drama (like Masters' India or Thirty and Sixty minute theatre) or Magazine units (these latter ones normally have five or six tracks on them covering all sorts of topics like science, alcoholism, pop act histories, phobias etc.!)

By far the most collectable will always be the ones containing popular bands from the time as they were usually recorded in the Paris Theatre as part of the bands tour dates so the BBC could record it. They form part of the Stereo Pop Special and later Top of the Pops series. Most of them were then broadcast in the UK and other locations around the world. The most expensive if you complete a search in discogs.com or ebay.com will always be something to do with the Beetles. I don't own these, so don't ask me if you can buy my copies!! Although I have a few original band ones, I also have a few bootlegs - the ones with the black and white labels.

Be careful of bootlegs!

There are four official labels:

- Red / yellow half moon design

- Green / yellow half moon design

- Green text and white background design

- Blue text and white background design

Remember the number of these discs pressed will be very limited, maybe upto 100 or so depending on the number of overseas radio stations who had a licence to play them on air - this explains why some of the more collectable of these have been repressed. All discs have an expiry date of usually three years after issue.

My main interest though relates to the comedy / drama ones - these are not often catalogued anywhere else. These are not normally as expensive as the bands above, but contain some quite interesting shows. The original series weren't limited to the 27 minutes the latter ones were cut down too - many of these earlier ones are very scarse.

If the programme ran for more than the one side, the next side would normally be on a different disc allowing the disc jockey a chance to start a second turntable to continue the show!

In addition to the discs, the BBC also included a typed document (cue sheet) explaining what was on the disc, how long they lasted for and what words were said at the start and end of the tracks or discs if only one track existed. It also includes all music in the shows and where they came from and hwho wrote them. A series of shows would also have a card file showing all the ones in that series.

Many of the ones I have include the dates of when the show was broadcast - some seem to be after the date the licence to play the show expired - which is a bit odd!

You can see the ones I have in my album pages, including a scan(s) of the accompanying documentation. I have started listing the CD's as well, but have not purchased any as the CD seems to be far easier to copy.

BBC labels - Posted by Mike (2019-06-14)

Over the years since the BBC have been releasing records, their record label design has changed regularly. The first set of records the BBC produced were mainly language records with a catalogue number starting OP. After a few years, the BBC extended this to include other records as part of several series, the main one start REx nnn (where x is one or more letters and nnn are upto three numbers.) The design was influenced by the "owning" label as this name changed regularly over the years and what formats were released: - BBC OP - for the mostly language series - BBC CN - Transcription Discs (contains radio programmes and music from concerts etc.) - BBC REx - Radio Enterprises for the main sections I mentioned earlier - BBC - were often boxed sets of those released abroad - BBC Records - Roundabout - Mostly childrens records - Study - BEEB / Super BEEB - covers more popular music output - BBC Records and Tapes - BBC Radio Collection As other formats came out, others appeared: - BBC Video - BBC DVD - BBC Blu-ray The early ones from each catagory were quite plain, the OP, BBC Video are obvious examples, but later ones got quite "interesting", just as interesting as the content of the item! You can see a large selection of the ones I have here - View labels. I use these images in my pages using the one letter code above the image to display an example of the label where I haven't yet had time to scan the actual image.

Bug fixes - Posted by Mike (2019-06-12)

I have had to apply a number of bug fixes over the last few days, sorry if this detracted from your visit.

Further cataloging - Posted by Mike (2019-06-09)

I have finally added all tracks to the albums and CD sections - moving steadily closer to completing this mammoth task! This is a selection of items I have.

New additions - Posted by Mike (2019-05-28)

I have added loads of new BBC transcription discs to my site today!

Blog - Posted by Mike (2019-05-28)

Blog has been created! Expect lots of fun and interesting things coming your way (or not if I run out of time!)