SCAVENGERS ARE AN IDLE RACE

Between the numerous giant opaque clouds I caught a glimmer of light and, dodging raindrops, dived into a charity shop or nine. The paucity of vinyl in Cancer Research and the Shooting Star Hospice encourages one to speculate on a vinyl revival. Every couple of years the press hark on about the revivification of vinyl and plodding through puddles from one CD-saturated charity shop to the next I felt it likely such a piece would surface in the Guardian or Times in the coming weeks. Along with the copious CD's a worrying abundance of ignominious dance 12"'s are now the inevitable unwanted guests; they are the 21st century equivalent of all those queasy listening LP's by that bearded party-lover James Last that choked charity shop doorways back in the nineties. I have often wondered what kind of people would zombify their guests with Last's listless renditions of pop standards; surely the sort of parties that only exist in Two Ronnies sketches in which one of the Ronnies casts impure glances at some airbrushed blonde the BBC has plucked from a Top Of The Pops LP sleeve.

But I digress and I can almost hear your gruff impatient voices yelling at me, demanding an explanation for all this inane chittering. This prevarication is pure indulgence, me savouring a moment, extending my pleasure as far as I feel I can keep your attention but now I cease my teasing. I found a Fantastic Something LP for a £1. No that's not it, though it is true. However, more amazingly, I found an Idle Race LP called Time Is for £1, listed at £130 in the RRPG. And it doesn't stop there, I also scooped up a single by a band called Track 4 of whom I know nothing, but it's also listed in the RRPG at a staggering £100.

EYE ON EBAY----Almost set the universe on fire.

Despite both songs being available on LP's the lure of this little blue beast by Galaxie 500 on Aurora records snares the seller a decent £113. Remember seeing them live many years ago with my friend Melanie. Every tune made us swoon. A great gig.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120446084883

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 july 10

1 Honest Johns : Grandfather Of Gold
2 Ash Can School : A Day Out In Paris
3 Lovely Eggs : Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordion?
4 Dolly Mixture : New Look Baby
5 Shitbirds : Oh Joy
6 Peppelkade 14 : Time Flies
7 Mag And The Suspects : Thousands Dead
8 Memphis : You Supply The Roses
9 Fish John West Reject : Twenty Ways
10 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
11 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
12 Indifferent Dance Centre : Flight And Pursuit
13 Peruvian Hipsters : Tony Hadley
14 Help Stamp Out Loneliness : Pacific Trash Vortex
15 Proles : Thought Crime?
16 Northern Portrait : Crazy
17 Camera Obscura : French Navy
18 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
19 McClusky Brothers : She Said To The Driver
20 Eggstone : Bubblebed

Green numbers indicate new entries.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION RECORD COLLECTION 26

EYE ON EBAY----By george, they're everywhere

A plethora of Harrison singles have surfaced on ebay in recent weeks. Most of them have been sold by Mike the Hoarder who, it seems, as his name suggests, hoarded many copies of this one and only release by the midland's band. Due to its abundance it's no longer the Holy Grail for indie collectors, that would be the Wee Cherubs single. This one was sold by another seller and went for the knockdown price of £74.11.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Harrison-there-is-no-refrain-7-single-indie_W0QQitemZ270421139575QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Records?hash=item3ef65b2077&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A13%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C293%3A3%7C294%3A50

EYE ON EBAY----Emergency Ward 34

Time was when this would sell for double this sale price of £41.22. Ward 34 had Andy Taylor as trainee producer on this effort but even the Duran Duran connection couldn't propel this beyond the £50 mark.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330342988862

WHAT I LOST ON EBAY

A foreign indiepop effort of which I know nothing but that didn't prevent me from bidding on the Hip Horace single which was released in 1988 in Sweden. I gazed in awe as it sold for £98.99. And not to me I might add. I suspect it sold to either Atichon or Picheux, my old indiepop collecting rivals.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220444009121

WHAT I LOST ON EBAY-----No joy on this ride

Advised by a respected follower of this unholy parish I went all Chopin on the keyboard but came out loser for the Joyride single, Goodbye/Something Special released on their own Joyride label. For some inexplicable reason this veered into a ditch at £152.67 selling for less than Modboy 1's other big seller described below. Please illegal bootlegging comp camp sort something out, I want to hear this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330342239951

EYE ON EBAY-----From the outer limits of the twilght zone

Having escaped from the asylum the lunatics logged on and let their craziness loose on ebay. This Twilight Zoners effort is a mediocre meander through DIY pastures and isn't good enough to polish the Desperate Bikes' handlebars. I have the second single which was released in 1980, picked up for £1 in Brighton about a year ago, and that doesn't come within a tramp's vomit of the majesty of the One On The Clapometer single. I can't believe this broke through the £200 barrier but the seller Modboy 1 (does that mean he's the original mod?) must be rubbing his lambretta with glee.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330342239295

EYE ON EBAY----Tango in mango

Dieter Meier didn't have to cry for fame for too many years as he and fellow musician Boris Blank raced into the charts under the guise of Yello in the late eighties. This single, Jim For Tango, released on Periphery Perfume on mango coloured vinyl, waltzed over the £40 mark. I remember buying this in MVE for about 50p nearly thirty years ago.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=180359102470

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 july 3

1 Honest Johns : Grandfather Of Gold
2 Ash Can School : A Day Out Of Paris
3 Shitbirds : Oh Joy
4 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
5 Dolly Mixture : New Look Baby
6 Indifferent Dance Centre : Flight And Pursuit
7 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
8 Mag And The Suspects : Thousands Dead
9 Lovely Eggs : Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordion?
10 Help Stamp Out Loneliness : Pacific Trash Vortex
11 Peppelkade 14 : Time Flies
12 Proles : Thought Crime?
13 Fish John West Reject : Twenty Ways
14 Eggstone : Bubblebed
15 Memphis : You Supply The Roses
16 Camera Obscura : French Navy
17 McClusky Brothers : She Said To The Driver
18 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
19 Northern Portrait : Crazy
20 Nine Steps To Ugly : Bobby Charlton's Haircut

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY----Keeping their cool

The Fans very wonderful Giving Me That Look In Your Eyes on the Bristol based label Fried Egg reels in £34. Worth every penny and about what I paid for it three years ago.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200357566811

WHAT I LOST ON EBAY-------Not my virginity

How I Lost My Virginity by the Spunky Onions spurts past my maximum bid and sells for £53.85. It's enough to make one cry. Vies with Regular Fries for the worst band name ever. According to Messthetics this was released in 1979. By its omission from 45 Revs this is almost certainly an error.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200358337683

EYE ON EBAY-----Sending pop to the Abbatoir.

Quiz yourself this, how many Scandinavian bands can you name that don't begin with A? Abba, Ace Of Base, Aqua, A-Ha, Acid House Kings, one wonders if those bands ever got past the letter A in the English dictionary. Kriminella Gitarrer were obviously page turners and, even more radically, they weren't in thrall to the English langauge. Their rebellious nature wowed some punters as their scorching punk single sold for £250+.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270415981817

EYE ON EBAY---Hit the road Jack Kerouac.

From the Hypstr66 collection comes Nicky Beat And The Beatniks. 45 Revs likens them to the Desperate Bicycles in their amateurishness which had my bidding finger twitching. Such comparisons though remind me that nobody is equal to the Bikes and if I won said item I'd be constantly disappointed every time I read Mr 45 Revs' description. What also dissuaded me was the final price of £81.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=160344630167

EYE ON EBAY-----Sema 4 sale signals economic upturn.

Caution, recession ahead. What recession? In the artificial economic landscape called ebay a vintage blast of punk can still persuade some punters to plunder their piggy banks. Blitz my wits, I didn't imagine Sema 4's seminal debut to gallop past £300, finally refusing to jump the £330 fence. For the benefit of Hypstr66 the boys from York delivered a yorker. I'm so glad I bought the reissue for under a tenner.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=160344628118

EGGSTONE------Hatched in the garden of Sweden

This isn't a rare Three Stooges single. Would I shovel shit of that abominable nature down your ears? It's not even Abbot and Costello plus one; no it's Swedish indie popsters Eggstone and their opening vinyl salvo released in 1990 on Das Supersound Project. Patrik Bartosch, Maurits Carlsson and Per Sunding made up Eggstone and a true representation of the band appears on the back cover. Bubblebed was joined by two other tunes, Have You Seen Mary? and See The Good Thing. Many other releases followed until 1999; since then they have been dormant.

eggstone bubblebed.mp3 -
The artist or label that owns this song has not approved full-length streaming for our users. This is a 30 second preview.

WHAT I WON ON EBAY----Fish not thrown back

I cast a line with a £20 bait and hooked a Fish John West Reject single. At that price nothing to carp about. They swam about in the Australian indie backwaters around the late eighties/early nineties. I favour the B side Twenty Ways.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=370213313452

I also scooped a bargain. Perhaps nobody noticed Peppelkade 14's lone single up for grabs. In the past this elusive indie 12" has heavily injured pockets selling for over £70. I snatched it at the starting price of 99p. No link to this as for some reason it's vanished from my ebay page.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 june 26

1 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
2 Shitbirds : Oh Joy
3 Indifferent Dance Centre : Flight And Pursuit
4 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
5 Ash Can School : A Day Out Of Paris
6 Dolly Mixture : New Look Baby
7 Honest Johns : Grandfather Of Gold
8 Help Stamp Out Loneliness : Pacific Trash Vortex
9 Mag And The Suspects : Thousands Dead
10 Proles : Thought Crime?
11 Eggstone : Bubblebed
12 McCluskey Brothers : She Said To The Driver
13 Camera Obscura : French Navy
14 Lovely Eggs : Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordion?
15 Man From Delmonte : Like A Millionaire
16 Northern Portrait : Crazy
17 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
18 Nine Steps To Ugly : Bobby Charlton's Haircut
19 Peppelkade 14 : Time Flies
20 Fontaines : Bernadette

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY------On the Razorcuts edge

The Cinematic's one and only single was released in June 1982 and featured two founding members of the Razorcuts, Gregory Webster and Tim Vass. It came out on the Pulsebeat label which was based in Luton. A tweeful example of Postcard-like pop the outstanding track is Puffa Train. The girlfriend bought me this single for £50 at the London November record fair several years back. It dragged itself past that total by £1. In the past it has sold for over £90 so I claim this a bargain sale.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=180365892328

EYE ON EBAY------Secondhand Escort is a nice little earner

I'm in a fug of bewilderment. Who were the Escorts? Their single on Rainbow Sound burned rubber to the tune of £137. Do any of my faithful followers know anything about this bunch? They've got me in a wheel spin.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120437515105

WHAT I WON ON EBAY

Nobody interested in this Po! release on Spain's auspicious Elefant label so I snap it up for its starting price of £4.99. My Po! collection may now be complete but they were p(r)olific and hawked their goods all over the indie universe so there could be another release I'm unaware of on some label like Rutland Water or Farmyard Collectables.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220435516786

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 june 19

1 Indifferent Dance Centre : Flight And Pursuit
2 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
3 Shitbirds : Oh Joy
4 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
5 Proles : Thought Crime?
6 McCluskey Brothers : She Said To The Driver
7 Help Stamp Out Loneliness : Pacific Trash Vortex
8 Camera Obscura : French Navy
9 Dolly Mixture : New Look Baby
10 Man From Delmonte : Like A Millionaire
11 Eggstone : Bubblebed
12 Nine Steps To Ugly : Bobby Charlton's Haircut
13 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
14 Mary-Go-Round : Fill My Head
15 Grout : Fast Cars
16 Fontaines : Bernadette
17 Sneakers : Ruby
18 Nine Steps To Ugly : Eddie Lopez Lives In Slough
19 Northern Portrait : Crazy
20 Fontaines : I Want Everything

Green numbers indicate new entries.

Turntable Revolution Record Collection 25

EYE ON EBAY------A plea to Mr.Costello.

The Zipps' Don't Tell The Detectives surges over the £350 mark. The seller advised interested punters to check out Popsike where potential buyers would either be dumbstruck or feign nonchalance. After visiting Popsike those with a spare £200 might have been sanguine about their chances but in the auction's closing minutes their optimism would have drained away.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=230348849230

EYE ON EBAY----Children's version of a Gang Of Four classic?

Once upon a time this Pipettes single could shatter the £30 mark, now it just licks its undercarriage. Indie's answer to the Crystals have been quiet of late, have they hung up their polka dot dresses for good? I await the day I find I Love A Boy In A Uniform in MVE for a fiver.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220435545292

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 june 12

1 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
2 Proles : Thought Crime?
3 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
4 Indifferent Dance Centre : Flight And Pursuit
5 Eggstone : Bubblebed
6 Nine Steps To Ugly : Bobby Charlton's Haircut
7 Man From Delmonte : Like A Millionaire
8 Camera Obscura : French Navy
9 Mary-Go-Round : Fill My Head
10 McCluskey Brothers : She Said To The Driver
11 Grout : Fast Cars
12 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
13 Shitbirds : Oh Joy
14 Fontaines : Bernadette
15 Nine Steps To Ugly : Eddie Lopez Lives In Slough
16 Sneakers : Ruby
17 Fontaines : I Want Everything
18 Northern Portrait : Crazy
19 Help Stamp Out Loneliness : Pacific Trash Vortex
20 Loch Ness Mouse : Vespa 50

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY-------Countdown to a bargain.

The Stereotypes ultra rarity was brought to my attention by the man behind the blog Junk Box Jury. I missed it being listed so he sent me the details of its sale a few days ago. I expected a wild sum to be flung at it but it went for a modest £200. Would I have bid beyond that? Probably not even though I imagined it would graze the £500 mark.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THE-STEREOTYPES-S-T-7-EP-1979-ULTRARARE-UK-KBD-PUNK_W0QQitemZ160342189011QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Records?hash=item255523a3d3&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 june 5

1 Hardy Boys : Wonderful Lie
2 Proles : Thought Crime
3 Nine Steps To Ugly : Bobby Charlton's Haircut
4 Eggstone : Bubblebed
5 Camera Obscura : French Navy
6 Mary-Go-Round : Fill My Head
7 Grout : Fast Cars
8 Fontaines : Bernadette
9 Josie Cotton : Johnny Are You Queer?
10 Hardy Boys : Fifteen
11 Sneakers : Ruby
12 Nine Steps To Ugly : Eddie Lopez Lives In Slough
13 Man From Delmonte : Like A Millionaire
14 Desk : Astronauts
15 Loch Ness Mouse : Vespa 50
16 Fontaines : I Want Everything
17 Northern Portrait : Crazy
18 Sarah Goes Shopping : Yet Another Song About "Love And Peace"
19 Minisnap : Whistler
20 Je Suis Animal : Painted In My Face

Green numbers indicate new entries.

EYE ON EBAY------Absent from the holy text.

An oversight by Mr.45 Revs. According to the seller this single by the Sweeney is a punky effort released in 1979 but it is absent from the 45 Revs tome. I'm thinking the seller is at fault here with some incorrect info but if not perhaps a rewrite is on the cards. Only sold for a paltry fiver.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320381535740