Welcome

Congratulations! You've stumbled upon my blog! For the foreseeable future I'll be sharing my random and ill-formed thoughts on record collecting. I'm a music fan first and foremost and a record collector merely by virtue of the fact that I've accumulated quite a few of them, but I love vinyl as a format and hope to explore the reasons why in the kind of detail that would make trainspotters roll their eyes in despair. Hey, it'll give my wife a break from having to listen to my ramblings anyway!

I have to hold my hands up and offer a nod of recognition to Eilon Paz's excellent website Dust and Grooves for inspiration and many hours' happy reading. I plan to incorporate interviews with others afflicted by my collecting habit into this site, so keep watching  and, if you live in the London / Surrey / Middlesex area and would like your collection  featured, drop me a line. And, thinking about it, I do occasionally leave the house, so wherever you are, get in touch and who knows when I might be passing through your borough.

And so, to business. First up I have an entirely gratuitous photo of my haul from Saturday's record fair at Olympia.

I have to own up to being a bargain hunter. For me, the thrill of owning a rare and valuable LP is compounded by the knowledge that I paid an absolute pittance for it. I therefore feel suitably smug for having returned home on Saturday with 30 LPs for exactly £50. Even taking into account the fact that a Rupert Holmes album snuck in there somehow, that's what I call a result! In amongst the bizarre Japanese (I think) pressing of Fever Trees' self-titled LP, an obscure horn-rock LP by Crimson Bridge and a couple of Stray LPs, was a curio by Rockville Junction called Lord Protect Me From My Friends from 1974. Okay, so what prompted me to relinquish £2 of my hard-earned for this particular opus? Simple, date and facial hair. Yep, that's right, I often take a punt on an album based on when it was released and the quality of the musicians' face fuzz: extra cudos for Zappatta moustaches or outrageous sideburns. Although I've never analysed it before, I suppose the fact that the band members have made no attempt to beautify themselves for an assault on the charts suggests some musical integrity. Or perhaps they're just scruffy buggers.

Here's Rockville Junction in all their hairy-lipped glory...

So, what do they sound like? Well, my initial impression after a once-through is that they are a quality outfit who shouldn't have slipped under the radar. The album features laid-back piano / Fender Rhodes / organ-led rock with strong vocal harmonies that are very reminiscent of 1970s Jefferson Starship. Sling the occasional wah-wah guitar freakout into the mix and it's fair to say that I won't be parting with this one anytime soon.

Incidentally, despite a clear lack of effort in front of the bathroom mirror, Rockville Junction only score a lowly 3 out of 10 on the face fungus-ometer.

I promise to post a few 8s and 9s in coming weeks, for my entertainment as much as yours.