Edward.gane

Late-night overdrinking? Writer’s cramp? Spoiled kids? Such complaints haunted 19^th-century Britons. The blog Diseases of Modern Life is run by a group of historians at the University of Oxford, working on a research project about Victorians who feared that new technologies and configurations of social life were making people sick. The body and the world—such commentators thought—had fallen tragically out of sync with one another, in an industrial age of telegram and train travel.

This blog is full of fascinating tidbits the researchers have come across in the course of their investigations. (It's also got great images, some of which I've reproduced here.) There are some delicious oddities: In one post, researcher Melissa Dickson describes the ammoniaphone, a creation of a Dr. Carter Moffat, who claimed to take the air of southern Italy, which (opinion agreed) produced the best opera singers, and distil it into a chemical formula that you could huff in order to purify and clarify your voice. Here was a technological solution to rampant air pollution, branded and packaged to offer immediate relief.

In another post, Dickson writes about H.G. Wells’ short story “The New Accelerator,” from 1901, about a chemist who creates a "nervous stimulant" that would let a person move so quickly that he could perform all of his duties at warp speed, thereby defeating the demands of a world that came at you too quickly.  This satire argued that the only way a person could possibly keep up with the rush of modern life was to become superhuman.

In many a case that the researchers identify, Victorian ideas about “diseases of modern life” seem to be totally intertwined with ideas about class and social place. Jennifer Wallis analyzes widely circulated stories about new kinds of addiction and intoxication: lady cologne drinkers, who supposedly hid their alcoholism by chugging perfume; lawyers and clerks and other professional men who imbibed alcohol late at night, not at the pub but in their own offices; the well-to-do woman supposedly “picked up on Broadway,” having succumbed to a morphine addiction. (That last lady appeared in an advertisement for Lydia E. Pinkham’s patent medicine, which she should have turned to instead.) In all of these cases, people who were socially expected to control themselves in every situation were driven to drink by the hectic pace of their work and social lives.

The consequences of such a world for the young were supposed to be dire. In another post, Wallis writes about fears of overpampered or “spoiled” children, who would not eat what they were served and rampaged through their family houses without censorship from “indulgent” parents.  “Nineteenth-century concerns for spoiled children drew on contemporary ideas about the development of the nervous system and laws of heredity, considering how the process of growing up might literally—and permanently—alter the fabric of the body and brain,” Wallis writes. (Here’s a fine contemporary joke from the London Journal: “There’s one good thing about spoiled children.” “What’s that?” “One never has them in one’s own house.”)

Well-to-do late-19^th-century women brought flower arrangements into the drab, ugly houses of poor people who were stricken with illnesses, believing that the beauty of the flowers could cure any number of ills. While this idea now seems eminently condescending—surely the stricken poor might prefer deliveries of food for the rest of their family members to eat?—Wallis points out that no less an authority than Florence Nightingale believed in the practice, writing in her Notes on Nursing:

The effect in sickness of beautiful objects … and especially of the brilliancy of color is hardly at all appreciated. … Little as we know about the ways in which we are affected by form, by colour, and by light, we do know this, that they have an actual physical effect.

In offering this “cure,” “flower missionaries” thought to bring a little bit of nature to people who were totally trapped inside the urban cityscape industrialism had created.

Sometimes, the poor were recast as just part of a threatening landscape of urban ruckus, which encroached on the tranquility of the well-to-do class. Furious at the impositions of street musicians, who made it impossible for them to get work done in the city, in 1864 a group including Charles Dickens petitioned the House of Commons to pass a Bill for the Suppression of Street Music. “Your correspondents are professors and practitioners of one or other of the Arts of Sciences. In their devotion to their pursuits … they are daily interrupted, harassed, worried, wearied, and driven nearly mad by street musicians,” the group wrote. The petitioners cared far less for the conditions that might have driven the musicians into such a job, and more for their own peace of mind.

Is it helpful for us, contemplating our own “Diseases of Modern Life”—depression, anxiety, digital distraction, overwork—to know that people have been thinking roughly recognizable thoughts for hundreds of years?

Writing about a cartoon that appeared in Punch in 1906, Melissa Dickson notes the similarity between this satirical scene—a man and a woman, each with their separate wireless telegraph—and today’s worries about smartphone alienation: “Different technology, same statement ... As dramatically as technology changes, we, at least in the way we regard it, remain surprisingly unchanged.”

But I find it more helpful to think in terms of precursors. It’s not that “nothing has changed,” and so none of our contemporary concerns are valid. It’s more that the social world we live in has been rapidly evolving in response to an explosion in new technologies for at least two centuries. The value lies in thinking critically about the way these anxieties take shape. How many of today’s middle- and upper-class concerns about “Today’s World” would look just as class-bound as the Victorians’ dated worries, if examined from a vantage point of a hundred and fifty years hence?

To mark Movember, we invited “pogonographer-in-chief” Alun Withey to commission a month of posts celebrating the history and culture of facial hair.  Here’s the second in the series, by Daryl Green.

The beard is an outward marker of the masculine form, one that can be shaped, moulded, and trimmed to its owner’s fancy. Facial hirsuteness has long been used as a defining characteristic of masculinity in literature, art, history, and popular thought. Masculine figures in epic and Biblical stories, from the Greek and Roman gods, to Hercules, Samson, and Odysseus, are often described by, and sometimes defined by, the quality of their hair and beard.

Many historic cultures in Western Europe have taken strong stances on proper facial decorum: the full-bearded Lombards, the mustachioed Anglo-Saxons, the bare-faced pre-Hadrian Romans. This post provides a series of street-light glimpses along the long road of the bewhiskered history of man and his relationship with the beard.

Beards and barbarians

The Latin word for beard, barba, -ae, provides the root for the Latin and English equivalent of ‘barbarian’. Barba is used very commonly through the classical Latin corpus, however, the sentiment behind the beard, or the bearded one, changes through the Roman classic period, and this shift can be seen in examples given by Lewis & Short in their dictionary entry. The word “barbaria” is a term that takes its root from barba and comes into common use in Cicero‘s writings, who was living at a time when beards were not in fashion. Barbarians, or those from a foreign land, or literally “the bearded ones,” were figures that the Roman empire was constantly coming into contact with as their borders expanded. The beard, then, in Cicero’s time was used to identify the non-Roman, the foreign element. Barbaria is also a term used for rudeness or savageness and further sets apart the Roman civic, clean-shaven, attitude from the bearded foreign attitudes.

Classical attitudes towards facial hair styles, just as fashion, were usually dictated by depictions of emperors and of the upper-class. Pre-Hadrian Roman emperors are mostly depicted with a clean-shaven face, a carry-over from the Greek style imposed during and after Alexander the Great’s rule, from around 300 B.C.E. This is exemplified by Scipio Africanus, the famous general of the Second Punic Wars, who is the first, as recorded by Pliny, to allowed himself to be shaved every day. When Hadrian took control of the empire (117 C.E.) styles and attitudes towards beards began to change. Hadrian wore a beard to hide his facial scars, however, his beard was also used as an expression of his Philhellenism, and would be the reason why most Roman emperors following Hadrian wore their beards.

Knowing your enemy

The Bayeux Tapestry provides a unique example of the use of beards to depict certain peoples in medieval art. Bearded males can be found in many different forms of medieval art, especially manuscript illumination and sculpture. However, the Bayeux Tapestry, being a woven pictorial tale of the conquest of the Norman forces led by Duke William over the English Earl Harold Godwinson in the year 1066, depicts a nation of bearded and mustachioed men (the English) defending their country against the bare-faced invaders (the Normans).

In the scenes that feature both Norman and English, most of the English are given small one-line moustaches, and it is this type of moustache that is used to distinguish Harold from William in their scenes together. Edward the Confessor is always depicted with full beard, and Harold with a moustache until his coronation. The most distinct scene of beard versus no-beard is panel 157 which shows the English being routed from a hill in defense from the Normans. This is the battle of Senlac Hill of 14 October 1066, in which the bare-faced Norman cavalry storm the mustachioed or bearded English strong hold, clearly evoking the clean-shaven Romans of the past.

An ethnography of facial hair

In the mid-17th century, John Bulwer published four different books exploring the theme of the human body as communication. His most successful work, Anthropometamorphosis (or “Humanity-changing”), was first printed in 1650, and then largely enlarged and illustrated with engravings in an edition of 1653. This work explored the races of the world, and the strange things they do to their bodies and how these acts derivate from the course that Nature intended.

Bulwer devotes an entire chapter of his work to pogonotrophy, entitled: “Beard-haters, or the opinion and practise of diverse Nations, concerning the naturall Ensigne of Manhood appearing about the mouth.” In this chapter, races are described by how they treat their moustaches or beards, if they shave or pluck their beards, how long they let their beard grow, or how the beard is treated and how greatly they derivate from Nature’s course: “The Tartars shave their upper lips, and warre with the Persians for not doing so. These men offer a great indignity and despight to Nature, to deprive the upper lip of its naturall ornament.” Men who do not treat their facial hair so poorly, who cherish and cultivate what “Nature” has provided, such as the Germans and the Greeks, are given a warmer treatment. This catalogue of ethnographic hirsuteness provides a unique look at what type of facial hair was considered proper in mid-17^th century England.

A tax on all beards

There are fewer greater examples of power over the individual body than the decree against the beard by Peter I of Russia. In an act to move Russia towards kinship with a modernizing Europe, a decree was issued 16 January 1705, that men of all ranks, including merchants and artisans, were ordered to shave, but anyone who wished to keep beard and whiskers was given the option to pay a fine and in return was issued a beard token, or znak: 30 roubles (equivalent to 15 English pounds in 1705 or over £2000 in today’s currency) for members of the third guild, boyar’s bondslaves, postal drivers, coachmen, junior deacons and Moscow residents; 60 roubles from middle guild merchants and artisans, for nobles, military officers, and chancellery officials; and 100 roubles for merchants of the first guild. Bearded residents of other towns had to come to Moscow to get a znak from the Police Office and to display their tokens at all times.

These beard tokens were designed to be worn or presented upon inquiry, and provided the wearer with a second beard, a reaffirmation of their control over their personal property. Those that did not shave, and did not carry the znak were in danger of persecution by the domestic police (a branch of which, under Peter I’s reign, was solely dedicated to policing beard and clothing style) fining them and possibly even shaving them. According to Cornelius de Bruyn, who first visited Moscow in 1711, the Tsar’s orders were executed by men who went around the street shaving “all manner of persons without distinction, many of whom would not be comforted for the loss of their beards.”

Peter’s beard tax didn’t fill the coffers with money, but it did provide him with a way to influence an entire nation of bearded comrades to shave their antiquated style away and step into the modern, European arena.

Author: Daryl Green (@ilikeoldbooks) is Rare Books Librarian for the University of St Andrews. When he’s not waist-deep in early printed books he prefers to be waist-deep with a fly rod in his hands.

Heavy metal legend Glenn Danzig is currently working on an album of covers of classic Elvis Presley songs. Danzig, who is referred to by many as Black Elvis both for his dark, Elvis-like voice and his love of New York City Hip Hop icon “Kool Keith” Thornton, has been planning to do an album in homage to the King of Rock and Roll for many years. In 2015, the album will become a reality.

Danzig, who began his singing career at age 12 as an Elvis out front of a Shoprite supermarket in Lodi, New Jersey, has modeled much of his look, attitude and trademark lip curl after Elvis. He even considered wearing a tight-fitting sequin jumpsuit during a concert in Toledo, Ohio in 1993 in tribute to his idol, but was forced to change back into a mesh shirt and black jeans by local officials who were concerned about the “hypnotizing, potentially mind-altering effect of his protruding pectoral muscles” on women in attendance.

There are literally thousands of Elvis cover albums out, but Danzig plans to cover many of the lesser-known songs by the legendary crooner. “Everyone does “Suspicious Minds” and “Jailhouse Rock”. Glenn wanted to reflect a larger body of the King’s work,” said Danzig spokesman Larry Wainwright.

Danzig plans to re-record “It Ain’t My Fault”, a B-side of the single “Hound Dog”. That song was later popularized in the late 1990s by hip-hop legends Silkk The Shocker and Mystikal. He also has created a medley of “Whomp! There It Is!/Dayzee Dukes/C’mon ‘N Ride It (Da Train)”, recorded in 1974 on The King’s oft-forgotten “Shake Dat Thang, Heffa” album.

A rumor that Sunn O))), Slash and Linda Ronstadt would be joining him for a stirring rendition of “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” has been confirmed by several anonymous sources close to Danzig. A collaboration between Danzig, Cat Stevens, Doyle Von Frankenstein, Julie Andrews, Suffocation and Jimmie “JJ” Walker, star of the 1970’s television show “Good Times”, on the song “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” is also being considered.

Reports are sketchy on what other songs might be covered, but several websites have speculated that Elvis songs like “Breadfan”, “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Die Die My Darling” will be on the record.

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Welcome to TDATS 95! It's that time again......another batch of doom-laden misery awaits. Now a tradition here, partly in honour of 'The DooM That Time Forgot' series that was made by RYM friend LibertyCaps a few years ago. For some links to his volumes, and related ones from me, check out the DTTF round-up and check out my most recent doom special: Vol62: The DooM That Time Reprised.

Here we have a diverse mix from all over the world. Some of the tracks are from heavy psych/hard rock albums which I'd recommend to look out for, like those of Fort Mudge Memorial Dump, The Petards, Atlantis Philharmonic, Icecross, Shuttah and Alphataurus. Then we have the more unexpected inclusions like the Australian jazz experimentalists Company Caine and a single from the pop writer Barry Mason.

Once again I have used the art of the talented Virgil Finlay for the cover. Look him up and prepare to be amazed at his vision of dimensions unseen and workings beyond reality.
01. Alphataurus [Italy] - Dopo L'Uragano (1973)
       from album 'alphataurus'
02. Grupa SOS [Serbia] - Magnovenje (1974)
       single
03. Fountain of Youth [US] - Witness People (1969)
       single
04. Fort Mudge Memorial Dump [US] - The Singer (1969)
       from album 'fort mudge memorial dump'
05. Barry Mason - [UK] Over The Hills and Far Away (1966)
       single
06. The Petards - [Germany] Big Boom (1971)
       from album 'pet arts'
07. Missus Beastly - [Germany] Remember - Sweet Girl (1973)
       from album 'super rock - made in germany'
08. The Collectors [Canada] - Teletype Click (1969)
       from album 'grass and wild strawberries'
09. Atlantis Philharmonic [US] - Atlas (1974)
       from album 'atlantis philharmonic'
10. Company Caine [Australia] - The Day Superman Got Busted (1971)
       from album 'a product of a broken reality'
11. Icecross [Iceland] - 1999 (1973)
       from album 'icecross'
12. Shuttah [UK] - Bull Run (1971)
       from album 'the image maker vol 1 & 2'

Alphataurus

Alphataurus introduce this set with a fittingly ominous thunder storm, from there the song develops with all the drama and passion you'd expect from Italian prog. They were from Milan and their 1973 s/t album was produced by the Magma label, founded by Vittorio De Scalzi (singer/guitarist) of one of Italy's most important bands, New Trolls (see Vol37). It had a great triple-gatefold cover with a portentous image of a desolate landscape showing a dove of peace dropping bombs, industrial pollution and nuclear war. A pretty clear indicator of the band's world-view at the time.

Alphataurus gatefold LP (1973)

According to Discogs the line-up that recorded their album was: Alfonso Oliva (bass), Giorgio Santandrea (Drums,percussion), Guido Wasserman (Guitar),  Pietro Pellegrini (Piano, Organ, Moog, Vibraphone, Spinet) and Michele Bavaro (Vocals). The band are still a going concern and you can check their recently updated site at www.alphataurus.it

Grupa SOS

A rare inclusion of a Serbian band is next; Grupa SOS. I have not found much information on them, but a little was revealed with help from Ipsissimus Mocata in the TDATS fb group. He pointed out that some members re-appeared in the later-'70s as 'Riblja Čorba', a great band which I had already been saving up for further east-european comps, with the common members being Rajko Kojić (guitar, 1977) and Vicko Milatović (drums, 1977). The track here is a thick slice of prime Black Sabbath worship, some of the most faithful you'll ever hear from the times and full of that evil guitar tone! The rest of Grupa SOS was Miroslav Aleksić Miša (bass, vocals), Dragan Štulović Štuks (guitar, 1972-77), Aleksandar Tasić Tasa (guitar, 1972) and Stevan Stevanović Stiv (drums, 1972-77).

Fountain of Youth LP (unreleased)

The Fountain Of Youth are next, a '60s psych band that made only a few singles (though RYM says they made an unreleased album). The lineup was Jimmy Panza (lead vocals & drums, Gary Itri (bass & vocals), Gary Jenschke (lead guitar & vocals) and Ken Molberg (rhythm guitar & vocals). The track I used could be described as sludge-pop, with it's prominent bass combining with the fuzz to create a thick bottom end. I found some great info over at Flower Bomb Songs : "They were a teen group from Fredericksburg, Texas who previously recorded as The Crossfires releasing the following 45:  'Who'll Be The One'/'Making Love Is Fun' (Tower 278)... They came to the attention of the Colgems label who signed them in March 1968 (there is a mention in a Billboard magazine from this time)..

The Fountain of Youth

Looking at the promo pic of The Fountain Of Youth it shows the teenagers to be a clean cut, square looking combo in psychedelic shirts. By the time of this single, their 4th for Colgems,  I'd be surprised if they looked as wholesome as this. 'Liza Jane' was released in April 1969 and is typical bubblegum pop of that time period. The jewel is the heavy psych flip 'Witness People'... There isn't that much information around about The Fountain Of Youth but they seemingly had a lead singing drummer! Richard Podolor produced their Colgems singles. He also worked with psych outfit The Glass Family, The Starfires, The Standells, The Chocolate Watch Band and many more I'm sure."

The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump was a recent find for me, and I have to say their s/t 1969 album is something to get excited about. A great combination the heaviest "Boston Sound" psych you'll find, with Caroline Stratton's vocals resembling Grace Slick and some killer guitar workouts from Dean Keady, which in places resemble Hendrix at his sludgy-wah'd best. The track I used here is one of the heaviest and longest from the album, and features a cool emotive male vocal performance which I presume is from one of the other listed members: James Deptula, Dave Amaral or Richard Clerici, but I don't know which. For such a well formed, great-sounding record there is little information to go by but here's what is stated about them: "They were from Walpole, Massachusetts, that started playing by 1969, gathering a good number of fans. They got filed into the “Boston Sound”, among the Ultimate Spinach, the Beacon Street Union, Orpheus, Tangerine Zoo, ect."

Barry Mason (circa 1967)

Barry Mason is an English popular music song-writer who also sung on occasion, he had a hand in some very famous songs, like Tom Jones' "Delilah" and even an Elvis song, "Girl Of Mine", so he doesn't really come under the banner of obscure/unappreciated artist, but I've included his 1966 track "Over The Hills and Far Away" as it's got a definite doom-laden atmosphere and I love it. A bit of a curve ball, ripe for a heavy cover maybe? Here's Barry performing recently and here's an interview mentioning some or the greats he's worked with: www.songwriter.co.uk/page64.html

The Petards

The Petards are a German band from Schrecksbach (Schwalm City/Hesse) who I used once before back on Vol82. Over the course of five solid albums they ran the well-worn path from 60s psych, to progressive/hard rock. They have a web site and have played with a close-to-original lineup as recently as 2009. 1972's 'Pet Arts' LP is probably of most interest to TDATS, with brilliant stuff like "Flame Missing Light" and the track I have used here, "Big Boom". They also recorded under the psudonym Flittermouse, and made an album of CCR covers as 'Zonk'.

The 'Missus Beastly' included here are a bit of an enigma. The story goes thus: In 1971 a guy called Henry Fromm posed as the drummer, flautist and even manager of the original German group "Missus Beastly", although they had never met him. Their 1970 debut album was unsuccessful. Soon after, Henry had the album illegally re-released on a budget label. Then he started his own group, stealing the name, and made two LPs and three singles under the name "Missus Beastly" on his own label. Nobody has ever heard of him again. In 1974 the real Missus Beastly reformed after a hiatus and made two more albums.

Henry Fromm's Missus Beastly

All this caused me a lot of confusion, after hearing some of the singles from the 'bogus' band and really liking them I wanted to know more and found what was apparently two different-sounding German bands from the same period, with some connection that went further than just sharing the same name, that didn't quite make sense.

I have used a track called "Remember - Sweet Girl" from a live album 'Im Garten des Schweigens - Spinatwachtel'  released by Henry Fromm's version of the band. I must give huge thanks to a guy called Gunnar Bülow who contacted me via Youtube, clearing up the story of the bands and supplying me with the song, thanks man!

The Collectors 1969

Vancouver's The Collectors are another band here with a bit of an unexpected appearance of doom. The track I have used is from their second album, which was based on a hit stage-play of the same name: 'Grass and Wild Strawberries' by George Ryga, with Ryga writing the lyrics. Guitarist Bill Henderson was later in Chilliwack. The Collectors first hit was 'Lydia Purple' and I am pleasently surprised to realise that the song has appeared in TDATS before, on Vol16 as a cover by Holland's Cargo.

Atlantis Philharmonic

Cleveland, Ohio's Atlantis Philharmonic was a duo that made an unusual album in 1974. A well-produced concept piece which was equal parts Sabbath doom and Styxian Midwest prog pretensions, with epic themes and song lengths to match. The song used here, 'Atlas', begins with militaristic stomp and continues with chugging riffs between the prog-pomp verses. The LP was self-recorded and released after a lack of label interest, and a second album was recorded too. All instrumentation was laid-down by only two guys; Joe DiFazio (organ, pianos, harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog, guitar, bass, bass pedals, lead vocals) and Royce Gibson (percussion, backing vocals). Reportedly the band supported some big names like Stxy, Wishbone Ash and King Krimson. There is a small web site regarding the band, that has a link to buy their second album, and some extra info which states that they found a third member Roger Lewis, which would explain how they must have managed to perform such a full sound live: atlantisphilharmonic.com

According to RDTEN1 at RYM, "By the early-'80s DiFazio had largely dropped out of music. He obtained a masters degrees in computer technology from Indiana State University, though he also found time to complete a music degree. He is currently a professor of new media and computer technology at Indiana State University."

Gulliver Smith

Melbourne's Company Caine were another unusual band, that mixed blues and psych with horns. I'm very happy to have just found a live clip of the song I have used here, 'The Day Superman Got Busted': youtu.be/WvFVn8GDAv8 Here's a snippet from the extensive article over at Midoztouch: "[singer] Gulliver Smith's stage presence helped to earn Company Caine renown for their performances, and as the group came together they amassed a strong set of strikingly original material co-written by Gulliver, Russell Smith (guitar) and Jerry Noone (sax). They became established as one of the leading attractions on the Melbourne 'head' circuit, gigging alongside bands like Spectrum, Sons of the Vegetal Mother, Tully and the (new) Aztecs. 

Company Caine LP 1971

In the words of Ian McFarlane, "... the band's music was more expansive, more 'out there' than just about every band of the day". But this should not be taken to mean that the music was wilfully obscure or 'difficult'. In fact, notwithstanding the 'freaky' and experimental elements, it was a unique amalgam of rock, pop, blues, soul, R&B, jazz and avant-garde that was both challenging and accessible. Another key feature was the surreal humour that pervaded their work. The fact remains that their music could - and should - have reached a far wider audience."

Icecross

It's about time Iceland's Icecross appeared on TDATS! The first time I heard the album I thought it was one of those releases with a dubious claim as to the year it was made because it doesn't sound quite like anything else from it's time, which is claimed to be around 1972/3. It seems to have been taken straight to the heart of those who are searching for some direct link between early hard rock and what is now known as extreme metal and the likes of satanic black metal. I can see what would lead to this, the atheistic sentiments of tracks like 'Jesus Freaks' and the doomy,  dissonant and jarring riffs. There's now an informative site for the band here: icecross.net where you can read about how Axel Einarsson (guitar, vocals), Ómar Óskarsson (bass, vocals) and Ásgeir Óskarsson (drums, vocals) got together. I would regard it as a must-hear album, and whether you like or not you will have to agree it's unique, for it's sound and especially it's country of origin!

Shuttah LP - Shadoks label

Coming to an end for this volume, Shuttah is a mystery indeed. The only available album has been issued on the ever-reliable Shadoks label, on Vinyl and CD. All I can discover and all that anybody seems to know is that this double album was recorded for Virtigo at the IBC studio in London. This studio was used by some of the biggest names, such as The Beatles and The Stones, so it is suspected that who ever Shuttah were, they were not amatures. The album is a progressive mix of psych, blues and experimental sound effects which together makes for an early conceptual progressive rock album, the whole thing is loosly themed around the 2nd world war. The production of the album sounds very professional which is another indicator that it was a serious attempt with money behind it.

IBC studio, London

The former IBC owner, Geoff Oliver, claims to have no memory of it at all. What I have not been able to find out yet is how anybody knows the scant details that are stated, such as the year of 1971 and the Vertigo/IBC connection. If anybody out there knows more, drop me a line. Here is what the Shadoks label has to say: "We have searched for a very long time, including an interview with the owner of IBC studios in London where The Who and also The Beatles recorded. We have enquired with copyright control in UK, nothing. We know nothing. We're only aware of one pair of acetates, that are in the hands of a collector." This begs the question, can we really confirm any of what little is known? At the moment, no.

Thanks to all those that have commented and support this blog, and those that have contributed. Lastly, thanks for listening! Rich

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As said above, next post will include the last interview ever on T.o.P. ... with EGYPT !!! ( watch out for it later today)

Selection of jams by legendary British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.

Of all the data goldmines that social media companies have acquired over the past few years, Yelp’s stash of 39 million ratings and reviews of everything from dive bars to hair salons to auto mechanics may be among the most underrated. But this week the company put that information to brilliant use, building what it calls Wordmaps—heat maps that show the geographic density of keywords like hipster, frat, yuppie, and tourist for 14 major cities.

A quick glance at the New York and San Francisco maps confirms some of the obvious stereotypes: hipsters strewn along Valencia Street and Bedford Avenue, yuppies in the Marina and Park Slope. But they also highlight newer and lesser-known pockets of trendiness, like Judah and 45^th Street in San Francisco or North Mississippi Avenue in Portland. Here’s Portland’s hipster heat map, which shows how creative that city’s residents have gotten in sussing out new hoods to grace with their plaid shirts and DJ nights:

The data yield some geographical insights, such as how Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway neatly cleaves the frat boys to the east from the hipsters to the west. And for those new to a city, Yelp’s maps could be the quickest way yet to figure out which neighborhoods to check out—or avoid at all costs. A search for sketchy in San Francisco will steer you clear of the Tenderloin at night. And here’s a look at Philadelphia’s frattiest enclaves: 

You can also sort by more utilitarian keywords, like noodles, margaritas, and of course, bacon. This handy GIF contrasts the distribution of “cocktails” to “BYOB” joints in Chicago:

For now, Yelp’s maps are pretty Americentric, covering 11 of the Yelpiest U.S. cities, plus London, Toronto, and Paris, where you’ll have to substitute branché for both yuppie and hipster. But if the ratings site can overcome its recent bouts of bad press—which may or may not be justified—perhaps someday it will have enough data to give us a map of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, filtered according to their popularity with American expatriates. Until then, we’ll always have this heat map of brasseries in Paris.

To play around with the Wordmaps for yourself, start here.