Chris Charlesworth: Retirement? What retirement?…

His popularity has never waned…

On Friday, Chris Charlesworth editor in chief at Omnibus Press and former journalist on the Melody Maker, retires from his Omnibus role full time – however, he will be staying as a consultant based at home (more on that later.)

I personally have a lot to thank Chris for.

Back in 1989, he took a punt on commissioning a book about Led Zeppelin that focused on their music at a time when their standing, surprising as it seems now,was hardly guaranteed to bring in the sales.

The book was Led Zeppelin A Celebration and the author was yours truly.

It did have a bit of a false start and I am sure Chris won’t mind me reminding him of a rejection letter he sent to me when I first approached him with the idea of such a book  in 1987:

And I quote…

Thanks for your letter that Omnibus might publish a Led Zeppelin book by you on the 20th anniversary of their formation.

I’ve given the idea some thought and talked to our sales manager but the reaction hasn’t been too positive. Todays book buying rock fans buy books on today’s rock bands. My boss would rather I invest his money on a book on say Bon Jovi, than retrospective book on a band who last issued a record five years ago and last performed together (Live Aid aside) in 1980. Our best selling books in the past few years have been on the bands currently capable of selling masses of concert tickets – U2, Bowie, Genesis, Gabriel, Wham, Madonna etc -rather than yesterday’s superstars… 

Bon Jovi indeed!

Two years later I pestered him again – and this time he went with it – albeit a little tentatively I might add.

Luckily for all concerned – the book did pretty well and in a classic case of right book, right time, its publication in 1991 came a few months after the release of the Remasters box set and double album.

Jimmy Page’s concise careful compiling of the Zep catalogue put their legacy firmly back in focus – Led Zeppelin was big news again and this enabled me to go back to Chris on various occasions with more ideas for books about the band – which he was only too pleased to support.

The positive reception to the A Celebration was a huge motivation for me to take on the co organising of the first ever UK Led Zep Convention in 1992  – and to bring back the Tight But Loose magazine as a regular publication.

Chris’s subsequent support of my book projects and generally being a sounding board for my Zep related ideas and thoughts, has been an absolute inspiration to me over many years. I owe him a huge debt for his advice and expertise – advice and expertise that has greatly aided my own understanding of the world of publishing.

When I originally made contact with Chris back in the 1980s, I was well aware of him through his writing and reporting on a host of acts in his journalist role on the Melody Maker – not least of course his strong links with Led Zeppelin.

Chris was right there reporting from the front on the rise of Zep in the 1970s. He was there at the Marquee in 1971 when they went back to the clubs, he was there when they were running down Elvis numbers in the sound check before their Montreux  gigs in 1972. he watched the ”Heavy Flyers” as he described them at Alexandra Place in 1972- and when he moved to New York to be the Melody Maker’s US correspondent – he was right there on board the Starship itself as Zep barnstormed across America.

It’s fair to say, he was one of the few journalists that Peter Grant allowed into the inner sanctum. He was a trusted confidante – a role he played with due discretion – although his on the road pieces for Melody Maker always took the reader right into the backstage workings of the Swan Song empire.

Like most journalists, he sometimes fell prey to their idiosyncrasies – notably in 1972 when a comment he made when reporting on their Montreux concerts that ” And their popularity has undoubtedly waned” was taken a little out of context.

That quote was used by Peter Grant on a full page advert proclaiming the sell-out of their entire 72/73 UK tour (108,000 tickets sold).

Oh how they laughed!

There were no hard feelings on either side and Chris went on to write some of the defining pieces about the band in their latter years. You can find many of these on Chris’s excellent blog Just Backdated.

Chris’s favourable reputation within the band would come to pay dividends for me. Back in 1990 at a Jason Bonham gig, I somewhat casually mentioned to Peter Grant I was writing a book about the band. Slightly perplexed, he looked me in the eye a little menacingly and said the immortal words ”Does the band know about this?”

Peter was perhaps fearing another Hammer Of The Gods hatchet job – I spluttered that Chris Charlesworth was editing the book and would deal with any management enquiries.

Sure enough, the next week Peter fired off quite a curt letter to Chris requesting he and all other management representatives of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones be made aware of the contents of this forthcoming volume. Chris with utmost diplomacy, replied to Peter ensuring him this would be done and that the author’s intentions were entirely admirable – taking the time to also remind him of some of their on the road antics they shared back in the day. It touched exactly the right chord.

Peter and all other management parties were fine about the content – in fact when it was published, Peter rang me to personally congratulate me on a job well done  – and this positive communication would lead to me interviewing him at length in 1993 – the last major interview he undertook before his sad passing in 1995.

That Peter Grant interview – all 10,000 words if it, appeared in The Tight But Loose Files/Celebration II book that Chris edited and published via Omnibus in 2003. In between that one and my first A Celebration book, we also worked together on a number of other Zep related titles – notably in 1997 on Led Zeppelin The Concert File.

This was a book I co authored with Simon Pallet – in the pre internet days a concert log of this type was a huge undertaking of research – there is no doubt Chris’s deft editing skills on this project contributed much to it’s eventual acclaim as a key Zep written work.

The Concert File book and The Tight But Loose Files/Celebration II were both designed by Mike Warry. This association led to Mike working with me on the TBL magazine – Mike designed issues 13 though to 16 a fantastic period for the magazine that benefited greatly from Mike’s design skills. Mike’s company Thinkfarm went on to design the magnificent backdrop visuals for the Led Zeppelin O2 reunion.  Through Chris and Omnibus I’ve also connected with some other great people – including Dave Brolan who did the picture research for the A Celebration book and later went on to work closely with Jimmy Page on the Jimmy Page Genesis book – and author and Who archivist Andy Neill and PR lady Helen Donlan.

Back in 1990, Chris was also responsible for supplying me with my first computer – or word processor as they were called back then. This was supplied by Omnibus as part of the deal in writing the A Celebration book.  I can vividly remember the trouble we had getting the huge box that contained this monster out of the lift and into an awaiting taxi outside the then Omnibus Frith Street office. The days of flat screens were still a long way off then!

Another personal technological breakthrough occurred via Omnibus in 1991 – this was when their PR department sent me on a tour of radio stations to promote the A Celebration book. While on the road in the PR company car, I made my first phone call on a mobile phone to do an interview – a great brick of a thing it was too – but it was another window to the world made possible by my association with Chris and Omnibus Press.

The A Celebration book was designed by Lisa Pettibone, who would become Chris’s wife  – my abiding memory of working with Lisa on the book was a design and copy reading session we had the morning after I had attended a rather riotous party to celebrate the opening of the 300th Our Price record shop in Brixton (I was manager of the Bedford store at the time). A killer hangover ensued and it was with heavy eyes that I attempted to read through the text – any typos and errors in that book are purely down to my performance on that particular day! The pic above shows the book at number one on the Virgin Megastore book chart in their Oxford Street London store in late 1991.

Chris’s own children Sam and Olivia were born in much the same  time span as our Samantha and Adam and over the years we have charted their growing up during our frequent phone calls discussing Led Zep projects.

Chris’s phone calls and meetings as anyone will tell you, are peppered with many an anecdotes and stories – you name and act and he will have a story -from dancing with Debbie Harry, hanging out with David Bowie to having a personal postcard sent to him from John Lennon – and don’t get him started on  The Who! It’s a subject very close to his heart and as I quite like them too, we have spent many a time discussing the many facets of Pete, Roger, The Ox and Moonie – and  Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and Bonzo. Chris, of course, has worked with The Who on several of their reissue projects.

All this knowledge from many a rock’n’roll first hand experience, has made Chris a natural raconteur – over the years he has given up his time freely to be a guest speaker at the various Led Zeppelin conventions I have been involved in. This has made for some fascinating Zep related anecdotes and banter  – notably at the 1992 London Celebration Day Convention when Chris shared a very lively panel that included fellow scribe Chris Welch plus John Bonham’s drum tech Mick Hinton and Bad Company road manager Phil Carlo.

Chris has also contributed various features for the TBL magazine – most recently a lovely piece in TBL issue 39 on interviewing Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones by phone for the Bradford Telegraph Argus newspaper he first worked on back in 1969.

For the record, the books that Chris and I have worked together on as Omnibus Press publications are as follows:

A Celebration – 1991

The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin CD size version – 1994

Led Zeppelin In Their Own Words update – 1995 (later retitled Led Zeppelin Talking)

Led Zeppelin The Concert File with Simon Pallett – 1997

A Celebration small size update – 2003

The Tight But Loose Files /Celebration II – 2003

The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin small size version – 2004

The Concert File with Simon Pallett  small size update – 2005

From a Whisper to a Scream – The Complete Guide To the Music of update – 2012

Many of them are now out of print though as I own the rights to most of them, I may reprint them myself one day.

As mentioned above, Chris is retiring from his day to day office role but he will be working from home for Omnibus Press and its parent company Music Sales (which publishes Led Zeppelin’s sheet music) in a consultancy capacity.

I am very pleased to announce that Chris will be editing the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book project I am working on in collaboration with Mike Tremaglio. In fact 58,000 words of it went his way this week so that will be something ahead for him to get his teeth into – retirement? what retirement?!

Good luck Chris in your new role…in my book (no pun intended) and many others –  you are a man whose popularity has never waned…

Dave Lewis – January 26, 2016.

And finally….the last word goes to Chris:

Upon his exit as Editor in Chief at Omnibus I asked Chris this week to compile a list of the best 25 books he as worked on amongst the countless titles that he has edited for Omnibus over the years.

Here’s Chris’s thoughts and listing:

The top ten is roughly in order of preference, thereafter in no particular order. I have restricted this list to books that I have personally worked on, as opposed to books bought in from packagers or US publishers. In almost every case I saw the books through from an initial meeting with the authors to discuss an idea right through to checking the final proofs before it was printed. The only real exception is Pete Frame’s Family Trees where I had little to do as Pete delivers his ‘Trees’ as finished artwork. The first two Family Trees books were published before I arrived at Omnibus then compiled into one ‘Complete’ edition, and Pete has produced a further three books during my watch.

                In the case of Neal Preston’s Led Zeppelin photo book, I worked closely with Neal – an old friend – on a complete revision of the original Vision On book (which he hated), and although the Floyd Mind Over Matter book was originally published by Sanctuary this latest (2015) edition involved a good deal of delicate negotiation with the Floyd’s management and Peter Curzon who took over the Storm Thorgerson Hipgnosis Archive after Storm’s death in 2013.

                The oldest title on the list is Uptight! which was commissioned by by predecessor Barry Miles as a book with integrated illustrations but later republished and revised as text only, overseen by me. The Syd Barrett book came to me around 1990 as a typed manuscript on 200 sheets of A4 paper that had been rejected by dozens of publishers who probably didn’t know who Syd was. It’s been one of our best sellers, as has the Ian Dury biography which was also rejected by many others until Ian announced he had incurable cancer. To the disgust of author Richard Balls many of those who’d rejected it promptly changed their minds when this became known but by that time I’d signed him up so he could tell them to make love elsewhere. I am pleased to report that Macmillan Cancer Support receive a proportion of the royalties and have now benefitted to the tune of around £12,000 from the sales of Richard’s book. 

                In the case of Timothy White’s Bob Marley bio, I noticed that the original edition had gone out of print and chased Timothy for a revised edition for Omnibus, thus initiating what turned out to be a close and valued friendship that endured until his sad and unexpected death in 2002. A few weeks before, Tim had been in London to appoint a new bureau chief for Billboard, of which he was editor, and we met to discuss his writing a joint biography of George Harrison and Eric Clapton – Tim was especially friendly with George – which would have traced their intermingling lives, loves and music. Alas, it never happened but if it had I’m pretty sure it would have made the list.

               I was quite proud of Bowiestyle but, unfortunately, David didn’t like it because, unbeknownst to me, an ‘expert’ I had contracted to help caption the photographs added his name as a co-author at the last minute in the designer’s studio before it went to press. It turned out this guy had somehow displeased DB over something to do with a fan club that he had run. When DB saw his name on it he went apeshit and instructed someone in his office to go through the book with a fine tooth comb to see if it breached his copyright in any way and thus give him reason to injunct it. We used one photograph for which he owned the copyright and also included some lyrics, so rather than risk a damaging fall-out we took it off the market. I waited about ten years, then removed the caption writer’s name, the photograph and the lyrics and we republished it. There was no more hassle.

                Happily, most of these have turned out to be among our best sellers, especially Dear Boy, The Severed Alliance and Uptight!, all of which have now exceeded 75,000 sales over various editions. I have good reason to believe that very few political biographies reach this sales level and some bottom out at less than 10,000, so it’s nice to know that Moonie, the Smiths and the Velvets are far more popular several of our a Prime Ministers, quite right too!

Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon by Tony Fletcher

Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan

Uptight!: The Velvet Underground Story by Victor Bockris & Gerard Malanga

Bright Lights & Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba by Carl Magnus Palm

George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door by Graeme Thomson

Led Zeppelin: Photographs by Neal Preston

Looking Through You: Rare & Unseen Photographs from The Beatles Monthly Archive

Kraftwerk: Publikation by David Buckley

Had Me A Real Good Time: The Faces, Before, During & After by Andy Neill

The Who Concert File by Joe McMichael and ‘Irish’ Jack Lyons

Led Zeppelin Concert File by Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett

Crazy Diamond: Syd Barrett & The Dawn of Pink Floyd by Mike Watkinson & Pete Anderson

Pete Frame’s Rock Family Trees (various editions)

Bowiestyle by Mark Paytress

Under The Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush by Graeme Thomson

Torn Apart: The Life of Ian Curtis by Mick Middles & Lindsay Reade

Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’roll: The Life of Ian Dury by Richard Balls

Catch A Fire: The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White

Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd (2015 Edition) by Storm Thorgerson

Hey Ho Let’s Go: The Story of The Ramones by Everett True

Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M. by Tony Fletcher

The Rolling Stone Years by Baron Wolman

Godspeed: The Kurt Cobain Graphic

Mods: The New Religion by Paul Anderson

You Really Got Me: The Story of The Kinks by Nick Hasted

Check out Chris’s excellent blog Just backdated at:

http://justbackdated.blogspot.co.uk/

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TBL Merchandising Update:

I have added a couple of new offers to the TBL range as follows:

Available now – The TBL Mug:

I’ve mean meaning to get a TBL mug sorted for a good few months – and at last it’s all ready to go…

This is a quality made ceramic mug with exclusive TBL design.

Pour your tea (or coffee) for one the TBL way in the TBL mug!

The mug has the TBL ”Led Zeppelin not just a band” logo on the front and the TBL Mug logo on the reverse.

This would make a great Valentines Day present for him or her!

Ordering details at this link:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/pour-your-tea-or-coffee-for-one-with-the-tbl-mug/

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TBL Magazine Back Issue Bundle Offer – TBL Issues 36, Collectors Limited Edition 38 and issue 39 –  For just £4.00 plus postage and packing!

This is a great way of catching up on previous TBL magazines – issues 36, Collectors Limited Edition 38 and issue 39 at a bargain price of just £4 plus postage and packing!

Plus every back issue bundle offer includes a  free 10×8 individually numbered print of a unique Led Zeppelin image – perfect for framing!

This is the exclusive 10x 8 art print – It’s a classic Jimmy Page shot taken from the Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind Over Europe 1980 book. It was taken at the Frankfurt Festhalle gig on June 30th 1980 by Tom Locke.

Order details at this link:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/tbl-magazine-back-issue-bundle-offer-tbl-issues-36-37-and-38-for-just-5-plus-postage-and-packing/

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Robert Plant and The Sensational Spaceshifters European Festival Dates:

This via Robert Plant official website:

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters have announced initial details of festival shows across Europe this summer.

Kicking off on July 1st at Rock Werchter, see the confirmed shows below:

01/07 – Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belguim
02/07 – Beauregard Festival, Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France
07/07 – NOS Alive, Lisbon, Portugal
28/07 – Arena Wien, Vienna, Austria

Tickets for these dates can be found here – http://www.robertplant.com/#road/2010

Check back on the site over the next few weeks for further show announcements!

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Maureeny Wishfull album featuring Jimmy Page for CD release: 

A long awaited CD release for this rare Jimmy Page associated release.

John Williams actually lives nearby in a Bedfordshire village – I am trying to get in touch for a TBL interview.

This via Spin CDs.com

In the mid-60s, a prolific young singer-songwriter named John Williams was invited to record demos for Andrew Oldham’s troubled Immediate label, with guitar and sitar accompaniment from Jimmy Page and ‘Big’ Jim Sullivan. Nothing was released at the time, though in 1967 he did have an LP and a couple of singles issued on Columbia. A few years later he privately issued 300 copies of his wistful Immediate demos as The Maureeny Wishfull Album. A legendary underground folk rarity, it makes its long-awaited CD debut here. 

https://www.spincds.com/s-n-a-c-k-benefit-kezar-stadium-sf-23rd-march-1975-cd-48053

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Joe Bonamassa pays homage to the music of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page:

Joe Bonamassa’s love of the British Blues is at the heart of his musical inspiration; and, for the first time, is pleased to announce five special concerts paying homage to the British blues rock guitarists that inspired him – Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page – for UK fans in July 2016. This one-time only UK event will be billed as – JOE BONAMASSA IN CONCERT: A SALUTE TO THE BRITISH BLUES EXPLOSION.

“If it wasn’t for certain British musicians of the early 1960s, the Blues may well never have exploded into Rock music as we know it today, and indeed may have passed into history,” says Bonamassa.

Tickets for the  UK concerts will be available as a special pre-sale from Tuesday 26^th January 2016 from Planet Rock (www.planetrock.com), 72-hours in advance to the general public – which will go on sale Friday 29th January, 2016 from www.ticketmaster.co.uk  and www.jbonamassa.com.  The dates will feature two special concerts performed at heritage castles at Hoghton and Newark, a headline show at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, plus indoor shows in Glasgow and Bristol.

 Bonamassa will play Hoghton Tower, Lancashire (Saturday 2 July), Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (Sunday 3 July), Bristol Colston Hall (Tuesday 5 July), Greenwich London Music Time Festival (Thursday 7 July), and Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire (Friday 8 July).

 Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page are some of the greatest guitarists of their time that influenced Joe Bonamassa’s career. All three are Yardbirds alumni, and indeed actually all played together at one time in the same band. Jimmy Page went on to form Led Zeppelin, which became the ultimate electric Blues band and both Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck became international superstars in their own right.

More info at : http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/joebonamassa/july2016.htm

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Jimmy Bain 1947 -2016:

Very sad to report the passing of ex Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain aged 68 – yet another one gone – RIP.

http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2016-01-24/jimmy-bain-dead-68-dio-last-in-line

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimmy-bain-dies-rockers-react/

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Led Zeppelin News Weekly Update:

In conjunction with the Led Zep news site, each week I will be re producing highlights from their weekly email update news summary.  This goes out every Sunday. Sign up details are below. Many thanks to James Cook.

Robert Plant

• Robert Plant will perform with The Sensational Space Shifters at the Rock Werchter festival in Belgium on July 1. It looks likely to be part of a European tour (although no other dates have been announced yet.)

• Robert Plant has continued to share photographs from his holiday in Costa Rica on his Instagram profile.

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones performing at the Todos Santos music festival in Mexico on January 16 (Facebook/Vivian Johnson/Todos Santos Music Festival)

• New photos and videos of John Paul Jones’ performance at the Todos Santos music festival in Mexico have been published. Here’s a video of John Paul Jones sitting in on a performance of “The Jean Genie,” and here’s a video of Jones performing with Jeff Tweedy. Here’s the full setlist for Jeff Tweedy’s performance.

Upcoming events:

January 31 – Robert Plant will perform at a tribute concert to Bert Jansch in Glasgow.
February 1 – Robert Plant will again perform at a tribute concert to Bert Jansch in Glasgow.
February 12 – “Né So,” the new album by Rokia Traoré that features John Paul Jones, is released.
March 4 – The charity album “The Long Road” (which contains a new Robert Plant song) is released.
March 4/5/6 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Okeechobee music festival in Florida.
March 6 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in St. Augustine, Florida.
March 7 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Mobile, Alabama.
March 9 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Jackson, Mississippi.
March 10 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
March 11 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Shreveport, Louisiana.
March 13 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
March 15 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Dallas, Texas.
March 17 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in San Antonio, Texas.
March 18 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Midland, Texas.
March 20 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Austin, Texas.
July 1 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Rock Werchter festival in Belgium.

Led Zeppelin News email goes out every weekend. To receive it each week sign up here: https://t.co/yp9fGJMSGH

Follow Led Zeppelin News on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to stay up to date on news as it happens

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VIP Record Fair – Victoria this Saturday January 30.

The first major London Record Fair takes place this week at the Horticultural Halls,Victoria venue – I am aiming to pitch up with the TBL crew. I look forward to seeing all that can make it along.

We are sure to call in to The Royal Oak pub at some point to toast the sadly departed Lemmy/David Bowie/Glenn Frey/Jimmy Bain…

The address is

Royal oOk

2 Regency Street

Westminster

London

Sw1p 4bj

 http://www.theroyaloakpublichouse.co.uk/

Here’s the VIP Record Fair info:

VIP RECORD FAIR @ Horticultural Halls, 80 Vincent Square, Victoria, London
SW1P 2PE
SATURDAY 30th JANUARY

THE EVENT
The return of the new venue for the UK’s biggest one-day Record Fair!
Following the huge success of VIP’s Victoria Record Fair, last year,  we
return with even more music traders to London, on Saturday, to one of the
best Record Fair venues in the business:
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL HALLS IN VICTORIA.
ON SALE
This event features a massive selection of traders in all genres of music
from Prog Rock, Punk Rock, Hard Rock and Hip Hop to Soul, Jazz, Reggae and
Doo Wop.
Dealers from UK and Europe including the Beatles Road Show plus Covers 33
Accessories for the first time. Among the first timers will be a mouth
watering massive photo library sale. At the fair, visitors will be able to
buy Vinyl, CDs, memorabilia, books, posters, T-shirts, badges, promos –
anything to do with music.

THE VENUE
The fair takes place at the most famous of Record Fair venues – The Royal
Horticultural Halls. It’s a large, well-lit, hall in the heart of London.
There is great access to the underground system, easy to get to and with a
superb café in the hall all day.
Parking
This is free in the pay & display bays, in the area and also permitted on
single yellow lines in the area at weekends.
Underground
The nearest tube stations are Victoria and St James’ Park
SELLING OPPORTUNITIES
The Victoria Record Fair offers the best selling opportunity of the winter
and a chance to meet all the main contacts in rock and pop collecting.
Sellers’ tables are only £110 each. We have JUST TWO TABLES LEFT!
VISITORS INFORMATION
Doors open to the public at 12 NOON  – £5.
Early entry at 10.00am. £10.
Show closes at 5pm.
Visitor Info – http://www.vip-24.com/londonvictoria.htm

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DL Diary Blog Update:

Bit of a tricky week here with the good lady Janet suffering from a nasty cold and cough and I haven’t been feeling 100%. It’s been ever onward regardless as there’s a lot to do.

It’s already a case of spinning a few plates with TBL 41 underway, and work on the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book project – this has included a couple of Skype sessions with Mike as we wade though the first text. There’s also been a fair bit of research for a freelance job that’s due end of enxt month – more on that soon.

Friday vinyl treats at the Vinyl Barn last week included the very fine Steely Dan Pretzel Logic and The Eagles albums Eagles, On The Border and One Of These Nights – I have them on CD but in the light of Glenn Frey’s passing it seemed wrong to leave them in the racks and having played them – it was a very wise move… they sound great.

Also on the player – Miles Davis Kind Of Blue 180 g vinyl as purchased in the Jazz at 33 and a third pack, Zep wise it’s been the January 1973 soundboards form the Ascension on the Wane box set.

So there I was earlier today at the barbers today getting my hair cut (a task that doesn’t take long these days!) Whilst in the chair, I could hear Absolute Radio in the background and quite unsuspectedly the jaunty tones of David Bowie’s splendid China Girl came over the airwaves. A poignant thought occurred to me as it was playing. This was the first time I have had my hair cut when David Bowie has not been alive on this planet. It’s these little moments that make these recent passing’s so affecting – it’s the only time I’ve had my hair cut with a lump in my throat….

There may be a toast or two to acknowledge these recent passing’s this weekend…

Dave Lewis – January 27,2016

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Until next time

Have a great weekend

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy – January 27, 2016.

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