John Carraro's wall at the Roosevelt:pic courtesy of waxpoetics
While browsing a few online music mags the other day i came across this story of a recently departed New York record dealer and felt i must re-share it on here so as to get another side of the story about digging around for great music.
Create digging at the Roosevelt by John Carraro.
An eye opening story of a infamous record dealer at New York’s legendary record fairs that were held at Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel located at E. 45th Street in the 8T's, who came to influence a whole generation of music producers, especially the Hip-Hop community.
"This is the tale of a convention where for a few sacred seasons, a certain magic was in the air as dreams were realized and friendships made. The Roosevelt was much more than just a big room filled with people looking for what they wanted. It was a show that for a few seasons actually helped to influence people’s lives and the music that some would create. So let us wind up our metronomes and begin with how it all came to fruition."Read On
A bit busy over at mytea@om towers, due to the fact of organising another of our events, Club PI. But i thought a little happy birthday to the humble 45rpb vinyl single. who is 60 years young today..
With the onslaught of the digital world, pundits and commentators alike have reported the demise of vinyl records and especially the 45rpm single or 7" inch as we call it in europe, but the complete opposite is the reality. Since 2006 vinyl sales have been increasing as the new youth generation discover the joys of owning the warmth, hiss, crackle and pop of vinyl. There is a patten emerging that young people in their 20`s have had enuff of the clinical sound of digital and are returning to the retro treats of the original pop sound of their parents generation. Sure the vinyl renaissance will never outsell their digital formats any time soon, but it`s encouraging to see nonetheless.
I bought my first 7" inch in 1974.
In those days I used to work weekends on my cousins stall in Piccadilly Circus. After work on saturdays he would pay me and i would rush into SoHo, before the record shops would close and just love to see all the records hanging up around the walls and the punters busily digging through the racks. It would be 20 years later that I would open my own record shop `ATLAS` in Archer Street.
Even as I have embraced the digital era, djing with both CD and mp3`s and vinyl, I feel the future lies in a mixture of both analog and digital formats living side by side in a sort of unity of sound. What has become sad though is that whole genres of music could be lost to vinyl forever, please read the link below that tells the story of how Reggae on vinyl is becoming completely extinct.
The first ever produced 45 was released by RCA victor in 1949 by the country/western singer Eddy Arnold a track caled Texarkana Baby , pressed on green vinyl in line with RCA’s early plan to colour-code singles according to genre...which were as follows - Pop...black, Classical...red, Popular Classical..midnight blue, Children's...yellow, Country and Western...green, Rhythm and Blues...Cerise (LOL! not orange), International...sky blue.
The new format was too encourge the record buying public into a new era of hi-fidelity recordings on a nonbreakable vinyl with just 7 inches across and weighing 1.1 oz, compairing favorably with the older 78rpm`s which were much heavier and easily breakable. The reproduction quality of the 45 took 10 years research by the RCA engineers to develope. God bless `em. What they achived was to dominate the recorded music industry until the advent of the digital CD.
Beginning with the onset of Rock 'n' Roll the music brought the 7" its great success as the youth strongly favoured the format. Sales of 45`s overtook 78`s in 1958, this was the boom years of record sales. During the next few years the UK was to become a major source of popular recorded music with the advent of the British 'beat' groups, This was the 'golden era' for the 45, however by the end of the 1960`s sales of the 45 had begun to decline. While 12"extended singles were introduced for use by DJ`s in the disco`s of the 70`s, sales continued to decline until 2006.
On the corner of Bateman & Greek street in London`s Soho stood Groove records.....There of course were other good import record stores in London like Contempo Records in Hanway Street, or City Sounds, but for us Groove had it all...A small shop that if you had 10-15 people in there you couldn`t move, with wall to wall tunes stacked everywhere.....Our thing then was, after closing at the 3 C`s youth club around 8pm, we`d mingle outside for a while chatting up the girls, Tim in his resplendent silk strides and plastic sandels always seemed to be able to blag the best of the lot, even though he was more effeminate than either Mickey D or myself.Once the youngest of the priests had locked the front door we`d head off through the small streets and alleys towards Soho. We knew every nook and cranny, `cause residing in W1 & NW1 this was our playground....passing wineos, prozzies and urine smelling doorways, we never flinched an inch `cause we was on a mission to Catch that Groove.
Passing Soho Square our adrenalin would start to pump, wondering what goodies we would discover tonight..Every now and then we would see the white distributors van pull up outside the shop loaded with the freshest American black music imports.It was then a race. 3 kids running down the street pulling, bumping and jumping each other to be the first inside and reach the counter where the guy`s would be shifting though the vinyl,like a poker player dealing out the cards....5 of that, 10 of this, 20 of that, as ML the shopworker called out his restocks...We just couldn`t wait until this was over and the real fun would begin, the New Stuff!
Mickey D, would always have a piece of paper and pencil at the ready as ML would listen through the LP`s first, followed by the 12" extended mixes and then the 45`s, with Mickey leaning over the counter scribbling away, he was always a bit more trainspotterish.....Timmy on the other hand would be practicing new dance moves at the back of the shop and me digging through the shelves in case I`d missed something from the day or week before. Once the vanman had left, ML would go through them all again. This time listening all the way through the tracks, with 2 beady eyed kids leaning over the counter to look at the centre disc`s spinning around..Wass zat! I`d say, still digging...."New Johnny Hammond", Mickey would bark out, "I want that", I`d bark back. This would go on until everything had been heard and documented..
It would be getting close to midnight and i`d have to get home before my dad finished one of his early shifts in the print on Fleet Street....We`d calculate how much cash we had between the 3 of us and buy, what we considered the best tune. It was an arrangement we had, but Mickey always got to keep the tune for the first few days....What we did was record the track on to tape, either one already in progress or a brand new one, these we used to sell, like our own 3 amigo compilations.....We`d all take turns to have the tune, until Mickey payed us back our share, then we would purchase our own copy. A major discovery in Groove for me was this track by an artist I`d never heard before.
With the pubs of Soho kicking there customers out for the evening and the nightpeople jostling in queues to their favorite haunts...we`d be off walking back norf, hopefully not bumping into the old lady that actually owned Groove. An unlikely large matriarch, with tights rolled down around her ankles, curlers in and oversized red cardy, who ruled her roost from the small office behind the counter with an iron fist. Happy in the knowledge that we had secured another killer track, tucked up under our arms.
We`d sometimes pass by Ronnie Scott`s to look at the people outside and check what artists were playing and other times step pass another club at the top of Wardour Street, to say hi to the doormen who know us by name.
This club would become our church of all things FUNKY!
John Carraro's wall at the Roosevelt:pic courtesy of waxpoetics
