recent vinyl acquisitions

Some vinyl I just added to my collection; “Elvis Presley 24 Karat Hits” triple vinyl release on 180 gram vinyl, plus both “Shake It Up” and “The Cars” by The Cars on numbered limited edition 180g vinyl.

download Return of the DJ #6

Click here to download Return of the DJ – Volume VI. Get the whole album for just $9 and you even get to pick which format at Bandcamp.

“Ever wondered how hip-hop might sound if the whole world ended and had to rebuild again? While that may be a dark, apocalyptic outlook on the impending future, hopefully a few DJs would survive so that we could rebuild the culture. Tapping a few of the dopest spin doctors around, The Return Of The DJ Volume VI is more of the same that you’ve come to expect from the series, and gives a peek into how hip-hop might sound if we had to start from scratch, pun intended. DJ JS-1 gets busy on “Transmittin’,” cutting up a colorful collage of sound bites and select verses from the likes of KRS-One, Digital Underground, and others. On the uptempo “Cheese Cuttin’,” DJ Itchy Ron does his best rendition of Edward Scissorhands on the wheels of steel, and DJ Agent 86 puts together his best arsenal of beats on “The Ultimate.” Providing a platform for those who are literally hands-on with the music, Return Of The DJ Volume VI is ear candy for anyone who appreciates the art of DJing, and a lesson in turntable etiquette for mixmasters of all abilities.” – Anthony Roberts, Limewire Blog

this week in 80’s Pop Culture

written by Jeff Harris

July 2, 1980 – The disaster spoof comedy “Airplane!” is released. Starring Robert Hays and Julie Haggerty, the film features appearances by veteran actors Robert Stack (The Untouchables, Unsolved Mysteries), Peter Graves (Mission Impossible!), Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun), Barbara Billingsley (Leave It To Beaver), and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to name a few. The $3.5 million dollar film will be a huge box office success, grossing over $83 million in the US alone.

July 6, 1984 – The Jacksons kick off the “Victory Tour” with a three night stint at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. The tour would play 55 shows over the next five months ending on December 9th at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. The Victory Tour was not without controversy. Many fans complained of the method of how tickets for the shows were to be purchased and distributed. Tickets initially could only be purchased by clipping out a coupon in a local newspaper, filling it out with your name and address along with postal money order for the tickets which could only be purchased in blocks of four. Then those orders would be picked out of a “lottery” and those people would be the ones that received tickets, with the ones that were not selected would have their money refunded at a later date. The tickets cost a then unprecedented $30 a piece, at a time when the top end price of a concert ticket was about $20. Wary of the many fans unhappiness with the ticket lottery, Michael Jackson issued the following statement:

“We’re beginning our tour tomorrow and I wanted to talk to you about something of great concern to me. We’ve worked a long time to make this show the best it can be. But we know a lot of kids are having trouble getting tickets. The other day I got a letter from a girl in Texas named Ladonna Jones. She’d been saving her money from odd jobs to buy a ticket, but with the current tour system, she’d have to buy four tickets and she couldn’t afford that. So, I’ve asked our promoter to work out a new way of distributing tickets, a way that no longer requires a $120.00 money order. There has also been a lot of talk about the promoter holding money for tickets that didn’t sell. I’ve asked our promoter to end the mail order ticket system as soon as possible so that no one will pay money unless they get a ticket. Finally, and most importantly, there’s something else I am going to announce today. I want you to know that when I first agreed to tour, I decided to donate all the money I make from our performances to charity.”

Michael made good on his promise by donating all of his earnings (approximately $5 million) to the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia and Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and Camp Ronald McDonald For Good Times.

July 7, 1984 – “When Doves Cry”, the first single release from soundtrack and film “Purple Rain” starring Prince hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles chart for five and eight weeks respectively. During its run at the top of the charts, the single will sell over three million copies in the US alone, the first million and a half copies were sold in the first ten days of release. Twenty-six years later, “When Doves Cry” is still the fastest selling single record in the history of Warner Bros. Records.