My rake through the archive is continuing apace. It’s a major weeding, deciding what to keep, what to digitise and what to sell. The latter is hugely important as this behemoth of a thing I created 32 years ago is a veritable money pit.
I will get back to having useful information on here in the not too distant future but for now I’m on a bit of a self-publicity kick. Not my self but Rockmine. Three decades has left me with more memorabilia, music papers, audio, video and ephemera than I can possible use myself, so it’s time to put on my sales cap and act like your favourite used car salesman.
Having trawled eBay and the greater web, it’s clear I’m sitting on loads of stuff that just isn’t available and it’s about time I got rid of it. Just looking at The Beatles items I have, there’s something for every fan.
There’s some original 60’s memorabilia – Fan Club membership cards with envelope and renewal form, bubblegum cards, Beatles stockings (!), a John Lennon signed EP and much more. More recent memorabilia includes rare PR photos of John & Yoko, a full press pack for the Red & Blue albums and a Dark Horse publicity pack for George. There are also promo posters for George’s solo albums and The Beatles Anthology albums.
Finally, there are music papers and other magazines. There’s a New Musical Express going online very soon that has full page adverts on front and back pages for “Abbey Road”. Needless to say, there are also colour supplements and a selection of magazines and comics, including a rare British edition of the Dell’s 1964 “The Beatles”.
It would be nice to think I could get it all online instantly but it takes time as we are talking about thousands of items. You’ll find updates to recent additions on Rockmine’s front page: http://www.rockmine.com.
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday, 3rd January):
Birth
1964. Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub) born in Glasgow, Scotland.
On Tour
1963. The Beatles first ever tour starts with a gig at The Two Red Shoes in Elgin. Last night’s show at the Longmore Hall in Keith was cancelled due to bad weather. Paul McCartney filled in the wasted evening by flying home to Liverpool and returning this morning. Check out the Two Red Shoes blog here.
In Court
1996. After the jury is selected to try her stalker’s case, Madonna appears at the Superior Court in Los Angeles. Before the jury take their places, the singer asks for a motion to seal court documents to stop them being made public and also asks that her alleged stalker, Robert Dewey Hoskins a.k.a. Herbert Hoskins, be excluded during her testimony to the court. Hoskins is the subject of an order prohibiting him from being in close proximity to Madonna and has admitted that his “not guilty” plea was a planned action to ensure he would be in the same room as her. After arguments for both sides, the motions are denied. Once the jury take their places Madonna, obviously shaken, gives her testimony for the prosecution. The judge then adjourns the case until the next day. The court minutes for today’s proceedings.
In Hospital
2001. Moby is walking down a street in New York’s Chinatown when he stops to stroke a cat. The feline is obviously no fan as it bites deep into the ambient star’s hand. Despite the hand becoming more and more swollen throughout the day, Moby leaves it until the next morning when the pain becomes unbearable and he heads for the local E.R. He’s rushed into an urgent care ward, given a tetanus shot and dosed up with anti-biotics.
On Television
1964. NBC’s “The Jack Paar Show” becomes the first U.S. TV show to feature The Beatles playing live. Despite Brian Epstein having an exclusive contract with “The Ed Sullivan Show”, NBC licensed the live footage of “She Loves You”, shot for the documentary “The Mersey Sound”, direct from the BBC. Epstein’s fury was short lived and although he tried to block the screening, he accepted the £ 225 fee received from the BBC. Without this piece of advance publicity it’s doubtful that the ground-breaking “Ed Sullivan Show” would have had quite the same impact in sparking Beatlemania in the States. Here’s the original clip!
Death
2002. Zac Foley, bass player with EMF dies aged 31. The circumstances surrounding his death are not revealed at the time of the announcement.
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday, 7th October):
Birth
1943. Dino Valenti (Quicksilver Messenger Service) born in New York.
On Tour
1969. 2,000 East German Rolling Stones fans clash with police near the Berlin Wall. The fans gathered expecting to see The Stones play a concert on top of a building at the western-most section of the Wall but there was no performance. 200 police chase the fans into the centre of the city where they clash with some of the 250,000 members of the Free German Youth organisation who had gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the communist state. More than 50 of the fans are detained in custody by police.
In Court
1975. The U.S. Court Of Appeals overturns the Immigration Departments deportation order on John Lennon. This opens the way for him to apply for resident status.
In Hospital
1995. Simon Gilbert (Suede) is knocked unconscious when he and a friend are attacked by 12 queer-bashers after leaving a pub in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Both men are taken to Warwick Hospital where they are treated before being discharged. The un-named friend has six stiches for a head wound and later returns to the hospital suffering from concussion.
On Television
1970. The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, U.S.A.) Johnny with George Lindsey & June Carter, The Statler Brothers, The Carter Family. Here are Johnny and Joni Mitchell dueting on “Girl From The North County”.
Death
1966. Overton Amos Lemons, better known as R+B singer Smiley Lewis, dies of cancer in New Orleans.
Babble
Well, here I am once again in the north. I was told yesterday that the memorabilia exhibition couldn’t go ahead and yet everyone seems to want it to be staged. Just how and when are the two big questions. I’m going to give it until tomorrow and then I’ll have to make the decision to consign it to the fantasy world within the wardrobe and just imagine I’ve staged the show or get it sorted once and for all.
I was offered a date in November but that’s meant to tie in with a book launch that should have been held on June 21st. The book, on growing up in Liverpool in the sixties, was seemingly available back in May so I’m not sure why a launch is being held six months on. My biggest worry is that the launch is meant to be run by Waterstone’s local branch but the company’s web site has no information regarding ANY events in Elgin or Inverness in either October or November. I have found one book that fits the description but it was launched at the Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre back in April. Its author, Nicholas Murray is giving a poetry reading on October 13th in Venice. Maybe it’s just me but I can’t then see what he’d be doing in Elgin. Obviously it may not be him and as there’s nothing on the Elgin venue’s website mentioning anything that fits the bill.
I hope from this you’ll get some sense of my frustration. I know I’m dealing with a theatre but it surely doesn’t need to involve suspending all disbelief. I found a fascinating description of the concept here. The world of Narnia really has been moved to Moray. I just hope that I can find my way back out of the wardrobe. Despite the frustration, I’m going to give it one last shot. If I can’t get an agreement to use the venue we’d agreed on (which I’ve decided not to name because it will just give them free publicity) from Thursday to Saturday or another space to stage it, then I give up.
Strangely, the link to my Two Red Shoes Ballroom blog from the Northern Scot is proving nowhere near as successful as flyers were in Nairn back in August. 1,400 flyers and a dozen A4 posters pulled in 180 people a day and all this one’s getting is 55! Before I leave here, I think I’ll get flyers into the local library and other places. Then I’ll just forget these eerily unreal place.
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Wednesday 27th August):
Birth
1954. Daniel Bressanutti (Front 242) born in Brussels, Belgium.
On Tour
1966. Pop duo Chad & Jeremy disappear after the first performance of a five day engagement at the Minnesota State Fair, After their first afternoon show, they returned to their hotel with their instruments and shortly after disappeared. They were due to have played another three shows today and every day until August 41st. Officials say no clue was given as to their reason for leaving. The duo’s American agent is arranging for Bobby Vee to replace them as star of the show.
In Custody
1989. Izzy Stradlin is arrested in Phoenix, Arizona for urinating in the galley of an airplane after he found the toilets were engaged.
In Scotland
1970. Derek McEwen, the missing promoter of the Yorkshire Pop, Blues & Jazz Festival reappears after vanishing on August 15th. He explains that he was in a confused state and had wandered around the moors for 15 hours before making his way to Scotland to stay with friends.
On Television
1981. (BBC-1, U.K.) Introduced by Richard Skinner. Aneka; Cliff Richard; Genesis; Legs & Co / ELO; The Nolans; The Rolling Stones; Soft Cell; Startrax; Ultravox. Today’s clip is Genesis with “Abacab”. 3m 45s.
Death
1967. Brian Epstein dies of an overdose at his flat at 24 Chapel Street, Belgravia, London. Simon Napier Bell will later claim in his book, “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”, that Epstein was depressed at being unable to seduce him and committed suicide.
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