Friday 6 May 2011

Traffic - Paper Sun

In a previous post, I ranted on about the falling fortunes of HMV, the high street music retailer, in the face of competition from the cheaper, leaner on-line sellers.  Anyone reading that post might suspect that this is a modern phenomenon, but not so.

Back in 1973, I was already a fully fledged LP buyer limited only by a paper-round income and whilst the high street was my main source of music, there was an alternative.  In the spring of that year, an advert in the music press caught my attention.  It had been placed by a small mail-order company operating out of premises (probably someone’s spare room) somewhere in Essex and promised newly released albums at reduced prices in direct competition to the high street traders.  Shock horror!  In those days there really wasn’t such an animal as a ‘reduced price’.  By and large, stuff that you bought was the same price wherever you went unless it was a dog-eared sale item.

It just so happened that there were two releases that I had my eye on at the time, ‘Mother’s Pride’ by all-girl combo Fanny and ‘Air Cut’ by a newly re-vamped Curved Air.  The prices for these two discs were mouth-wateringly low when compared to standard shop prices and even with the added burden of postage; the deal looked a good one.  Of course the Wait was a bit of a problem.  Whilst I could waltz into any of the three music stores in St Albans and snap up these LPs instantly, mail order had attached to it the words of doom, ‘allow 28 days for delivery’. 

Twenty eight days!  I could die of old age.  But life was more leisurely then.  Postal orders had to be bought, sent by post and cashed at Post Offices, goods had to be packaged and put back into the Royal Mail system.  You begin to realise how ‘instant’ ordering from Amazon really is these days.  But dangling in front of the punter was a hook with bait – the deal involved the addition of a ‘free single’.  This crude marketing device had the desired effect and I went for the Wait.

And it came to pass that after about a fortnight, better than the expected 28 days, two pristine LPs arrived by parcel post together with the free single.  In truth, even I knew then that the freebie would probably be something I’d never heard of from about 1961 (and ex-jukebox, no doubt), but no, it turned out to be a brand new copy of Traffic’s debut single, ‘Paper Sun’ from 1967 and on the classic lurid pink Island label.  Result!

There are many singles that are undoubtedly a product of their time and this is one of them.  Summer of Love Indian instruments?  Check.  Weird psychedelic lyrics (man)?  Check.  Catchy 1960s melody?  Definitely.  This is probably one of the best freebies I’ve ever received but even this didn’t tempt me back for a second stab at mail order.  From then on it was back to the record store for a good browse and instant gratification.  Until Amazon, that is.




11 comments:

Adrian said...

Such a fresh time for sounds and ideas!

I can't remember which single I bought first - around the same time, about 8 years of age, in Canada, I purchased "Paper Sun" and "Hole in My Shoe" by Traffic. The latter came in the first-ever picture sleeve I recall. (Such covers were not nearly as common where I lived as in the U.K. When an English cousin moved to Canada bringing with her Beatles singles in Parlophone sleeves, I was transfixed.) "Hole in My Shoe" with its lyrics about an elephant's looking at me from a bubble-gum tree was, naturally, irresistable. The comparative maturity and exotic nature of "Paper Sun" made for an intriguing companion 45.

The only mail-order I did was also memorable still to me. In the back of Rolling Stone or Creem magazines, there was an ad for an LP-seller in far-away North Carolina. These were bootlegs, arriving in plain cardboard sleeves, with a sheet of xeroxed artwork. Over the years, and many moves in life, these discs have all left my possession. Bob Dylan's best recordings as I recall, and plenty more. Great fun, to boot!

music obsessive said...

Hi Adrian. What a lovely set of memories! I think you use the significant word in your last sentence: 'fun'. It WAS fun to be a collector then - the effort, the waiting, the discoveries, the picture sleeves and *ahem* the bootlegs. And all to have something substantial in your hand. Computer files will never really replace the pride of ownership that a vinyl record accords.

drewzepmeister said...

I myself prefer the instant gratification of getting the album in store myself. With so many albums out of print these days, I finding myself being forced to order for them.I had ordered Santana Lotus through a used record store in Northern Wisconsin and it took them six weeks for delivery for 20 bucks.

john said...

I am lucky to have a few stores within driving distance that sell used vinyl LPs.It's nice to hear someone else who appreciates the experience of browsing through those racks. I would literally spend hours shopping not content unless I left with at least three albums.It was recreation to me.
http://rockroots-john.blogspot.com/

music obsessive said...

Drew - 6 weeks! It wasn't that bad even back in the day! Still, it's good to see that the thrill of the chase still exists, even in these times.

music obsessive said...

Hi John, welcome to my blog. Browsing is one of life's great pleasures but with stores closing down in the face of the internet, it becoming more difficult. Glad to hear that you have a few stores still open near you. Happy browsing!

Perplexio said...

Have you ever used gemm.com It's like an online music flea market. They also sell used & new CDs, Casettes and music related DVDs and videotapes. Various music merchants who sign up for membership on gemm.com upload their inventories regularly. You search gemm.com and it will pull up a list of all their member sellers who have what you searched for, the condition of that inventory and how much they charge for it. It also supplies the contact info of the seller so you can contact them directly if you like. I've used them for some bootleg CDs and some OOP vinyl in the past and was pleased with the turnaround time (a week or two at most). And I believe these resellers are from all over the globe. In searching for some rare LRB stuff some of the sellers that showed up were out of Australia so I'm sure there are probably some in the UK as well.

Just putting it out there as a "back-up plan" for you in case your usual sources don't have what you're looking for.

YourZenMine said...

I have used various mail-order services over the years, all with less than desirable results. Half the time, the records I ordered wouldn't be the ones delivered and then I'd have to send these back and hope they got it right the second time.

I much prefer the modern equivalent (ebay, Amazan et al). And I have a lot more patience these days. In fact, I enjoy the anticipation.

YourZ

music obsessive said...

Perplexio - Good advice! In fact I have used GEMM on a couple of occasions and found it an invaluable source of supply. Well worth a look for the rest of you reading here.

music obsessive said...

Hi YourZ! I've been lucky with the few occasions I've used mail order in the days before the internet and always received the correct order. Nevertheless, I can imagine the frustration! You're right in that today's internet sellers are a bit more on the ball and if I was honest, I'd say that there is a modicom of anticipation involved...

music obsessive said...

Hmm..after the recent problems with Blogger, it seems a few comments have gone missing. Apologies to all those whose words of wisdom have gone missing.