A huge thank you to
Gordon Gurvan aka Dundee retro
Many thanks Gordon
.
Saturday, 26 January 2019
Monday, 7 January 2019
Living the dream from 1985
Ha Ha Ha how funny is this - A huge thank you to Gordon Gurvan for finding this in his archives- sleeping on a typewriter should not be tried at home!
The end was nigh, as I fell asleep that day. Spiralling costs in the high interest/ high inflation Thatcher days had left us with a price hike required or more advertising and Vinny was asleep at the keys. What had started out as a limited edition secret had become a circulation war. As we usually only got between 7p-8p per issue it wasn't hard to do the maths.
The one true calculation was I'd be myself and 3 weeks later when we walked into the Barrowlands for New Order, then go backstage and interview them, it seemed a small price to pay. Willy Wonka didn't do music halls but what price for a golden ticket .
All the Deadbeat regulars and others besides (Yes Gary, where is that review) benefited as we sneaked ourselves onto guest lists while the sold out signs blew high in the sky. What I had forgotten though was how beautiful small was. Issue 9 was 800 I think and we sold it out. It was a collectors piece and we went to 1000 for issue 10. My recycling roots were shred on the rocks of rising circulation and when we went back down to 1000 for the flexi disc issue it was a much easier gig. What I forgot when you're flogging 1500-2000 and more is that its more travelling to re-stock the shelves, collect the money, watch a band, get pissed then sleep on a floor in Glasgow, Perth, Dundee or Inverness train station! You also stop putting them out quickly as there's still 100's in all the shops.
Had we stuck at 500-800 there would be no back issues to flog and none under the carpet of 1f L 101 union grove Aberdeen and another 15 addresses in Scotland!
Great life lessons
The end was nigh, as I fell asleep that day. Spiralling costs in the high interest/ high inflation Thatcher days had left us with a price hike required or more advertising and Vinny was asleep at the keys. What had started out as a limited edition secret had become a circulation war. As we usually only got between 7p-8p per issue it wasn't hard to do the maths.
The one true calculation was I'd be myself and 3 weeks later when we walked into the Barrowlands for New Order, then go backstage and interview them, it seemed a small price to pay. Willy Wonka didn't do music halls but what price for a golden ticket .
All the Deadbeat regulars and others besides (Yes Gary, where is that review) benefited as we sneaked ourselves onto guest lists while the sold out signs blew high in the sky. What I had forgotten though was how beautiful small was. Issue 9 was 800 I think and we sold it out. It was a collectors piece and we went to 1000 for issue 10. My recycling roots were shred on the rocks of rising circulation and when we went back down to 1000 for the flexi disc issue it was a much easier gig. What I forgot when you're flogging 1500-2000 and more is that its more travelling to re-stock the shelves, collect the money, watch a band, get pissed then sleep on a floor in Glasgow, Perth, Dundee or Inverness train station! You also stop putting them out quickly as there's still 100's in all the shops.
Had we stuck at 500-800 there would be no back issues to flog and none under the carpet of 1f L 101 union grove Aberdeen and another 15 addresses in Scotland!
Great life lessons
On top of the gigs there were all those free records and the record companies were paying for the DB tape ocassionally!
My vinyl collection is solely down to these freebies and although I handed a chunk of the Beggars Banquet into Record Shak when I moved house there's still some lovely pieces of mint vinyl I can look at.
I love the idea of the middle man - lying down on the puddle to help the bands bridge the gap, surely I'll get thrown a crumb or a bottle of Guinness as they go by, see you on the way back down.
I still don't remember getting my typewriter out though for a photo shot, but it is my olivetti!
Sunday, 6 January 2019
2020 Hindsight
I've got the title for the Deadbeat Christmas Annual this year.
It works well for me but how does it work for you?
I'm thinking 2019, open my Christmas present, see 2020 and think,
"I was blind, now I can see....."
Call me St Paul to the Corinthians or another Scottish band but it works for me.
So, next stop, can anyone suggest a cover for the annual, I naturally err towards the most stunning purveyor of tequila I've ever met, oh, and the best smile, haircut was good too...
It works well for me but how does it work for you?
I'm thinking 2019, open my Christmas present, see 2020 and think,
"I was blind, now I can see....."
Call me St Paul to the Corinthians or another Scottish band but it works for me.
So, next stop, can anyone suggest a cover for the annual, I naturally err towards the most stunning purveyor of tequila I've ever met, oh, and the best smile, haircut was good too...
Saturday, 5 January 2019
Happy New Year!
The resolutions have begun, get the website up to date and get the book out by the summer, aka September!From the early beginnings in the Autumn of 1982 through to the later issues and the mad year that 1983 was.
Tied to a tree as Thatcher got re-elected it was certainly discombobulating.
Nowadays I'd say it really fucked wi ma scone, but back then I was still a student trying to learn how to spell and broaden my vocabulary.
Whatever, this year I'm going to go properly retro and dig out these tapes and find the masters that I thought I'd found before.
Turns out I never really put the same records back in the same sleeves and was equally poor when it came to putting the tapes back in boxes.
I think this one was probably 3 years ahead of the Stone Roses but would've worked brilliantly for them!
Quiz lovers will want to check out Keith's superb lyrics sections, oh and the retro X-words.
A great way to hold up a shelf, a wobbly table or just to reach those elusive spices on the top shelf of a kitchen cupboard.
The Deadbeat 2019 annual could just be the perfect Christmas present.
As Andy Robertson leads the Scottish return to Liverpool surely Scotland's recovery is only a fw decades behind.
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