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A few days ago a replacement copy of a much loved Heart album arrived.

The first thing to note is that 'sash' on the top left hand corner as it was announced recently by the President of Audio Fidelity that they would no longer be manufacturing 24Kt gold cds, anymore a carry over from the days of DCC, because of escalating costs and erratic supplies.

To me at least the gold plating was never an issue - it's the actual sound  from the mastering that counted - but I guess the gold plating did suggest 'Gold Standard' for some.
Instead they're using from now on exclusively a disc with a regular cd layer and a high definition super audio cd layer for special players instead.

This album came out in 1978 originally with the consent of Heart who had changed labels but they returned to alter the mix and re-record parts and is a mixture of a few new songs and older unreleased recordings with a few live tracks.

Notwithstanding it's origins, the track Heartless became a  top 30 single and the set does show clearly just how talent they had become covering Without You and I've Got The Music In Me distinctively.

I originally had the lp and bought the U.S. Capitol XDR tape re-issue in the summer of 1986.

It was issued on cd by Capitol who had acquired the rights to Mushroom Records recordings  in the late 1980's in a so-so transfer with next to no album art but this edition by Steve Hoffman for Audio Fidelity sounds very smooth and is to be much preferred today.

Soulville

Seeing it was my birthday recently I decided to review my collection of  Soul cds which go back a good number of years I started from the end of  tape and record era in my music buying and filling in a few gaps.

You have to remember I was around in the clunky fade up and down era of 8 tracks tapes in the car and home plus FM stereo stations in the metro districts that influenced my tastes to the point the first records and the later cds reflected my likes so for instance take the first artist, Mr Wilson Pickett was better to known to me for his 70's songs like Soft Soul Boogie Man which I have on the "Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It" compilation cd and compilation 8 tracks of that Soul Train era than his 60's material I had as a child!

So I was lacking a cd of his bigger 60's hits like Mustang Sally so I bought the "A man and a half" 2 cd set of those 60's hits most on this disc also are the mono hit versions rather than wonky stereo remakes on the current individual albums.

On the other hand I did get in the early 90's a 20 track mainly stereo compilation of Otis Redding including I Can't Turn You Loose, Tramp, Try A Little Tenderness and (Sittin' on) The Dock Of The Bay but wanted the original albums in their mono versions so bought this box set of the five that came out before his death after his appearance at the  Monterey festival in December 1967.

It brings together the albums remastered as the separate mid 90's Rhino remasters series in a box with card lp covers.

The music of Sam Cooke was something I heard quite a bit of on the radio being championed by Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones and this set covering his solo work taking in Twisting The Night Away, Shake, A Change Is Gonna Come and Cupid originally issued in 2003 by Abkco is the best sounding bettering 1987's The Man His Music issued on RCA which for a long time the default cd compilation of choice.

This one's where the Soulville entry title came from as that track recorded for Columbia in the 60's is one that closed out the 8 track of "Black Explosion" with soul hits from the late 60's and early 70's I played rather a lot and got a cd with her Columbia recordings like Soulville early on in the cd era.

I had picked up the UK Global 2 cd "Greatest Hits" set in the late 90's for her Atlantic material and later Arista recordings but the tracks switch era rather glaring across the discs for me so I got this newly re-issued and recompiled Queen of Soul 4 cd box  set which just focus's on the 1967-1976 Atlantic era running in chronological order thru such songs as Respect, Call Me, I say a Little Prayer and so on with the earlier recordings in their mono original form.

To take in that later era covering songs like Jump To It, Who's Zoomin' Who and I Knew You Were Waiting I got cheaply the 1980-1994 Greatest Hits single cd.

Much more straightforward.

Ray Charles: I managed to track down the two specialty DCC His Greatest Hits cds cheaply for songs like Hit The Road Jack from the period he recorded for ABC-Paramount which took in the ground breaking Modern Sounds in Country and Western album. 

The mastering legend that is Steve Hoffman redid this a few years later with a slightly different selection using a tubed tape machine  and issued on Gold but this one done with solid state machine onto aluminum in 1987 is still really good sounding and cheap to buy used!

K-On!

 

The more seasoned readers of this blog know, I like animes rather a lot although of necessity I'm selective as to which I collect in series form because of the sheer expense

and the second volume

I first started following this series a few years back at least in part because it tickets all the right boxes for me as we have a school setting complete with uniforms, who go on to form a Pop music group to keep the light music after school club going and it's funny reminding me of the school clubs I took part in, writing up the plot outlines at the time.

This series is a year update on the first seeing the members progressing towards graduation, potentially putting the groups composition at risk and  also wanting to recruit new members to pass on the legacy.

The emotions would be familiar to anyone so it's easy to related to and the storyline is easy to follow.

Each set comprises of two discs in a pack which is UK distributor Manga entertainments format of choice.

The mix and match day

Mixing and matching the two sides of me is a balancing act because I am one biological sex and just one person in that body as much as I'm gender fluid and alternate between masculine and feminine interests and sometimes time gender presentation.

Yes really, as hard as it may seem to some I never really get any older because I've never really stopped feeling ten with the same birthday wishes whatever it may say on my birth certificate and as for feeling old, well I've had aches and pains in childhood so to me even that don't age me either. I still feel animated when I wake up on the day!!!

Barbie was my heroine as a sissy gurl for having so many pretty clothes, looking beautiful but having an exciting life with a career of her very own.

 As you can see Cuddles the Tatty Teddy is here in all it's super huggableness.

Also here and I did mention it while I was away last month I think, is the 1960 Disney movie version of Pollyanna with Hayley Mills and coming soon will be The Parent Trap and That Darn Cat! in the same series on Region 2 dvd.

In what is the month of my birth we should give thanks for being stabilized more than I was able to mix feminine interests when dressed as a little in their I'm in a junior girls  pinafore dress as much as engaging with masculine ones when in short trousers

They are two sides of one sissy gurl.

Little time away

 I was away for a few days with some friends I only met face to face last year so here is a few notes about that.

I travelled to one friend who kindly gave me a lift with them to the property we would be staying in with extensive grounds.

One of my friends brought a train set which kind of puzzled me as a number were girls and train sets generally don't go together with them but it proved to be quite interesting in that it is a Fairy based set a bit like this with Fairies, Trees and a Station and the Engine and Coaches in painted in girlie colours rather than the more boy sort especially the hobby sort like those by Hornby and the like. 

The track was made from wood with grooves in that you pushed the train along by hand.

I found myself actually enjoying  playing with trains sat cross legged on the floor , making hooting noises and yes having the odd crash as that little sissy gurl!

Perhaps this was just what I needed to work through my emotions.

A member of our little group had been rather poorly for a period and on the Friday evening I heard noises. 

Waking up the next morning I like the rest of the girls found a present which when unwrapped turned out to be a Tatty Teddy blue nose friend with mine being a "Peanuts" model.

Apart from being a really lovely gesture, this plushie didn't just talk, it conversed to others in the series when correctly set up, in an awfully cute way, talking of  having adventures, playing together and being best friends.

To me it seemed to sum up the whole feel of being together as girls and boys sharing and playing together

I spent a bit of time talking about dollies as a few of us had brought our dolls or that bit of our collections we could carry in our cases with us, learning  about them and why they mattered to their owners.

Among the many games I played Scrabble, Frustration (and boy wasn't it just!), Pool (well kind of!) and Tetris which was fun although with my amazingly bad co-ordination and memory it's not my strong point.

One thing I did enjoy which takes me back a bit to actual childhood was playing with guns that fire plastic pellets out with some of the 'younger' ones because many of the girls I played with were tomboys and we did these things while the boys were well out of doors, in the woods.

Just being out as a sissy gurl in hur jumper and skirt for several days with other littles was just magical.

A trio of releases

You may remember back in August  my post about the DCC Gold Paul McCartney cds I got and how a certain album was being re-released at the time. Well finally it's here!

Packaged like the other McCartney and Stereo beatles releases has the white band to indicate it's a new remaster done by the same team at Abbey Road although this is on Concord records not Capitol/EMI.

It's a digipak rather than true Mini Lp mores the pity with slots for the discs to scrape and a booklet in 1976 was the first time in many years Paul performed his Beatle hits back to back with his solo works with a great band and is one the best live albums issued.

The sound on this is quite a bit better than the original 80's cd version and for the modest price I paid for it well worth the money. 

Moving on, the 50's thru the 70's were for many the heyday of Soul - no not that  R&B as in Rap and [insert word] stuff they try to pass off as "Black Music" today but rootsy soul delivered with conviction (rather than having one!) from folks straight out of Gospel singing.

One of the finest examples you can ever hope to hear of that is the recordings of Aretha Franklin during her long period  at Atlantic.

A few weeks ago Mobile Fidelity Inc of Illinois re-issued this stereo compilation of hers from 1969 with a good number of her early hits from when she left Columbia who didn't really know how to use her abilities.

Because of that, it does miss a few gems of hers from the early 70's however in the opinion of many this Super Audio cd that is also playable on regular cd players, has the best ever sounding stereo versions of these early recordings such as Respect, Chain Of Fools and I say A Little Prayer that simply as a soul fan I have to say you really need to hear.

Strongly recommended. Also note the Rhino "Queen Of Soul" 4 cd box set can be had cheaply featuring many mono versions and much of her output to 1976.

Summer '83 for me is wrapped up with seeing Flashdance, the movie several times and an infatuation with the songs featured.

I've had this 12 single since it first came out but there's a pressing fault actually several such as  being off centre, a pressed mark at the end of the track and so on.

Finally I've gotten a replacement copy!
In my opinion this was one of last truly great 12" remixes  totally transforming the song.

That was the original Chromedioxide pre-recorded tape of the soundtrack album I bought back then that sounded pretty amazing for a tape back then that by the late 80's had gotten worn out so I bought the cd version that remains one of the best sounding early cds.

You'll notice how the image from the lp inner is includes on the credits side of the 'J' card.

I did get recently a mint copy of the UK vinyl release which sounds absolutely superb.

More dolls for this adult little gurl

Hey, hey folks this week I'm talking about a couple  of friends who've recently come into my life after requiring a new home.

They're a reward for moving along in letting my feminine boyishness out as in this recent picture I'm wearing white girls knee socks with pretty bows on.

First up is Millie who as you can see is a  magnificent 8 inch 'vintage' rag doll in her sailor uniform including woollen bloomers in pretty good shape.

In addition to that one here is her rehomed friend, Amy

Okay for feminine boys of certain chronological age  this means something because she is one of the Holly Hobbie characters popularized in the works of Denise Holly Ulinskas, an American children's story writer.

The cat-loving, rag dress-wearing little girl in a giant bonnet and licensed to Knickerbocker Toys who popularized these rag dolls in the mid 1970's. 

Amy is an original  and had to be resewed carefully during her previous life but otherwise is in good rather than exceptional shape.

Be that as it may, these were the dolls my female friends played and now I have Amy to play with when I'm dressed in skirts.