Malory Towers revisited

After all the excitement of last weekend out I'm writing what in some ways is a continuation piece from a 2011 entry of mine that kind of gives you an idea of just how long I've been blogging.

When I wrote way back in more or less exactly five years ago about Malory Towers, the  six part series of novels by Enid Blyton, I remarked about a couple of things I had noticed since originally encountering them in childhood.

One was about the illustrations which I feel is relevant not least in the Country I presently reside in because for a school based series, you see, you may well have personally even worn, the uniforms many schools have so have a mental image of what a school boy or in this case a school girl generally looks like. 

The tendency for cartoonish illustrations in particular used on the  first decade of this centuries editions of this series  particularly made them look cheap and detached them from their era.

I'd never of bought them as a boy cos I wanted something that looked presentable and clearly hooked me into the story.

I saw the paperbacks with those images and bought at the time a nicer looking set of softbacks from 2004 that served me well until something else came very much to light.

Like with a good number of her books, the text had been altered with no clear indication and so I did pick up a 1987 omnibus edition of the first four novels published by W H Smith but printed by Methuen Children's books under license.

I didn't actually realize Dean's who were an imprint of Methuen's  did a complete  set in the form of two hardback books until very recently and given these were from the early 1990's was a bit concerned about those troublesome alterations and updates.

The first volume not so imaginatively titled Malory Towers came out in 1991, a year later than the separate six volumes issued in their Rewards series with more modernish but generally tasteful front covers.

I did check the text over as in the first novel, First Term at Malory Towers, there are clear references both to Darrel's behaviour that are toned down in modern editions and the threat to spank with a hairbrush common enough when first published but removed completely in newer editions. 

That was big shock I found moving to the 2004 set to that incomplete omnibus late 80's edition because it does alter the feel of those schoolgirls in a boarding school, like I was, and makes the adults responses more understandable.

This 1991 set surprisingly uses the same text as if they had used the same typesetting as that and had carried it over to the 1990 Rewards too and keeps a good number of the original black and white illustrated plates by Jenny Chapple.

While the cover looks slightly too contemporary to my eyes, the advantage of having the second volume over the 1987 is in part less weight for having just three novel per volume compared to four and again it uses a less modern so-called politically correct text.

My suspicion are that actually these three in one omnibus editions and the 1990 separate ones are just repackaged editions of the versions Methuen  had out during the 1980's with newer covers for sale by certain book sellers who specialized in discounted hardback books aimed at adults buying for children.

 Now that is the original hardback dust jacket from Third Year at Malory Towers which I feel sums up the feel of playing sports together at an all girls school wearing era specific uniform.

While to be honest I'd sooner they had used front covers more in that style for these two three in one omnibus editions, they do make for a good way to get relatively recent pre-political correct text versions often been found for just a few pounds each in good condition.

They do match my St Clares and The Naughtiest Girl Dean's omnibus editions being from the same era with their vanilla coloured spines.

I was very glad to spot these just before I went away.

A Wizzard entry

One of the shining stars of my boyhood was Roy Wood, Founder of The Move, Co-founder with Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra and who had a separate career  as both lead singer of Wizzard and a solo one.

Wizzard's tv performances on Supersonic and Top of the Pop's were amongst the most colourful of that era as we tuned into to see them as well as Slade, the Sweet, Mud, Gary Glitter, Suzy Quatro and many many others.

In 1985 I bought this The Best of Roy Wood on cassette as it had most of those hits from 1970 upto 1974 such as California Man, Angel Fingers, My Baby Jive, Forever and the 1973 crimbo smash I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday  but recently replaced it with a record copy.

More Girls Fiction for the Sissy Gurl

I've been reading a few books this week of which I think I'll review this.

This lesser known author wrote Jill At Hazelmere in nineteen sixty-four and Jill Investigates both borrowing from the Girl comic strip series Wendy and Jinx school based adventures where both are Forth Formers.
It's the very sort of book I love and actually it's the first time I've owned a copy - mine's from nineteen sixty-six  although I'm sure saw a copy at boarding school in the Seventies

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Sadly the Girls Comic site which had extracts from many British girls comics including Girl that was published between nineteen fifty-one and nineteen sixty-four has disappeared as has the middlescommonroom.com site where mainly older  junior fiction was discussed.

Trying to find a G.O* or mainly G.O discussion board where such staples of the junior fiction I read back then is proving difficult.

*G.O = Girls Only, the very girl centric type of novel or comic writing usually about schools, horses and princesses that feminine gurls like me just adore.

The Secret Seven and the missing words

One of things I have made a bit of a start on is getting replacement hard back copies of my Secret Seven books that I originally wrote a bit about on here a few years ago with the bulk of them being modern edition but with good original illustrations and the other five being 1970's paperback ones.

 This series is for me a link of that nine through thirteen period where  having moved from the first 'proper' reading books I had from around  six with Mr Twiddle, I was looking for something a bit more 'grown up', a bit challenging both by the style of writing and also use of a wider vocabulary and that of older children.

It's an adventure series of a group of children who meet up having adventures while trying to solve mysteries and in it we see their personalities such as a somewhat bossy Peter, club leader.

In many ways it touches on that sense of longing to be long to a group, a circle which as a child of that age  you sure felt and in the series we see Susie, one of more quick thinking children kept out, perhaps more that she might undermine Peter than anything else.
They have a scottie dog called Scamper who rather like George's dog Timmy in the Famous Five plays a big role, big enough to be counted as a member even!

Actually it is the similarities that invite comparison between both of Enid Blyton's adventure series usually to the the detriment of the Secret Seven in which two later stories do clearly reference Famous Five books almost as if she was saying "If you read this, please consider reading the Famous Five!" but that's negate the point which is this is a self contained series aimed at younger children or children with a lower reading age which was probably why I got them given my reading issues when I did.

The series was started in nineteen forty-nine  and concluded in nineteen sixty-three and like the Famous Five editions later copies were subject not just to things such as changes in currency but also in dress where the girls generally wear pinafores rather as I do now but these were again changed for jeans or shorts and the boys wore jeans unlike boys even in the early to mid nineteen-seventies in school who wore tailored hard wearing lined shorts.

The text also was altered in recent copies to 'reflect' modern social ideas so where in the second novel, Secret Seven Adventure, Peter says to Jack as he is being scolded for allowing his sister Suzie to have his  Secret Seven badge she should be smacked for it and a grown up says to the children  the girl at the circus should be spanked for her constant fibbing, that is removed.

Given it was written in nineteen-fifty that would of happened and I can well recall when I did something like that in the nineteen seventies I and my peers sure  were smacked or spanked firmly.

It's small details like that, the references to things in 'shillings' that set the backdrop of this adventure as are things like the circus acts a child of that era saw, regardless of our own views on that today and why apart from the feel of having the hard back I'm slowly building up a collection of them hopefully all with dust jackets, to read and enjoy as I did back then.

Chores for Little Gurls

Today I thought I would give some thought to things a little or middle either in relationship or living with someone even on occasional basis can be encouraged to do for themselves

Own area

Making own bed

Getting clothes out for the next day

Hanging up own clothes neatly after wearing/washing

Making sure worn clothes are available for washing

Keeping own spaces tidy

Helping in the home 

Fixing own breakfast

Setting tables with cutlery, mats, glasses and cold refreshing drink

Clearing away and washing up afterward

Tidying away in other spaces after you

Helping with vacuuming

Feeding pets

Sometimes it can be easy to drift into a pattern where other people may not expect you to do (or be able to do)  these things which doesn't help you either with trying be more responsible and independent and may in a low key nagging way begin to undermine a relationship.

It also is the case that within reason, people shouldn't try to do that too, even if you  as a little or middle have a disability or two regardless of like a  number of folk  you may not of had to do much if any of these things in past yourself.

The Rolling Stones in Mono

Many years ago I wrote a substantial entry around the longstanding British rock band, the Rolling Stones and my recordings by them and on September 30th, a 15 cd box set of their recordings was issued.

Basically the box set covers what I'd call the Decca or the London Years where from 1963 through 1970, they recorded for Decca records of Great Britain but with a twist as this set only comprises of individual albums of studio recordings that were issued in monophonic sound.

Unlike the Beatles to whom only about five recordings were only available in mono and to whom there are mono and stereo sets of everything except the last two studio albums, it's fair to say most of the pre 1966 Rolling Stones songs are only in mono and they appeared as recent as 2002 in generally good remastered cds and a few records from the same sources.

It's also important to note a good number of those 1964/5 tracks that were only mixed in stereo such as 2120 South Michigan Avenue were simply 'folded in' for the mono editions so you're not hearing different outside of the sound all now coming from the centre of your speakers on these discs.

This means there is quite a bit of duplication between those cd  issues and these new cds.

The discs are fitted so you remove from from the top with what I'd regard as a silly magnetic catch and at the front there is a booklet with a short write up of the the groups history and pictures.

It tells you nothing about the recording history of the groups albums such as the dates, studios used when originally issued and catalogue numbers or even which albums are featured that I feel is quite an oversight.

 The albums appear in mini lp form which I favour but lack some of the individual touches such as 'fold backs' on the UK titles, period mock inner sleeves and in the instance of Let It Bleed, the poster that was included in all copies of the album. At cost the Japanese issue features all of that and more!

The European edition has see through plastic inner sleeves and plastic resealable outside sleeve jackets to protect them. This inexplicably was been missed of the North American edition which has the discs spine face down in the box so they can easily get scratched where at least the European has them slotted with the spines to the left hand side of the box.

Like most sixties groups their UK and US discographies difference greatly but unlike that of the beatles they were compiled by the bands own producer for US consumption leading of itself to duplication.

To simplify, it includes the following US titles also released back in Canada on London records:
12x5, The Rolling Stones, Now, Out Of Our Heads, December's Children (and everybody's), Aftermath and Flowers plus all of the UK titles.

This means that for the first time since 1995 their first UK album is actually available here in the UK in it's original form and for the first time outside Japan, the second album is finally issued on cd, something as a person who chose back home to collect the UK versions I'm delighted about.

That's the first UK album - note unlike the Beatles in 1964 it wasn't deemed necessary have the bands name on it - where next to it the London 12x5 album of July 1964 that did!

Talking of sleeves for some inexplicable reason 1968's Beggars Banquet album which only has one special mono mix on it of - Sympathy For The Devil - uses the 1984 'toilet' cover rather than the R.S.V.P. scripted one originals had.

The band may of wanted that at the time as the cover but it wasn't what was issued so in many ways it just jars with whole notion being a facsimile of the original lp issue.

The inclusion of the American edition on London of 1966's milestone Aftermath album seems odd given they removed two other US editions and that only what is seen from a  UK vantage point of the inclusion of Paint it, black, a 1966 single and opening track is only what separates it from the UK edition as just ten of the UK versions fourteen were used with no differences in versions.

I say that because they compiled a special compilation album called Stray Cats for this set that houses other mono only tracks such as 45's or tracks from UK extended play releases not on these albums where there is space for it and where it would make more sense to have included it next to it's 'b' side. 

A number of tracks were re-transferred and others had some processing done in 2002 for initial super audio cd release removed and these do actually sound better as in more 'open' and analogue sounding.

Outside of that and the reappearance of the first two UK albums, the main plus of this set is getting the dedicated mono mixes unavailable since the late 1960's of their Aftermath, Between The Buttons and Their Satanic  Majesties Request albums that suffered from that extreme left, right so-called 'stereo' popular back then and in any event was often less of a priority than the more commonplace in the home mono.

The amount of time spent varied where separate mixes were made made in four hours or less in stereo compared to days on the mono with less care about how loud any one part of mix was in stereo compared to the mono.

Personally I feel those mono mixes offer more of a sense of the performance everyone including the bands own members wanted us to hear and be judged on, sounding better balanced to my ears.

The inclusion of a completely folded  from stereo into mono Let It Bleed album, an album that is one of their very best ever is puzzling as while it was issued briefly in 1969 in this form in the UK, it was soon gone and sounds no different than playing a current version on cd with the mono button engaged.

I'd of issued the stereo version with a period cd logo in mini lp form in stereo complete with replica dedicated inner sleeve and poster as a bonus as that would be of more value, making the set a good mainly mono way into the 1960's Rolling Stones recordings.

To summarize, the box set performs a valuable function in presenting the whole of the studio recordings of the Rolling Stones in mono in single spot very well transferred although the execution on the artwork and some choices on the contents could of been better given more thought and general attention to detail.

There's a spectrum of Gurldom...

It be October, very much the Autumn where everything goes out in a blaze of colour before it gets renewed in the spring so thoughts did go to how I am and thow hat shows in me cos moat of the time I'm very much "The Little" so things are very much vanilla.

But it can't be denied, and Mistresses unwrapped with me there is "A Big" and it also can't be denied some of the time being gurlish also includes feeling sexy, having sexual thoughts even cravings so if that's the emotional frame of mind I'm in why shouldn't I get all dolled up and ride with everything that might come my way when it satisfies them.

Set yourself free!