Now Yearbooks 1973

 Last week was different both at home for needing less on due to the very hot weather and of course having a content a bit different from the run of the mill on this blog.

After a brief run with alternative offerings, Now That's What I Call Music returned September 8th to the Yearbook series interestingly bypassing the last 1970's batch and going with 1973 which signals the series will run from 1970 to 1974 rather than opting for 1977 although I'm sure that'll emerge soon.

1973 is a year I know well - possibly even too well - being but a year out of double digits in a year that obviously included religiously watching Blue Peter and John Craven's Newsround where I learned about Skylab, I started to notice I liked girls clothes and a good deal of industrial action took place apart from catching The Sky At Night.

My older brother was a bit of influence musically, as I watched Top Of The Pops with him and he'd play records to me such as Roger Daltrey's (of the Who) Giving It All Away and I'm Free although I had my own suitably "tween" ones.

As with the reminder of this series on cd you have a bare bones folded card 4 cd edition and a book with a short write up on each song and a quiz which is what I opted for while for record fans there is a shorter 3 lp 47 track edition too.

I could easily criticize it for including a few songs that just were not UK hits like Blinded By The Light and Rocky Mountain Way as much as I like Bruce Springsteen and Joe Walsh plus for contractual reasons we don't have David Bowie's RCA era hits which include Drive-in Saturday and Sorrow plus missing out Gary Glitter who had two big number one singles and few others this year.M

We'll take a tour around this set.

Opening the first cd we have the iconic ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ from Elton John from the amazing double lp of the same name and followed by Paul McCartney & Wings’ Bond theme ‘Live And Let Die’ proof he's got past been seen as an ex-beatle but a serious solo artist, this epic beginning to this journey back to 1973 continues with a run of massive Glam-Rock infused hits from T. Rex, Mud and Alvin Stardust, and #1s from Suzi Quatro, Wizzard, 10cc, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ from Slade and Sweet with ‘Blockbuster’. 

Pop classics from Gilbert O’Sullivan with the #1 ‘Get Down’, and from Jackson 5, The Osmonds and the re-issued ‘The Laughing Gnome’ from David Bowie lead into some soulful vocalists including Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart and Gladys Knight & The Pips to complete this first disc. 

Disc Two opens with an awe-inspiring run of legendary artists: John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon, plus the debut single from Bruce Springsteen with ‘Blinded By The Light’ and timeless signature releases from Billy Joel with ‘Piano Man’ another great non hit and ‘You’re So Vain’ from Carly Simon that got everybody wondering just who she meant.

Defining tracks from Ike & Tina Turner, Thin Lizzy and Stealers Wheel lead into Rock classics from Faces, Free, Electric Light Orchestra, Status Quo, Joe Walsh, Alice Cooper and Nazareth… and the disc closes with ‘Albatross’ from Fleetwood Mac – a #1 in 1969 and a #2 when re-released in 1973. 

A run of stunning ballads kicks off the third disc; Paul McCartney & Wings with ‘My Love’ which was to become a "standard", Roberta Flack with the peerless ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’, and ‘Always On My Mind’ from Elvis Presley before Diana Ross with Touch Me In The  Morning ushers in an incredible line-up of Soul smashes including from, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes feat. Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul, Barry White, The Temptations, Michael Jackson and ‘Let’s Get It On’ from Marvin Gaye. 

In hindsight it is easy to forget just how much great soul music was on the chart from the Atlantic, Motown and Philadelphia International stables.

The final disc is all about more huge Pop smashes, opening with the era-defining ‘The Ballroom Blitz’ from Sweet, second inclusions for Suzi Quatro and Mud, plus Mott The Hoople, Roxy Music, Barry Blue and the debut hit from David Essex, ‘Rock On’. Donny Osmond’s #1 ‘Young Love’ and 1973’s biggest seller - Dawn feat. Tony Orlando’s ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon...’ lead an Easy-Pop run including massive hits from Shirley Bassey, Perry Como, Olivia Newton-John, Eurovision singles; winner Anne-Marie David, Cliff Richard’s second contest entry, and #1s from Peters & Lee, plus ‘Eye Level’ - the theme to one of the year’s most popular TV shows by the Simon Park Orchestra. 

This Yearbook 1973 closes in magnificent style with two of the biggest and most loved Christmas classics of all time – Wizzard with ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ and ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ from Slade.

Back then Christmas hits were a thing and we loved those two.

In the main though when you look at all that it does deliver on those hits we did like, that take us back that year which is really the strength of this set as anthologies of this era back then were either the "soundalike" Hallmark Top of the Pops 12 track selections or ghastly sounding 22 or even 24 track K tel single lps with cut down songs and thin sound to get it all to fit.

I was bought the Top of the Pop's ones which at least sounded better on my portable stereo record player with built on AM radio which lived in my bedroom.

Strongly recommended.

As has become usual, there is a top up three cd set with 60 more hits from 1973 some of which did belong more as hits of the first set than what was included but, hey, there at least here covering everything from pop, soul, glam rock and even French crooners!

Disc: 1

1 Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me - Slade

2 Angel Fingers - Wizzard

3 Solid Gold Easy Action - T.Rex

4 Hell Raiser - Sweet

5 Daytona Demon - Suzi Quatro

6 Hypnosis - Mud

7 Do You Wanna Dance? - Barry Blue

8 All the Way from Memphis - Mott the Hoople

9 Pyjamarama - Roxy Music

10 Lamplight - David Essex

11 The Dean and I - 10cc

12 Why Oh Why Oh Why - Gilbert O'Sullivan

13 The Twelfth of Never - Donny Osmond

14 Daddy's Home - Jermaine Jackson

15 The Look of Love - Gladys Knight & The Pips

16 Break Up to Make Up - The Stylistics

17 Skywriter - The Jackson 5

18 I'm Doin' Fine Now - New York City

19 Ghetto Child - The Spinners

20 Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas

Disc: 2

1 Hi, Hi, Hi - Paul McCartney & Wings

2 Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra

3 Joybringer - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

4 Broken Down Angel - Nazareth

5 All Because of You - Geordie

6 Paper Plane - Status Quo

7 Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group

8 Hello Hooray - Alice Cooper

9 God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You - Argent

10 The Free Electric Band - Albert Hammond

11 Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers Band

12 Pick Up the Pieces - Hudson-Ford

13 Loves Me Like a Rock - Paul Simon

14 Baby I Love You - Dave Edmunds

15 Hallelujah Day - The Jackson 5

16 Keep On Truckin' - Eddie Kendricks

17 Take Me Girl, I'm Ready - Jr. Walker & The All Stars

18 You're a Special Part of Me - Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

19 Pillow Talk - Sylvia

20 Drift Away - Dobie Gray

Disc: 3

1 Daniel - Elton John

2 The Right Thing to Do - Carly Simon

3 Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce

4 Delta Dawn - Helen Reddy

5 Rocky Mountain High - John Denver

6 Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandel

7 My Friend Stan - Slade

8 The Groover - T.Rex

9 Ball Park Incident - Wizzard

10 Honaloochie Boogie - Mott the Hoople

11 Randy - Blue Mink

12 Step Into a Dream - White Plains

13 Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose - Dawn

14 Pinball Wizard/See Me Feel Me - The New Seekers

15 Avenues and Alleyways - Tony Christie

16 I've Been Hurt - Guy Darrell

17 Spanish Eyes - Al Martino

18 Fool - Elvis Presley

19 The Old Fashioned Way (Les Plaisirs Démodés) - Charles Aznavour

20 Monster Mash - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & The Crypt Kickers

Those were the hits I recall and it's nice to hear them all again.

Exploration and integration of the Whole Sissy Gurl

This blog is broad in scope which is in most respects its strength for dealing with the whole of being a feminine sissy gurl rather than just reducing it to looks, things connected with gender identity and sexuality.

The flip side of that is the challenge in presenting more overt topics in ways that don't cause issues with blogger or come over needlessly explicit.

There are two sides of being a sissy gurl for me, the first and main one is more around being a little, being more child-like and the second is a bit older, more teen plus side that having been through adolescence, given the opportunity has the drive explore more hur sexual needs  some of which may go more around more adult sides of being a sissy.

We may as well just say that side does come out in terms of sexual fantasies, I do get sexually needy at times which isn't being met by others and that comes out through stimulating a release which gives me a big buzz.

Many who do use their fingers to bring on such feelings but for me one thing is actually my fingers are damaged being swollen though an industrial injury and that the attempt can lead to friction burns.

Thus I have decided to get a "girls" toy that I can control the intensity of and direct to stimulate my sissy clit to orgasm as often as I feel the need to.

Working from the base of my sissy clit it feels fairly natural and is helping me met in enjoyable ways those needs as is working on the acceptance of this whole side, being able to navigate the lane I take a left into and where it doesn't feel right, to take the the right turn knowing each is valid and both are part of the sissy gurl I am.

Rituals in your life

When you talk about this Trans Age thing it may not be obvious that actually it's about the whole life not just say wanting to play with your toy cars, dollies or have a kiddie meal at McDonalds.

It includes stuff like Sunday night bathtime rituals as you were told to take one ready for school (if you were at day school) or having to get one if you boarded and then change into your pj's for cocoa before being told to go to bed at nine or even earlier.

For some of us it may be more rituals with a hint of sissification of a nonsexual sort brought in that we get off on as much as we fidget and protest.

That's the thing, you had all this controlling structure that freed you to just be that gurl and without it I'm just as likely to get self absorbed in something not to take a bath or fix a meal

Those rituals may start at the smallest of things as now you're ONLY to wear panties as you're revealed for who you are  and possibly by command which you now have learned to obey as a proper sissy gurl,

And you're called a Gurl from now on aren't you Good Gurl?

You love it as much as it reminds you painfully of your new reality.

Tiny music

Children's toys and technology have always had an appeal, even playing a part in a ultimately unsuccessful blog that was folded into this one but one thing you might not get is the connection between the evergreen Etch-o-Sketch and a incredibly small record player for children.

You see Ohio Arts were the people that distributed that drawing toy we all knew and loved and as a organization were into all sorts of novelties.

The Mighty Tiny was a product of the late 1960's thinking coming into market in 1970 where things were still pretty groovy in more than one way and this was another way following the PocketDisc of 1968 of trying to miniaturize record playing for children accustomed to parents and older siblings having standard records.

Records you could take with you when you played.

The records were themselves really small, not much bigger than the diameter of your thumb unlike the four inches of the PocketDisk so had smaller groove dimensions but played around 90 rpm. 

That is the turntable, powered by a AA battery with a tiny arm that came out of a recess on the top which had a needle that went to a plastic acoustic reproducer.

If you had certain dolls, you may of had something similar built into them but that meant they didn't play for more than just over ten seconds!

For all that ten seconds counted for great attention was paid to providing a record sleeve worthy of something bigger.

The target audience was mainly girls although you might feel theirs something rather Addams Family like about the box illustration!

I shouldn't need to say reproduction from a steel non replaceable needle to a plastic baffle isn't quite hifi but that didn't stop the attempt to upsell with a record storage unit and even a " stereopex" a stereogram although let's be honest this system was strictly mono from how the records were cut but you had a miniature unit that looked like your parents who if they were like mine had such big wooden music playing pieces of furniture back then.

To me it's more like dolls furniture but hey if you loved your dollies and lots of tiny shiny things this would of been just your thing back then.

Now That's What I Call USA: 80's

We did mention on here a few months back Now 80's Alternative, a themed compilation those extremely busy Now people put out whose more condensed version on two lps was more usable and they've done something similar here with a set themed around 80's American hits.

Issued on August 11th this takes a broad stab at the American charts in the 80's and in the early to mid 80's I did follow them, something that did show up in the individual albums I bought then and actually last Monday Dad did find an old school exercise book with chart information and clippings from publications.

The set is not perfect, for instance we really don't need Duran Duran's The Reflex (remix) even though this was a US no.1 as it was too in the UK and has a place in Now 3 where something like Talk Talk's It's My Life or Def Leppard's Photograph big US hits that did little in the UK do fit better.

Syncronicity II also would of been a better choice than Every Breath You take being a big hit over there for a Police track but over all it does work adding often missed off tracks by Corey Hart. Bruce Springsteen, Belinda Carlisle and The Fixx that I loved.

For reasons best know to themselves each disc has a seperate colour -blue, white and red- and isn't a gatefold but I'd forgive that given the low budget folded card cover of the four cd version as this looks more something you'd be proud to own.

LP 1

Side A

Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart

John Mellencamp – Jack & Diane

The Police – Every Breath You Take

Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield

Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams (Come True)

Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You

Side B

Diana Ross – Upside Down

Lipps Inc. – Funkytown

Company B - Fascinated

Michael Sembello – Maniac

Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love

The S.O.S Band – Take Your Time (Do It Right)

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

LP 2

Side A

Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Duran Duran - The Reflex

A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)

Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night

Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Coming Home)

Nena – 99 Luftballons

Side B

Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone (From “Top Gun” Original Soundtrack)

Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind

The J. Geils Band – Centerfold

Night Ranger – Sister Christian

Journey – Open Arms

Richard Marx – Endless Summer Nights

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

LP 3

Side A

Blondie – Call Me (Theme From “American Gigolo”)

R.E.M. – Stand

The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another

Pretenders - Show Me

Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You

The Bangles – Walk Like An Egyptian

Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat

Side B

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say

Olivia Newton-John – Physical

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got to Do With It

Juice Newton – Angel Of The Morning

Whitney Houston – You Give Good Love

Jennifer Holliday – And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going

Neil Diamond – America (From “The Jazz Singer” Soundtrack)

This set can be filed next to that other 80's set filling by theme some missing material given I didn't get and had in any event limited use for the 1983-86 volumes of the Now Yearbook series.

Thoughts on Littles Meet Summer 2023

 Last week I was away after a period of time where upon being seriously ill with convulsions I had found it impossible to get back in to organized meets because in effect those present booked themselves in for next time so all the places were taken up.

The basic aim is to have several days of more child-like playful activity which on this occasion  involved doing jigsaws, cake baking and decorating, a painting session, music quiz and sports apart from weather permitting going out enjoying nature .

The group were a mixed group of trans, cis and sissies who are all "adult little girls" even if some may have "adult" sides and whose littles side varied from pre-school with diapers to teenaged.

Some are very overtly "girlie" others less so.

Personally I can move from Tom Boyish to more Little Sissy Schoolgurl so boys shorts but girls tops and cute socks may feature almost as much as frilly socks and shortish skirts and like I mentioned a couple of times before I'm trying to refine a style that works for me.

Given I was being picked up I thought about something that would be me without causing major issues with people in the community who don't know my sissy side.

This kind of look, a mini kilt-skirt with plain white tights with frilly silk knickers underneath and girls tops that shows my knees and legs off is white I came up with while on the painting day, I went for a school jumper and skirt with knee socks that had pussy bows.

Apart from walking up to the car, I walked about a museum site, eating lunch by a river, bought an ice cream in a shop surrounded by others enjoying just being out - out being a little sissy gurl.

It just felt right. I am a Gurl.

This might just be the Me I can pull off.

Revisiting the Queen of Resorts

 

Last week runs a bit into this week really for having a number of things all one but on Wednesday I was out for the day in Llandudno, North Wales.

We were a bit late in arriving thanks to really silly idea of the drive to go due south via the motorway around the outskirts of Nantwich on the day of the Nantwich show for good measure that delayed us over a half an hour.  

A short discussion between a group of us came to the conclusion we'd better off getting food and then visiting any places of interest.

Thus the first change was in getting a meal where the usual haunt of Tribells was given a miss as reports on Trip Advisor suggested the quality had dropped off in the last year so we went to a cafe /restaurant on Mostyn Street near the former M&S shop for cod, chips and Mushy peas.

Given I had breakfast at half seven in the morning it really was a must and it did not disappoint being in thin non greasy batter with plenty of superior pure fish rather than the reconstituted sort served quite warm with a huge pot of tea.

Several shops were visited such the Gift Centre, Boots and the cat rescue shop although like a number towns in the UK there had been changes such as M&S moving to Mostyn Champneys retail park which I used to like to visit for the school wear section and HMV closing its store due to issues between it and the landlord over rent.

I did get to see the promenade walking a good length of it  and pier with the gift shop no longer with us but with the boat trip excursions around the coastline still running, busy as ever.

We took the better route through Tarvin, Winsford and Sandbach back thank goodness in the light rain of the late afternoon only to find one of our friends thought they'd lost their house keys.

Thankfully they were found after  quarter of an hour.