Good evening and welcome to our final post for 2020. Nolen Vaughn (Via TPL Models-Photo credit) is our pin up girl for the month. In the most of a crappy year, TPL Models have been the place to find the up and coming future pinup dolls. You can find them at Facebook including the outlaw Jane Dillon Jane can be found once in a while at Poopy's in Savannah Illinois in the summer. Nice girls but don't do them wrong. Bennie Gonzales, great camera work, beautifully and tastefully done, with a little bit of naughty on the side.
So we finally made it. The last day of a year to forget. The COVID, the closing of Ramsey's, Vaudeville Mews, the August Shit storm that tore apart this area. The Political Shitstorm, with the hated Ashley Hinson joining Phony Joni and Chuckles Grassley and the rest of the bullshit that is Iowa's congress. And the biggest turnout in history to finally rid of Donald Trump, who continues to fight to keep himself as King....dictator....President. And continues to lose every time he goes to the courts, even with his very own people installed. Perhaps there might be some sort of justice after all. I'm not sold on Joe Biden but he has to be better than what we had for the past four years. The ones that should have been voted did, get elected again. For your reward, Mr. I Forbid McConnell isn't about to give you 2000 dollar stimulus checks.
But this is not about politics, this was about music and records and the amazing finds out there. And 2020 had its share of great finds. It was the return of Beaker Street that got Record World started up again. And for this site, the ratings are the usual. we did have 3225 views of our archives and latest stories. But I'm sure most of the views came from me as I was researching what I found for music. This is my 69th post of the year, which was twice more than the last two years put together. I don't think we gain much of a following, the comment section was bare with the exception of a couple comments. This month we should clear 2600 views. The most viewed was the Marion Revisited at 356 views and a distant second the Hee Haw Top Ten. In fact, all the ten most viewed came from the archives and the most recent post was the the rest of the Madison records of July. Rock N Roll And The Brains remains the all time most viewed.
The intent of the Brains blog was the keep the band alive and in memory, but at the same I rediscovered Tom Gray and Delta Moon. Other blogs about Swinging Steaks and Mom's Apple Pie did get some interest going in those bands and that's all that matter, from this viewpoint. I don't know how many countless I have spent blogging about records and other things, In 18 years doing some sort of blog, I have lived about 15 years on the internet and for my effort, got carpel tunnel and replacing 20 keyboards and four computers. The Dell lasted 12 years, this piece of shit Lenovo 7 years. And as mentioned in the previous 2020 overview this site has been renamed a couple times, from Crabby's Top Ten To R S Crabb Music and Reviews and to the more anonymous and generic Record World.
The idea of Record World was to get away from political satire and pointed commentary to the search for the ultimate record collection and try to find the majority of singles that I grew up with listening to when we visited Grandma Ambrose in Illinois. Piece by piece, I begin to find them, in junk shops, Goodwill and Salvation Army to Moondog Music or Mad City Music X, and of course Half Price Books. And documented them through various Singles Going Steady (69 volumes Dude). In the process, my collection of Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Brenda Lee, Paul Anka and Don Williams exploded. Oh, and Don Gibson too. These artists were the connection to my past.
Returning back to 45s and dollar CDs, mostly going to find 45's is my return to what started my music buying habits. It's true they don't make 45's anymore (except for special order or the expensive RSD museum pieces) but the kindness of strangers and donations kept me discovering music from the past I wasn't exposed to. Countless trips to St Vincent De Paul and Madison and Waterloo I managed to find a lot of the classic R and B stuff, usually Atlantic and Motown stuff. The Motown stuff was a bit harder to find but I did score some this year and most of the Atlantic stuff came from Waterloo, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, The Drifters, even jazz singer Chris Connor, and unknowns like The Lone Twister and The Four Casts. And of course RCA's country artists and....yes...Elvis. Most of the finds were country or pop, sometimes garbage. The garbage got donated back. I took notes on the SGS blogs and commented on the good and on the bad. Sometime I was mistaken but I think overall I had a good success rate finding the forgotten hits of the golden age of rock and beyond.
Everybody gets tired after a while. Some of my fave blogs about records and music have shut down for four or five years. The blog I got the Eddie Holland singles has been quiet for over four years. Even my West Coast buddy Tracy Deaton doesn't post much anymore. Family and playing in bands play a role in less blogging. Next year will more of the same. I'm approaching sixty and to be honest, I'm winding down. It's odd that I can listen to just about anything, Martin Stoloff's Theme From Picnic to Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath to punk and country and jazz. And I think that variety stems from Grandma's Box of records, to which I'm sure my mom and the excommunicated Aunt Virginia. I do think about her from time to time when I found Long Train Running by the Doobie brothers in my collection. I think Virginia did got rid of her records a long time ago, but somehow that one stayed in my collection.
I love to talk about records, it's easy to see. And probably why Record World kept going, despite no ratings in the SGS department. It's a labor of love but also a reference for me, and of course to those who managed to take the scans of my records and take them to 45 cat or other places. I suppose it's easier to find them over there than here. But I am somewhat surprised nobody has mentioned Alan Roberts My Sins. If nothing else, you can still use my scan of this forgotten 45. I'm certain somebody will.
2021 will see me go through another year of bargain hunts, to scope out lost treasures of the past and try to maintain it the best way that I can. Life is never guaranteed; we will people passing away, we'll have shitstorms to deal with and of course the other poppycock. To the departed relatives and friends that I known (Tommy Patterson, Irene Leeson, Joyce Bettis, David Shindoll) I'll remember you in this sentence. The archives will still be here, Beaker Street will continue and life will go on. And I'm sure I'll be back again to trumpet the latest finds. To Jules, you have been a part of this life for over three years and if you can put up with my record finding ways, you will earn your angel wings. To my parents, thank God you're still alive. Ditto to my brother who might be outhoarding me in the DVD department. I think we have a nice antique store in the future.
For future song list for future Beaker Street shows, go here: https://beakerstreetsetlists.com/
Tyler Vincent will continue to archive and compile the playlists every friday night or thereabouts. I really don't feel the need to continue on what I think. Clyde Clifford will continue to play the Beaker Street faves and discoveries from the past. My work is done.
Congratulations, we have made it through 2020.
