This whole, ‘May the 4th be with you’ thing coincided with watching two episodes of The Mandalorian today. Love those robots, still not sure about the space cowboy dialogue but I suppose that’s the point. There are some cool-looking aliens too but sometimes it’s all too fast, I wanna see those aliens, check ’em out, see that green scaly skin, the tentacles, and the blue teeth. It is peculiar how American aliens look different from English aliens. In England, they dreamed up the evil Daleks and the Cybermen and I’m still scared of them now, all these years later. The American aliens and robots are different, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and Star Wars aliens have a distinctly American feel to them, haha, odd considering they are supposed to be from other planets. I sometimes confuse them with members of English new romantic bands, it seems like they used to hang out in the same bars in London and at intergalactic American space stations.

Apparently, there was a birthday present banging at the door today but I didn’t hear it and have to go pick it up from a tabacaria close by. I’m always asked, “What do you want for your birthday?” and I always say, “Records” and people say, “But you already have lots of records” and I say, “Yes”. Haha. It’s all about The Archive, and collecting records always means there are thousands you don’t have. The trick is to know which. With new records and reissues I might not have them…because they’re new, it’s a little trickier with older records but there are always the different editions, different pressings, different cover art and if it’s exactly the same as one I already have then it’s always good to have a spare.

Jorge came around today and we installed cameras in The Archive. A little extra security for the place, the guard dogs are coming tomorrow. Jorge is great at fixing things whether it be one of my Rickenbackers or my red dimmer lamp. It’s like he could fix anything, Olivia’s dad is like that too, he could fix anything, build anything, figure out how something works. I must ask him how they built the pyramids.

I wasn’t intending to go to Tubitek today but I’d decided to play my Paul McCartney – Red Rose Speedway (1973) half-speed mastered RSD album. I was pottering and listening and suddenly halfway through My Love there was a massive scratch. I went over to the turntable and lifted the lid, swung the arm to the side, and had a closer look at the record. There was a massive ding, not across the track but along the groove of the track for three-quarters of the revolution. It was obviously a manufacturing error, so I took it back and got another copy. Rui at the store suggested that I should listen to all the RSD records asap because when they’re gone, they’re gone. So tonight I played my Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes B-sides, and guess what? The album proper was released in 1992.

Music today has been many things, all good but I’ve chosen the early Suede demos on vinyl, most of which made the debut album (1993). Interesting to hear the early songs in a raw state. I loved that first EP with The Drowners, To The Birds, and My Insatiable One. The Drowners and To The Birds are on this record as are Metal Mickey, Pantomime Horse, Sleeping Pills, Moving with He’s Dead, the instrumental Diesel, and Stars on 45.

Music Of The Daze