Editor’s letter

As you will see elsewhere in the letters section, the subject of charity shops has many collectors vexed or baffled. They must be getting great records in – why aren’t they for sale? Or if they are, why are they so expensive? I volunteered at a High Street charity shop for about a year, sorting and pricing music. It seems a bit of a myth that they get heaps of great stuff. During that period, I only obtained just three records from the shop: a remix of a Chaka Khan single, and, oddly, two albums by Henry Mancini, Mancini Generation (includes a good version of Herbie Mann’s Memphis Underground) and Uniquely Mancini (Green Onions, arranged like The Pink Panther). I paid what I would expect to pay on eBay for them – I can’t see any point in doing charity work and diddling the charity. The best pop record I saw there was The Loot’s I’ve Just Gotta Love You (Page One) which was in a very rough state and went into the racks cheaply. The sad fact for collectors is that non-collectors know the value of records – or at least, they think records are valuable. The same thing applies at charity shops as it does at boot fairs: anything the owners believe is valuable doesn’t reach there, or if it does, it is priced (or overpriced) accordingly. No doubt some great records do appear in charity shops – I occasionally find one – but it’s not the source it once was because people no longer give away the best stuff.

So, what’s in the mag? Small Faces – including an interview with the “lost” member of the band, who is alive, well, and still rocking; a guide to a Fab Four library, an illuminating word or two with the excellent Richard Hawley, and a chance to pick up our latest rare vinyl offer – Leviathan. Hope you have a whale of a time reading…  

by Ian McCann
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