Unknown Acetate: He Who Laughs Last – Mystery Glam era UK Chugger

Unreleased Acetate - He Who Laughs Last -  Decca  Acetate UK (1973/74?)

Here’s a cool and unknown Glam era rocker. He Who Laughs Last is a catchy Chugger which sounds like it was recorded in 73/74. 
It’s starts off with a riff similar to Marcus Hook Roll Band’s classic Natural Man, then moves into James Hogg-like territory with added ivory tinkling. The backing vocals are pure Glam and there’s a fun posh announcer voice over around the 2 minute mark. 

So who the hell is this –Any ideas out there?

Hear a full version of He Who Laughs Last

ebay have messed up their music listing categories

Slightly off topic but here is some really important news for serious record collector and sellers   who use ebay as a way to source rare gems as well as selling

ebay.co.uk have  implemented  drastic changes (since last week)  to their music categories which seriously affects  the browsing and listing experience. 

They have basically dumbed down their categories; which means searching for recently listed items in specific genres and formats is now pretty much impossible. 

Here is some background information on how I used to search for records on ebay

I have 2 ebay accounts meaning (on the desktop version) I have up to 400 searches saved based on key words/group names or titles). From these I receive email notifications.  I also use the ebay mobile app on my phone to see new listings “live” although in their wisdom the later versions of the app limit this to 100 saved searches for some reason.

More importantly I have saved categories (for which I don’t receive email notifications) but which I used to check around 10 times a day in order to see the latest items as close to the listing times as possible.

 I was mainly using my phone for this. I was very useful as it didn’t depend on keywords and it allowed me to browse and discover items within genres which perhaps weren’t on my wants list

Here are some examples of searches I had saved (all filtered to show new listings)

Music >Records > 7inch>Rock> 60s Garage/Psych 
Music> Records > 7inch>Pop> 60s Beat
Music >Records > 7inch>Rock> Glam

Now the only option to spot new listed stuff is Music > Records 

Meaning if you look for new listed records it brings up EVERYTHING!!! So it has absolutely no use at all
Here is the link to their category changes
https://pages.ebay.co.uk/categorychanges/UK_Category_Changes.html

I understand that this pretty much mirrors the US site. The main implication (as a buyer) is that I will no longer be able to browse and discover new stuff within categories and be first in line to snatch an item. I am now going to miss out on perhaps 90% of what I might be interested in buying

For sellers, and I have talked to some sellers who appeal to collectors in certain niches, it is a disaster and their listings just get dumped in with everything else. It will mean that specific items will be more likely to be missed, so their listings may have to be changed to Buy It Now (at a high price)

When I sell I am very careful to list in the appropriate categories to reach the right buyer target

I am not sure why ebay have made these changes, but it could be to make ebay a more generic dumping ground for sellers who can’t be bothered to enter relevant information (either high volume dumpers, or newbie sellers who have no clue what they’re  selling/doing) or something to do with a change in Google algorithms 

In any case, it’s just a continuing sign that ebay don’t care about record buyers and just want to dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator

There are of course other online avenues. Discogs (with all its faults) remains a useful source, Musicstack is of dwindling importance, however Facebook selling groups are really starting to come into their own. I am buying more and more on Facebook. As a seller Facebook is also great, there are currently no fees and of course if you use Paypal as gift there are no extra charges for the seller

I have contacted ebay, but of course they won’t care. I am not an ebay basher, however until they notice a drop in revenue, they will not do anything and record sales must a very  small part of their revenue generation stream

Utrecht Record Fair April 2018 -Day 3

Sunday, a blessed day of rest for some, for me it was a record mopping up operation. I did about half Friday's mileage at a more civilized pace.

Apart from a few titles I had my eyes on, I spotted some I didn't notice the previous day, especially the Swedish fuzz Monster that is the Outsiders single...



A new one for me, what the Belgian double-sider from The Rainbows -Where Are You Gone/Show Me What You want. From 67 or 69



I had my eyes on this Austrian Heavy Psych fuzz fest from Hide & Seek, and managed to negotiate a more comfortable Sunday price for it




A cheapie and worth picking up is the Dutch issue of Sugar Man by The Smoke. It features the hard hitting and frenetic Like A Good Man Should on the B I think only available here and on the French issue


What's next? -well the Victoria fair in a couple of weeks, then perhaps I will slow down a bit to digest all the spoils. Bring on November!

Utrecht Record Fair April 2018 - Day 2

Not a huge batch this second day, but got great deals on 3 top picture sleeves, the Danish Action, the Belgian Rupert's People and the Dutch Zombies.

Sweden's MT Self supposedly has a good B side.

Chancis was a cheap and cheerful demo, a sprightly little number...



Always dug this gritty Flemish cover of Cadillac


Tomorrow is my last day, I have my eye on 2 biggies, let's see what transpires

Utrecht Record Fair April 2018 - Day 1

So here we are at my 22nd  Utrecht...Another 17,432 steps were taken today, equating to 8.5 miles.
.
 Knackered and in pain, but the good stuff keeps getting found

Including:

Some nice UK issues. Roger Young is an absolute monster. The Medium was a new one for me




A lovely bunch of continentals. I couldn't resist a near perfect Cuby. Generally the covers are pretty ropey. The Ronnie Bird is a non Gallic outing, a (State of) Mick and Tommy creation

Some odds and sods.  Alan Steve is an upgrade from the last copy I found here 8 or so years ago. Weird French Fuzz madness

Next up the Glamsters and Hard rockers including Brother Susan, Pheon Bear and Rog and Pip...Shamrock is a thudding Dutch Glam re-working of the Everly Bros' tune

As I am returning Sunday, I have another 2 days of this to come. Spotted more stuff, but I would need to get the prices worked on some of the items

Until tomorrow then