Today's selection is a record that I've dreamed of owning for years; incredibly rare, I've never had the guts to snatch up one of the copies that turns up in top condition for heart stopping prices. Recently, this copy came up for sale in rough shape but I don't trip on condition. Unless there's skips, I'm just happy to have these records around in any state.
Unfortunately, THIS ONE HAD A HORRIBLE SKIP. Undisclosed by the seller who stated "excellent sound quality". Uh huh. Kinda like saying, this car is in mint condition, except for the smashed fender.
As anyone who has ever crossed over the big ponds knows, transatlantic jetlag can cause people to do odd things; for me, it means when I come home from Europe I tend to be up way too early in the morning. This particular morning, with headphones on, I slapped this platter on the turntable and just about wept when I heard the SKIP. I HAVE had pretty good success getting skips out of records, but this one was really bad and I didn't have much hope. I spent about 20 minutes on it then gave up for a while and listened to a few more discs in the "to listen to" piles. Something about my love for this song made me come back to skip doctoring, and I think if you've read this far, as soon as you hear the organ intro of this song you just might understand my insanity.
Here's what I do with vinyl record skip removal in a nutshell- first, figure out WHERE it skips. Then, I take a stylus needle and trace through the groove that I have put just a dab of dish soap (for lubricant) on a q-tip and wipe it over the groove. Odds are you when running the needle SLOWLY and lightly thru the groove, the needle will get hung up on the skip, where I'll gently rub the needle thru the groove to clear out the damage.
It took many tries (about 2 hours) but the skips (yes, after I fixed one I found another on the adjacent groove) are GONE. And when you hear Bobby Reed's voice come in so sweetly after that glorious organ intro, you will understand why. Or, you are simply in the wrong spot on the internet.
Bobby Reed is from Washington, DC and released a small handful of singles before hooking up with the amazing Van McCoy for this sublime release. Very little is known about him, although he released at least one more 45 after this one.
from 1970...
BOBBY REED - THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR LOVE
16 comments:
Thanks for all your hard work during your sleepless haze. It is worth it to all of us that listen to you regularly and have no other way to hear these classic tunes. Rest easy, you've done a great job!
That is a great song. But I am more interested in the skip removal. Does it require being able to see the grooves that are affected? Also does it work on locked grooves?
Beautiful tune.. well worth your early morning efforts to sort out that skip. Thanks for sharing it (and thanks for sharing your methods for sorting out skips!)
Cheers!
That is a nice tune, good work!
BTW "You Got What you Wanted" by Tina Turner was written by Wayne Carson Thompson, the famous writer of The Box Tops' "Neon Rainbow", "The Letter", "Always on My Mind" (with Mark James and Johnny Christopher), and "Soul Deep".
Really nice record. Glad you could fix it.
For awhile now i've been doing basically the same thing using a plastic tipped drawing tablet stylus. At 6 mil the tip is oversized but the plastic is soft enough that doesn't appear to do any serious damage to the record while still being strong enough to get into the grooves.
I find the spot where the 45 skips and simply rub the stylus back and forth along the groove with slight pressure. If that doesn't work I do it again with more pressure. Even a third time if needed
The success rate is high. Obviously I'd think twice about doing this with a treasured 45, but then again, when to comes to a record that skips, what have you got to lose?
Anyway, it's faster and less finicky than anything else I've tried.
This is sweet - Nice work Derek. Thanks too for the record store recommendations - I had a great day working my way up from Lower Haight to the Amoeba end and got a few treasures to take home.
Thanks, and really generous of you to share your tip - another blogger was asking for a $5 donation to disclose their little secret method. Bravo!
Would it be too much to ask you to post the b-side? This song has been one of my favorites since I first heard it on the Soul Spectrum compilation. Thanks.
@Anon....The blogger who recently offered to disclose their "secret" method for $5 was me. It was meant as a joke. I'm sorry if my sense of humor escapes you.
As you can see, I posted my method above.
If it was a joke, I think you would have said something like, "Seriously, here's what I do . . ." No, I think you disclosed your 'tip' because Derek, as usual, shared his knowledge (in addition to the music) without a thought for his ego. Sorry, don't mean to drag this out, but you responded and that's my take on it.
I'm totally sure it was a joke, as I know Ana and her sense of humor.
One of all time favourite tracks - I had an edit that someone did (Prince of Ballard IIRC) but having the original is brilliant. Cheers
New appreciator from Boston here. This one is a winner. Thanks for removing the skip too!
2 hours so well spent! Thanks!
Cf. ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydaY5VHdqvE
Thanks for sharing a good tune and the skip repair tip.
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