It took a good six weeks to two months for the latest Melody Maker, NME or Disc and Music Echo to hit these shores, and a little longer to transfer them from the port of entry but you could still read reviews of most of the latest stuff comfortably before they appeared on the shelves at your friendly local record shop. There were exceptions, like The Beatles and The Stones, but they weren’t what I was looking for anyway...
In most cases it was a straightforward case of read the reviews, add items to the watch out for these ones list and then scan the latest release sheets for a local release. If finances permitted, items could be ordered, otherwise there was the possibility of picking something up a bit later in the cut-price out they go bins.
In between sessions around someone’s stereo, you listened to the radio, which was useful in many ways. You weren’t going to be a big fan of everything you heard, of course. There was plenty of stuff on the charts at the time that was verging on the downright execrable, but if you were listening at the right time there were plenty of diamonds scattered among the dross.
If you were quick enough off the mark there were giveaways you could phone in for, and after a while certain DJs got to know your voice, and you might get a request played on air. That doesn’t seen like too big a deal, but, increasingly, a call to one particular DJ resulted in suggestions that you might be interested in their review copy of this album...
I seem to recall the going rate was two dollars. Strictly against the rules, of course, and there were a few eyebrows raised when people sighted the little Sample Record - Not For Sale sticker on the inner record label.
Anything that the guy really liked stayed, but since his taste didn’t run to John Mayall, Steve Miller Band or Terry Reid, copies of The Blues Alone, Diary of a Band, Your Saving Grace and the album that got a rerelease as Superlungs ended up in Hughesy’s collection along with Procol Harum’s Shine On Brightly.
Terry Reid, you may recall, was the preferred option when Led Zeppelin was looking for a vocalist. He knocked the gig back but suggested this bloke called Robert Plant.