Your Cart is empty
Subtotal£0.00
Your order details
I promised you a look at a few more juicy 7” singles from my collection of goodies. Today we look at demo discs. I have loads, this is just four. The demo or promo disc is a long-forgotten format now but back in the 60’s and 70’s it was a thing which oiled the industries’ wheels, sending discs to DJs to play.
The first is Pacific Gas and Electric ‘Bluesbuster’ b/w ‘Redneck’ a 1969 USA release. It didn’t chart and was the single before the hit ‘Are You Ready?’the following year, it came out on Columbia. All their demos are white with red writing and a big blue ‘A’n the A-side. It’s worth about £10 - £30. I like the band, they’re very late 60s in their poppy sort of R&B. You’ll notice it says ‘Radio Station Copy’ and ’Not For Resale’. That always gives them a slightly illicit feel. As this didn’t chart, there can’t be that many in the UK and I was happy to buy it for 50p.
The second is also a USA Columbia demo by Taj Mahal. ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water (‘til Your Water Runs Dry)’ b/w ‘Going Up The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue’ released in 1968 and worth £12 to £16. I think it was his third single and he isn’t the sort of artist who you wouldn’t think of as a singles man, which is why I love it. At the time, record companies just published singles regardless of the artist, so you ended up with unusual singles by unusual artists. And this is one of them.
The third is an unusual Grinderswitch Atco demo. The label is blue on the A-side and white on the other. It’s ‘You And Me’ on both sides, one stereo, one mono. Released in 1977 after they had left Capricorn. They’re a great Southern rock band who I seem to recall was used by John Peel to end his show. It was typical for some records to be the same track in stereo and mono but by 1977, they were still trying to make everyone a hit singles act, which Grinderswitch never were.
Lastly is a Ten Years After demo, the label is Columba’s in the 1970s, they’ve changed from the big blue. It’s not as nice, I don’t think, the glory days of distinctive, well designed demos was pretty much always in the past. It’s another with the same on both sides, stereo and mono, lifted from ‘Rock and Roll Music To The World.’ Not a hit but as usual they made a demo in the hope it would be. Released in 1972.
The first is Pacific Gas and Electric ‘Bluesbuster’ b/w ‘Redneck’ a 1969 USA release. It didn’t chart and was the single before the hit ‘Are You Ready?’the following year, it came out on Columbia. All their demos are white with red writing and a big blue ‘A’n the A-side. It’s worth about £10 - £30. I like the band, they’re very late 60s in their poppy sort of R&B. You’ll notice it says ‘Radio Station Copy’ and ’Not For Resale’. That always gives them a slightly illicit feel. As this didn’t chart, there can’t be that many in the UK and I was happy to buy it for 50p.
The second is also a USA Columbia demo by Taj Mahal. ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water (‘til Your Water Runs Dry)’ b/w ‘Going Up The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue’ released in 1968 and worth £12 to £16. I think it was his third single and he isn’t the sort of artist who you wouldn’t think of as a singles man, which is why I love it. At the time, record companies just published singles regardless of the artist, so you ended up with unusual singles by unusual artists. And this is one of them.
The third is an unusual Grinderswitch Atco demo. The label is blue on the A-side and white on the other. It’s ‘You And Me’ on both sides, one stereo, one mono. Released in 1977 after they had left Capricorn. They’re a great Southern rock band who I seem to recall was used by John Peel to end his show. It was typical for some records to be the same track in stereo and mono but by 1977, they were still trying to make everyone a hit singles act, which Grinderswitch never were.
Lastly is a Ten Years After demo, the label is Columba’s in the 1970s, they’ve changed from the big blue. It’s not as nice, I don’t think, the glory days of distinctive, well designed demos was pretty much always in the past. It’s another with the same on both sides, stereo and mono, lifted from ‘Rock and Roll Music To The World.’ Not a hit but as usual they made a demo in the hope it would be. Released in 1972.
