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Fitter Stoke wrote: IanB wrote: ...the MFP Ride A White Swan compilation.
Ah, that MFP comp with the mottled purple sleeve and a prime selection of Tyrannosaurus Rex oldies. I loved it, and to this day 'Elemental Child' remains my favourite slice of primest Marc. These days I dig it in the context of its original release ('A Beard Of Stars', natch) but I'd love to find a decent nick copy of that cheap MFP release to bring back the memories.
While we're on the subject of Music For Pleasure, I owe that label a great deal for giving me a love of classical music which, as a child, came way before any appreciation of rock and roll. I still rate their versions of Beethoven's Symphonies 5 to 9 (William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) very highly, even though I've since gone on to hear, and own, many other, more lauded, recordings. They even put out Wilhelm Furtwangler's stunning studio Vienna Phil Beethoven Fourth - I still have it. And MFP gave a new lease of life to a load of forgotten Philharmonia monos featuring great, underrated conductors like Igor Markevitch, Paul Kletzki, Nicolai Malko and George Weldon. There is no finer 'Scheherazade' than that of Lovro von Matacic, a 12/6d stone bargain back in 1967.
My sig pic is yours truly about to play that very record. I've put on a bit of weight since then...
Brilliant. I missed out on Ride A White Swan originally because I bought the then current TOTP album to get Children of the Revolution AND Virgina Plain for 75p or whatever it was. I had no idea they were covers. Once I had RAWS I liked it much more than The Slider. I wish I still had it. Probably went down Record and Tape in part exchange for a No Dice or Lurkers album or something else awful.
The classical MFPs were great and we were still selling loads of those in the record shop I had a job in circa 1981. There was also a great 60's Philips series with a standard design with a silver/grey edging. Classical Favourites it was called. My aunty worked in the record shop in the Gaumont arcade in Finchley and she used to bring them home for my Dad who was another autodidact when it came to cultural stuff. I still have a Henryk Szeryng recital in that series that is just brilliant. DG did a series of popularising cassettes in the 8os called Walkman classics that were great too. I guess there are still plenty of budget series around today but there isn't the same need with Spotify and such like. Everything is far more available but people still need a guiding hand a bit of curation on their way into classical. God bless the likes of MFP helping kids and the less well off get a taste of the music via what were really good recordings by and large.
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