Names like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and a young Bob Dylan are synonymous with the origins of folk music. In particular, Dylan and Baez are heralded as folk icons of the 1960s and will forever go down in the books as musical heroes and purveyors of the sound. However, there existed another man whose unabashedly direct songs became the under-appreciated anthems for the anti-war movement during the decade. Phil Ochs was his name, and he fought battles of racial inequality, war, the draft and corruption with only a guitar and pen in hand.
Continue Reading about Phil Ochs
In my ideal world, everyone would have access to a vinyl press in their own backyard. Cutting discs would be as easy as ripping a CD. Until that happens, I will be digging in the OurStage archives each month to bestow artists upon you whose music I would love to hear on vinyl. This month, the unique sounds of Sidecar Agogo and the laid back rhythms of the Chris DaSilva Band have caught my ear.
American culture owes much to the disc jockey profession. Whether on the radio or behind turntables at a club, the DJ has always been on the forefront of setting musical trends by debuting unknown artists and upcoming genres. As a result, styles of music gain immense popularity until a new trend is set. It’s a cyclic pattern and DJs always seem to play a strong role in it, whether the music is contemporary or forty-five-years-old! The genres of northern soul and Latin boogaloo are two styles of music that were immensely popular in particular regions back in the 1960s and now have renewed exposure in the record digging community. The fact that the music is incredibly danceable has helped its revival but looking deeper, the influence of the disc jockey is an integral component of their resurgence.
So what exactly is northern soul? Some say it’s a style of soul music being played with a solid, danceable beat regardless of artist popularity while others get more specific, claiming its origin from the location of certain clubs, shops or scenes in Manchester, England. While the music on many of the recordings is fantastic, it surely does not garner the insanely high price tags that some of these 45rpm singles receive. See for yourself by perusing the database at 
White label disc jockey promos. Withdrawn 45 picture sleeves pressed in Sweden. Mint Lexingtons with a deep groove, flat edge and RVG in the run off. While this terminology is alien to the general population, these words were often murmured throughout the WFMU Record & CD Fair held at Metropolitan Pavilion’s expansive convention space in downtown Manhattan from October 23rd-26th. Fuzzed out, foot stomping, head banging and shoe gazing grooves from every period of music could be found this past weekend as millions of records were available for purchase under one roof.
My nook in the corner attracted a fair share of collectors seeking out all kinds of genres— many attracted by my display of dozens of records plastered all over the wall behind me. Even so, the fair was sprinkled with highly specialized dealers hawking very specific albums and singles. Crates littered with ludicrously rare Nigerian high-life and afro-beat records could be found close to the stacks of mouth watering Brazilian psych and jazz pieces brought straight from São Paulo. Collectors of Northern Soul 45s (read next week’s post “Trends in Collecting”) could be seen satisfying their fix as buyers sought out anything obscure on the favorable 45rpm medium. Beyond all the rare and expensive vinyl that can empty a pocket of cash in an eye blink, the record fair also offered up a plethora of bargain discs for casual shoppers who favor paying for wax in single digit values. Despite my addiction to vinyl and my insatiable appetite to consume overwhelming amounts of it, I did not make many purchases this weekend. From behind my table, I enjoyed the countless hours of meeting new people and watching interesting specimens of the human race. For every ordinary music loving person that would walk past, at least two examples of your stereotypical music fanatic —smelling of old records and body odor—would shuffle by.
