I couldn’t help but steal today’s title from Reg the Rocket Man.
TVV turns sixteen years old today. I’d love to be in a position to have all the archives available for browsing back through, but Google/Blogger unceremoniously removed all traces of the original blog back in July 2013 before I could back things up.
A lot has changed in terms of music blogs since 2006. Indeed, a lot has changed in terms of music and how we all go about ‘consuming’ it these days. TVV began for a number of interlinked reasons, some of which were to do with my own mental wellbeing having just suffered a career setback at work (which turned out in due course to be a blessing), but deep down it was all about me wanting to delve into my old vinyl and rip some songs into an mp3 format so that they could perhaps be heard again for the first time in decades.
It was also about wanting to find some sort of audience with whom to share my lifelong obsession with music, and in particular that period from the late 70s into the mid 80s when so much of what I had been immersed in, was still, many decades later, incredibly important and vital to me. I had no idea really what to do with this new blog, but after a hesitant start, I got into a routine, helped along by many people from all parts of the world who supported and encouraged those early efforts with advice and words of thanks through the comments section, but if you had told me back then that TVV would still be on the go in 2022, I’d have found it hard to believe.
The old blog had, give or take, 2,500 posts before it was taken down. The new blog isn’t far short of 3,500 posts. Not all the posts have been original as a fair number have appeared more than once, and of course TVV does rely on a fair amount of guest postings. But let’s say 5,000 original posts, at a (conservative) average of 1,500 words, means I’ve written something in the region of seven and a half million words for the blog….I’m just hopeful that a few of them might have made some sense.
Many friends have come and gone, as can be reflected by the amount of former/extinct blogs that are listed among the indices. The past year or so has seen a few more of the long-time bloggers decide that, for one or more reasons, it was time to ease themselves away from their keyboards and go and out to do something less boring instead…….if any of you who are in that position ever have an urge to come back with some thoughts, views and opinions without the pressure of looking after your own place, then there will always be a warm welcome among these pages. I’ve never knowingly turned down any offer for a guest posting, (albeit some have lain unwittingly unattended to within the Inbox for a period of time), and I don’t intend to start now.
TVV has brought me so many happy moments these past sixteen years. It’s also been a place from where I’ve been able to catapult into other situations within the music industry/business, from which I have forged friendships with a decent number of incredibly talented and creative people along the way. I think I’m a better person than I was back in 2006, and much of that is down to being part of the collective and community that has developed and grown via this little and fairly insignificant corner of the internet.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of TVV in whatever shape or form. No targets are set, but if I’m still doing this in another sixteen years time, then I’ll be in my mid-70s (age wise) but hopefully still with the attitude, enthusiasm and chutzpah of a late-teen about to conquer the world on the back of some half decent exam results.
I’ll finish today’s posting, not with the obvious thing of some songs with ‘sixteen’ in the title, but instead with something related to the number. It’s my humble opinion that the original is the greatest song ever released, while the cover is more than decent.
mp3: New Order – Age of Consent
mp3: Grant Lee Buffalo – Age of Consent
New Order, of course, are also responsible for the greatest single of all time……….
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
An inspiration to to us all .
Here’s to 16 more years.
Sir, your wrtings and so many of your guest submissions have re-directed me to music that I’d allowed to grow dusty on shelves not to mention introductions to some fascinating bands and artists. 16. Isn’t that a time when life flourishes?
Thank you.
Happy anniversary! 16 is just a start, I highly enjoy your, and guest contributors, posts’ and hope by 70 still be able to enjoy them! Cheers.
Congratulations on hitting sweet 16. Will echo your sentiment, “that period from the late 70s into the mid 80s is still, many decades later, incredibly important and vital to me.”
Heard Age of Consent used as the backing for a rowing highlights montage on TV last weekend, which would have baffled the teenage me watching the band try to play it live 40 years ago. It’s still their best song, probably.
Many happy returns. As someone who struggles to blog even once a week at the moment, I am in sheer awe of the number of posts you’ve managed in those 16 years. Here’s to many more.
A very happy blog birthday to you, something really worth celebrating. Such lovely words from you too, which sum up so well the motivations, reasons, inspirations that so many of us feel, I’m sure – music may be the shared core theme, but there’s so much else as well. Thank you!
Congratulations Jim – your blog has been my first port of call on the internet for many years now… I don’t always listen to the music but I always enjoy your words! (and the guests) – I hope I’m still reading your blog when I’m in my 70s – then we’ll be looking back at ICAs by young bands from today who hopefully have longish careers
You already know you were my biggest inspiration in terms of blogging. Is This The Life? exists because of you. Congrats on the coming of age. You’ve plenty more left in you I’m sure.
Echoing theRobster. Football and Music and keepingitpeel both inspired by you.
Long may you blog.
Sacre Bleu! I sometimes feel like a wizened hoary host on the now diminished music blogosphere with a dozen years and 2510 [as of today] posts but to coin a phrase [cue the Frank Sinatra] you make me feel so young!” I am glad that I discovered your blog all those years ago. Even though I can’t remember how, exactly! The passions we share makes me glad to know you and to chime in as part of the peanut gallery here at TVV! One of the handful of music blogs I make sure to check in my feed each day!
Congratulations! And thanks for all the music!!!
Happy Sweet 16 dearest JC! Yours was the first music blog I ever came across and still a place I look forward to visiting every day. It’s the best. xx
Thanks, JC. It’s a pleasure and honor to be part of “this little corner of t’internet.”
Congratulations! Celebrations! Happy Birthday & Keep On Keepin’ On!
16 eh? I wonder, have the paps been chasing you for the past few weeks, snapping pics of you flashing your bits as you alight from vehicles, to sell to the red tops to illustrate the daily countdown until you “become legal”? No…? Shame.
Anyway, congratulations on an incredible milestone, JC. You and TVV have been a constant source of enjoyment and I’ve been introduced to so many bands I’d probably never have heard of without you. Plus, as you know, and without wishing to embarrass (or blame!) you, without your help I’d not be writing my tawdry pages, so please accept sixteen years worth of thanks from me.
Hi JC!
Normally I don’t leave a message, just a big thank you in my thoughts, but today the big occasion deserves something more. Congratulations and thank you for your blog, it is a brilliant achievement, not only for its longevity and persistence, but also for the high standards, quality, love for what you’re doing, the good music, the reliable and first hand information, and for the amazing group of people that you have managed to gather around the TVV, family and friends, other bloggers, musicians, labels, record shops, and many, many others. Probably, lots of them like me, who pass by your blog without saying much, besides a big thank you, even if it isn’t written.
I don’t know how much of a surprise this might be for you, probably not at all, but below is a copy of what I think was your first TVV post, 16 years ago. I hope you have found a copy of “‘Come Home (Extended Flood Mix)” without jumps by now, haha!
Congratulations!! We love you!
Cheers,
João
Friday, September 29, 2006
SONGS THAT WERE WASTED ON THE B-SIDE (Part 1)
We’ve all got our favourites….great songs that were only ever recorded as B-sides. I’m hoping to feature a few of these over the coming weeks.
This particular offering is more wasted than some. It was put on the reverse of a mix of a single at a time when record companies issued multi-formats in an effort to boost the chart placing. If you ever see a copy of ‘Come Home (Extended Flood Mix)’ in a purple sleeve, you’ll find this on the reverse. A band at their best.
Sorry about the couple of jumps that come just after the 4 minute mark. Hope it doesn’t ruin your listening.
Fire Away – James (mp3)*
*song no longer available to download
Posted by JC at 11:20 PM 1 comments
what an incredible achievement, congratulations, here’s to the next 16
Keep on trucking JC!
Happy anniversary to 16 years of keeping this blog running, JC. As Rol and keepingitpeel said, I wouldn’t be in this blogger scene without you. Thank you for all the inspiration, your words and pointing me to some kind of music I didn’t knew before. Keep on keeping on with your great work blogfather.
Congratulations! I’m a late-comer to the blog but have so much to thank you for in terms of introducing me to bands like Ballboy, The Twilight Sad and more recently, Ducks Ltd. But more than that, TNVV is a place I visit every day to read the thoughts of you and others about music I
love and to remind myself of why I love music. Another 16 years sounds like a great idea.
Sixteen years! Blimey, where has the time gone? Thanks for doing this blog. It’s always worth checking out.
I love that you are here and posting such fascinating content so frequently. I thought I knew a lot about music but I have discovered so much amazing new stuff thanks to you and your guest posters. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the great work. Here’s to another 16 years and beyond!
Life in Minnesota, USA, is better because this blog exists. Thank you and congratulations on a tremendous achievement.
Congratulations Blogfather.
An inspiration to us all.
Happy 16th birthday TVV and Jim. Daily blogging for that amount of time is an enormous undertaking. To keep the quality so high and the interest of so many readers is an amazing achievement. The internet is improved every day because of you.
Original, inspirational and the best. Here’s to many many more
Belated happy anniversary, JC, what an incredible achievement! Thinking back to August 2006, I was a year into my first attempt at blogging and gave it up exactly a year later. As others have commented, you’ve not only kept going, TVV has continued to be an essential blog to visit.
To have kept up the quality of writing and music is nothing short of amazing, not to mention the incredible and tangible sense of community. Your continued inspiration motivated me to move from silent reader to active commenter to occasional contributor and eventually back into my own music blog. Your generosity and embracing of vastly different musical tastes and opinions is an example to us all.
Thanks for bringing a big old sun to shine brightly in this little corner of t’internet…here’s to many more years of TVV!