Also visit deeplyvale.com and www.dandelionrecords.co.uk and www.stringdriventhing.com
+ new links on myspace.com:
www.myspace.com/tractorakathewaywelive
www.myspace.com/tractorpsychbandLimited Coloured Vinyl Editions
The Way We Live "A Candle For Judith" - Red Vinyl Tractor - Red Vinyl Joy Division "Let The Movie Begin" - Purple Vinyl (click above to view full size images)
Order via this website
July 27, 2010
Kevin Lamb remasters (Kevin’s Personal Tapes)
Who Is The Hero
OZITCD116
Release Date: 23 August 2010Sailing Down The Years
OZITCD117
Release Date: 26 July 2010Order via this website
July 5, 2010
Various Artists - Punk Poets Beatniks And Counter Culture Heroes
Further details here
Order via this website
Martin Hannett
(click above to view full size images)by Chris Hewitt
Coming soon - the definitive book and DVD. The true story of the man who created the Manchester Sound. The most innovative and influential producer in modern music.
Published by Ozit Morpheus in 2010.
Ian Curtis/Joy Division and Martin Hannett Exhibition at Fac251 Manchester
(click above to view full size)Read Mick Middles' story here
The Factory, 112-118 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 7EN
Sunday 16th May to Wednesday 19th May 2010
12 Noon to 6 pm daily
FREE ADMISSIONAn exhibition showcasing Joy Division memorabilia collated by Peter Hook and Chris Hewitt.
Over the years, a lot of musical and recording equipment and instruments associated with Joy Division have been collated by Chris and Hooky. As an avid collector, Hooky will also be showing many paper artefacts and other objects related to Joy Division publicly for the first time.
The Ian Curtis/Joy Division exhibition at The Factory’s top floor boardroom will contain at least six display cases full of Peter Hook’s collection of Joy Division artefacts. There will be a scene of the Joy Division rehearsal room with instruments and amplification that the band used at gigs and rehearsals, whilst the Joy Division recording session scene will recreate an Ian Curtis vocal take, including the actual studio screens he recorded his vocals behind, as well as a collection of producer Martin Hannett’s original equipment, including the microphone configuration that Martin Hannett used, Martin Hannett’s legendary collection of outboard delay equipment that defined the Joy Division Sound, Hannett’s own tape recorder and several of his early echo units.
This will be a unique insight into the artefacts, instruments, amplification and recording equipment of one of Manchester’s seminal bands.
Thanks to Salford Museum and Rochdale Arts and Heritage Service for loan of display cases.
April 25, 2010
Grateful Dead at The Hollywood Festival
North-West England, 1970
(click above to view full size images)DVD and CD set
Ozit DVD 10
Price: £19.99 plus £2.50 P&P inside UK, £4 postage for the rest of the worldIt’s some grainy bits of film (filmed in the main by an acid-spiked crew) of one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the English rock counterculture and festivals. The Grateful Dead come to England in 1970 for their first ever concert and it’s in the open air at a festival near Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire, North West England. It’s one of the only times in England when Pigpen was on absolutely top form and he takes a lot of the vocal leads stood up behind his organ. There were plans to film and audio record everyone on the bill for the whole festival weekend, but someone travelling with the Grateful Dead’s entourage gave acid to most people working on the film and sound recordings. Fortunately, the whole of the Grateful Dead’s set was recorded on audio and around five song’s worth of band and crowd footage was filmed during their set by the acid-tripping film crew. Also filmed were short sections of Free, Family, Screaming Lord Sutch, John Peel and Radha Krishna Temple.
Period early 70s artwork, beautiful fold-out Hollywood Festival archive DVD booklet
Further details here
Read review here
Order via this website
The Hacienda Peter Hook Limited Edition Bass Guitars
(click above to view full size images)With maple neck and fretboard (fretboard made from original pieces of Hacienda Canadian maple dance floor). A series of six long-scale EB2/335 shape bass guitars are to be custom built by Rochdale guitar builder Brian Eastwood with HAC numbers 51 to 56.
The design ideas have been put together by Peter Hook and Chris Hewitt and are being turned into reality by custom guitar builder Brian Eastwood. The initial idea came from Chris Hewitt, who was collecting together bits of original Hacienda dance floor for another project with Peter Hook. Chris noticed that pieces of the original Hacienda maple dance floor were about the right width to make a maple fretboard for guitar necks, and so the idea of a Hacienda Peter Hook bass guitar was born.
Chris Hewitt has been involved in suggesting unusual guitar ideas for Brian Eastwood to build in the past (Brian built a twelve-string guitar for Tractor and the body was a mini-tractor tyre; he also built a moon-shaped guitar for Showaddywaddy - for their Top of the Pops appearance). Brian has worked on servicing and modifying Joy Division and New Order guitars through the years through Hooky’s association with Chris Hewitt and Rochdale, where of course Hooky and Chris Hewitt owned Suite 16 recording studios.
A lot of the innovative features of the Hacienda internal design/architecture will be incorporated into various parts of the guitar. The first guitar will be ready in mid-April.
For more info, email Chris Hewitt ozitrecords@which.net or ring 01565 734066
April 18, 2010
Billy Fury 70th Birthday Special Editions - Rarities Volumes 11 & 12
(click above to view full size images)To celebrate what would have been Billy Fury's 70th birthday, we continue with our popular rarities series - with the Special Birthday Editions, Volumes 11 and 12.
18 great tracks on Volume 11; 21 great tracks on Volume 12. Fold-out birthday CD booklet.
Price each: £19.90 plus £2.50 postage inside UK, add extra postage outside UK.
Not available in shops - very limited supply - the rarities series has become much sought-after and a couple of complete sets went for a very high price at a recent music memorabilia auction!
Order from 17th April 2010 for delivery in about 14 days.
February 21, 2010
Billy Fury 25th Anniversary DVD
Only a few numbered, signed, certificated copies left now - the signed certificated version was always going to be rare with it containing the eight extra postcards and the certificate, but no one expected it to virtually sell out so quickly and for it to be resold second hand at over £70 in some places! Snap a new one up now whilst some are still left - remember, only Ozit-Morpheus website and www.billyfuryofficial.com sell the signed, certificated version with the special extra set of postcards!
(click above to view full size images)January 28, 2008 was the 25th anniversary of Billy Fury's passing.
To commemorate this date, Ozit-Morpheus Records, Billy Fury Ltd. and The Wycherley Family, in conjunction with Odeon Entertainment, released a special version of the 25th Anniversary DVD, "His Wondrous Story".
The special numbered certified Limited Edition CD/DVD box set contains a numbered certificate signed by Billy's mum and brother. It also includes an extra set of eight Billy Fury colour postcards. This special limited run set with the signed certificate and the colour postcards set is only available via mail-order from Ozit-Morpheus Records/Billy Fury Ltd.
The special set contains:
His Wondrous Story DVD
Additional Music CD - 16 tracks of Billy Fury
Extended DVD booklet
Eight black and white postcards
Eight colour postcards
Hand-signed certificate from Billy's family
Special silver anniversary slip over sleeve for the case
Price is £35 + £2.50 post inside UK, £4.50 outside UK
Tel.: 01565 734066 or email ozitrecords@which.net to order your set now.
(click above to view full size images)
February 20, 2010
New from Ozit-Morpheus
String Driven Thing - Keep Yer 'And On It & Please Mind Your Head
(click above to view full size images)From Grahame Smiths Personal Tapes
OZITCD125 & OZITCD124Order via this website
Billy Fury - Maybe Tomorrow DVD
(click above to view full size images)£26 + £2.50 postage inside UK, add extra for postage outside UK
Features some very rare, previously unseen film footage of Billy Fury with a soundtrack of some interesting songs from Billy's career
Order via this website
February 2, 2010
Unpiecing The Jigsaw - A Tribute To The Velvet Underground
Format: CD Boxed Set
Catalogue Number: OZITCD160
Number of Discs: 4
Label: Ozit Records
Release Date: 23 November 2009
PRICE: £16.99Further details here
Read review here
Order via this website
US Blues Tour 1963
Format: DVD, NTSC Region 0 / All Region DVD
Catalogue Number: OZIT DVD 009
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Ozit Records
Release Date: 14 December 2009
PRICE: £11.99Further details here
Read review here
Order via this website
John Peel's Dandelion Records DVD
(click above to view full size images)
Featuring: John Peel, Kevin Coyne and Siren, Medicine Head/John Fiddler, Gene Vincent, Stack Waddy, Bridget St. John, Tractor/The Way We Live, Principal Edwards, Bill Oddie.
A 6-hour long DVD hosting an exhausting collection of words and images all united under the banner of John Peel's Dandelion Records, the label he set up with business partner Clive Selwood. The label's story is told via 'talking head' interviews with Sheila Ravenscroft and an assortment of artists who released their output through the label, including Bridget St. John, Medicine Head, Stack Waddy and Siren & Kevin Coyne.
There's also a number of concert recordings taken over a number of years - you can watch the likes of Medicine Head's John Fiddler aging in a heroically undignified fashion over the course of several solo acoustic performances filmed since his heyday (his band had the only hit record in Dandelion's history!) Those with an aversion to rather old, hairy men might want to steer well clear of this DVD, but otherwise it's an interesting watch, and there's something rather endearing about just how lo-fi and unedited it all is.
Further details here
Order via this website
November 17, 2009
Route M62 Rochdale Music Blue Plaque Day Event T-Shirt
(click above to view full size images)A unique print run of T-Shirts done for the Route M62 Rochdale Music Blue Plaque Day event
£16 each + £3 postage inside UK (add extra postage outside UK)
Sizes L XL or XXL
This is a great T-Shirt for Peter Hook, Joy Division, New Order fans or just fans of the Rochdale sceneOrder via this website
October 12, 2009
Deeply Vale "Jester" T-Shirt
(click above to view full size images)£22 + £3 post inside UK, £4.50 outside UK
Further details here
Order via this website
ROCKIN ROCHDALE
Blue Plaque Celebration
Wednesday 23rd September, 2009 was the day when two blue plaques were unveiled in the Borough of Rochdale to commemorate and recognise two uniquely important recording venues/music buildings that influenced rock and pop music locally, nationally and internationally.
For pictures from the event, visit the ROCKIN ROCHDALE site, proceed to the LATEST NEWS links
(click above to view full size images)
ROCKIN ROCHDALE
Blue Plaque Celebration - Wednesday 23rd September
The following events are totally free and are open to the public, except the Music Event as tickets cost £15.
11:30 AM - A blue plaque is going to be unveiled at 58 Market St, Heywood, OL10 1UK. This is the former site of Tractor Sound Studios. Attending will be media, local dignitaries and music celebrities. There will be a big screen video on Market St showing film related to Heywood and Rochdale.
12:00 Midday - Official opening of the Music Exhibition at Heywood Library foyer, OL10 1SJ.
01:15 PM - A blue plaque is going to be unveiled at Kenion St, Rochdale, OL16 1SJ. Attending will be media, local dignitaries and music celebrities. There will be a big screen video on Baron St showing film related to Heywood and Rochdale.
08:00 PM - Music event with bands, celebrity musicians and celebrity DJs (the line-up is listed in the poster above) at the Back Door Music Project, Broadwater Centre, Smith St, Rochdale, OL16 1HE. Tickets £15.
New reviews from www.terrascope.co.uk:
STEVE HILLAGE – DEEPLY VALE (double LP set)
DEEPLY VALE FESTIVALS DVD
BICKERSHAW FESTIVAL DVD
GLASTONBURY FAYRE DVDRead them here!
July 25, 2008
Announcing A New Release
Grahame Smith "Kalinka"
(click above to view full size images)Details here
Order via this website.
July 3, 2009
CD Rarities Volume 10
OZIT CD 90
(click above to view full size images)This CD, Volume 10 in the rarities collection, is not available in the shops and possibly never will be. Only available from Ozit-Morpeus records via mailorder.
18 tracks - two-thirds are rare live recording, one-third - rare live studio material.Price: £16 + £1.75 P&P inside UK; £3.50 P&P outside UK
Order via this website
Mailorder Address:
Ozit Morpheus Records
Billy Fury Ltd
P.O.Box 116
Northwich
Cheshire
CW9 5UG
Tel: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701
Please make cheques payable to: Ozit-Morpheus Records
May 24, 2009
Steve Hillage
Live At Deeply Vale 1978 - 180g Vinyl
Format: 180 gram Heavy Vinyl LP
Catalogue Number: OZITLP8007
Number of Discs: 2
Release Date: 22 June 2009
Price: £20 + £4.50 p&p inside UK / £7.90 p&p outside UKFurther details here
Order via this website
The Fall - Northern Cream, The Fall DVD That Fights Back
Format: DVD
Catalogue Number: OZITDVD008
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Ozit Records
Release Date: 13 April 2009
Price: £13.99Further details here
Order via this website
The Last Mad Surge of Youth
(click above to view full size images)Times writer and former stalwart of the Rochdale music scene, Mark Hodkinson, has published his debut novel, The Last Mad Surge of Youth.
Set in both the present day and the early 1980s, when Maggie Thatcher ruled the world (or thought she did) and new wave kids were dreaming up insurrection, The Last Mad Surge of Youth is a novel about bands, growing up, moving away and getting famous, suicide, staying at home and getting bored, fanzines, the bomb, love, alcoholism, egotism and self-doubt.
The narrative begins with the DIY ethos of punk, steering through major label hype, to tired aftermath. While the protagonist, John Barrett, holds centre stage, his boyhood pal, Dave Carey, who opted out of the band for fear of playing live, is left at home, to brood. The pair meet up years later in controversial circumstances and ponder how now became then, and what they do next.
One of the scenes in the book sees Carey visit 'Digger' Music (clearly an alter ego Tractor Music) where he asks the owner (probably Chris Hewitt!) whether he'd stock a fanzine produced by the band.
It reads:
Carey took copies of the fanzine to Digger for them to sell. He passed the wall teeming with notes advertising instruments for sale and appeals for musicians to join bands. He couldn’t understand why anyone would advertise for members, it devalued the art form. Groups, the ones that really mattered, were formed out of fellowship and shared values, not on how well they could play or whether they had a Marshall amp or Gibson guitar. It was a kind of love, best left to serendipity.
He counted the exclamation marks after phrases like, ‘Must be able to play fast!!!’ and ‘Let’s get it on!!!!’ Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple-influenced bassists and guitarists were much sought after, and everywhere was the warning: no time wasters. A good name for a band, he thought: The Time Wasters. He had a notebook containing ideas for names; it was going in there. His favourite was The Pin Ups but he also liked Bread Roll Christ, Poppers, and Fountain Ear. If he left Group Hex he could see himself in The Pin Ups. They’d be wilfully enigmatic, a bit like Devo or Pere Ubu, each member in a cagoule with the hood pulled up tight by the drawstring, posing for photos on rocks out at sea, scary in the sea spray.
Three longhaired lads were perched on speakers, rolling cigarettes and nodding their heads to a song playing on the shop’s hi-fi about a willow tree. Carey asked where the dogs were.
“What dogs?”
“The dogs that are always here.”
“Dunno. Dead, maybe.”
A tall bloke with wispy hair who seemed to be in charge took a handful of fanzines and placed them on the counter.
“Of course we’ll try and sell these for you.”
Carey was suspicious.
“There’s nothing about heavy rock in them,” he volunteered.
“Fair enough. You lot are the future now, aren’t you? Punk, new wave and all that. We’ve had our day.”
He seemed sincere.
Carey looked back as he left the shop. The owner-bloke was motioning with his head towards the door. He might have been letting one of the longhairs know that a delivery had arrived or that the stand containing guitar strings needed restocking. Or, thought Carey, he might have been indicating that the kid just leaving wearing an Italian combat jacket and hand-painted Doc Martens (blue) was a dick.
The book is published by Pomona Books on 6 July, 2009 but is available now via Pomona's website.
It is priced at £7.99 and has already received widespread acclaim:
"This is by far the best book I've read dealing with that rich world of boys growing up, their obsessions, their loves, their music and how this inevitably informs the people they become and the lives they end up leading. I can't recommend it highly enough." - Kevin Sampson.
"A note-perfect rendition of the early-80s northern English indie scene, it contains all the affection missing from John Niven’s similarly biz-themed Kill Your Friends." - Andrew Collins.
"It’s a masterpiece, not a wrong note. Enjoyable to the last line." Alan Sillitoe.
May 10, 2009
Pink Floyd Knebworth 1975
(click above to view full size images)Crew Sweatshirt
£48 + £6 P&P UK, £9.50 P&P outside UK
T-Shirt
£27 + £4 P&P UK, extra postage outside UK
Please email ozitrecords@which.net if outside the UK for P&P costs
(click above to view full size images)Order via this website
March 19, 2009
Billy Fury Rarities 1-5
(click above to view full size images)
- Over 20 tracks of Billy Fury rarities on each CD
- Full litho printed booklet and inlay
- Very rare short-run CDR albums - part of the Rarities series which now run from 1 to 9
- Volumes 1 to 5 are the rare ones and are available at £16.75 including P&P per volume
Please email ozitrecords@which.net if outside the UK for P&P costs
Mailorder Address:
Ozit Morpheus Records
Billy Fury Ltd
P.O.Box 116
Northwich
Cheshire
CW9 5UG
Tel: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701
Please make cheques payable to: Ozit-Morpheus Records
October 31, 2008
The North-West Region section of the politics show on BBC1: Peterloo
Tractor were fortunate enough to have John Peel indulge them to write and record a suite of songs about Manchester's Peterloo Massacre. Peel helped pay recording studio bills and even bought them equipment to launch several locations of recording studios around Rochdale where they continued to record themselves and other bands which have played a major part in Manchester's musical history.
They recorded a 21-minute suite of songs about Peterloo in 1973 and because of the campaign for a decent memorial to the victims of Peterloo, Tractor have written new songs in the last few years to add to the suite of music which now runs as a whole album at around 41 minutes. The album will be released a few weeks before the 190th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre which is on 16th August 2009.
This Sunday on BBC1 Tractor play an extract from one of the songs and members of the band and their producer Chris Hewitt talk about the politics of Peterloo and the parallels with Thatcherism and today and their idea of a Peterloo concert in the open air in Manchester somewhere near St. Peters Fields.
If you are outside the North-West region of BBC1, you can get the North-West edition of the politics show by selecting other regions on your Sky or digibox.
October 5, 2008
Steve Hardstaff has designed many covers for the Ozit-Morpheus label. Some Ozit covers, including the Tractor one, are featured in this book:
Steve Hardstaff "Cover Versions"
Reviews
"Time will certainly reveal the relevance and importance of what Steve Hardstaff has delivered over the years, with black singing ink, good old cut and paste and those ever present crackling discs that possess his soul and fire his imagination." Mike Badger (founder The La's, Co-owner Viper Label)
"Steve Hardstaff's visual trademark are musical collages packed with exciting, stimulating images and, above all, humour." Jimmy Carl Black (The Mothers Of Invention, The Magic Band, The Muffin Men)
DescriptionSteve Hardstaff's work has always been about Liverpool: from ferrying images around for Peter Blake and Jan Haworth for the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to producing the award-winning sleeve for Half Man Half Biscuit's This Leaden Pall. Hardstaff's artwork, often signed under his nom-de-guerre 'Jacuzzi,' has been used by every record label to have graced the city in the last 40 years: posters for 'The Magical Mystery Tour', artist in residence at the legendary Eric's club, commissions from contemporary labels. Hardstaff established in Liverpool the first music industry focused design studio outside London and decades later his work continues to attract local, national and international interest. This volume pulls together for the first time a unique collection of work from one of the pioneers of modern graphic design: from the world's first triple gatefold sleeve (The Strawbs' "Grave New World") to work for Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Liverpool favourites Deaf School, The Icicle Works, Half Man Half Biscuit, Dead or Alive, China Crisis and others, from work that provoked cries of 'treason' from the tabloid press during the Falklands war to collaborations with infamous Sex Pistols designer Jamie Reid. Complementing a striking collection of images are comments and quotes from musicians and artists who have worked with Hardstaff, including Jimmy Carl Black (Mothers of Invention), Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Suggs (Madness), Ian McNabb (Icicle Works) and others, elucidating the creative processes that have positioned him as one of the great innovators of the graphic arts and a leading figure in music industry design.
SynopsisSteve Hardstaff's work has always been about Liverpool: from ferrying images around for Peter Blake and Jan Haworth for the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to producing the award-winning sleeve for Half Man Half Biscuit's "This Leaden Pall". Hardstaff's artwork, often signed under his nom-de-guerre 'Jacuzzi', has been used by every record label to have graced the city in the last 40 years: posters for 'The Magical Mystery Tour', artist in residence at the legendary Eric's club, commissions from contemporary labels. Hardstaff established in Liverpool the first music-industry-focused design studio outside London and decades later his work continues to attract local, national and international interest. This volume pulls together for the first time a unique collection of work from one of the pioneers of modern graphic design: from the world's first triple gatefold sleeve (The Strawbs "Grave New World") to work for Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Liverpool favourites Deaf School, The Icicle Works, Half Man Half Biscuit, Dead or Alive, China Crisis and others, from work that provoked cries of 'treason' from the tabloid press during the Falklands war to collaborations with infamous Sex Pistols designer Jamie Reid.
Complementing a striking collection of images are comments and quotes from musicians and artists who have worked with Hardstaff - including Jimmy Carl Black (Mothers of Invention), Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Suggs (Madness), Ian McNabb (Icicle Works) and others - elucidating the creative processes that have positioned him as one of the great innovators of the graphic arts and a leading figure in music industry design.
About the AuthorSteve Hardstaff is a graphic designer, proprietor of Pigmeat Records and Principal Lecturer in Graphic Arts at Liverpool John Moores University. He was the house designer for the legendary Eric's club in Liverpool and has also produced artwork for bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Lee Scratch Perry.
September 13, 2008
CHRIS HEWITT IN ASSOCIATION WITH TOUCHSTONES PRESENTS A MINI INDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL
(click above to view full size images)Building a bridge between the 70s and the 80s Rochdale culture and today
Saturday 20th September, 12-4 pm FREE ADMISSION
Featuring:
The Alligator Brothers
Sam and the Plants
Phil Barrett and his friends
Tractor featuring Jim Milne and Steve Clayton
Walter Kershaw and his Paints
and from the Backdoor Project: Ellie and Yosh
Debate: What’s the future for culture?
On Film: Deeply Vale/70s Music/ Walter Kershaw
Steve Clayton reads from his new novel "The Art of Being Dead"
www.link4life.org/touchstones01706 924492
August 23, 2008
Announcing A New Release
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band in Great Britain 2CD
OZIT CD 9008
(click above for details)Order via this website.
July 20, 2008
Two new Joy Division at the Electric Circus T-Shirts
(click above to view full size images)They have beautiful multi-colour back and front prints.
There are two different Electric Circus fronts, both have the same back print with a ghosted image of Johnny Rotten at the Electric Circus on the back.
£18 plus £3.50 P&P inside the UK / £4.90 P&P for the rest of the world
Order via this website.
June 27, 2008
Stephen Clayton's new novel
The Art Of Being Dead
Can you become a murderer by doing nothing?It is the late 1960s and in a bleak Northern English town, Jonathan, 24 attempts to live his life without love, pain or commitment, unaware that in his desire to avoid action he will eventually be drawn into a world of chaos, degradation and death. Visceral and edgy, The Art Of Being Dead is like Rhinehart’s Dice Man transferred to the Northwest of England.
The author, Stephen Clayton, is a founder member of the band Tractor, who signed with John Peel’s Dandelion label. They still record and tour. Stephen has also exhibited paintings at The Royal Academy. This is his debut novel.Get it at www.bluemoosebooks.com
May 4, 2008
Ozit-Morpheus Profiled in Record Collector!
(click above to view full size images)
April 4, 2008
Announcing A New Release
Grahame Smith "Arrival Of Spring"
(click above to view full size images)Details here
Order via this website.
March 27, 2008
Fundraiser - In Memory of Andy Burgoyne, Dave Edwards
10 years ago this year, my Dad, Andy Burgoyne, died of stomach cancer in Spring Hill Hospice, Rochdale. This painful time was made a whole lot easier by the support and care given to my Dad, myself, my family and friends by the staff at the Hospice. The Hospice also provided 2 weeks of respite care during the months leading up to his death. As an 18-year old who was living at home alone with my Dad at the time, I cannot express how important respite care is, not only for the patient but also the people around them. The Hospice have also cared for a number of other loved ones in my life. So to show my appreciation to them and the work they do I have arranged for myself and 9 others to do a sponsored walk up Snowdon on the 4th of May, 2008. This would have been my Dad's 56th birthday.
Please visit my fundraising page and sponsor us!
Gemstar Burgoyne
March 15, 2008
Andy Sharrocks, frontman of Rochdale late 70s-early 80s band Accident On The East Lancs, organiser of the Deeply Vale Free Festivals and DJ, now has a successful career as an Americana musician - check out his myspace site.
March 13, 2008
It Started In Rochdale - Step Into The 70s And Beyond
Rochdale, Heywood and Whitworth Music and Arts Scene
Ozit CD 247
(click above to view full size images)This CD explores the cultural diversity of the music and art scene of Rochdale that started in the 1970s, based around Tractor Music, Cargo Recording Studios, Deeply Vale Festivals and beyond. It covers 70s Rochdale bands as well as the next generation of bands such as the Pranksters, Potential Victims and Untermensch.
Details here
Order here
February 16, 2008
International radio station Big L 1395AM / Sky Digital 0190 will be featuring Billy Fury on its hugely popular programme, This Sunday At Nine, this coming weekend.
Hosted by former Radio 1 DJ, Mike Read, the hour-long programme will feature classic Fury tracks, forgotten gems, as well as the songs that helped shape him.
The show airs this Sunday (17th February) at 21.00. It repeats next Wednesday (20th February), also at 21.00.
Two exhibitions at Touchstones Esplanade, Rochdale
The admission is free
Step Into The 70s
Heritage Gallery
28 February - 29 September 2008
A nostalgic look at the 1970s, a vibrant decade packed with cultural innovation and social change. With family-friendly activities and objects from the museum and local studies collections, take a step back to a funkier time!
Exhibits included in “Step Into The 70s” will be some Deeply Vale Festival items and general info about the extremely creative era of the 1970s that spawned The Rochdale Sculptors, Tractor, Tractor Music, Cargo Studios, Brian Eastwood Guitars, Tony Crabtree, Deeply Vale and would make Rochdale a creative force in Arts and Music right through the late 80s.
Rochdale Sculptors
As part of Touchstones Rochdale’s ‘I Love 70s’ season, key members of the Rochdale Sculptors return with an exhibition of work from their 70s heydays shown alongside recent contemporary work.
The eight artists are: Tony Smart, Brian Woods, Peter Wolstenholme, Danny Milne, Barry Hobson, Walter Kershaw, Christine Pearson and the late Peter Dent.
The Rochdale Sculptors were formed in 1968 by Peter Wolstenholme and Tony Smart who at the time were lecturers at Rochdale College of Art. More tutors at the college soon became involved and the group grew to include other artists, some of whom had no direct connection with the college or Rochdale.
This exhibition focuses on the work of eight key artists from the group. It features surviving original works created when the group was active (as the majority of the large-scale work created in the 1970s was made for temporary exhibitions, much has since been sold, destroyed or lost) alongside contemporary pieces the artists have created more recently showing developments in their practice and links between the old and new works.
From the late 60s until they split in 1974, the Rochdale Sculptors often took their work outdoors to bring it directly to members of the public, targeting viewers with little or no experience of art. Their sculptures regularly appeared along the Esplanade and in other parts of the Borough as well as other locations in the region. They also exhibited indoors at Rochdale Art Gallery and other galleries and venues including the Houses of Parliament. The Rochdale Sculptors became firmly embedded in the cultural life of the town and it is fitting that their work is re-examined as part of a Touchstones Rochdale’s 70s season.
February 2, 2008
CD Rarities Volume 9
(click above to view full size images)Special 25th Anniversary Limited Edition CD Rarities Volume 9 is now available!
Each one is hand-numbered on the back.
If ordered from this website, it comes with a set of 8 Limited Edition colour postcards of Billy Fury to celebrate his 25th Anniversary.
The price is £14.75 inside the UK; add extra postage outside.
Tel.: 01565 734066 or email ozitrecords@which.net to order your set now.
December 28, 2007
Tractor "Tractor"
This album is truly killer. I think there's more inspiration in these grooves than any single LP has a right to possess! They have a great sound as well, with lots of layered acoustic and electric guitars, often with thick fuzz. When this LP puts the hammer down, it mows everything flat! Their style reminds me of the great Electric Frankenstein LP more than anything, but this is a purely English band with their roots clearly in the same soil as Led Zeppelin, Clark-Hutchinson and The Groundhogs. Passing on the word to you, this is an essential purchase!
Ebay seller iamthewitch
December 18, 2007
Captain Beefheart Clear Spot 1973 Tour Crew T-Shirts
(click above to view full size images)These are from the 1973 Clear Spot Tour of the US and the UK. Shirt designs for the Tour Crew and the Warners-sponsored band.
All US, UK and Canada Clear Spot tour dates are listed on the back and a great image of Captain Beefheart from the Clear Spot era printed on the front.
Retail prices - mailorder only - £18 plus £2.90 postage within UK/£3.90 postage outside the UK.
Come in a stiffened clear hanger display bag.
Sizes in stock: M, L, XL and XXL.Details here
Order here
November 20, 2007
Knebworth 1976 T-Shirts and Sweatshirts
(click above to view full size images)These beautiful T-Shirts and Sweatshirts are now in stock - sizes XL and XXL. The T-Shirts are £19.50 + £3.90 postage inside the UK (otherwise extra). The Sweatshirts are £39.90 + £6 postage inside the UK (otherwise extra).
They feature the actual shirt design worn by the production crew at Knebworth for the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hot Tuna, 10CC and Todd Rundgren.Order here
October 20, 2007
John Peel/Dandelion Label Night
with Tractor & Guitar GeorgeSaturday, 10th November 2007
Zoom @ The Moon SE24
Zoom Club
The Half Moon / 0207 274 2733
10 Half Moon Lane
Herne Hill
London
SE24 9HU
For details see www.feenstra.co.uk
September 27, 2007
Announcing New Release...
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band / Jim Morrison
“Poet Rock Musicians Of The Desert” (2 CD)
Details here
Order via this website.
July 12, 2007
Buyer Beware!
Some merchants are selling a bootleg version of the official DVD by Odeon Entertainment - it is appearing at record fairs, etc. and does not have the DVD booklet in the case or a blue case. Buying a bootleg product deprives Billy Fury's family of their royalties and all the people who have worked hard on the film - of their investment of time and money.
July 4, 2007
Manchester Academy's Roll Of Honour 1973 includes Tractor - click here for further details.
June 9, 2007
Billy Fury DVD
This DVD will be released on 25th June.
(click above to view full size images)The special Limited Edition version of the DVD will only be available from Ozit-Morpheus Records. Each DVD will have a numbered certificate bearing signatures of Billy's mother Jean Wycherley and brother Albert Wycherley.
Details Here
Order here
June 2, 2007
Tractor, The Way We Live, String Driven Thing, Body and Steve Hillage are featured in the new issue of UNCUT Magazine!
Check out their free CD:
(Click on the above thumbnails to view full size!)
April 28, 2007
Joy Division - Martin Hannett's Personal Mixes
INTERSTATE CD 10797
Distributed by Ozit-Morpheus Records
Details here
Order here
January 15, 2007
This Friday, 19th January 2007
BBC 1 @ 7:30 pm
Watch the "Inside Out" programme!
This Friday, a film examines John Peel's links with Rochdale - where he worked in a mill in 1959, bought recording equipment for Tractor in 1970, which would lead members of the band and their crew to set up various recording studios in Rochdale and Heywood, bought Tractor the PA system they used at the Deeply Vale festivals and played everything recorded at Cargo Studios, Rochdale on his radio show.
Watch this show if you want to learn more about Peel's links to the town of Rochdale and how his money would help create a music industry in the town where from the late 70s onwards, The Fall, Joy Division, Teardrop Explodes, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Gang Of Four, The Chameleons, Inspiral Carpets, Durutti Column, Dead Or Alive and many more would come to record their singles and album tracks...
Taking part in the film are John Peel's wife Sheila Ravenscroft and from Tractor: Chris Hewitt, their manager (and at one time owner of the music shop and co-owner of the recording studio together with Peter Hook from New Order at Kenion St., Rochdale], guitarist Jim Milne and drummer Steve Clayton.
If you live in the BBC's North-West region, apparently you can get BBC 1 North-West if you are a Sky subscriber. In all other regions just choose BBC 1.
Previously unseen archive footage as well as a recent visit to a couple of the band's old recording haunts are seen in this BBC Inside Out production.
December 24, 2006
The Christmas 2006 issue of Record Collector has a fantastic feature on Dandelion Records including these two reviews:
November 27, 2006
Announcing A New Release
Grahame Smith "A Touch Of Magic"
(click above to view full size images)Details here
Order via this website.
November 23, 2006
Announcing the opening of www.dandelionrecords.co.uk!
October 27, 2006
Announcing New Release...
V.A. - Black Diamond Express To Hell - An Amazing Ride Along Railroads Of America featuring hot and blue tunes from the 1920s - 1960s
The icon of the locomotive and the train it pulls has been firmly embedded in artistic and popular culture since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century harnessed steam and encased it in metal to produce the first mammoths of power, movement, speed and beauty. These incredible machines opened up land, sea and, subsequently, air travel to an ever widening populace eager to exploit the New Century and its celebration of Modernism. Little wonder that the railroad has been the subject of setting for numerous stories in films, books and of course music. No more so than in the USA where the train has been used within a variety of musical forms and contexts: as a symbol of freedom - the means of escape from the hardships of the South to the Northern streets of gold - the way back home again; the means of getting to both Heaven and Hell - sexual metaphor; a free ride for the migrant escaping the Great Depression as well as the travelling songster and of course – disaster - the inevitable wreck with its incompetent driver (or brave engineer)!
This 29-track compilation covers the above via an exciting mix of Pre- and Post-War Blues, Hillbilly, Jazz, R 'n' B and Rock 'n' Roll. It includes 2 previously unreleased tracks and a wealth of rare material, some of which has not been available re-mastered for digital audio.Details here
Order here
October 16, 2006
A trip down memory lane...
This is an entry in the International Times, London, March 1972, when Chris Hewitt was based at the Union Office at the College in Rochdale and first started promoting community benefits, i.e. concerts with profits going to various causes such as cannabis drug bust court cases and Rochdale's Alternative Paper, etc.
September 20, 2006
"Hungry But Weird"
new Captain Beefheart book from Ozit/Morpheus Records
(click above to view full size images)Available now: beautiful A4-size book. £18 plus postage: £2.50 inside UK, add extra outside UK.
"Hungry But Weird" is one of the definitive books about Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. 108 pages on glossy art paper with many photographs and illustrations, put together in the style of late 60s/early 70s underground magazines, this is one of the best in-depth collections of writings/jottings/articles/drawings/illustrations about Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. Full colour card cover with images of Captain Beefheart back and front.Order via this website.
John Peel Bought Us Studio Gear And a P.A.
(click above to view full size images)£11 plus postage. Order via this website.
Details here
Read Pete Feenstra's review here
Record Collector XMas 2006 Review here
Life Too, Has Surface Noise - The Complete Dandelion Records Singles Collection 1969-1972
Tractor have licensed tracks from their archives that featured on Dandelion 7" singles to Cherry Red Records for this excellent new Dandelion boxed set!
Details here
Order here
BBC Article on Tractor/The Way We Live and John Peel - also announcing a new upcoming release! Read it here!
August 5, 2006
The Ruts - Live at the Deeply Vale Festival, Late 1970s
released 01/08/2006
To complement the Steve Hillage, Fast Cars, The Fall and Nik Turner at the Deeply Vale Festival CD releases, here comes a storming late 70s live performance from The Ruts at the legendary North West England Festival, which is to be resurrected in 2007.
Comes with a 10-page foldout booklet with lots of images of Deeply Vale Festivals.
Order by sending a cheque for £14.75 payable to Recordrange, P.O.Box 116, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 5UG or by credit/debit cards. Phone orders: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701
June 10, 2006
Announcing new release:
Billy Fury Rarities Volume 7
Each CD is a hand-numbered limited edition
Contains 18 tracks of superb Billy rarities
Comes with a 12-page CD booklet containing many rare photographs and press articles about Billy
It will be available to all those who attend Albie's concert by sending the number of the ticket in their order letter – these customers will get a special version of the CD. However, visitors to www.billyfury.com website can also order this special CD. When writing in please mention www.billyfury.com in your order letter.
The price will be £14.75 including P&P
Please email ozitrecords@which.net if outside the UK for P&P costs
Volume 8 is available also, containing 18 rare tracks and a 10-page booklet
Mailorder Address:
Ozit Morpheus Records
Billy Fury Ltd
P.O.Box 116
Northwich
Cheshire
CW9 5UG
Tel: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701
Please make cheques payable to: Ozit-Morpheus Records
April 1, 2006
(click above to view full size images)Manchester District Music Archive, Chris Hewitt/Ozit Morpheus Records and Touchstones Rochdale present:
Manchester Music Meets Rockin' Rochdale
Saturday 8th April, from 12:30 pm till 4 pm at Touchstones Exhibition Centre in Rochdale
ABSOLUTELY FREEAs well as introducing/unveiling extra items into the Rockin’ Rochdale Exhibition for the last couple of weeks on Saturday 8th April, we aim to hold a special event which will include:
John Crumpton and Bob Jones’s film, “The Rise And Fall Of The Nosebleeds”, a superb documentary about Manchester band Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds [see text at end from Bob Jones]
Rare film footage of Vinnie Reilly of Durutti Column jamming with Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins
Rare film footage of Lisa Stansfield being backed by Rochdale band The Directors
Rare posters from the Manchester music scene of the 70s and 80s
Rare film footage of the late, great blind Rochdale guitarist Tony Crabtree
On show: one of the first tape recorders used to record early Tractor material in the 1960s which would eventually lead to the opening of Cargo Studios/Suite Sixteen
Live acoustic performances from Guitar George Borowski, The Cougars - unplugged acoustic blues and Pete Farrow
Text from Bob Jones about The Nosebleeds Film:
When punk happened, filmmaker John Crumpton filmed Wild Ram, a lively rock combo on an exciting bill at the Forum, Wythenshawe. Wild Ram evolved into "The Nosebleeds", with fabulous but sometimes fractious lead singer Eddie Garrity, guitarist Vinnie Reilly, drummer Toby and bassist Pete, managed by well-known animal lover and hunter Vinnie Faal. A raucous single, "I Ain't Been To No Music School" was released on Rabid Records. The tensions of life on the road, the internal squabbling, the chaotic booze and phlegm-soaked performances were captured by Crumpton, aided and abetted by music and video freak Bob Jones, as part a body of work carried out at the Manchester Film and Video Workshop.
Through the tight-fisted attitude of North-West Arts, who owned the equipment, the performances and revealing interviews were shot on one black and white reel-to-reel video recorder, with a cheap mic. Due to the rediscovery of punk this attempt at a close-up study of local musical history has been digitally manipulated and has been provided with a much improved soundtrack. Which is not saying much. With framing that resembles some of Pontecorvo's finest work, this short study deserves its place in the pantheon of rock visuals, along with Spinal Tap, The Doors (outtakes of Jim Morrison interviews available from Ozit Records) and Bird.
March 18, 2006
The Deeply Vale Festivals of the 1970s 5CD box set
Until we bring you Deeply Vale Festival - Summer 2007 - don’t despair because for a few years we have been working on The Deeply Vale of the 1970s 5CD box set!
Featuring tracks from as many musicians as possible associated with Deeply Vale Festivals in the 1970s and including some real gems - remember the Steve Hillage Live at Deeply Vale and The Fall Live at Deeply Vale CDs – well, two tracks each from Steve Hillage and The Fall [with end of set outro by compere Tony Wilson] were held back from the albums in order for them to go on this 5CD set; check out the list below. Blind Rochdale guitarist Tony Crabtree, who passed away last year, has some rare acoustic stuff in his memory on this album set. Amazing full set from Wilful Damage and several great tracks from Graham Massey and Co. in Danny and the Dressmakers [Deeply Vale 1978]. Fast Cars, The Tunes, Accident on the East Lancs, Body, Visitor 2035, Tractor, Howard The Duck, Durutti Column - their fourth ever performance live at Deeply Vale 1978, The Ruts, the joint rolling contest compered by Eddie Kledjys - it’s all here!
We are just getting the artwork and packaging together if any other musicians who were there or who want to be involved in donating a track or two to this boxed set, please email ozitrecords@which.netBring What You Expect To Find - The Deeply Vale Festivals of the 1970s
Disk 1:
1. Killer Man Giro - Deeply Vale (Music by Foggy/Words by Hovis B. Reading)
2. The Joint Rolling Contest (Featuring Eddie Kledjys)
3. Murmo Schulze - Our First Number
4. The Tunes - In The Car
5. Ruts - It Was Cold
6. Moodswings - Skinthieves
7. Body - Andromeda
8. Fast Cars - Images
9. Tractor - Roll The Dice
10. The Fall – Bingo Master’s Break Out
11. Tony Crabtree - The Banks Of Pontrathrain
Disk 2:
Danny & The Dressmakers - Full Set From 24th July 1978 Featuring:
1. Danny & The Dressmakers - Ernie Bishops Dead Body
2. Danny & The Dressmakers - What Are We Doing On At A Rock Festival?
3. Danny & The Dressmakers - How Hot Is A Match?
4. Danny & The Dressmakers - Johnny Be Really Fucking Good
5. Here & Now - Strawberry
6. Accident On The East Lancs - Fuck The Society
7. Elti-fits - Untitled
8. Piccadilly Radio Interview Part 1
9. Steve Hillage – Getting Better
10. The David Bacha Band - What You See Is What You Get (Foggy's Beautiful Friday Night Remix)
11. Pete Farrow - Candy Man
12. Trevor Hyett - You Just Can't Make It
13. Howard The Duck - Untitled
14. Aspull - Raspberry
Disk 3:
1. Visitor 2035 - Untitled
2. Durutti Column - Halitosis
3. Tony Crabtree - Little Wing
4. Rivington Spike [Poet] - Untitled
5. No Change - Ruin
6. Here & Now - My Band’s Better Than Your Bong
7. Nik Turner's Sphinx - The Awakening - Pyramid Spell
8. Body - Untitled
9. Foggy & The Mental Asylum Seekers - Michael Howard, Fuck Off
10. Moodswings - Hairy Piano
11. Pete Farrow - Daydreamer
12. John Keegan - Yearning For The Human Race To Run
13. The Fall – Brand New Cadillac
14. No Change - Lament
Disk 4:
1. Danny & The Dressmakers - Dynamite
2. Murmo Schulze - The Death Pulse
3. Accident On The East Lancs - Help Me Mary
4. John Keegan - Me & The Green Machine
5. Piccadilly Radio Interview Part 2
6. Ruts - SUS
7. Elti-fits - Letterbox
8. Fast Cars - Who Loves Jimmy Anderton
9. Howard The Duck - You Know Me
10. Durutti Column - Boxes
11. Aspull - Damson
12. The Tunes - Untitled
13. Body - Tales Of The Riverbank
14. Visitor 2035 - Topa
15. Here & Now - Hairy Barber
Disk 5:
1. Tractor - Lost On The Ocean
2. Pete Farrow - Underwater Guitarist
3. Elti-fits - Tony Wilson
4. Trevor Hyett - There's No Such Thing As Too Much Fun
5. Steve Hillage – U.F.B
6. Dr. Fogg’s Mistik Misfits - Valley Of Dreams (Improvisation)
7. Ruts - Jah Wars
8. Fast Cars - Tameside Girls
9. Nik Turner's Sphinx - God Rock
Wilful Damage - Full Set From 25th July 1978 Featuring:
10. Wilful Damage - Living In A Prison
11. Wilful Damage - Proton Neutraliser
12. Wilful Damage - I'm Scared
13. Wilful Damage - Peace & Life
14. Wilful Damage - Vandals
15. Wilful Damage - Encore (Featuring Eddie Kledjys)
16. Bill Normal - My Fathers Woolly
Karl 'Foggy' Forshaw: Digital Restoration & Remastering, Live & Studio Engineering, Studio Production & Mastering
Thomas Hewitt: Additional Engineering
Chris Hewitt: Concept & Executive Producer
Killer Man Giro Are:
Hovis B. Reading - Poet & Surrealist
Foggy - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Programmer, Composer, Engineer, Producer & Idealist
Foggy & The Mental Asylum Seekers Were:
Foggy - Guitar & Sound Generation
Tyrion Moses - Drums
Tom Fool - Saxophophone
Scotty - Bass
Darryl - Vocalisation & Face Paint
Sooty - Plastic Drainpipe & Fire Breathing
Emma Pyromaniac - Metal Objects
Dr. Fogg’s Mistik Misfits Were:
Foggy - Guitar, Sequencing & Sound Generation
Blacky - Drums
Mark - Keyboards
Gary - Bass
December 2, 2005
Announcing
(click above to view full size images)New Zappa and Beefheart book:
“Zapped - Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart”
Published by Ozit-Morpheus Records for Christmas 2005“Zapped - Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart” is a 96-page book with full colour cover and all pages printed on glossy art paper. Great text, many photos and illustrations relating to Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. Each book is an individually hand-numbered limited edition.
Retail price: £16.75 including postage (extra postage outside the UK, e.g. £4 to the USA)
Available now from Ozit-Morpheus Records, P.O.Box 116, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 5UG, UK. Cheques and Postal Orders payable to Recordrange; telephone numbers for credit card orders: 01565 734066, 07970 219701, 01565 734577 – Switch, Maestro, Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Or order via this website.
Jim Milne gets praise from South African radio!
Top Seven Lead Guitarists
Roy Buchanan - Dale Hawkins and solo. Telecaster king who could play better than Clapton, well that’s what Clapton said.
Jukka Tolonen - Tasavallan Presidentti. Furious riffs and astounding sounds in the jazzy side of Steve Miller….
Jim Milne - Tractor. Awesome lead breaks.
Brian Parrish – Badger. Riveting breaks that extend for at least an hour.
Jim Cregan – Stud /Blossom Toes. Acoustic lead through a Marshall Amp and Leslie Speakers; nobody has ever achieved this sound.
Mike Bloomfield – Electric Flag/Paul Butterfield Band/ Supersession albums. He cradles the axe like a baby and it weeps like a child, Jewish sensitivity.
Peter Banks - Syn/Yes/Flash. Gretsch tone and reverb… the best!
Rockin’ Rochdale - The Concert has been cancelled, due to unfavourable weather conditions. Please check back soon for rescheduling information (tentatively Spring 2006). All tickets will be refunded at the outlets through which they were purchased.
Announcing
www.rockinrochdale.com is now up and running!
It will be developed as a site in conjunction with the exhibition at Touchstones Centre, Rochdale, and will widen its base to cover all musical connections to Rochdale.
November 18, 2005
Chris Hewitt of Deeply Vale Free Festivals and Ozit Morpheus Records will be on The Michelle Mullane Show from 11:45 pm to 1 pm on BBC GMR this Friday, 18th November, talking about Deeply Vale Festival 2006 and the Rockin’ Rochdale Concert.
Also on the show, performing some songs live, will be Jim Milne and Steve Clayton of Tractor, who appear in concert at the Gracie Fields Theatre in Rochdale (date TBA), along with Wilful Damage, Pie and Roq. The Rochdale concert will be compered by Michelle Mullane.
Rochdale Rocks - a history of popular music in Rochdale from "Middleton to Milnrow"
Exhibition at Touchstones Centre, The Esplanade, Rochdale, 22nd October, 2005 onwards. For six months, the admission is totally free!
(the last picture above is a photo of Grant Showbiz, who was at Deeply Vale engineering for Here And Now in 1978 and 1979 - he went on to work with The Smiths, The Fall and Billy Bragg as a producer and still works with Billy Bragg)
Exhibition to be opened by Clint Boon of The Inspiral Carpets (Clint went to Art College in Rochdale)Encompassing all of the following and more:
Deeply Vale Festivals of the 1970s
Cargo Recording Studios, Suite Sixteen Recording Studios, John Peel's Dandelion Recording studios, Vic’s Place Recording Studios, Tractor Music music shop and PA Hire
Brian Eastwood's guitars - legendary custom guitars built in Rochdale [for Showaddywaddy, Motorhead, etc.]
Bands that came from Rochdale: Tractor, Gracie Fields, Localeroes/Victor Mature, Mock Turtles, The Chameleons, Untermensch, The Pranksters; bands that came to Rochdale to record, including The Fall, Joy Division, Dead or Alive, Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes, Durutti Column, Section 25, The Membranes, New Order and hundreds of others - displayed in record sleeves, photos, anecdotes etc.
THE ADMISSION IS FREE
Cargo Studio, Suite 16
The official Cargo Paper
Tractor at the Cargo Studios in the 70s(click above to view full size images)
Rockin’ Rochdale - A History Of Popular Music, Middleton To Milnrow
Which track on "Sgt. Pepper’s" has a Rochdale connection? Who once made a single with boxer Prince Naseem? Which smash hit single was written by Alan Partridge’s brother and where did Peter Hook meet PJ Proby? Uncover the answers to these and many more questions in an exhibition that features everything from 18th century musical concerts via Gracie Fields to the Deeply Vale Rock Festival and beyond.
Highlights already lined up for display in Rockin' Rochdale include unseen footage of the Deeply Vale Music Festival on a big screen, some rare guitars hand-built in Rochdale - one especially for Top Of The Pops, rare musical posters from the 1970s and memorabilia from the legendary Drake Street recording studios Cargo and Suite 16 that hosted the likes of New Order & Teardrop Explodes.
As well as viewing an extensive range of musical memorabilia there will be the opportunity to listen to music from local bands and hear interviews with important contributors to Rochdale’s musical heritage. For the first time John Brierley speaks about what it was like to work on the recording of the legendary single ‘Atmosphere’ with Joy Division and, from a different era, Heywood’s famous band leader Eddy Hilton takes us back almost half a century to the great days of the dance halls.
To prove that Touchstones is a museum like no other there’ll also be a look into the future with a section on local bands who might just be 'The Next Big Thing'!
Speaking about the exhibition, David Pugh, Museum Access Officer at Touchstones Rochdale said, "This exhibition brings together some of most memorable musical moments in the borough’s history providing an exciting insight into the cultural life of Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton over the last 200 years."
It is also an exhibition that will continue to grow after it has opened, as David explained, "The history of popular music wasn’t taken seriously by museums until recently, and yet it is something that nearly everyone enjoys. Whilst researching this exhibition, we’ve discovered just what a rich musical heritage our borough has. The public are bringing in new stories and donating new objects all the time. We are, therefore, designing part of the exhibition as a place where people can contribute their own musical memories and help to build up a unique history of the local music scene."
Owner of Ozit-Morpheus Records, Chris Hewitt, who has been one of the key researchers for the exhibition, added, "At 51, and MD of a record and production company, I look back on my years in Rochdale with affection. I have crossed paths again with so many people interwined in the Rochdale music scene whilst researching this exhibition. I went to primary school and junior school in Middleton with Bob Fisher and Martin Kay. Bob's dad would become legendary as sandwich supplier for the Bickershaw Festival; Bob would go on to be manager of Judge Happiness and the Mock Turtles. Martin and Bob ran Parish Bowman studios in Middleton for a while and Martin would go on to design sleeves for The Chameleons who would record in Cargo on Kenion St., Rochdale, above my music shop and would take Kieran Miskella, who started off as a roadie for Tractor on tour as their sound engineer. In 1972, aged 17, I was promoting my first concerts in Rochdale and would use cut-and-paste artwork techniques for my concert flyers, and then I would go to photocopy each one at 5p apiece on the only public photocopier back then - in the building where Touchstones is holding the exhibition in 2005/6 - a coincidence? It was the reference library back in 1972, and I can recall trying to photocopy on that primitive machine a concert flyer I had put together with a really dark picture of the Pink Fairies on it - I was promoting them at the College Hall across the road on St. Mary's Gate - don't know how many 5ps I wasted trying to get the picture lighter on the flyer. That same year 1972, I teamed up with Jim Milne, Steve Clayton and John Brierley [Tractor] just before their album was released and got into the Radio Luxembourg rock charts at No.18. I still manage the band now, 33 years later, and their albums continue to sell, and last year their DVD of two 2003 concerts achieved ecstatic reviews all over the world. When John Peel sent the sales royalties for Tractor off to us in the early 70s, we used them to buy better tape recorders, a mixing desk, studio and stage microphones and to set up several recording studios and a music shop, rehearsal rooms and to hire a PA system. John Peel helped kickstart that whole local industry by financing the release of Jim Milne and Steve Clayton's songs . Other things that contributed towards that creative scene back then were the Art College and the Technical College, the Rochdale Sculptors, Axis Poetry Magazine, Axis bookshop, RAP, Henry and Eddie Kledjys with their Streetlife street theatre, the folk clubs of Rochdale - Jack and Mavis and Terry Christian, Tony Crabtree - and all of that would also explode into Deeply Vale Festivals - the rest, as they say, is history."
Rockin’ Rochdale will open in the Heritage Gallery on the 22nd October and run until 23rd April 2006. For further information on this exhibition please call 01706 864986.
The exhibition has been supported by Ozit Morpheus Records.
Touchstones Rochdale is located on the Esplanade in Rochdale Town Centre. The award winning Arts and Heritage Centre is open seven days a week, Monday to Friday 10 am - 5:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday 11 am - 4:30 pm. Entry is free. The Centre offers a museum, four art galleries, a heritage gallery, Tourist Information Centre, Local Studies Library, Café and shop with regular events and workshops. For further information ring 01706 864986 or visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/touchstones or contact:
David Pugh, Museum Access Officer
Email: david.pugh@rochdale.gov.uk Tel: 01706 864938
Mashuda Begum, Marketing Officer
Email: mashuda.begum@rochdale.gov.uk Tel: 01706 864942
On GMR with presenter Becky Want at 3:30 pm on Friday, 14th October 2005, Chris Hewitt will be giving a little advance insight into the Rockin’ Rochdale [an interesting glimpse into the history of the Northwest Rock Scene] Exhibition which opens to the public on Saturday, 22nd October in Rochdale.
Chris will explain how a royalty cheque from John Peel for Rochdale band Tractor's early albums kick-started a whole industry in the town in the seventies, eighties and nineties with Joy Division, The Fall, Teardrop Explodes, Dead Or Alive and The Chameleons all coming in to Rochdale to record, and further money from Peel helped to finance Tractor's PA that was used at the Deeply Vale Festivals, the Electric Circus, etc.
July 9, 2005
The sad loss of Rochdale's talented guitarist Tony Crabtree on Sunday, 3rd July, 2005
Jim Milne and Steve Clayton will play some songs dedicated to Tony Crabtree on the Michelle Mullane Show at midnight on BBC GMR on Tuesday, 12th July, 2005
"It is with great sadness that we must report the death of blind Rochdale guitarist Tony Crabtree on Sunday, 3rd July, 2005. Tony, who was blind from birth, went to a piano tuning college in Shropshire as a child owing to his incredible hearing faculties. In the early seventies, he started playing guitar in rock bands and had a fairly legendary band called Nirvana by the mid-seventies. He played at Deeply Vale in 1977 and 1978 and was idolised for the closeness he could get to Jimi Hendrix's guitar and vocal sound. In 1978, he was signed by Virgin Records for an advance of £37,000 but only ever got to release one single - under the band name Cry. It was a cover of the Rare Bird song, "Sympathy". The B-side was a number written by Tony and his friend Mac, entitled, "Policeman's Blues". Tony on signing to Virgin was asked to sack the other two members of Nirvana; one of these was his step-brother, bass player Carl Conwell, and the other - drummer Geoff. Tony was never happy about this and then, having signed a dodgy 20-year management contract with a used car salesman called Austin Williams, Tony was dropped by Virgin in late 1978, and they asked for all of his £37,000 advance back. Devastated by this, he sold off all his equipment and stopped gigging. Chris Hewitt took Tony Crabtree under his wing in 1979 and started getting him solo acoustic concerts - he supported Atomic Rooster at Middleton Civic Hall and did a fantastic acoustic version of ‘Be Bop A Lula’ with just acoustic guitar and vocals; Tony could do a vocal impersonation of long tape loop echo. In 1980 and 1981, he played keyboards and guitar in a much expanded version of Tractor along with Jim Milne and Steve Clayton and is featured on keyboards and guitar on Tractor's 1981 single, "Average Man's Hero". Tony also recorded several songs in the mid-1980s along with Jim Milne at the Suite Sixteen studios in Rochdale. One of these songs, ‘Word Games’, appears on the Tractor CD, ‘Worst Enemies’. In 1985, Tony performed at Heaton Park on a Yamaha grand piano and vocals along with Jim Milne on vocals and bass guitar; Chris Hewitt captured this superb set to a crowd of 10,000 on video. Tony also got a piano bar residency, arranged by Chris Hewitt, where six nights a week he would play a Yamaha electric grand piano at the Dukes Nightclub in Drake Street, Rochdale, around 1985. This, in turn, led to piano bar work in Spain, after which Tony gave up playing music again for a while, but in 1996, Chris Hewitt and Dave Edwards bought him a new set of strings for his acoustic that had been unstrung for a couple of years and asked him to play at the Carlton Ballroom in Rochdale at the Deeply Vale anniversary night - this was captured on DAT and video and was a superb performance. Tony started gigging again and didn't stop for many years until he became quite ill recently. Jim Milne, Chris Hewitt and Steve Clayton of Tractor have all said in the last couple of days: what a great loss it is to Rochdale's musical talent. He was as good as Jimi Hendrix, there is no doubt!
From Rochdale Observer (read obituary here):
Very sad to hear of Tony's death. I met him many times in folk sessions but I recall one session where I introduced him to a set of Uilleann pipes. He was fascinated by them and within a few minutes was sufficiently co-ordinated to be able to play up and down the scales. Not an easy thing to achieve in such a short time as any piper will tell you! A really talented and original musician who will be sadly missed.
Les Hall, Huddersfield
We were blessed when Tony joined Tractor - his musicianship and vocal ability were, and remained, awesome. Although he wasn't with us long, he brought so much to us as a band member and a person - warm, hilariously funny and a sharp wit. I last saw him a few years ago at the Bamford Bowling Club with his trio and introduced myself to him. He 'got me' straight away and began berating me in a wicked copy of my 'Sudden-Scouse' accent. I was lucky to call him a friend.
Jim Milne, LiverpoolHi, my name is Peter Blanksby, I have just listened to Hendrix playing ‘Wind Cries Mary’ on the PC through my Itunes. The next song was S.R.V. ‘Little Wing’, I was just listening to it when I thought about an old mate who could play it just as good or even better. His name was Tony Crabtree, I’ve played with him a couple of times on guitar, he used to play me ‘Little Wing’ so I could just sit/stand and stare, close my eyes and you would think it was Hendrix, even the voice! I could tell you a story or two about Tony, ha ha! He used to play at the Monsal Head, near Bakewell in the early to mid-70s. I jammed with him a couple of times and we had a day of jamming, I think it was somewhere on Oxford Rd. in Manchester (it was a long time ago). Another friend of mine, Jim Kerr (joker), played drums for him; at that time we lived in Buxton, The Queens Head, and we always played the Policeman’s Blues on the jukebox there. The last I heard he got paid 50K and was in the USA with Jeff Beck (tut rumours), so while I was listening to ‘Little Wing’, I put his name in Google. My gut turned over and my heart sank deep down to my feet when I read about Tony. Just to say to all the other people who loved him as a person and as a guitarist, he will be playing with my top 2 guitarists, Hendrix & S.R.V. Wow, I would have loved to have seen those 3 together, and they would have offered him a seat at their table and a spot on the stage with them. Why? Because he deserved to be with the best.
It’s with great sadness that I am writing the email. R.I.P. Tony.
Best Regards,
Pete
Tractor (Jim Milne and Steve Clayton) will be performing several songs live on Michelle Mullane's Show on BBC: GMR 95.1 and 106.4 FM on Tuesday, 12th July, 2005 at midnight. There will also be chat and interviews with Jim Milne, Steve Clayton and Chris Hewitt, Tractor's manager and one of the founders of the Deeply Vale festivals. The chat between numbers will be about the Deeply Vale Festival 2006 and also about the sad death on Sunday, 3rd July of blind Rochdale guitarist Tony Crabtree.
June 17, 2005
Captain Beefheart "Prime Quality Beef" (rarities)
OZIT CD 7003
May 21, 2005
The Fall
Live At Deeply Vale Festival, 1978
OZIT CD 786
"A Terrific Document of early Fall" is what the Fall website has said about this forthcoming "Fall Live at Deeply Vale CD" - out early to mid-June 2005.
April 15, 2005
Fast Cars
Live At Deeply Vale Festival, 7th, August 1979
OZIT CD 783
Added to the site:
Deeply Vale article from Goldmine, April 29, 2005
March 20, 2005
“The Abba to Zappa of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band in the early to mid-1970s”
by Jeff Watts
ISBN: 0954931203An 80-page Limited Edition Book - each book hand-numbered with the copy no.
A most comprehensive analysis of writings on Captain Beefheart in the 1970s, plus The Magic Band, and a section on Beefheart and Zappa’s relationship and a small section on Zappa in the early 1970s - together with great photos and Beefheart and Zappa influenced artwork - put together by author Jeff Watts in the style of a 70s underground magazine and printed on high quality paper to repro the artwork and finished in a stiff card colour cover.
Retail Price around £16
Available from distributors now - whilst stocks last - order what you need as this is a limited run!
January 11, 2005
Tractor (Jim Milne and Steve Clayton) will be performing several songs LIVE on Michelle Mullane's Show on BBC: GMR 95.1 and 106.4 FM on Friday, 21st January 2005 at midnight. There will also be chat and interviews with Jim Milne, Steve Clayton and Chris Hewitt, Tractor's manager and one of the founders of the Deeply Vale festivals.
December 11, 2004
Announcing New OZIT Release
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band “Live’n’Rare”
Ozit CD 9003
Dedicated to the late John Peel who was instrumental in exposing Captain Beefheart to a wider audience.
Hand-numbered 2CD box set housed in a special card slipcase with a limited edition set of six previously unpublished photos of the Captain live on stage in London, 1980, with a special Beefheart stamp printed on the back of the cards. Plus a beautiful eight-page colour booklet and double-sided colour inlay, all with great Beefheart images.
£15.50 incl. P&P inside the UK; international extra. Proceed here to purchase!
November 25, 2004
Manifesto Music Presents:
Christmas Kicks - a festive tribute to John PeelTuesday, 26 October 2004 was a very sad day for the world of music, as the great John Peel passed away into musical heaven. To celebrate John’s incredible influence on modern day music, “Manifesto Music” is very proud to announce details of a tribute to this amazing man.
“Christmas Kicks” will feature Badly Drawn Boy, Doves, Stephen Fretwell and Peel faves Tractor and Haven playing their favourite John Peel songs picked from his now-famous “Festive 50” from the last 20 years. Alongside this Christmas pudding list of superstar songwriters will be DJs Elliot Eastwick, John McCready, Richard Hector Jones and Phil Beckett spinning tunes true to the spirit of John’s musical legacy. Overseeing the proceedings on the night will be Peel protégé Marc “The Lard” Riley.
Christmas Kicks will be held on Sunday, 19th December at 7 pm till late at The Southern, Nell Lane, Chorlton, Manchester. Admission will be £12 with all proceeds from the night going to a charity.
The tickets are limited to 250 and are available from Piccadilly Box Office and Piccadilly Records.
For more information on this event please call Rob O’Shea 07970 972 009 rob@manifestomusic.co.uk or Matt Ryan 07973 375 501 ryanmattd@hotmail.com or see the website www.manifestomusic.co.uk
Julian Cope writes...
The Tractor connection? It comes in the not-inconsiderable shape of Chris Hewitt - a sort of Rochdale mish-mash of Bill Graham, Timothy Leary and Wavy Gravy - who road-managed the Tractor boys back in the early 70s [Editor's Note: He still does and has since about 1973 been their manager and mentor as well!!], beadled about in the latter half of that decade with the Deeply Vale festivals, the 1978 line-up featuring fest faves Misty in Roots, The Ruts, Here and Now, Nik Turner and Steve Hillage along with new kids - The Fall, Durutti Column, Frantic Elevators and The Out (George’s band), and in the last few years has been promoting little package tours under a slightly cheeky ‘Greasy Truckers Party’ banner with Spaceritual.net, Tractor, Pie and the George Borowski Band, as well as releasing recordings new and old by a selection of the above and others on his Ozit record label (named in homage to those now-toppled twin towers of the Underground press, Oz magazine and International Times). I went to a couple of Chris’s “Greasy Truckers” gigs in 2003.
An extract from the Julian Cope website written about Chris Hewitt, November 2004
November 13, 2004
TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY VALE - TV DOCUMENTARY
Granada Region, ITV1 @ 11:30 pm
Friday 19th November 2004Don't miss it!!!
The ITV Documentary "Truly, Madly, Deeply Vale" is now scheduled to be broadcast in the Granada region on Friday, 19th November, 2004 in the late evening.
The following musicians/media people have provisionally agreed and will hopefully take part in interviews: Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy, Grant Showbiz (who was soundman for Here And Now at the time), Mark E. Smith of The Fall, who took his band on tour with Here And Now after meeting them at Deeply Vale, Andy McCluskey of O.M.D. (who was in Pegasus at the time he played Deeply Vale), Jimi Goodwin of the Doves who was aged eight in the audience at the time, he went to Deeply Vale, Steve Cowen of the Mock Turtles who was in the audience, aged 14 at the time, Luke Bainbridge (ex-City Life journalist) and now Deputy Editor of the Observer Monthly Music Magazine - who was aged four at Deeply Vale, Pete Farrow - legendary Stockport folk/blues troubadour and busker, Trevor Hyett who was both a compere at the legendary 1978 festival and covered the first festival for Granada in 1976, Vinni Reilly of Durutti Column, Stanny and Phil Odell of legendary Whitworth punk band Wilful Damage, Henry Kledjys who was involved in Street Theatre at Deeply Vale and has recently worked on Phoenix Nights, Alan Hempsall from Crispy Ambulance, Graham Massey from 808 State, Stuart Murray from Fast Cars - to name but some of the people taking part! The programme is being researched by Tom Smetham and produced by Rockumentary filmmaker David Nolan.Read more at www.cerysmaticfactory.info
NORTHWEST'S SEVENTIES ROCK HISTORY FINALLY ON THE MAP
Back in 1976, a group of people who frequented the Dressers Arms, a hippy/rock pub in Heywood [across the road from where legendary Heywood/Rochdale band Tractor had their Dawson St. Heywood Recording Studio in an attic] decided to get together and hold a free rock festival at the top end of Ashworth Valley in a section of the Valley known as Deeply Vale approached on foot from Heywood or Rochdale or by car from Bury or Rossendale. This group of organisers included the band Tractor, their road crew, their manager Chris Hewitt, plus five guys who lived in a commune in Rochdale including Heywood born Dave Smith and Rochdale youth worker and artist Andy Burgoyne, Dave Edwards, Dave Hopkins and Andy Sharrocks, plus other people from Heywood and Bury including Jim O'Neill, Dave Wimbush, Cliff Jackson and Pat O'Neill to name but a few. Dave Smith of Heywood had the original idea and knew Frank Turner [who owned Deeply Vale at the time] through his father and he asked Frank Turner could he have a party camping out in Deeply Vale with a few friends - Chris Hewitt, Tractor's manager had the equipment and contacts with bands - this party turned into a three-day rock festival with 300 people that September in 1976 and then 3,000 people in 1977 and 20,000 people and over fifty bands for five days in 1978 and 1979! What started off as a crazy idea in a Heywood pub amongst a group of underground music fans, musicians and art students has become one of the greatest pop music culture events of the Northwest.
Bands who played there include The Fall, Steve Hillage, Nik Turner of Hawkwind, Durutti Column, Misty In Roots, Spizz Energi, The Ruts, Tractor, Fast Cars, The Drones, The Movement Banned featuring Heywood vicar Rev. Mike Huck, Wilful Damage, ATV, Here And Now, The Frantic Elevators featuring Mick Hucknall, Crispy Ambulance, Danny and The Dressmakers, No Change, Victor Brox, The Out featuring Guitar George Borowski, Alchemist, Cry Tough, Mudanzas, Exodus, Pete Farrow and many more.
TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY VALE - THE BOOK
stories from the North West and Manchester Underground Music SceneThe 14 words above are the working title for a comprehensive book being prepared at the moment by Mick Middles and Chris Hewitt. It covers the Bickershaw 1972 Festival, near Wigan, through to Deeply Vale Festivals 1976/77/78/79, The Electric Circus, Stoneground, The Leigh Festival [Factory/ Zoo 1979], The Alexandra Park Manchester Free concerts [1978 and 1981], the history of Cargo Recording Studios, the history of the Rochdale Arts and Music scene of the seventies which would lead to Deeply Vale Festivals being organised from this little Pennine town as well as a plethora of recording studios opening up around Rochdale and Heywood in the early to mid-seventies and numerous Northwest and international artists coming to the town's studio to record from the seventies through to the nineties. The book should be out in Autumn 2005.
The website www.deeplyvale.com is now online.
If you have anything to contribute please email info to ozitrecords@which.net or drop us a line at Ozit Morpheus Records, P.O.Box 116, Northwich, Cheshire CW 9 5UG
November 2, 2004
John Peel presents Tractor - by Julian Cope (click here)
September 30, 2004
Two new Steve Hillage CD reviews posted on the site, from Record Collector, November 2004 and Feedback - Mensa's Music Magazine
September 4, 2004
- Read new Tractor DVD review from Feedback - MENSA's Music Magazine, September 2004 here!
- Read new Tractor DVD review from www.dvdfever.co.uk, September 2004 here!
- Read new Tractor DVD review from The Observer, August 2004 here!
Tractor (Jim Milne and Steve Clayton) perform a full concert at Rochdale Transport Club, Baron Street, Rochdale on Friday, 24th September, 2004, along with fellow Rochdale rock band and fellow Deeply Vale Festival regulars Alchemist - a special Deeply Vale reunion night!
Advance tickets are £8
Tel: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701
July 27, 2004
Coming soon:
- Fast Cars "Who Loves Jimmy Anderton — Fast Cars Live At Deeply Vale Festival"
- An ITV documentary about the Deeply Vale festivals, "Truly, Madly, Deeply Vale"
- both to be released early in November.
- A book about Deeply Vale and the Manchester/Northwest underground/alt.music scene of the 60s onwards is due out in 2005.
June 26, 2004
Launched!
- www.deeplyvale.com - the Deeply Vale Festival site - is now up and running!
- We have new photos of Tractor live at the Canterbury Fayre, August 2003 (browse here)
June 16, 2004
Tractor will be playing live on the Spencer Leigh Show on BBC Radio Merseyside at 6 pm UK time, Saturday, 19th June 2004.
June 13, 2004
Jim Milne and Steve Clayton of Tractor return to their native Rochdale on Saturday, 19th June at 1 pm at the Touchstones Centre, The Arts and Heritage Centre, The Esplanade, Rochdale, to perform an electro-acoustic set. They will be playing some songs from their new DVD, "Beyond Deeply Vale". The admission will be free.
Both Tractor and Deeply Vale have now achieved legendary status in rock music circles, and ITV are making a one-hour documentary to be screened in November 2004. A small Deeply Vale exhibition will be on display on 19th June, and this will be an introduction for a much larger exhibition to be staged in Autumn 2005 at Touchstones!
Announcing new CDs
