The art of cratedigging.

It is hard to explain the rush of finding a track you have been on the lookout for to someone who does not collect records themselves, and I usually have quite a few items on my wishlist that I am searching the internet or recordfairs for. But - however pleasing it is when you find and get that elusive record you have been longing for so long on eBay or at a dealer finding one you did not expect to find, or maybe even did not know that you were looking for, is even better.

That's why I love cratedigging. The feeling of entering a thriftstore, yardsale or whatever it may be and seeing one or several boxes of LPs and 45s, not having any idea whatsoever of what you are going to find before you start flipping through them.
Make no mistake though - cratedigging takes effort and a certain amount of dedication. The trick is to go hunting on a regular basis (or actually more like go whenever and as often as you can), go to as many and different spots as possible, whether they usually have records or not, and to have patience. Of course living in a mediumsized town that is big enough for these kind of records to have found their way here, yet still small enough to not have too many others than yourself looking for them also helps.
Most of the times you come home with nothing or with something you took a chance on and that turns out not to be very good. But then on the odd ocassion you find something that makes all the other times you've gone digging and came home empty handed worth it.

Such as this one: a 45 that I came across this last saturday at a small local thrift shop that I frequent almost every weekend. Ken Boothe's Can't You See, issued in 1968 on the british FAB-label. A great rocksteady track so rare that I had never even thought of thinking of wanting it. I believe I've seen it for sale twice on the internet during the last two years. None the less, there it was - lying in a pile of 80s pop and dance 45s and in a condition so great that it can hardly ever have been played. Incredible to say the least.

I've made a few other hard to believe finds throughout my years of digging through crate upon crate of crap, but this one definitely ranks in the top together with the promotional version of Sue Lynne's northern banger Don't Pity Me and Ruby Andrews legendary funk/soul LP Black Ruby (more on those in future posts). It's time like these that makes it worth having an aching back, sore knees and not getting enough sleep during days off because you "need" to get up early for digging.

Song of the day:
Ken Boothe - Can't You See

Back on the road...

...for now anyway. And that goes for this blog as well as my precious -60 Vespa Touring - my very first scoot, and as such the one that in more ways then one started it all. When I bought it I had no previous experience with scooters...or any motorized vehicle at all to be honest, not even a moped as a teenager. And it was not running. So, since every mechanic I approached just looked at me, laughed and basically said "there's no way I'm touching that thing" I had no choice but to buy a manual and get my (back then callus-free) hands dirty. Little did I know that was the start of my days as a garagerat who not only loves riding but also fixing and tuning engines, especially those that are part of italian bikes with small wheels.

Since then quite a few scooters has been bough as well as sold, and I've come to ride Lambrettas far more than Vespas. But the Vespa Touring has been with me since day one and has stood tall throughout a lot of adventures despite it still holding it's original, and rather tired, 150 cc engine (which will likely change in the future since I just happen to have a P200-engine that is under renovation lying in the garage, and that just happens to fit perfectly in a Vespa Touring-frame). We share a lot of memories, good as well as bad, but not once has it let me down. Well, apart from the odd broken clutch- or gaswire, the brakepads locking up and nearly frying the backhub as well as the tyre and few other smaller mishaps. And I'm sure that quite a few adventures still awaits us in the future.

For those who wonder, Vespa Touring is a model that was specifically targeted at the scandinavian market. It is basically, but not completely, similar to the Vespa GL apart from a few minor cosmetical differences. I will probably do a more in depth post on the Touring in general sometime in the near future.

Anyway - for a while now my beloved Vespa Touring has been stood in the garage with a broken gaswire and some mysterious engine troubles that appeared to be carburettor or airrelated. However, I finally pulled myself together a short while ago and decided to give it some TLC, only to discover that it took me about a mere hour to get it running properly again.

So, for now the Touring is back on the road. Though, to be honest I don't know for how long since I have sadly neglected it for quite some time and there might very well be some new problems waiting to surface. Which in a way is very similar to my situation with this blog. It has also been neglected for far too long, but I have now decided to spend some time on it again. I hope they will both be running well for some time now.

Song of the day:
Etta James - Tell Mama

And speaking of scooters...

...there's this one. Sure, it's pretty old by now. And I might even have posted it before.

Never the less, it's good fun. And I'm pretty sure any of us who are into scooters, Lambrettas in particular, will recognize the situation. Especially those of us who live with someone.

Now, I´m off to clean the Lambretta-engine that is currently soaking in the bathtub upstairs. Cheers for now!

Song of the day:
The Animal Jack Band - I Can't Strip My Lambretta Down In The Kitchen Ska Blues

Springy thingy.

The snow is slowly melting away, the leaves are breaking and my eyes have started to itch slightly.
All telltale signs that spring is coming and that the scooterseason is beginning shortly!

What better way to get in the mood than by watching this lovely litte clip then? It's actually promoting a scooter rally in Italy a few years ago. A rally that I did not attend (or even knew of to be honest). Does not really matter though since it pretty much sums up everything that I love about scootering. In fact, it pretty much sums up everything that I love, period. The scooters, the music, the style, the feeling you get when heading out for a rally with good friends...you get the drift.

Let's get them scooters tuned up, polished and prepare for the summer of 2015!

Song of the day:
Bettye LaVette - I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)

Introducing: Surface Noise Soundsystem.

I suppose it has been impossible for anyone reading this to avoid understanding that me and my companion Daniel have been DJ:ing quite regularly lately. Since we now seem to have a few things more going, apart from over regular spot (called South Station Soul) at Södra Station here in our hometown we decided it was about time we got ourselves a proper name. After some heavy thinking and brainstorming we decided to go with Surface Noise Soundsystem. Surface noise, in case you are not into vinylrecords and are wondering, is a term for the sound that appears once the needle has been dropped, but before the music starts playing. We figured it suited us fine.

So, now we have a name and also a Facebook-page (found here) you are all more than welcome to follow if you like. If you prefer to see us do our thing for real the next chance will be this coming saturday at Södra Station, Eskilstuna, Sweden.

Song of the day:
The Originals - Suspicion

Back to business.

After a short hiatus due to parenting and all of the holidays it is time for me and my partner in crime Daniel to once again man the wheels of steel at Södra Station this coming saturday.
The usual is to be expected - a lot of soul, funk, latin grooves etc. Expect some extra ska this time too, since I got a small batch of original jamaican 45s sent to me from my good pals in Bangarang Hifi just the other day.

So, if you happen to be in the proximity of Eskilstuna this weekend you know where to go.

Put a dip in your hip and a glide in your stride!

Song of the day:
King Stitt - Fire Corner

Recap.

 

The year ended, as always, with Blacksmiths SCs traditional new years eve rideout.

2014 will surely go down in my books as the year when everything happened - probably the most eventful year in my life...at least so far. 

It´s not only the year I decided to get this blogging thing going again (and still not doing it as often as planned). It's the year we got married. The year we travelled abroad twice (three times counting Åland). It's the year I lost my closest fourlegged friend, but then gained a new one. The year we rebuilt and renovated a lot of the house we live in. It's the year we went on a camping holiday. The year I finally got my Lambretta DL (more on that in a later post). The year I started DJing on a somewhat more regular basis again, arranged clubnights and some scooterruns.
And probably quite a few more things I forgot about when writing this.

It might seem a bit surprising coming from me, but as fun as 2014 has been I am actually looking forward to 2015 being not quite as eventful.

Oh, and this happened.

Photo: Elenor Kuhlin

Song of the day:
Otis & Carla - New Years Resolution

Merry christmas!

Song of the day:
Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa

More commercials.

Tonight me and my good friend Daniel are at it again at Södra Station, Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Be there or be...well, you know. One of those shapes that are not rounded and has corners.

Song of the day:
The Bar-Kays - Soul Finger

All that vinyl has to be put to use somehow.

There's been a lot of posts about music lately. Not very strange, since music has always been the number one ingredient in my life...in hard competiton with the scooters and clothes/style. The latter two will feature more here on the blog but for now here's another musicrelated post.

I think anyone who reads this know by now that I DJ now and then. Both on clubnights I arrange myself and on others as a guest-DJ. Me and my good friend Daniel also host a semiregular night called South Station Soul which takes place about once a month at our local pub/cafe Södra Station. All vinyl of course - but there's no need in writing that out really, is it?

Not too long ago I finally got around to getting an account on Mixcloud where I plan to upload mixes or sets now and then. At the moment there are only four of them on there, but expect more in the future. A new one is actually most likely coming as early as tomorrow night or on sunday. Soul, funk, latin, ska, mod, grooves, garage, psych...I think you get what too expect. Since it's all vinyl and mostly old 45s you can't expect too many beatmixes (although some scratching might eventually turn up I feel like it).

So, if you feel like having a listen just drop in here:
http://www.mixcloud.com/ronnie-gavelin

Enjoy!

Song of the day:
Willie Jones - Where's My Money?

And now: commercials.

I suppose not too many of you reading this resides in my hometown Eskilstuna, but IF you do I suggest you unbook any previous plans you might have had for this coming friday evening, put on some smart attire and get down to Södra Station where me and my good friend Daniel will be spinning some old-school soul and funk, latin, ska and other groovy stuff all night.

All vinyl. Of course.

Song of the day:
Skull Snaps - I'm Your Pimp

Way of the crowd.

There has been a lot of documentaries about northern soul made, but not many are very good or interesting. And don't even get me started on the movies...Soul Boy might have been fun in it's own way, but let's be honest: it is basically just Saturday Night Fever with better music and set in a dead end town in north England during the early 70's. That being said I do have some hope in the new Northern Soul - The Film, which premieres october 17th this year...but more about that one in a later post.

This documentary, called Way Of The Crowd, is however one of the better I've seen on the subject. Clocking in at a little over 40 minutes it features not only interviews with some of the original faces from the scene (some well known, some not so well known) and a lot of great dancing as well as (naturally) good music, but it also contains some footage from the heydays which at least I had not seen before (combined with the usual footage from Wigan Casino that seems to be in every documentary about northern soul ever made of course). You even get some interviews with a few of the original artists that were brought out of obscurity by the northern soul explosion.

All of this, combined with the fact that it actually tells the history of northern soul as well as explains (or at least tries to explain) the movements cultural roots, development, all of the things it started and influenced (DJing, disco, breakdancing etc) and where it stands today makes it well worth watching whether you are a true aficionado or just wonder "northern soul - what?".

Song of the day:
Evie Sands - Picture Me Gone

Eskilsphenia 2014.

Eskilsphenia has now become somewhat of a tradition on the Swedish scooterscene. What started out as a small get together for friends has grown by each year, and now onto it's seventh year it is actually considered one of the bigger annual happenings with about 70-80 scoots (and a lot more people) participating each year. That may not sound much, but if you consider the fact that Eskilstuna is a rather small town with only about 100.000 inhabitants and only a handful of people into this sort of stuff it kind of puts thing in a different perspective.

Being a cityrun it sort of divides it's focus between the scooters during the day and clubbing at night. This year, as we have the last two, we decided to combine it with my "own" clubnight, The Melting Pot during which I shared the decks with Mamba from Malmö, Charming Charlotte from Stockholm and Eikedelic from Berlin.

All in all the event went well, without any major glitches (although a few small mishaps are alway to be expected). As usual when it comes to scooterruns I will not write to much about, and rather let the photos do the talking instead.

Thanks to all who came and to my colleagues in our local scooterclub, Blacksmiths SC, for helping
out in tying it all together!

Since I was rather busy organizing so somewhat less photos than usual was snapped, but if you want to see the rest of those they can be found here.

 My brothers and sisters in Sweden Blues SC were there too. Of course. 

Munken and Tjompen of Stockholm Mods posing by the scoots by the scooters during the rideout.

My partner in crime, brother from Blues SC and semiregular DJ -companion - Mamba.

Eikedelic made sure the dancefloor got going. 

And of course Charming Charlotte - busy on the dancefloor when not behind the decks.

Song of the day:
Harvey Scales & The 7 Sounds - Love-I-Tis

On the turntable: Larry Williams & Johnny Guitar Watson - Too Late

The fullength album was released in -67, but the promo I have is from -76.

Ok. Here's the setup: Larry Williams, rhythm 'n blues and rock 'n roll singer, mostly remembered as the guy who wrote Bony Moronie and Dizzy Miss Lizzy. And Johnny "Guitar" Watson, guitarplayer extraordinaire, often quoted as a major influence of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa (actually, Johnny Watson deserves a post of his own at some point). Two bad boys if you like. Bad boys who were really good friends and thought: "Hey, we both like to have fun and cause a ruckus. And we like to play music. Why not record an album together?".

Actually, I have no idea if that is what they were thinking, but I would really like to think that's how it happened because it's what their album "Two for the price of one" sounds like. Especially this single, Too Late, which is somewhat of a classic on the northern soul scene and one of my favourites in the genre. A duet between the two men in which one is the guy who's woman just left him for another man (probably due to him not being a very nice guy) and the other one is his friend. The music may be upbeat, but the lyrics although funny in a sense are pretty dark and contains sentences such as "she'd done mess you around a made you an alcoholic", "don't need no woman to help me starve to death" and "you don't want nobody that don't treat you right - she's got to love you every night". Basically it's like listening to two good friends with dubious opinions when it comes to women and relationships getting a little too drunk and bitter at the local pub late at night translated into a song.

 Oh, and did I mention that it has a driving beat layered with strings?

Song of the day:
Larry Williams & Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Too Late

Sinful Mod Weekend Gothenburg 2014 - photos galore!

Summer has a tendency to make you focus on other things than writing on a small blog on the internet. Especially if you reside in a country where summer only last for a little less than three months. There's just too many other, more significant things to do out in the real world during those warm weeks than spending time indoors in front of a computer screen. However, autumn is coming and things are slowly returning to normal so expect slightly more regular posting from my behalf on here now.

For starters: I began my summevacation by going to Gothenburg for the first installment of the Sinful Mod Weekend in more than a decade. Three days of spending time with old and new friends from all over sweden as well as the rest of europe, filled with scooterriding, drinking and dancing at all-nighters. A close to perfect weekend and a not just a little hard to describe in words - hence I'll let the pictures do most of the talking this time.

There are quite a few photos in this post, but those of you who wish to see even more of the photos I took during this wonderful weeken on the westcoast of sweden can do so here.

Round and round we go.

My mate Acke shows once again why smoking, unhealthy as it may be, will always be the quintessential of cool in a photo.

And my brother in Sweden Blues Scooter Club, Robin, doing what we do best.

Mirrors, mirrors and more mirrors.

Mingling in the middle of Gothenburg. Mods, skins, soulies, rudeboys etc all as one. 

The Alloy Six treated us to some livemusic during the rideout. 

Well...why not? 

 Great friends and drinks in the park during a warm summer evening before heading of to the final allnighter. Hard to beat.

Suit up and get 'yer 45s out!

Dance to keep from crying.

Song of the day:

Dobie Gray - Out On The Floor

Lambretta Club Stockholm and friends go to Åland 2014.

This time of the year is always mostly scooterstuff for me. Surprise, surprise...
If I'm not of riding one of my scooters somewhere I am usually fixing something one of them. Or someone elses. Or at least thinking of fixing something on a scooter.

One of the highlights of the scooterseason is the annual trip me and my mates in Lambretta Club Stockholm (which I am, oddly enough, a member of even though I don't live in Stockholm). It is a really spontaneous affair during which we invite fellow scooterist to simply take the ferry over to Åland to ride, stay at a hotel and hang out. A few beers are usually involved too.

We have been doing for...six? Seven? Ten years? To be honest we have sort of lost count but at least it's been a few times now and it is always really, really nice. This year was no exception. The only downside was really the wind - not only was the ferryride over to Åland a nightmare (luckily I am not prone to seasickness) but the wind on the roads once we got there was terrible and made it almost impossible to control the bike at times. I have been riding a scooter for more years than I am bothered to keep count of, but this was the first time that I was actually close to stop the rideout and head back home to the hotel due to it just being to scary to ride. 20 scooters driving in a row, wandering over the road due to winds hitting from the sides is no picnic, let me tell you that.

Apart from that small detail the weekend was great, and the longer trip we took before boarding the ferry home on sunday, when the weather was a lot milder, more than made up for it.  Good friends, good drinks, some scoots and a portable record player is really all it takes.

As usual there are more photos for those interested, and they can be found here.

Out on the windy (REALLY windy) roads of Åland.

Hanging on the stairwell in the evening sun before heading out into the night.

  

Song of the day:

Billy Stewart - Summertime 

Reloaded.

Sorry about the crappy iPhone-pic.

Some packages make me extra happy when then they are delivered to my door: the ones containing cool new parts for the scooters and the ones containing music. Especially if the music comes on seven inch vinyl.

This one belongs to the latter kind, containing some 45s I have been wanting for quite some time and that are not the easist to find. It arrived at my place yesterday - straight from the very nice Sean over at Chapman Records in Britain, right on time for this weekends DJ-set. Extremely fast shipping and serviceminded, rather decent prices, a very broad offering of different records (both rare and not so rare) and highly recommended if you are into soul, ska and similar music.

Now let's get ready for the weekend!

Now you know what to do if you're in Eskilstuna, Sweden tomorrow.

Song Of The Day:

Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music

Go West Cannonball Scooter Race 2014.

A couple of weekends ago I went to the west of sweden, Halland to be precise, to participate in this years Cannonball Scooter Race, aptly named "Go West" this time.

For those of you who have no idea what a Cannonball Race is I advise you to google it. Or even better - have a look at the classic (well, that's one word for it at least) movie The Cannonball Run starring amongst others Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore and Farrah Fawcett. Then just imagine that they were riding italian scooters instead.

I won't bore you with details of what went down, and instead just settle with saying that it was a great weekend. Lovely roads, even lovelier people, beatiful scenery, interesting assignments, great weather and quite a few breakdowns (as it should be).

If you want to see some more pictures you can do so here.

Waiting to take off.

Hanging out in the sun. 

 Everything from total restorations to rustorations participated. 

My teammate Mats (you compete in pairs during a Cannonball Race) fixing a flat tire on his TV175 series 2 in the middle of...well, somewhere. 

Two of our competitors striking a pose at one of the checkpoints.

Song of the day:
Ray Charles - Hit The Road Jack

Summer style - the seersucker.

 Blue and white striped seersucker blazer, a thin cotton shirt with a blue and slightly pink check, and a pair of selvage denims. Plus a pair of orange socks to add a splash of colour. Pair this with a Lambretta of your choice and you are good to go!

Summer has finally arrived in Sweden. Or at least late spring, which means that the weather is getting a lot warmer. I for one love that, since I do find the cold and dark winter somewhat of a downer. There is one major downside to summer though: for someone who likes to dress smart it get's a lot harder. At least if you don't feel like being soaked in sweat after just an hour outdoors.

Enter - the seersucker! Seersucker is actually not a suit in itself, it is the name of the material - a thin type of cotton, usually but not always in a white and blue (or red) stripe or checkpattern that is woven in a way that makes the threads bunch together and create a wrinkled appearance. That the fabric is rather thin, paired with the wrinkles, is what makes it ideal for a summer suit. It not only breathes, but the structure actually makes the fabric be held of from your skin, allowing air to sweep underneath as well as warmth to escape without causing ugly sweatstains.
Originally from India the materials original name is actually in Hindi: "keer aur shakkar", which means "rice pudding and sugar". It is generally believed to refer to the structure of the fabric, where the smooth cotton parts are the pudding and the "lumps" are the sugar. With time the name has been reformed amongst us westeners until today when it is refered to as seersucker.

Seersucker is used in a lot of things: bedlinen, shirts, towels. But perhaps most famously in suits.  It was the british who first brought it from India. During the colonial days a lot of welldressed gentlemen in places such as British India found the warm and humid conditions a real nuisance and soon enough some of them started fashioning suits of the seersucker fabric in order to be able to dress well and still not turn into a wet puddle of sweat. That the material, being wrinkled even from the start, also made the suits easier to care for in a country where a good drycleaning service probably was rather hard to find made them even more suitable,
These suits followed them over the atlantic, back home, and eventually came to America where they grew especially popular in the southern states where the weather conditions were similar to, and sometimes even more humid than, those in India.

Originally the seersucker suit was considered somewhat of a poor mans suit in the states, but in the 20s they were picked up by the preppy students of the Ivy League-universitys and the rest is history. Today the seersucker is considered an american and british classic and it has been adopted by gentlemen and people into classic fashion all over the world.

Finding a nice seersucker can be a harder task than you'd imagine though. At least if you, like me, are into the more continental and british variations of style. Sure, there are tons of seersucker blazers and suits floating around eBay and such sites, but most of them are way to oversized or does not have the buttoning or rise I prefer. I had been looking for one that appealed to my taste for quite some time when I finally found one...in New Orleans, on our trip there last summer. Where else?
Mine is a Penguin by Munsingwear one and a full suit. I was really glad when I found it because of all the detailing - ticket pocket, slim lapels and working cuff buttonings to name a few. I had a third button added though since it was a two button blazer. Nothing wrong with that (I might even do a 2 vs 3 button-post in the future), but I was not quite pleased with the low rise. Luckily enough the cut of the lapels made it easy for my tailor to sort that out - on most jackets adding a third buttonhole is something that is advised against.
I really like the look off the full suit, but quite often wear the blazer alone and combine it with a pair of lighcoloured trousers or even denim (blue seersuckers are one of the few blazers, apart from the odd tweed-jacket, that actually works worn with jeans in my opinion). That's one other benefit of the seersucker - it can be worn as full suit with shirt (with or without tie) or as a casual blazer/summersjacket. I am actually keeping my eyes out for another one at the moment - preferebly with a red or mintgreen pattern.

So...put on that thin summer shirt, button up your seersucker and get ready for those summerpartys with a nice cocktail in hand!

Song of the day:
Eddie Floyd - Big Bird

Baracutadash! Or: the fun of being a background DJ.

Some of my friends in Lambretta Club Stockholm dropped by to show of their rides.

One of my absolute favourite brands when it comes to jackets is, and has been for a very long time, Baracuta - the legendary clothesmaker whose most famous garment in the legendary G9 (probably the best looking non formal jacket ever made): the mother of all Harringtons, made famous by the likes of Steve McQueen, James Dean, Elvis Presley, The Clash and just about every casually dressed mod in the 60s. Too name a few.

Lately, I've started a collaboration of sorts with Baracuta (or, to be more precise with the company that handles their resale and promotion in Sweden). However, the details around that are not yet 100% official so I will not tell you more about it until it's all in the clear.

What I can tell you about now though is last wednesdays event in Stockholm. As promotion for this years summer-collection a small party for specially invited guests was held at the store Haberdash after their regular closing time. As a start of our collaboration I had been asked to DJ at the event together with Gustav Bendt, an aquaintance of mine who happens to be part of the same project.

I don't do lounge-DJing, or whatever you should call it, very often. Or maybe I should put it - I don't do it often enough. Theres's something very liberating about not having to care about keeping a dancefloor crowded and get to focus on playing some of your favourite tunes and just keeping the mood nice and sweet instead. Me, my bag of 45s (ok - I did bring some LPs too to be honest) and Gustav had a very nice time behind the turntables and I think the people who showed up, according to the promoters about 150 persons all in all, had one too. On the other hand it's rather hard not too have a nice time when there's great people to talk to, a bunch of scooters parked outside, the clothes on display look great and the good people from Camden Brewery and Hendricks are serving beer and drinks for free. A bit of a bummer that I had to drive home to Eskilstuna after the event due to working at my dayjob the  next morning and therefore couldn't taste one of the great old-fashioneds my DJ-partner happily sipped on, but not a big enough bummer to ruin this otherwise wonderful pre-summer evening.

All in all it was a very pleasent evening and it was great to get to play all of those records I love and listen to at home but that aren't quite fit for a regular night behind the decks at a club or all-nighter. For example I finally got to play that wonderful Georges Raudi Et Son Orchestre-single Stercok that I love so much but that never seems to fit into any of my "normal" sets.
It seems I was not the only who enjoyed it either and that I might get to play those loungier records at other places than my own livingroom some more since I was offered a few other gigs of the same kind in Stockholm later on this year afterwards. A nice side-effect so to speak. No dates are set yet, but I have a feeling you might get to read about it here if, or when, it happens.

Inside of the store, turntables spinning. Sorry about the crappy iPhone-pic - I was too busy spinning to pick up my real camera.

Song of the day:
Georges Raudi Et Son Orchestre - Stercok