Vinyl LPs.  Who ever thought that they'd be as resilient as they have shown to be...in 2010, some 25 years after the birth of the more portable Compact Disc.  Yeah, they were clunky, inconvenient (you had to change sides, which disrupted the flow of the music).  But they had wonders as well.  The art that housed the 12" disc were as varied as the imaginative artist could conceive.  Often, those translated into historic covers remembered to this day.  There is the die-cut Brain Salad Surgery cover, the School's Out cover that opened like a desk (first pressings anyway), and the space ship on ELO's Out Of The Blue.  There were more, many more, than these examples of artistic covers that have since eluded us with the introduction of the CD.  It's one of the reasons that I heralded the introduction of the digipak.  Not only was the digipak earth-friendly, but it also reopened the door to creativity, albeit on a much smaller scale.

However, one element of the vinyl releases, and perhaps one that many of you are unaware of, are the scrawled in witticisms, etc. that were sometimes found in the vinyl after the grooves, closer to the label.  I admit to this being a rarity but it was nevertheless a practice participated in by more than you may realize.  You might find a phrase, a name, or anything that someone found interesting enough to convey by a scrawl in the vinyl. 

On my most recent LP purchasing expedition at the OC Record Show in Buena Park (held the last Sunday of most months), I boosted my growing LP collection with a decent copy of one of my favourite albums, a well known one that I'll hold off revealing until after a bit of a challenge.  I immediately checked to see if the phrase was on the vinyl (it was), and was sent back in my mind to one of the fun events after opening a new LP, that of checking the LP for any written communiques by the band.  Everytime.  It wad a ritual for me.  In fact, I, more often than not, slid the LP out and checked near the label before I even investigated the jacket.

I remember it fondly.  Sunday's flashback moment took me back to some great years.  So, vinyl aficionados, if you didn't know about this or, more likely, had forgotten, go and check out your vinyl. 

And now, the phrase on a particular album, split between both sides are as follows: Side One has 'Don't Worry', while Side Two completes with 'Nothing will be OK'.  Your job is to tell me, for those that know, which album had these scrawls.

And for those that know of this sporadic practice and know of other fun scrawls, let the rest of us know.

I want to acknowledge the passing of Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, who, at the too-young age of 58, passed from this world due to a heart attack, literally hours after a recording session with Daryl Hall.  T-Bone played bass for Hall and Oates as well as spending some time in the SNL house band. Wolk was a hard-at-work sessions guy as well.  He now adds to the unmatched rhythm section of The Great Band.

I was alerted by someone that the MusicTAP FaceBook page would be better served if it were a Fan Page as opposed to one filled with many kinds of postings (instead of just TAP alerts). I agree. And so, with apologies to those that have already requested to be friends, I am "redoing" this part. Again, to those that have already signed up, I truly apologize for the incomvenience. The TAP FB page should be a place of notification and commentary, stuff that you shouldn't have to dig your way through to find. I'll have a solution up quickly. Thanks, Adam!

I have a review up for an indie release of For Blood and Wine by San Francisco artist, Rykarda Parasol. It is an interesting album and one that should yield good results for people who may be interested. We featured her a few weeks back so some might remember our push.

Also, before we skip off here, we have a contest for a copy of the just released Supernatural: Legacy Edition by Santana. If you want a crack at this, just click here and send email back with all of the necessary info. Here's our review of the newly remastered and expanded album - Santana - Supernatural: Legacy Edition.

We'll see you back here on Friday.

Island Records plan the reissue of Legend by Bob Marley & the Wailers in both CD and DD formats. This reissue is planned for April 27.

Varese Sarabande will release Woodstock Homecoming on CD for Canned Heat, which is planned for April 27. More Varese Sarabande is planned with a 'best of' for Freddy Fender on the same date named Absolutely the Best of Freddy Fender.

Varese Sarabande also has a Jazz title by Fats Waller coming on April 27 called Performance.

ECM Records will release a Chick Corea album on CD called Solo Piano Improvisations / Children's Songs, scheduling for May 25.

Rounder Records has a Dailey & Vincent title on the burner scheduled for April 20 called Singing From the Heart.

Polydor Records will be reissuing 461 Ocean Boulevard by Eric Clapton in DD format on April 27.

Chicago Independent will release a Rock title by Faraquet called The View From This Tower. It is on the calendar for April 20.

Last Gang Records has Womb of Dreams coming by Fan Death on June 8.

Mighty Loud Records will release a Jackyl title called When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide on May 4.

Savoy Records will release a Jim Brickman album called Never Alone on April 27.

Geffen Records will release One More From the Road on DD. The Lynyrd Skynyrd title is expected on April 27. Geffen will also re-release the popular Meatloaf album, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, on the same date. You can also expect the DD for Played in Space! The Best of Something Corporate for Something Corporate, again, same date.

Mercury Records have The Runaways titles scheduled for DD re-releases on March 16. The titles expected are The Runaways, Queens of Noise, Waitin' For The Night, and Live in Japan.

Interscope Records will release the CD and DD versions of Revelation by Sons of Sylvia on April 27.

AAO Music will release The Jazz Biography by The Art Tatum Trio on April 20.

Sanctuary Records has a collectible DD coming on March 16 of Live in London 1980: The Legendary Chaos Tapes from The Fall.

Hip-O Records will release Still Here from The Temptations on May 4.

There are a batch of vinyl coming out for Record Store Day that include reissues by The Velvet Underground (Live, Volume 2 - 180g); Sonic Youth (Confusion is Sex - White vinyl - 180g); Pantera (Far Beyond Driven; Cowboys From Hell; Vulgar Display of Power - all 2LP, 180g); Mastodon (Blood Mountain); Nirvana (Insesticide - Blue and White vinyl); Mastodon (Blood Mountain (Deluxe) - 2LP 180g); The Velvet Underground (Live, Volume 1 - 180g); and Sonic Youth (EVOL - Pink vinyl, 180g). All LPs are scheduled for April 17.

Atlantic Records will release The Runaways soundtrack on March 23.