A photographic document by Hayden Phipps Sometime in my mid-teens, I was probably about fifteen, at a house party somewhere in Cape Town, I bumped into a guy who happened to be the host. It didn’t take us long to start talking about music, and it turned out that he’d somehow been able to get his hands on a copy of The Smiths’ Strangeways Here We Come. It’s hard now to appreciate the worth of that cassette tape in his hand. This was the end of the 1980s, long before the internet, a time when any music beyond the mainstream, let alone anything remotely obscure, was difficult to come by. I begged the guy to let me make a copy, but unsurprisingly he was wary of handing over the album to a near stranger, and so agreed that I could make a copy on condition that it happen at his house, on his stereo, and under his supervision. It tells you something about my love for the Smiths that I thought nothing of immediately walking all the way home, home being on the other side of town, to get a blank cassette, and then walking all the way back again. It was more than an hour’s walk each way, it was the middle of the night, and my vanishing without explanation did not delight my girlfriend. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that when I woke up the next morning, I owned a copy of Strangeways Here We Come. The same intense relationship with music is evident in the portraits of the record collectors that follow, each of whom was asked to choose six favourite records from their personal archives. The same enduring fascination, the same endless quest for new discoveries, perhaps even the same obsessivecompulsive streak. Their choices undoubtedly reflect who they are; they are powerful milestones in their biographies. As somebody once sang: “Don’t forget the songs that made you smile/And the songs that saved your life.” Here’s to them. - Matthew Cartner
CHRIS ORNER / 45. My interest in music started when I was 4 years old listening to my mom’s late 60’s / early 70’s psychedelia and folk records. By the mid-80’s, now aged 15, I began listening to punk and post-punk and at age 20 I started enjoying all genres of music. In the late 2000’s I started buying vinyl again and it became my preferred format, particularly for DJ’ing. I’ve done radio shows here and abroad and I’ve hosted parties and events with friends; in each case I’ve played an eclectic mix of music, focussing on interesting music that is perhaps less well-known, allowing the listener to make new musical discoveries. I currently work in a second-hand vinyl shop and I run a company that imports new vinyl. Miles Davis / Bitches Brew / 1970 / Columbia Brian Eno / Music for Films / 1978 / EG The Upsetters / Super Ape / 1976 / Island Can / Ege Bamyasi / 1972 / United Artists My Bloody Valentine / Loveless / 1991 / Creation The Velvet Underground / The Velvet Underground & Nico / 1967 / Verve
PIERRE-ESTIENNE / 44. I bought my first record, IOU by Freeeze, around 1983. I grew up in the suburb of Brackenfell where I experienced Prophets of da City at a local nightclub, The Palace. It was the first time I saw anyone scratching and manipulating records on turntables while doing some crazy breakdance moves. It was totally surreal! In the late 90’s I opened Phatbeat Records on Long street with Len Wiggins, supplying DJs with US and UK House and Electronica. During my time spent in Asia in the early 2000’s, a trip to Tokyo opened my eyes to another world of collecting records. There was such a concentration of good record stores located in this small area of Shibuya. Back home I co-founded Vinyl Digz with friend Jess Cross that focuses on promoting Vinyl Culture in SA. I am currently a resident DJ at a weekly night called Private Life at The Waiting Room. Prince / 1979 / Warner Bros. Depeche Mode / See You (Extended 12”) /1982 / Mute The The / Mind Bomb / 1989 / Epic Butthole Surfers / Hairway to Steven / 1988 / Touch and Go Underground Resistance / Interstellar Fugitives / 1998 /Underground Resistance Moodyman / Silentintroduction / 1997 / Planet E
BRADLEY ABRAHAMS / 36. My first proper memory of collecting music was when I claimed my dad’s copy of Earth, Wind & Fire Greatest Hits Vol1 record. I also remember my grandfather playing this crazy Soca shit and me dancing like a weirdo when I was about 4. I went in search of it after he passed away but only found tons of Bobby Hendricks, which I actually love. I’ve played as DJ THUNDERHEADDRUNKTANK at Gandalfs on Pirate Punk Rock Nights and the odd gig at EVOL, also random parties as DJ FRESH WHITE REEBOKS. The best musical experience of my lifetime was and will forever be, playing in a fucking HORRID band called The Electric Fuck Pirates with one of the most amazingly fucked up people I have ever come across - Maddin Petersen (RIP). It was a wonderfully angry exercise and was probably the most creative point of my hideous ‘useless years’. Misfits / Misfits / 1986 / Caroline Dead Kennedys / Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables / 1980 / Alternative Tentacles Slayer / Show No Mercy / 1983 / Metal Blade George Benson / Give me the Night / 1979 / Qwest Bad Brains / I Against I / 1986 / SST Talking Heads / Stop Making Sense / 1984 / Sire
LANDI DEGENAAR / 31. My most memorable record is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. It’s the album that got me hooked and is responsible for most of my childhood memories. Later on I heard Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Rolling Stones’s Aftermath and Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. They changed my life and I knew music would be a big part of my life one day. Give me good old country/bluegrass anytime! It inspired me to write my own music and learn to play various instruments. I have a country duo band with my sister called Betsy Beers, I play solo banjo gigs as Landi Lu and I DJ old rock ‘n roll / soul / rockabilly as Blue Jean Betty. I started working at Mabu Vinyl in 2009. It was one of the best places for me to work and an altogether beautiful experience. A few years later I opened Sugar Vinyl in Stellenbosch and have been running it for three magical years. Music has opened many doors for me and taken me down many unexpected roads. Tom Waits / Closing Time / 1973 / Asylum Brenda Lee / 1960 / Decca Lindisfarne / Finest Hour / 1975 / Charisma Delaney & Bonnie / D&B Together / 1972 / Columbia Joni Mitchell / Blue / 1971 / Reprise The Roches / 1979 / Warner Bros.
THEMBA TSHABALALA / 34. I have been collecting records since 2003. The first record I bought was Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. I remember that the pressing was in a very bad condition and yet I could not stop listening to it. From then on I was hooked, the love affair began. I spent sometime playing catch up in a world that fitted so well into my own life narrative. The albums liner notes offered an education and perspective into the intersections of a very unique musical history and culture. My affair has not stopped, it only just diverted to other forms but never swaying far from jazz.
Charles Mingus / The Clown / 1957 / Atlantic Lee Morgan / The Sidewinder / 1964 / Blue Note Gil Scott-Heron / I’m New Here / 2010 / XL Recordings Freedom Rhythm and Sound / Revolutionary Jazz 1963 - 1982 / 2009 / Soul Jazz Cannonball Adderly / Mercy Mercy Mercy / 1966 / EMI John Coltrane / A Love Supreme / 1965 / Impulse!
NICK BIRKBY / 44. My involvement with music started in my teens playing guitar in bands and finally during my twenties attending UCT’s jazz program and MAPP music college. Around that time I got a job in a second-hand record shop called Outlaw Records, buying a lot of jazz funk records. Funk, soul and disco had a great niche audience and I began a three year residency DJing at The Magnet. It was a euphoric time in post election South Africa, the mid to late 90’s had an amazing sense of optimism and adventure. DJ culture and electronic music was also very new then, and by the late 90s I was playing many gigs a week, covering a lot of different genres. While there are certain jazz records I would buy on sight, my collecting has slowed down to around 5000 records. I still can’t walk past a second hand record bin without looking through it. Conroy Recorded Music Library / Rhythmic Underscores LP086 / 1972 / Berry Music Co. David Newman / Front Money / 1977 / Warner Bros. Records The Firesign Theater / I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus / 1971 / Columbia Lonnie Liston Smith and The Cosmic Echoes / Visions of a New World / 1975 / Flying Dutchman Bill Evans / You must Believe in Spring / 1981 / Warner Bros. The Jazz Crusaders / Old Socks, New Shoes / 1970 / Chisa
HEINO RETIEF / 29. I’ve never seen myself as much of a collector, although I’ve been digging up a lot of inspiring records over the years. I’d rather let the music speak for itself than make a fuss about it. This being said, I have a weakness for obscure garage comps and bands that make me want to write music. I’ve played in a few garage bands, including The Revelators and The Future Primitives, and I’m currently fronting The Gumbo Ya-Ya’s. I occasionally host 60s revival parties where I just spin snotty garage and early psychedelic rock and roll that I can blame for whatever I get up to with a guitar.
The Gruesomes / Jack The Riper 7” / 1986 / Primitive Records The Gories / House Rockin / 1989 / Fanclub Records The Cramps / The Smell of Female / 1983 / Big Beat Records The Iguanas / Compilation / 1996 /Norton Records The Black Lips / 2003 / Bomp! Records Back from the Grave Vol I / 2006 / Crypt Records
WENTZEL / 31. When I was younger my mom and dad had a small record and cassette collection of mostly rock classics. When they lost interest in those outdated formats I inherited their collection. In 2012 I started trading in records from Deluxe Coffee Works, where I used to be a ‘Coffee Man’ hence the name Roastin” Records. The business grew rapidly riding the new wave of record collecting where one could all of a sudden find your favourite newer albums on vinyl. Even Musica started stocking records again. I chose to stock more obscure titles to stay within a niche market. The Roastin’ Records label started when I met the Make-Overs, they came down to play a show in Cape Town and we chatted about doing a collaborative vinyl release. I now run all operations from The Eye in Cape Town. Neil Young / Harvest Moon / 1992 / Reprise Van Morrison / Astral Weeks cassette / 1968 / Warner Bros. Joanna Newsom / Ys / 2006 / Drag City The Blood Brothers / …Burn, Piano Island, Burn / 2003 / Reincarnate Music Led Zeppelin / Led Zeppelin II / 1969 / Atlantic The Knife / Silent Shout / 2006 / Rabid
JEANNE MARIÉ CILLIERS / 33. I have always had a strong interest in music, my earliest memory of collecting vinyl was buying Carole Kings’s Tapestry and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA at a thrift store in Stellenbosch at the age of 12. My parents had just bought a system with a cd player, double tape deck and turntable all in one and I still have it to this day. My collection grew when I moved to Cape Town and worked at a record store in town. In 2013 I co-founded Sugar Vinyl Record Store in Stellenbosch. Music makes people happy and we supply the happiness! We buy, sell and trade in vinyl records, cd’s, cassettes and books. The store hosted and recorded The Live Sugar Vinyl Sessions that’s currently online and I occasionally play vinyl out at parties, outdoor markets and venues in and around Stellenbosch. Sunny & Cher and Friends / Baby Don’t Go / 1964 / Reprise Ruby Starr & the Grey Ghost / 1975 / Capitol Records Electric Light Orchestra / Time / 1981 / Jet Canned Heat / Boogie with Canned Heat / 1968 / Liberty Mamas and Papas / 20 greatest Hits / 1973 / Dunhill The Ventures / On Stag Around the World / 1967 / Liberty
JUMBO / 66. London 1972, I first worked in Virgin Records shops before moving to the label when it started. When I left Virgin in 1982 I started DJing to promote records I was importing from Paris and Lagos, along with music from my own label, Earthworks. A DJ friend was upgrading to Technics and gave me a rig he had built out of wood, 2 Garrard turntables and a Radio Shack mixer. I played at musician/promoter Julian Bahula’s TSAfrica nights at the 100 Club in London, playing african tunes before and after the bands played. Most memorable nights were Hugh Masekela’s Technobush gigs and Zimbabwe’s Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited UK debut. Record company duties kept me busy in the 90’s but I did manage to do a regular fill in for DJ friend Dave Hucker’s latin nights, Upstairs at Ronnie Scott. Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Roy Ayers / Music of many Colours / 1980 / Phonodisk Peter Tosh / Equal Rights / 1977 / CBS Franco Luambo Makiadi & his O.K. Jazz / Live Recordings of the Afro European Tour / 1977 / African Mahlathini & Mahotella Queens / Paris Soweto / 1987 / Gallo Liberation Southafrica - Freedom Songs / 1978 / Safco Records Star Band De Dakar / Star Band Dakar Vol. 1 / 1970s / Soumbouya Musique
STEPHEN“SUGAR” SEGERMAN / 60. I was born in Johannesburg and have been listening to and collecting vinyl since the mid-’50’s. In 1997 I moved to cape Town and set up a website called ‘The Great Rodriguez Hunt’ with the intention of finding any information about the US musician of ‘Cold Fact’ fame. Working with Craig Bartholomew Strydom eventually lead to the discovery of Rodriguez in 1998, the premise for the ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ documentary. In 2003 Jacques Vosloo, the owner of Mabu Vinyl, rented me the pavement outside his premises in Kloof Street to start my second hand CD stall. After a few years we became partners in the shop, later moving it to its current Rheede Street location. The Blue Trommel Basement, which Jacques and I run from my house in Oranjezicht, is an offshoot of the shop catering to serious vinyl collectors with its trommels filled with top quality collectable vinyl. John Wizards / 2013 / Planet Mu The Doors / L.A. Women / 1971 / Elektra Van Morrison / Astral Weeks & Moondance Double Feature/ 1968 & 1970 / Warner Bros. Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits / 1967 / Columbia The Beatles / Abby Road / 1969 / Apple Rodriguez / Cold Fact / 1970 / Sussex
LUCIEN KLOECKNER / 39. My love of music started with a C90 of Appetite For Destruction but was cemented by my first LP - Somewhere In Time. Obsession kicked in when I bought my first The Sisters Of Mercy record and has led me into basements and back alleys of some of the most beautiful cities in the world. They have kept me awake late into the night at night clubs, bars and mostly at home. Every record I own has a story and the potential to make me feel, think and move. You might read a good book a few times but a good record will be listened to forever.
Pulp / Different Class / 1995 / Island Iron Maiden / Somewhere in Time / 1986 / EMI New Model Army / Thunder and Consolation / 1989 / EMI Sisters of Mercy / Floodland / 1987 / Mercifal Realease/WEA Guns N’ Roses / Appetite for Destruction / 1987 / Greffen Nirvana / Nevermind / 1991 / DGC
STEFAN NAUDE / 38. My earliest memory of using electronic equipment by myself was flipping the record on our BLAUPUNKT hi fi system. It was a one piece flat bed with a tape player on the side which I later realized could be use to record music with. It was a magical experience and I spent hours contemplating how the sound was locked into those grooves and experimenting with the limited amount of LP’s we had in the house. To me they are like short history books, documenting life from all different aspects through music, noise and lyrics. I study the covers for hours imagining the life they had before I had owned them. Some people go out looking for records but most of my records have come to me through time and circumstance with a sense of knowing that I am only looking after them for someone else. Gary Numan / The Pleasure Principle / 1979 / Beggars Banquet Slayer / Show No Mercy / 1983 / Metal Blade Records The Invaders / Shockwave / 1967 / Philips Robert Fripp / The League of Gentlemen / 1981 / EG Records Oscar Peterson and Count Basie / Satch and Josh / 1974 / Pablo Public Image Ltd / Metal Box/ 1979/ Virgin
ROULEAUX VAN DER MERWE / 33. Music has been part of my life since I can remember. My first musical obsession was a David Kramer cassette tape. I started collecting CDs in my early teens and started collecting vinyl in my mid 20’s. Now I collect all musical formats. I run an independent record label called PERMANENT RECORD and sometime DJ under the label’s name. The label was founded in late 2014, with the aim of providing a platform for local artists to release their music on vinyl. Not bound by any genre, PERMANENT RECORD strives to publish relevant South African artists. As such, the label focuses strongly on originality at the expense of following music trends. Sleep / Dopesmoker / 2003 / Tee Pee Jericho / Jericho / 1972 / A&M Records Fugazi / Margin Walker EP / 1989 / Discord Violent Femmes / 1983 / Slash Hawkwind / Doremi Fasol Latido / 1972 / Untied Artists Neil Young / Time Fades Away / 1973 / Reprise
BRIAN ADAMS / 50. I have been collecting LP’s since 1982, aged 17, and I am still addicted to the thrill of finding a new record. I used to DJ at parties on the Cape Flats in the ‘80 s playing New York disco from record labels like Salsoul and Prelude. 12” singles were much sort after for their extended rare version of the track. I started trading vinyl at Greenmarket Square in 1990 and I am still trading today, expanding my business to the Hout Bay Market. I often travel to Record Fairs in Europe where I trade in rare South African pressings of UK bands. Today I enjoy playing out at Future Nostalgia, a vinyl spinning night in Cape town, where you get to play and introduce your rare and favorite LP’s to a discerning crowd of vinyl junkies. Here I like to play mostly early obscure local Jazz and early American blues. The Smiths / The World Won’t Listen / 1987 / Rough Trade Curtis Blows / 1979 / Mercury/Ploygram Records Van Morrison / Astral Weeks / 1986 / Warner Bros. 98.7 Kiss FM Presents Shep Pettibone’s Mastermixes / 1982 / Ram Horn Records Joy Division / Unknown Pleasures / 1979 / Factory Teddy Pendergrass / Teddy / 1979 / Philadelphia International Records
MANDY ROBINSON / 36. I started collecting records around 2009 after I returned from London where I spent my money on live music and traveling to watch shows around Europe. My DJ name is Polly Chalmers and I used to DJ at the Shake Some Action Parties. I sometimes play my records on the Wrong Rock Show (Bush radio) and at the odd Stoep & Swing or Roasting Records party. I wouldn’t call myself a DJ though - I just like to play my 45s out for other people to hear. I plan a trip oversees once a year so I can watch gigs and buy music. I am going to Tokyo this year. I collect mostly 77 punk, post punk, 60’s garage, old school rhythm and blues, soul, trashy garage and rock ‘n roll but I am always exploring new genres. Punk 45 Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself / 1973 - 1980 Vol.1/ Soul Jazz Records Nervous Eaters / Loretta 7 “ / 1976 / Rat Records Lime Spiders / Out of Control / 1985 / Citadel The Saints / (I’m) Stranded / 1977 / Sire Back From the Grave / Vol. 7 / 1988 / Crypt Devo / Social Fools 7 “ / 1978 / Stiff Records
BEAUMONT COOPER / 62. Give me a few beers and I can talk all day about my love of music, especially the period 1953 to 1969. Truth be told some records that I treasure most are post Woodstock ‘69 right up until today. So I guess I fall into that category ‘I like all kinds of music’. However, don’t ask me to sit in your car whilst commercial radio is on. There’s a definite line between Shit and Good Shit. When I left school in ‘69 I joined the Teal Record Company. I stayed on board for 37 years, throughout all the industry changes. Fortunately I had access to any vinyl my heart desired. The six depicted here are an indication of where my music taste lies. Blues, rock, bluegrass,country, avant-garde, esoteric, and novelty records make up the rest. I could waffle on all day but then again, I’m gonna need those beers. Love Revisited /1970 / Elektra Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention / We’re were only in it for the Money / 1967 / Verve Elvis Presley / 1956 / RCA Victor Otis Waygood Blues Band / 1970 /Parlophone The Stooges / 1969 / Elektra Trout Mask Replica / Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band / 1969 / Straight Records
MIGHTY / 33. Music creates within me a feeling of deep spiritual love and peace, to a level where music is my guidance and umbrella. This musical feeling is with me always, not just when I listen. It saved me from a potentially troubled life and has taught me humility. The first musical feeling I can remember was growing up in Bloemfontein and the Eastern Cape during the riots in the 80’s. I gravitated towards the protest songs and the energy in which they were delivered. Around that time my uncles were working in the mines in Johannesburg. They would return home each year with a massive record collection of mostly maskandi music. As kids we stayed up all night listening to their records with them. I have never seen myself as a DJ but as a listener. The listening sessions I have at home become my sets, not playing to the crowds but rather to my spiritual respect of music. Raphael Saadiq / Instant Vintage / 2002 / Universal Records Sun Ra Arkestra / Hours After / 1989 / Black Saint Gabor Szabo / Dreams / 1968 / Skye Records Slipper / Invisible Movies / 2000 / Rephlex D’Angelo / Voodoo / 2000 / Virgin Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari / Grounation / 1973 / MRR Records
LAURENT PHILLIP LEMOINE / 49. The first LP my folks bought me, along with a portable record player, was Bread’s On The Waters which I played to death. In school I went through all the ‘normal’ phases rock, alternative, punk, then back to rock. Forced into the army I came out clueless on what to do next and broke. I started trading my out of control LP collection to pay the rent and feed my vinyl habit and slowly built Revolution Records to where it is today. These days I deal with clients all over the world. It’s hard to nail down any specific artist or group that I consider my favorite, it’s all mood dependent really. As we all know whiskey goes with blues, Zappa goes with anything. Many people think I have a massive personal record collection at home or in a top secret location, nope, I have about 14 LP’s. The record shop is my collection. Black Sabbath / Master of Reality / 1971 / Vertigo Beggar’s Opera / Act One / 1970 / Vertigo King Crimson / In the Court of the Crimson King / 1969 / Island Miles Davis and John Coltrane / Play Richard Rodgers / 1963 / Fontana The Beatles / Rubber Soul / 1965 / Parlophone Muddy “Mississippi” Waters / Live / Blue Sky Records
℗&© Hayden Phipps The Lake Publishing Permanent Record