The British Private Press

If I see a UK Private Press LP, I have to buy it. The good ones are few and far between, but, as the majority of them cost about twenty five pence, they find their way home with me regardless.

Up here in my adopted home of the North, most of them are either by brass bands or acts which played the working man's club circuit. The LP's would be recorded in a day, pressed in small quantities and sold out of a box or the back of a car after a show. They are almost always autographed*.

'They Call Us...Aloma and Jones' features a piano / keyboards and harp (!) duo and bland little girl vocals. The best track is probably their slightly souped up version of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow', but that doesn't mean it's any bloody good. The label doesn't have a date on it, but, judging by the presence of a cover of the Demis Roussos hit 'Forever and Ever', I'd estimate 1977.

The sleeve notes are more interesting than the record itself:

'It was all meant to be so different. At the time of our first acquaintance we were both about to embark on classical careers at colleges of music. However, we drifted apart and so did our musical tastes. Aloma took her harp back to the folk and country and western influence of Wales and I and my piano entered the scene of Liverpool pop groups and a particularly outrageous rock and roll band.

Strangely we came together again and this LP is the result. We hope you like it...they call us...ALOMA and JONES'. 

I expect that you might want to hear Aloma and Jones but, honestly, I wouldn't waste your time. It's played well, but it's extremely boring, and it is simply not worth the effort of me ripping and posting their version of, say, 'Amazing Grace' or 'Island In The Sun', for you to find that out for yourself.

I do like the cover though, where do you think it was taken - Southport, Lytham or Caister?

* The laminated sleeve was grubby on this LP, so I gave it a quick going over with a wet wipe, accidentally obliterating the felt tipped signatures that had clung to its surface for over thirty years. Oops. I hope it doesn't affect the resale price - in fact, I've probably made it rarer.