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Hey Reader,

Things I don’t miss about the past:

• Cassette tapes getting tangled up and ruining the mix-tape you made
• DJs talking over the end of songs when you tried to record the Top 40
• Rotary phones (who has time to wait for it to click all the way back round from 0)

Things I do miss about the past:

• Not being instantly contactable (leave me alone)
• Proper snow
• Listening to albums the way the artist intended

I’m so happy vinyl is making a comeback because that means today’s kids might have some idea of what it’s like to listen to an entire album from start to finish, studying the sleeve, and figuring out the story.

Because there are many many ways to tell a story and an album does it with music, lyrics, art, and everything that goes around the album.

Do you know what else kids should have access to?

Secret tracks.

Remember secret tracks? If you're a youngster reading this — hello welcome hi — maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about?

They’re like easter eggs for fans. Bit of a gimmick? Maybe. I don’t care. I loved them.

You’d buy an album, you’d listen to the entire album, you’d stop the record or the tape — and there it was. You’d see all that tape left at the end. Empty. Silent.

Why was it there?

That swathe of silence was often a good indication that if you kept listening, you’d be rewarded with a secret track.

The one that sticks in my head is All By My Myself by Green Day, at the end of their Dookie album. It’s Tre Cool, the drummer, playing guitar and singing at a party. Just a silly little ditty.

Oh, and Crowded House’s I’m Still Here (haha) at the end of Woodface.

Sometimes there’d be a “secret” unlisted track at the start, or in the middle, or on a B-side.

I don’t think they’re so much of a thing anymore; I was a 90s kid, and they were fun for us back then. Hard to hide a track when everything’s digital and on Spotify.

Here’s something else I miss: sleeve notes and sleeve art.

I know albums still have sleeve art, and social media has meant that imagery is still as important as ever — perhaps it’s expanded the scope of sleeve art — but for me, it doesn’t hold the same storytelling power as it used to.

There was something about opening up a new vinyl album or CD or cassette, and pulling out the sleeve, and opening it up, and finding all the goodies inside. Perhaps there’d be lyrics printed, or the songwriter’s original notes, or the backstory to each song.

And the album cover itself was often beautiful. One of my favourites is Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night. I’d spend hours staring at it and wondering what it’d be like in that world, with that music playing.

Albums always felt like a massive collaboration between musicians and artists, and it’ll all work together. Sometimes the musicians were the artists, and that was always really cool to learn, too.

So tell me, dear reader:

What’s your favourite album art?

How about the sleeve notes?

Any secret tracks I should know about?

Okay, time for the Friday Goodie Bag. You ready? Here’s what I’ve gathered for you:

The Liner Notes Project

In writing this email, I found this project, which sadly doesn’t contain the inner sleeves, but it does contain all the info for every album ever, I think. Or at least, it’s constantly updated. Not quite what I was after, but if you’re ever wondering about the contents of an album, start here.

Dorothy Porter, the librarian who decolonised the Dewey Decimal System

Have you heard of Dorothy Porter? Probably not, if you look like me. But she was an extraordinary bibliophile who worked as a librarian at the Howard University. She took a look at how books and authors were classified and said, “Absolutely not.” Thanks to her pioneering work, Black authors and white authors were no longer segregated, books stood on their topics and merits, not their race or class. And she began to dismantle the Christian supremacy of religious books, which were either “Christian” or “other” which is what happens when one white dude classifies stuff and nobody else questions it. Her work is still ongoing in libraries around the world.

Will we ever find the perfect way to classify books? Probably not, but it’s worth trying.

​Read more about this here.

How the media controls what we think

I’ve been writing a lot about getting off social media and onto people’s email lists, and reading books, and generally questioning everything — because mainstream media and social media is controlled by people with an agenda that almost certainly isn’t in our best interests. If you’re in any doubt at all as to whether those people with a sinister agenda are controlling what we think, check out this story Jameela Jamil shared.

She had a great time on a chat show, and the Daily Fail (well known hateful, spiteful, misogynistic, racist shitrag) spun it as her being rude to her hosts. She was not. They took one negative comment made online among thousands of positive ones, and used that one as their clickbait, ragebait, hateful headline.

Be careful where you get your information, and take the time and effort to check your sources.

The menopause by Fleabag

My friend Jocelyn (hiiii) sent me this clip yesterday when we were talking about women’s health and pain and our treatment (and mistreatment) in the medical system, and I think this clip is magnificent. It’s just a couple of minutes. Watch it here.

This beautiful slice of summer holidays

Erik Winkowski’s ZINEMAIL landed in my inbox just as I was writing this, and I just HAD to share it because it’s stunning. Please hit “play” on the little music player before you start scrolling, because the whole package is the most delightful sunny summer holiday day you can imagine. I defy you to feel miserable while experiencing this.

What I’m reading

Currently reading book 2 of The Expanse — Caliban’s War. I’m about to spend the rest of this summer diving deep into space opera, I think. Next up is Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels, because I’ve never read them. And Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries which have been on my list for a while. We’ll be listening to the first novella in the car on our way to our camping holiday…

What I’m writing

A new comedy bit based on my experiences at my hospital appointment yesterday. Nobody in the hospital appreciated my comedy stylings, but I’m sure an audience will…

Word of the day

takiwātanga

In Maori culture, this is how they refer to autism. It translates to “in his/her own time and space” and I cannot express fully how much I love this.

Perhaps use this as a thinking prompt to consider why and how western culture and medicine pathologises everything that deviates even slightly from the abitrarily accepted “norm” and the effect this has on real people.

Quote of the day

Preach.

Make new thought possible, friend. And have a beautiful weekend out there.

TTFN,

Vicky

p.s. want a good book to read about creativity if your brain fights you? Check out my book Don’t Eat the Frog. It’s really good. If you read it and enjoy it, please leave me a review. Ta!