(Continued)

I began doing retrospective record reviews for a long defunct fanzine called ‘A Letter From Home’ in I think 1989 and in 1997, I was asked to write an article on British Psych records for the ‘Record Collector’ magazine - a piece which, with contributions eventually from David Wells and Andy Davis, mutated into the huge monster that became ‘The British Psychedelic Trip’ series and ultimately ran for some 4 years! During this time I began to help another record label with their ongoing excavations of 60s material but there came a point where this became unsatisfactory, hence the birth of Top Sounds in 2004.

As of March 2008 the third album is out on both vinyl and CD, another compilation of performances recorded for the BBC between 1967 and 1971. 'Shapes And Sounds Volume Two - Shades Of Deepest Purple From The BBC Archives 1967 - 1971' carries on in the tradition set by the previous volume, and features a completely new selection of groups. So look out now for Volume Three! (but as usual you'll have to wait a bit.........)

So there in essence is the world of Top Sounds, a slow but sure archaeological dig into the UK’s lost pop archives and if anyone reading this has any interesting stuff that you think may fit the bill - i.e off air live BBC recordings, acetates etc - then please get in touch as we’d love to hear from you!

All the best and keep the flags flying!

Nigel Lees

Director.