Ray Russell was not at the crossroads when Robert Johnson met the devil, and he didn’t see Elvis Presley perform live. He wasn’t at Woodstock, or Altamont, or on the roof of the Apple Building. To his enduring frustration, he didn’t get to see The Sex Pistols in Manchester at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, because he was only ten years old.

 

There will be many others who are just as passionate about music as Russell, who also failed to be in the audience at seminal moments in music history. But, like him, they own records that mean the world to them, and have seen bands play who blew them away. The point is, we all treasure our own personal musical histories because they enrich our lives. This book is a celebration of being a committed music fan.

 

He formed a band at seventeen and discovered he couldn’t sing. Close friends released a record which used his lyrics, but John Peel played another of their songs. He ran a record label for a month, worked in a record shop and has released a few records of his own music.

 

Buy the book direct from Tartarus Press

 

Reviews:

 

"He recognises that the pop which plays on repeat in the string sections of our heart is invariably that which plays out the soundtrack of our lives . . . there can surely be few more delightful ways to wile away one’s evening than in Russell’s welcoming company". Desmond Bullen, Northern Soul

 

"Fifty Forgotten Records is, like its bibliophile predecessor, a very personal, intimate book,. . . above all, a journey of discovery, because Russell's knack for good music allows one to repeatedly stop a song mentioned in the book to search on the web and assemble your reading soundtrack yourself. Everyone, really anyone, will make new discoveries on this, which they have never heard of before." Gerrit Wustmann, Rocks!