A Top Sounds release - our first Alphabeat being a vivid example - is the consummation of months of research and the tracking down of obscure music, the locating and subsequent input / co-operation of musicians concerned and then the labour of creating a period flavoured package that does justice to the lost gems unearthed. The music is professionally restored to the best standards possible and the relevant official bodies are paid, and all this will help to explain why a Top Sounds release takes longer to realize than Sgt. Pepper!
The label was instigated and is run by Nigel Lees, who began seriously collecting 60s records in 1981 at the ripe young age of 12. As with most who trod a similar path I began with the established artists of the era, though I always remember 1982 as a pivotal year when from the famed Collectors Records store in Blackpool I bought Revolution by Tomorrow and Making Time by the Creation [leaving a mint copy of Kaleidoscopes Tangerine Dream at the same time because my pocket money wouldnt stretch to the enormous £25 asked!]. Co-inciding with the embryonic compilations that were appearing at the time [Action, Misunderstood, Johns Children etc] and the reading of one or two key publications, the ball indeed began to roll.
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.
At the time of writing this the second album and CD are imminent, a compilation of performances recorded for the BBC between 1967 and 1969. Shapes And Sounds - Orange And Red Beams From The BBC Archives 1967 - 1969 is something of a first, since a legitimate various artists compilation of BBC sessions by 60s groups has not I believe been attempted since the Beebs own Top Gear album in 1969 [corrections on a postcard please].
So there in essence is the world of Top Sounds, a slow but sure archaeological dig into the UKs 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 wed love to hear from you!
All the best and keep the flags flying!
Nigel Lees
