Upgrades

An interesting process that I have recently discovered about the MVSEP programme, which is what I use to extract horns from Chicago songs among other things, is that it has a function to split out speech, music and effects from a track, and if you run a scratchy 7" single through it, then it thinks that all the clicks, pops and surface noise are special effects, and it removes them. I have therefore been able to clean up a lot of old 7" vinyl that I've either bought for these posts, or found on youtube in less than pristine condition, and so I'm posting all of the ones that I can remember, which I've cleaned up and put in one 'Upgrades' folder. You can download from Soulseek, searching upgrades aiwe, or Mega, and then just take the tracks that you need and slot them into your folders. I've also replaced the old tracks in the original Soulseek and Mega files for anyone who hasn't tried these artists yet. 

Upgrades so far are:

Albert Lee - ...and on guitar
B. J. Arnau - Make It With You

Truly Smith - Yours Truly
I Love Him

GUNK - Bloomdido - applause during the tracks removed 

Speak No Evil

Bloomdido

Litha

Bill Oddie - Oddieties

Because She Is My Love

TV Heroes

Cockney Rebel

Face To Face - new rip and cleaned up

The Bevis Frond

Sexorcist - new rip and cleaned up

Design

Won't You Say You Love Me

Never Been In Love Like This Before

If you find any others while playing the albums then let me know and I'll see if I can improve their quality. 

UPDATES

I've been listening to some of my old albums through headphones over the summer, and I've spotted a few things that weren't as noticeable as when listening through speakers, so I've fixed them and updated the files. 

Penetration - Movement (1979) - The track V.I.P. was only audible through the left channel, with the right just having an intermittent thumping noise, so I've replaced the whole track.

Red Noise - Wonder Toys (1979) - The beginning of 'Substitute Flesh' was slightyl louder than the rest of the track, so I've reduced the volume to match the rest of the recording.

Truly Yours - Truly Smith (1968) - 'I Love Him' was ripped from a very scratchy vinyl single, so I've run it through that de-clicking programme that I found - twice!

...and on guitar - Albert Lee (1974) - 'Make It With You' by B J Arnau was also ripped from a scratchy record, so I've run that through the de-clicking programme as well. 

Redemption Songs - Stevie Wonder (2010) - The ending to the track '(You're My) Dream Come True' was quite sudden, and odd that it changed tempo for just a few seconds before the end, so I've faded it to make it sound better.  

Medicine Jack - The Waterboys (1984) - When I put this album together, for some reason I sequenced all three instrumentals one after the other, whereas it would have been better to have them spread out through the album, which is what I've now done.    

All files are updated, so Soulseekers can download the individual tracks as usual, and the whole Waterboys album if you can't re-tag the tracks yourself, and for people who use Yandex there is a new folder with all of these updates in it, so just take what you want and dump the rest. 

pj

Truly Smith - Yours, Truly (1968)

Truly Smith was born Josephine Taylor in 1950, in Dallam in Warrington, in the North West of England, and her interest in music began when she worked behind the counter in Dawson's Record Shop. She also sang at the Club del Sol in Manchester, impressing the club's owner Harvey Livingstone, and in 1966 she auditioned for Noel Walker, who was an A&R man for Decca Records. Decca offered her a contract, and chose the name Truly Smith for her first recording with them, Tony Hatch's 'Love Is Me, Love Is You', which was backed with 'My Smile Is Just A Frown Turned Upside Down'. In June 1966 she released the Les Reed/Barry Mason ballad 'I Love Him', with the traditional 'Buttermilk Hill' on the flip, and this was followed by another ballad, this time from Italy, with 'You Are The Love Of My Life'/'The Merry-go-round Is Slowing You Down'. In 1966, the French Decca label decided to issue an E.P. of four songs, including both sides of her debut single, plus 'You Are The Love Of My Life' and 'He Belongs To Me'. This French release coincided with Smith having more exposure across Europe, including an appearance on 'The Dave Berry Show', which was screened on Belgian T.V. Her next UK single was in 1967, with Bacharach/David's 'Windows And Doors', coupled with 'Take A Broken Heart', and this was followed by another Motown song, 'I Wanna Go Back There Again', which was one of her finest records. Her final release on Decca was 'The Boy From Chelsea', with Goffin/King's 'Little Man With A Stick' on the b-side. Despite recording some fine records for the label, Decca didn't renew her contract, and so she signed to MGM Records for one final single in 1968, the Flett/Fletcher song 'This Is The First Time', backed with Mike Hurst's 'Taking Time Off'. This was to be her last single, after which she left the music industry to move into teaching, later becoming Headmistress of a school in Alnwick, Northumberland. As there isn't currently a comprehensive collection of the work of Truly Smith, then here it is. 

Track listing

01 Love Is Me, Love Is You (Single 1966)

02 My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down) (b-side of 'Love Is Me, Love Is You') 

03 I Love Him (single 1966)

04 Buttermilk Hill (b-side of 'I Love Him')

05 Windows And Doors (single 1967)

06 Take A Broken Heart (b-side of 'Windows And Doors')

07 You Are The Love Of My Life (single 1967)

08 The Merry-Go-Round Is Slowing You Down (b-side of 'You Are The Love Of My Life') 

09 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (single 1967)

10 I Wanna Go Back There Again (single 1967)

11 He Belongs To Me (b-side of 'Love Is Me, Love Is You' French EP 1967)

12 The Boy From Chelsea (single 1967)

13 Little Man With A Stick (b-side of 'The Boy From Chelsea')

14 This Is The First Time (single 1968)

15 Taking Time Off (b-side of 'This Is The First Time') 

For more information on the career of Truly Smith then check out this great site trulysmith.webs.com