Heilende Rhytmen

Monday, 26 February 2007

Most of my record collection is not very unique. There are many people who have better collections of the stuff that I keep on my shelves. But there are a few exceptions, like advertising records for example.
I began collecting Dutch advertisement records long before there was serious competition. Today there is not much to be found anymore and the prices are often beyond my budget. But 20 years ago I often came home with piles of advertisement records for a few cents each. Because I had so many of these records I traded them per box with other collectors.
From Marcus Wilkens (who owns over 1500 German advertisement records alone) I got a lot of great German records. In Germany they made some real cool pop tunes for 70’s advertisement records and some of them are re-released on two LP’s/CD’s by Crippled Dick Records. (You can hear some sound samples here.
I especially love paper flexi records, like the series that Bayer produced in the mid 60’s.
It are six (or maybe more) square carton 7 inch records, with mini documentaries on healing rituals from all corners of the world. On the records are ads for modern ways to cure illnesses: with medicines from Bayer. I find the contrast almost embarrassing, but the records are beautiful.
The recordings of the rituals seem to be authentic. That is what started me collecting advertisement records: you can find the most unexpected sounds on these records. Here is a Geisterbeschworung in Boralesgamuwa, Ceylon.