Here we go a little off-topic and talk about some of the marvellous music from my past. We’ll return with regular scheduled programming in the next video, but first I wanted to show you a few old records that brought back some lovely memories.

I’ve been rearranging the room again, which means the console cabinet is looking rather empty. Most of the hardware has moved across to a bookshelf, and I’m thinking about fitting some doors to it and making the whole thing a darker colour. The original cabinet is a magnificent piece of furniture, but it’s not exactly the sort of thing you look forward to moving house with.

And yes, there are bird toys around the room too. Tillie is still here, although apparently not especially interested in participating in this particular video. That’s fine, because today’s subject is music rather than parrots or old Sega consoles.

The first record is a Fats Domino compilation released through the Philips Rainbow Records range. I can remember hearing this album on the family record player when I was little, and the colourful rainbow label spinning around in the centre has always stuck in my memory.

There’s some wonderful music on it, including favourites such as Blue Monday and I’m Walkin’. I don’t think you need to be particularly interested in record collecting to appreciate how good these recordings are. Fats Domino had an extraordinary style, and hearing those songs so early probably had quite an influence on my taste in music.

I’ve managed to acquire more than one copy of the album over the years. I originally thought I’d lost the childhood copy completely, so I went hunting for replacements. Naturally, once you’ve got two versions of something, it becomes rather difficult to remember which one you actually started with.

There are some other Fats Domino releases here too, including older American pressings and a rather colourful picture disc. The sleeves have different artwork and notes on the back, and it’s interesting seeing how the records were presented in different countries and at different times.

I had a look at some of the track listings and the little bits of history printed on the sleeves. Some of the covers have clearly seen better days, but that’s part of the charm of old records. They’ve been handled, played and carried around for decades, and occasionally they still have an interesting story to tell.

Unfortunately, I don’t really have the space to keep an enormous vinyl collection. I’d considered buying another record player and setting everything up properly, but that hasn’t happened. There’s only so much room available once you’ve filled the house with retro computers, consoles and all the accessories that go with them.

So some of these records will probably find their way to a charity shop or another home where somebody can enjoy them. I’d rather they were listened to than spend years sitting in a cupboard simply because I happen to remember them fondly.

That’s my little musical diversion for today. Sometimes it’s nice to talk about something completely different, particularly when it brings back memories of childhood and the records that were playing around the house. Gotta love nostalgia! :)

Fats Domino, what a legend! Now back to the regularly scheduled McRetro chaos.