12/14/12

SID GRIFFIN BUYS LUNCH DAY - SAT DEC 15

norton_header_2011-1
little-rascals_4_l

SID GRIFFIN BUYS LUNCH DAY - SAT DEC 15

Norton is still looking for more volunteers to assist with our rebuilding effort after the big blow from Hurricane Sandy. This Saturday from 11AM-10PM we will be working at our Prospect Heights, Brooklyn office drying and sleeving clean 45RPM records. We can REALLY use as many folks as possible so we can get Norton running full time again. The effort by volunteers has been incredible and we could not have dreamed of getting this far without the good will of those who’ve donated their time to our cause. WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER!
The special feature of this Saturday’s event will be that Sid Griffin, esteemed musician (Long Ryders/Coal Porters) and author (Gram Parsons bio) has offered to buy lunch for all those in attendance. This is an amazing gesture from Sid and those of you who pitch in here will not be sorry – a guaranteed Grade A meal!
Seriously folks, at this stage of our effort, it’s crucial that we get over this big hurdle on the seven inchers. If you can help this Saturday, please e-mail Norton Records at nortonrec@aol.com with VOLUNTEER in the subject line or call(718) 789-4438 or (917) 671-7185. No facebook or text replies please. We will provide the address and directions if you need them.

MARSHALL CRENSHAW NORTON RADIO BLAST

Speaking of esteemed music makers, Marshall Crenshaw hosts an all-Norton radio broadcast this Saturday night on
WFUV, 90.7 on your dial in the Tri-State area.
The crazy bidding has begun - high bid is $150!! You have till 12 PM CST on December 18 for a chance to win a Norton Crazy Date 45 and Dave Reynolds/Crazy Teens silver gelatin reprint both signed by Mr Crazy Date himself, Dave Reynolds. Dave doesn't do public signings, so you won't see another one of these folks! All proceeds go to Norton! Thanks to Bama Blasters Sylvia and Lars!
203559_388711034539577_107226637_n
ROY LONEY & THE PHANTOM MOVERS (Flamin' Groovies)
OVERWHELMING COLORFAST w/SPECIAL GUEST GUITARIST CYRIL JORDAN (Flamin' Groovies)
THE CHUCKLEBERRYS (All-star rockin' lineup feat. Russell Quan, Jay Rosen, David Kurtz, & Dave Seabury!)
THE TOMORROWMEN - Killer East Bay surf w/Ferenc Dobronyi & Danny Snyder!
DIRTY ROBBERS - An all-star tribute to The Sonics, featuring Paul Martin of 80's NYC garage rockers THE VIPERS, & members of THE HAMPTON WICKS!
RUE '66 (ex Cat Heads) - 60's French Pop Ye' Ye'
Special appearance by THE DEVIL-ETTES
  • DJ's Ruby White and Sid Presley!
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2012
Elbo Room
647 Valencia (Between 17th and 18th Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Doors 2p
Bands 2:30p
21+
Suggested donation $7-10

NEW YORK NORTON RECORDS BENEFIT SHOW!

January 11 The Bell House, Brooklyn. Reigning Sound, Swingin’ Neckbreakers and Daddy Long Legs with DJs Billy and Miriam of Norton Records. Details coming soon!
Thanks to all the Nortonians who are holding benefits and other special events. lPlease join the Norton Records facebook group and keep up with late breakin’ news -

Bene-blast update newsletter coming Sunday- watch for it!

• THANK-YOU, NORTONIANS • ONWARD! •

12/11/12

Hurricane Sandy -- Norton Needs Your Help!

   

norton_header_2011-1





For the first time in Norton’s history, we are asking for your help. It has been entirely against our policy and nature to ask anyone for anything, in the entire history of our magazine and label. It hurts us to even suggest that any of you who have supported the label and our artists by purchasing Norton records over the years, to support us over and above with a donation. But it has indeed come to this. We have added a donate button to our website.  Here’s the story. Every penny of what you donate will go into remanufacturing record jackets and sleeves for the vinyl that we salvage. No donation money will go into our day to day expenses so long as we can go forward on a minimal budget. If we get to the point where we cannot meet our monthly budget, we will ask again. But now, all donations go into getting the Norton label records back out to the public. We will write more about the procedure in days and weeks to come. Several people have benefits in the works, and we are grateful to you all. Send us any benefit links and we will post and propagate on the Norton site. If any of you are computer, website, internet geniuses, share your smart thoughts with us. 

Red Hook warehouse560       So, Norton Records and our print subsidiary Kicks Books has been savaged by Hurricane Sandy. Our stock and archive has been housed for the past seven years in Red Hook Brooklyn, at the historic Van Brunt Warehouses, pre-Civil War brick warehouses that were built to warehouse DRY GOODS -- tea, coffee, spices, and sugar. In fact the Domino Sugar Co. warehouse was right next to our place until recently, when their silo was torn down. There was no doubt in our minds that the Red Hook warehouse was secure-- it had withstood 150+ years of nature’s fury, after all. The insane and demonic combination of the hurricane, the high tide, the full moon and full-on interplanetary wrath resulted in a vortex that tore directly in through the waterways separating Brooklyn from Staten Island and straight into the island of Manhattan.  

 NortWarehouse2       Most of you know the history of the label. Billy Miller and myself (this is Miriam Linna here) started the label in 1986 as an audio offshoot of our Kicks Magazine which we had been publishing since 1979. The label is focused on music that has been forgotten by the main veins that feed the public. It’s been a struggle from the start but in celebrating the label’s 25th anniversary exactly one year ago, we truly felt that we have reached a point where we could at least continue with releasing records and exposing people to the greatest rock n roll on the planet. Here we are today, soaked to our skin with so much destruction. 


        Nearly all of the Norton Records stock – our label’s LPs, CDs, 45s, picture sleeves, CD booklets, record labels and more, as well as the stock on other labels we distribute including Relic, Crypt and Stompin’ merchandise plus mail order-only stock he entire Kicks Books and Kicks Magazine stock was destroyed. We have small existing quantities of things at our home office, but very little. Thankfully, two full printings of the latest Kicks Books, GETTING IN THE WIND by Harlan Ellison and LORD OF GARBAGE by Kim Fowley, are high and dry at the printer.  Also, our new releases are scheduled in as soon as trucks are rolling- several new El Paso volumes, T. Valentine and Daddy Long Legs, the Horror Of Party Beach guys The Dynamic Delaires ZOMBIE STOMP, and  Kim Fowley KING OF THE CREEPS LP/CD. Release date is Nov. 20 for all things new.


 NortWarehouse8       Our entire Norton archive went underwater, including all of our correspondence, photos, documents, reviews, master tapes, ephemera, posters, including at least ¾’s of my vintage paperback collection (several thousand books) and virtually all of the old magazines and fanzines which went back to the 1940’s, again, numbering into the several thousands, interview tapes, 25 years of correspondences with Norton artists, original photographs, original rock n’ roll and movie posters, Norton business records, family items, furniture, musical equipment, my Del-Aires-owned 1962 Slingerland drum kit (Ironically we have just released the Del-Aires LP, after years in the process--!-- I’m goint to drag the kit out of the swampy rubble today, having set it to drain last week. If it’s bent and banged, so be it. Maybe it’ll be a new even more “warped sound” for the A-Bones and Figures of Light), recording equipment, our 1948 Lady Robin Hood pinball machine, Billy’s baseball collection….all waterlogged, and mos of it, if you will excuse the expressiton, dead in the water.
IMG_7564-223x300
        The shock and horror of the loss on every level is difficult to deal with, but we are clinging to the hope of surviving as a label by saving the records. We will them proceed with re-manufacturing 7” sleeves and LP jackets one title at a time. 
We are hoping to still ship new releases by November 20th, and hope you guys and gals will get aboard with these releases, as we try very hard to get on track.



 Dust_and_Grooves_1595
        We have a mind boggling 2013 release schedule for Norton Records and Kicks Books and it’s our hope that we can still DO IT. Billy’s Ultimate Kim Fowley Singles Discography 1959-1970 which was scheduled to appear on our website to coincide with Kim’s new book and album has been postponed indefinitely. We thank our friends at Interfuel who have worked diligently to launch our new website, which is on hold right now until we can assess what we need to remove from availability.

 NortWarehouse3    
     We ask a few questions- can you people deal with 45’s without sleeves? In other words, will you buy our 45s if they just have white sleeves right now?--it will take a long time and a lot of long green to get new sleeves made for all of them. Please let us know if any of you geniuses have ideas on how we can carry on, or move forward. We think if we get even a few volunteers with scanners and laptops and maybe drying space who can help dry documents and scan them. Maybe one person would be willing to take a few artist files, separate and hang them to dry and then scan them...how does that sound? That’s one thing that is a race against the clock. But vital is getting the vinyl washed and dried and re-sleeved.

VOLUNTEERS

Dust_and_Grooves_1658    Dust_and_Grooves_1664

        We could not have even gotten this far without the help of so many amazing volunteers – friends, family, neighbors and complete strangers. Fellow record companies like Sundazed, Daptone, Telstar (US) and even Sony Legacy have sent their able people over to provide their muscle and hustle. Norton Records is still in desperate need of volunteers to clean vinyl. Some much needed good news - the wonderful folks at the Spin-Clean Record Washer Company have donated a dozen record washing machines and gallons of cleaning fluid to help our cause. We can’t thank them enough as this will speed up our recovery process. If you would like to volunteer with our salvaging effort and clean records at our Prospect Height, Brooklyn office any day or time between 11AM-11PM,  please e-mail us at nortonrec@aol.com with VOLUNTEER in the subject line or call 718-789-4438 (office) or 917-671-7185 (Billy’s cell phone) and we will give you directions and updated information. No text or facebook replies for volunteering please.

                                    CleanUp3

       Major thanks also to Daile Kaplan from Swann Galleries for getting us into a new dry space and to out great neighbors and friends.

And remember...YOU CAN’T DROWN THE LOUD SOUND!

Thank You, 
The Norton Staff

PLEASE SHARE

Incase you want to read up about whats happening at Norton from other sources here are the links:





12/8/12

Norton Needs YOU! Manitoba Auction Sunday!

norton_header_2011-1


8767_387224061360903_291686713_n
Thanks, Stompino Ungawa!

NORTON RECORDS STILL SEEKS VOLUNTEERS!

It's been forty days since Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Norton Records Red Hook, Brooklyn warehouse and destroyed nearly our entire stock. Thanks to the countless volunteers who helped during the first few weeks, we made a sizeable dent in bringing deeply doused LPs back to their former glory.
This is an ongoing effort. Now we are putting the call out once again for volunteers. Norton needs help at our office in Prospect Heights cleaning 45s. It’s crucial that we get on the singles as soon as possible!
Hours of operation are 11AM to 10PM every day starting Monday, December 10. If interested, please contact us at (718) 789-4438 or (917) 671-7185 and let us know the day and time that you are available to help. We will give you directions. Also you may e-mail us at nortonrec@aol.com - please type VOLUNTEER in the subject line. No texts or facebook responses please.

Please join the Norton Records facebook group and keep up with various worldwide Norton special events.
Thanks a ton to all you wax wombats who have provided muscle and hustle during this vinyl crisis!
Abbott-and-Costello1
Locals – see you TOMORROW -- SUNDAY DEC 9 at Manitoba’s Norton Records Auction Fundraiser- where tons of stuff from celebrities and collectors and local shops will be auctioned off by first time tag teamsters Handsome Dick Manitoba and Norton's own Billy Miller! Suggested admission donation is $20 is you can spare it, but come even if you can't spare the coin- a mere $5 entry will getcha White Castle hamburgers WHILE THEY LAST!!! Wild stuff from luminaries like Howie Pyro and Mickey Leigh, plus appliances (microwaves), dinners, records, boss threads, etc all go under the hammer starting at 4 PM! Happy Hour prices on drinks throughout the event!

Dig the new release action at the Norton Records website!

12/3/12

45 RPM Buff-A-Thon at The Bell House


norton_header_2011-1



276831_521520787861050_23065678_n



NORTON RECORDS 45 RPM Buff-A-Thon!
Calling all 45 RPM luvvin' volunteers!
One big night at the fabulous BELL HOUSE!!
149 7th Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
Wednesday, December 5th
5 to 11:45pm
FREE!
Lotsa Boss DJ's blastin' all nite long!
FREE ADMISSION KIDS!
THE HOUND (The Cold Blooded Hound!)
MICK COLLINS (Dirtbombs)
REX (Fool's Paradise, WFMU)
TODD-O-PHONIC TODD (Telstar Records)
DAVE THE SPAZZ (Music To Spazz By, WFMU)
LEAH BETH (Nouvellas)
DREW REDMOND (Metropolis Vintage)
AVI SPIVAK (Norton Records)
CHARLY HIMMEL (Norton Records)
NEIL DEVLIN (Norton Records)
Seven inch records clean infinitely faster than the LPs that we’ve done at the two Brooklyn Bowl Wash-A-Thons but there are a lot of them! Bring along some rolls of paper towels and a pair of plastic gloves and let's give the wax a rubdown! Norton's seven inchers got soaked by Sandy and all the boss picture sleeves are now history. Help us dip n' dry these sevens back into action- come on over and don't forget the elbow grease! Plenty of wild 45s will be spun all night long!