Every now and then I get an email related to the BadCatRecords website.  Most of them are questions related to albums I have for sale.  Occasionally it's an artist, or a reader who wants to heap abuse on me for a review they don't like.  Hey, it's my opinion.  Nothing more than that.  And then once in a while I'll get something lnteresting:

ADDED December 19, 2025

Hello Scott!

For several years, I have been appreciating your many, and detailed, reviews over on RYM. Tonight I was checking what you had to say about a generally-forgettable band, Heather Black, as I'd been curious about one of their non-LP singles. Someone *finally* uploaded 'Circles' onto Youtube, and I was shocked how different it was from the rest of their material: proggy organ rock! So I was interested that you noted that as being their first single. They began with a song like that, then quickly went in several very different directions, few of the rest of which I was overly keen on.

Scrolling through your album cover blog, a little over halfway down is Debbie Harry's solo, KooKoo. Two things I thought I'd note.

First, to your 30,000 plus LPs you've had, the peak of my collection was a meager 23,000. That worked out to custom crates stacked eight high, covering 3 1/2 sides of a 10x20 storage unit, back when I had them. In the interior were boxes of yet more LPs awaiting yet more crates to be made to accommodate them; and my book collection. This worked out to a lot of record shop visits, years ago. I swear, that KooKoo album was one of the most common I ever came across; but *every* copy I ever saw was sealed. No exceptions, and so prevalent, I often reflected that, surely, it must rank with the all-time best-selling records, from any period of time. So...it sold huge; yet didn't sell at all? I know there are records that only exist in promo form (often as in the gold-stamp-in-a-cartouche vinyl releases from sometime, probably in the 70s), so, seemingly, zero were ever sold; but an hellacious number were pressed. This is making my brain hurt, over an LP I didn't even like until the third time I played it, 20 years later.

Secondly, I have not researched this, and won't, because unlike two of my favorite artists, I do not share an obsession, or even an interest, in Debbie, beyond enjoying just listening to Blondie (minus their last uninspired LP). I like some art of the bizarre, which to the point, here, means HR Giger...and Robert Williams. Williams had a definite. and unhidden obsession with Debbie Harry, and depicts her quite a few times in his paintings. So I tend to wonder: was *she* drawn to bizaart, and posed for G and W; or did they just draw her out of their personal interest? I will never know; but there sure seems to be a connection.

In closing, I clicked on your Discogs image in your website, but it isn't linked. Do you still sell there? Although I far prefer buying on Ebay, but will buy on Discogs if what I can't live without doesn't show on Ebay.

Thanks again for your reviews that have, time and again, indicated whether I should shell out massively for a record, avoid it, or only play that one cool song over and over until doomsday.

Mark

ADDED: July 06, 2025

Many of the BadCatRecords reviews include biographical information, though that material can be speculative.  And there are times when I just don't get my facts straight.  Witness this email from Venus and the Razorblades singer Dyan Diamond.  (Note I've updated the Dyan Diamond entry to reflect the required changes. Apologies Ms. Diamond.)

Hi,

Regarding your website's info on performer Dyan Diamond, Dyan and Roni Lee were two separate people. Dyan never performed under that name. Roni Lee was Dyan's replacement in Venus and the Razorblades, and was also a solo act herself. This misinformation about Dyan Diamond as Roni Lee, and vice versa, seems to be listed on a few websites, but is not factually accurate.

In addition, MCA Records actually didn't drop Dyan; she was contracted directly to producer Kim Fowley, not the record label. When Diamond opted out of renewing her contract with Fowley, the record deal with MCA automatically ended.

In angry retaliation for her opting out of their legal agreement, Fowley threatened Diamond that she'd never get another record deal as long as he was alive, but apparently the trauma of being contracted to Fowley outweighed her desire to remain in the music business.

She did go on to play live shows independently for a time, performing self-written new material under her own name, but never recorded professionally again. A very private person, Diamond retired from the music scene soon after to pursue a quieter life.

Thanks!

Dyan Diamond

ADDED: June 12, 2025

Hi - I just found your site when I was looking for info about the obscure band Beat of the Earth. What great detailed info. Nice!

Thanks! Mike Myers

ADDED: May 07, 2025

I got an unexpected package in the mail and when I opened it up I found a copy of a magazine I'd never heard of before - Record Time, No. 2  It's published by Scott Soriano with a score of interviews and reviews covering a mind-boggling array of known and obscure music acts.  Examples in this issue:  The Fantastic, Groundbreaking, Entertaining, Mind boggling, Gutsy, Unique, Tragic Story of Ray Borubon, Drag Pioneer; the Pansy Craze; Lavender Scare; Records and Changing Times.  The World of Sex Pistols Novelties and Swindles.  Enter the Dragon: Marc Boulet and the First Chinese Punk Band.  Shoot, I thought I was interested in obscure stuff.  By the way, issue No. 3 has subsequently been published.

Scott added a brief note to the magazine - "Hi there - when researching records I often find myself on BadCatRecords and enjoy what I read.  Hope you dig my contribution."

Here's a link to the magazine: https://recordtimeorg.wordpress.com/   

ADDED:  APRIL 23, 2025

I couldn't have made this up and it certain made me smile.

BADCATRECORDS MAKES OUR DAY

Hi there,

My name is Matt and I work at an electric Bicycle shop up in New Hampshire. The other mechanics and I listen to music from the time we punch in to the time we punch out. We are always looking for hidden gems to expand our musical tastes. I stumbled upon your website a couple of weeks ago and we feel like we hit the jackpot. We've come up with a system where we take the number of the day and translate that to a letter in the alphabet... we then check your Full Catalogue and find an album we've never heard of starting with that letter. (We haven't figured out what we'll do when we get past the 26th, but we'll figure something out.)

So really, we just wanted you to know that all that work you put into the website is being appreciated by others in the world. I wish you well and thank you for helping us learn about all this music that we would have never discovered.

Thanks, Matt Lavigne

Service Manager Electric Bikes of New England 19C Manchester Rd, 

April, 2025

Here's a link to their website:  https://ebikesofne.com/