Isle of Man TT sound stories on vinyl
As technology rushes forward at a dizzying pace, it's comforting to look back and see from whence we came and how we used to do things. Pull out that turntable and spin up some Isle of Man memories with us. For many years, if you weren't able to go to the island yourself, you got your fix by listening to these Stanley Schofield (SS) albums. Here, in the USA, the importer was Grand Prix Records in Burbank, California although most fans found these listed in the back of Road & Track or Cycle magazines.
Graham Walker and his son Murray's commentary still resonates so well that it seems to put you right in the grandstands as you wait for Gary Hocking, John Hartle or John Surtees to rocket by. Then you'd hear about the young Mike Hailwood as he enjoys a taste of victory and offers a glimps of what's to come.
BMW dominated the sidecar races with rider Helmut Fath and his passenger whose average speed was nearly two miles an hour faster than the second place finishers, also mounted on BMW.
The 1962 album has an illustration of Mike Hailwood and Gary Hocking duking it out on
MV Agusta's for nearly the enitre race with
Hailwood the winner at 99.59 mph. In the Lightweight 125 class, Honda mounted Luigi Taveri won, followed home by four more Honda racers to sweep the top five. It was the a magnificent time with exotic four cylinder machines dominating the races.
This 1963 Sound Stories features the Junior and Lightweight TT races with stars Hugh Anderson on the Suzuki two-stroke and Jim Redman on the Honda 250 four cylinder four stroke. Album illustrations by Bernard Wragg really captures the grace and speed at a time before we had slow motion film to allow us to appreciate the details. Heat up some Castrol R on the burner and give it a listen!
Here's a link to an earlier TT recording with Geoff Duke and Surtees doing battle. Give a listen !
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