Merry Christmas (You Suckers)

That's it from me until Christmas is over, I'm afraid. This blog will be taking its usual yuletide break so I can catch my breath for a bit, but it will be back for one last entry before New Year's Eve, and following that we'll topple headlong into our tenth year on the Internet. (Ten years! Imagine that. "Imagine there are no vinyl obscurity blogs", as John Lennon never, ever sang).

Trouble is, to be honest they are becoming increasingly scarce. While mp3 blogs were once a fashionable idea which cluttered every corner of the Internet, most of the people I shared links and company with when I began in 2008 are no longer here. They've either given up or been forcibly shut down. With this in mind, if you feel like giving this blog a gift at Christmas, you could possibly link to it on social media or your own website. As fewer fellow bloggers exist to direct traffic this way, it's beginning to feel like a much more isolated endeavour.

This site may be inactive over Christmas, but if I manage to resist the temptation not to tweet on @LeftAndToBack that will be a festive miracle in itself, so join me over there for YouTube videos and clips of all manner of obscurities.

Here's one for starters - The Ants' rather Joe Meek-like and atmospheric "Christmas Star" from 1963. Have a good Christmas, and thanks for being such lovely readers.