Recalling Records With The Ruts (Interview)

On the eve of legendary UK punk act The Ruts DC visiting NZ for the first time, we tracked down drummer Dave Ruffy to talk about something very close to our hearts … RECORDS. He talks about his time working in a record store in the seventies. The RUTS DC perform in New Zealand November 19-21. Click here for more info.

13th: How long were you working in a record store ?

DR: I worked there for 6 or 7 years

13th: Whats the record you wished you grabbed but never did – tell us how it slipped through your mits

DR: Well I missed out on a lot of Jazz, the store was called James Asman’s it was named after the owner who was a big jazz and blues critic in London and when I started working there it was predominantly Jazz and Classical, while I was there I started selling a lot more underground music as well as funk, rock, reggae and U.S imports. A lot of the regulars were jazz fans. some of whom were rather rude about the new customers I was bringing into the store and had a kind of holier than thou attitude about Jazz being the only ‘proper’ genre of music (which of course is complete BS) and sadly it put me off listening to a huge amount of music I have started to really enjoy.

13th: Best record cover ever – or at least one of them ?

DR: I guess the most memorable as a young man would have been the UK release of Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience featuring 19 nude ladies shot by David Montgomery I was a very young lad at the time and it fairly blew my mind.

13th: Did you, and if so, are you still collecting records ?

DR: I did seriously collect, I used to own thousands but over the years its dwindling down, when I got divorced from my first wife she took half and when things have been tough financially I have sold lots of things.

I still have about 2000 vinyl albums and a couple of thousand singles though and boxes and boxes of cd’s

13th: Guilty pleasures? (if any)

DR: I have quite a few really, mostly novelty singles here’s a couple I can think of…Do It Do It Again by Raffaella Carra

The b side was the same song in Spanish……great stuff

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6TFEv5mgzs

and This Pullover by Jess Conrad

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kGESxjqHf7E

An excruciatingly bad record b/w Why Am I Living

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bvP1nD00Hdo

Which is even worse…so bad they are good.
13th: Most memorable celebrity customer? What did they buy ?

DR: Let me think, I remember that Brian Pendleton from the Pretty Things

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Pendleton

I was a huge pretty thing fan as a lad. I believe he may have bought a Little Walter double album on Chess records.

Mick Box from Uriah Heep

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Box

Mick had played in a band called The Stalkers at a school dance in about 1965 and they were the tightest most professional band I had seen at that point, I believe he bought several things over time but I can only recall a Muddy Waters album Electric Mud

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters

and if my memory serves me right Ahead Rings Out by Blodwyn Pig

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blodwyn_Pig

I met Segs there of course who became my rhythm buddy In the Ruts / Ruts DC he bought many things a couple of which were Donald Byrds Flight Time and God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols

Reg Dwight who became Elton John bought some soul imports from me.

13th: Most memorable music customer ? What were they looking for ?

DR: The most memorable was the actor Deryck Guyler

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryck_Guyler

He was looking for some vintage Louis Armstrong

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintette_du_Hot_Club_de_France

and some Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli Quintet of the Hot Club of France

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintette_du_Hot_Club_de_France

I recall Mr Guyler was most impeccably dressed And had monogrammed gloves. Which belied the fact that he was known as a comedy actor!

He was from Norwood in south London but later moved to Brisbane and lived there until he passed in 1991.

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