This, I admit, did not happen. My original idea was to write an entry summing up where the series had taken us and where it could potentially have gone next in an imaginary world where another LP was squeezed out. A few attempted drafts at this went nowhere and I finally realised it was a bit of a stupid idea I couldn't see through to conclusion in any kind of satisfying way. And what do grown-up people do when they have stupid ideas? Walk away from them and pretend they never happened.
Still though, a week ago now I had a huge and pleasant surprise when I received an email from Chet Selwood who, along with his sister Bee, owned Beechwood Records and also managed the tracklisting for the series up to Volume Eleven. The contents of the email were so generous and informative that I asked him if he would mind me reproducing them here, and he agreed.
What he has written reveals a lot not just about the series itself, but also how business was done in the independent sector throughout the eighties, then eventually the nineties when most of the groups were no longer on true "indies" as such, but divisions of Virgin (Hut), BMG (Dedicated) or other majors. It also smooths over some of the assumptions I made when I first started this blog. I hope you find it illuminating. It definitely acts as a neat conclusion to this site.
