Yesterday, I terminated Radz Records as a (ahem) ‘commercial entity’, by removing its Chamber of Commerce listing (as per 31 December 2025) and ending its bank account (in the last months, just about the only thing happening there were monthly bank costs).
I don’t regret making the four Greetings From Grolloo albums which materialized: I am still happy they are out there and the reviews were outstanding.
It’s just, I grossly overestimated CD appeal and thus have way (way) too much stock; generally I sold about 1/3rd of the total run of every album thus far, with the exception of the last one which was a limited run of 100 numbered copies (of these, about 20 are still available). There’s still a whole load to earn back, so if anyone wants any shiny beermats which happen to play music too, be my guest.
That’s exaggerating things a bit: these albums are so worth it, but it’s just, nobody buys CD’s anymore. They have popped up all over the world, which is nice. I simply started a CD label way past CD’s expiry date. In a perfect world where CD’s still mattered (and they do at my Don Quichote-ish end!) I would have delved in it deep, there were many plans for future releases.
Chiefly, it’s sad I don’t get to release the other Grolloo 2003-2004-2005 recordings (there could have been three further potential Greetings From Grolloo albums, by Show Of Hands and Fairport Convention), but also there were plans to do something with recordings by The Dylan Project, Swarb’s Lazarus, Whippersnapper (though a phone call with the Bulmer estate – bastards – was disheartening), plus rereleasing never-before-on-CD albums by Blowzabella, John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris as well as pondering about an actual box set by Dutch folkrockers Fungus, and I was in touch with those I’d have to get the license from.
Also, a possible goldmine of Dutch radio broadcasts was looked into (kind of lifted the lid of), until I figured out it would cost way, way too much in the niche world that is folk. You just can’t, not these days anyway. Maybe it would have worked up until ten or so years ago.
So there we are, the complete works of Radz Records remain these four albums, all called Greetings From Grolloo:
-1CD Simon Nicol & Ric Sanders (live 1 March 2003)
-1CD Iain Matthews & Ad Vanderveen (live 1 March 2003)
-2CD Little Johnny England (live 1 March 2003)
-2CD Ad Vanderveen & The O’Neils (live 18 December 2004, 100 numbered copies)
Time therefore to dump, too, the four together cost €60 including postage worldwide.
So why not buy two of each? Joking, but musically, they are worth it: no regrets there. By the way, the Nicol & Sanders and Little Johnny England albums are also on streaming platforms for that majority out there who sadly only stream (and therefore kill music as far as I am concerned).
However the Matthews & Vanderveen album isn’t available that way, and (because of the limited/numbered/etc nature to begin with) neither is the Vanderveen O’Neils one.
In total almost 7 hours of music on 6 discs. Bargain!
Interested?
rootsaandezaan@gmail.com
