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I used to get my early Beatles bootlegs from a guy on Portobello Market, up near the flyover. Mark Carvell (2021)

My friend was a bootlegg seller under the flyover his name was Steve Curried, (2023)


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Dave Harwood
28 Apr 2024 at 11:43
I found this article in the 'Sunday Mirror' dated 1st August 1971: “A BROADSIDE has been fired against Britain's newest breed of record pirates. They are the makers of bootleg records - discs cut without permission and for which the artists and song writers receive not a penny. The records are made by smuggling tiny recording machines into pop concerts, taping TV and radio programmes or stealing tapes from record company vaults. The records, usually packed in plain white covers, sell for up to £5. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Donovan are among the big names who have been bootlegged. Now Customs officials have swooped on shops in London and the North that sell bootleg records and are investigating their tax affairs. Said a spokesman: “In some cases we have ordered the sale of bootleg records to stop while our inquiries go on. A London record shop gave me what appeared to be a bootleg Beatles record. But the record has nothing to do with the Beatles. It is about couples making love, with four-letter words and creaking bedsprings.” In Britain fans can choose up to forty different bootlegs, either over the counter or by mail order. In a recent case two men found guilty of bootlegging offences were fined £10 and £50, the maximum the law allows.”

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