Lenny Love adored music and following his death in February, the collection of vinyl which he gathered during his lifetime will be sold.
At an event organised by his friends The Lenny Love Vinyl Archive will be offered for sale at the Voodoo Rooms on Sunday 19 May from 2 to 5pm. All monies raised will be used to pay for the Lenny Love After Party which will also be held at Voodoo Rooms.
Tim Maguire is a long time friend who also introduced Lenny to becoming a celebrant. Tim said: “And It’s Goodbye to Love will be Lenny’s way of buying everyone a drink on his birthday. The idea is that people get together have a drink and talk about somebody they knew and loved. We will play music but it will be at a level so that people can talk over it. It could get exciting later if some dancers turn up. Lenny used to DJ for the Edinburgh Swing Society so there may be dancing, although it is not formally that.”
Love chose to do a David Bowie – he had requested a direct cremation when he died – so the party is also a way of friends getting together to lament his passing. Lenny died after a six month stay in hospital following a black out in September last year just after conducting a wedding ceremony at The Balmoral.
Nik Sutherland was a longtime friend, and also a DJ. He was one of the trio who started Vegas with Lenny and Ewan McNaught. Nik volunteered to go through the boxes of vinyl and Ewan – who now runs Voodoo Rooms has generously offered the space for the sale on 19 May. Nik suggested that Lenny just got into music by hanging out with the “cool music guys” in Stockbridge probably in the 70s, and then “punk happened just at the right time for him”.
Lenny was a Sony award-winning DJ working with Radio Forth, a humanist celebrant, and tour manager for Simple Minds. He discovered the Rezillos and set up his own record label Sensible Records in 1977 to set them on the road to fame. He worked in radio in Australia and on his return to Edinburgh worked at Vegas Night club as Dino Martini.
Nik explained that there are around 17 boxes of albums and 12 inch singles but “probably no hidden gems in there”, or hip hop or heavy metal, but these are “records for having a good time to because that’s what Lenny always enjoyed – having a good time”.
He said: “It is an interesting collection. Lenny was a DJ for his whole life and his collection reflects that and the kind of clubs he played like Disco Inferno and Vegas. There’s Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye and Bobby Womack. Then in the 12 inch singles there’s Kid Creole, and The Village People.
“Lenny’s record collection was very specific to Lenny and although I don’t think there are any rare gems, there are no major artists – no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, The Who, Nirvana or the Smiths. Lenny was interested in a lot of jazz, swing, blues, disco and soul. So there are loads of great records – but they will be of interest to record collectors.”
Grant Stott, the broadcaster and DJ, is a vinyl junkie and as a former Radio Forth colleague he will speak about Lenny at the party.
Grant said: “I think it will be a veritable treasure trove of hidden gems. Knowing Lenny there will be some amazing easy listening classics peppered with many, many groovy bangers. His music taste was vast – so much so I asked to DJ at my wedding. Anyone heading for a rummage through his collection will be guaranteed to be heading home with a gem or two.”
Bruce Findlay who owned Bruce’s Records on Rose Street, and who became manager for Simple Minds knew Love for around half a century.
Bruce said: “Lenny, was first and foremost, a friend. We first met in 1969 when I opened Bruce’s in Rose Street. Lenny loved cars, motorbikes…and music. Working for the coolest record label in the UK (Island Records) Lenny naturally had great taste and knowledge in all of the coolest and most popular artists at that time (1970s).
“Of course when the ‘indie’ scene exploded in 1976/7 Lenny started his own label, Sensible Records, signing the wonderful Rezillos which kick-started an explosion of ‘new wave’ Scottish artists going on to great things.
“His taste in music wasn’t confined to ‘pop’ music however and his love of ‘swing’ and jazz was there for all to see, and hear, when became a mainstay of the fantastic club nights …VEGAS…where Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald would take pride of place, all presented by ‘Dino Martini’ aka.. Lenny Love. He also of course presented his own show on Radio Forth where his eclectic taste in music was much ‘LOVE..d’.
“I could go on and on about Lenny, but suffice it to say…I loved Lenny. He was my friend and I’m going to miss him.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
