There were four or five very organized record sellers... two of them, I think, were local DJs ditching their vinyl stock (in favour of digital? For shame!), and another couple were area online shops, I guess, who heavily pushed shoppers to visit their websites after the sale. I actually found some of my best deals in random little boxes of family castoffs. You've gotta do the legwork to find the gems and save money.
Oh, and one seller, during the downpour, covered his table with plastic... but he kindly let a few of us flip through record crates in the back of his hatchback, nice and dry.
My KISS drink coaster set (2-sided, with more images on the flipside).
Note the Dressed to Kill album cover rock bottom right.
As I write this post, I am listening to my first choice out of the pile of vinyl I found - Dressed to Kill, by that l'il ol' band outta New York City, KISS. I owned this when I was a teenager in the 70's, but that's long gone. With my vinyl habit renewed, I felt I needed this great piece of KISS history again. Dressed to Kill had been on my LP shopping list for months, but the prices I'd seen were always outside my range. On this used copy, the outer sleeve is pretty worn, but the record itself is clean as a whistle and sounds like brand new... not a pop or crackle to be heard. How does that happen? I guess somebody lugged their records all over hell's half acre and never listened to their KISS albums. Fine by me, since it cost me less than ten bucks (eight, I think... there was much haggling going on today).
I sneaked some Canadian content into my shopping bag... first up was Mutiny Up My Sleeve by Max Webster. This is probably my favourite Max album, and it had been on my list for quite a while. My goal as a new record collector (I started early last fall) is not to own as much vinyl as possible, but to cover a wide range of genres with a sampling of artists, including some of my old favourites as well as lesser-knowns, plus the odd brand new release. So on my Wish List, this Max album was important to me because I once owned it back in the late seventies-early 80's when I first discovered the band. Can't wait to give this one a spin.
The other Canuck record I grabbed was the first Loverboy album. I always liked Loverboy's goofy 80's rock anthem hits, but never enough to buy an album... on tape, CD or otherwise. But at just one dollar, I couldn't pass up the chance to finally have rockin' debut tunes like The Kid is Hot Tonite and Turn Me Loose in my collection. Pretty good condition, too, considering the rock bottom pricetag. BUT.... I got it home and just now dropped the needle on track one, which should be The Kid... but no, it's Working for the Weekend! What the what? I got the wrong record - Get Lucky - in the wrong sleeve. Ack. Oh, well, pretty much all Loverboy songs sound the same, right? And again, just one buck.
A little old lady had a modest set of records, mostly beat up and minus sleeves, for sale in a box by the curb. I'm glad I took the time to flip through them 'cos I found a nice copy of that RCA double-LP set of Elvis hits ("As advertised on TV"). One dollar. ONE dollar. The old dear could have asked for five and I would have taken it. Anyway, funny story: when I got this home and took a good look at the record cover, I realized something... I have the vintage rarity 8-track tape of this very album displayed in my living room. That tape was among my earliest music purchases when I was a kid in the 70's. Well, I can't listen to the 8-track anymore (no player, duh), but now I can enjoy its songs in all their vinyl glory.
Then, in two different locations, I found the first two Monkees albums. The debut Monkees disc is in a really nice outer sleeve, but the record inside looks to be in questionable condition. I'll have to see how it plays. But hey, for only a toonie (two dollars to you non-Canadian readers), it's worth a try. More of the Monkees, the band's second release, is in nearly mint condition (I talked the guy down to seven bucks)... and again, this album has great importance to me... this was the very first vinyl LP I ever bought... off a friend in the schoolyard during recess back in the mid-ish 70's. So happy to own it again!
The final record in my pile is Long Tall Sally, a Canada-only release of early Beatles songs. Considering the age of the album, it's in remarkably good condition... and it should be, since I paid a bit more for that. Mind you, this LP was accompanied by a 45 rpm single of the later Beatles songs The Long and Winding Road/For You Blue... so not a bad deal for such vintage vinyl. Another story: this album, bearing all the same cover art but a different title (The Beatles Second Album), was my very second LP record purchase back in the 70's, when I was only what... twelve or thirteen years old. So cool to have this again on vinyl.
I don't think I spent any more than forty dollars (including the drink I got at a kid's lemonade stand) on my long and winding shopping spree. Over three hours of walking and standing, flipping through crates of records. My feet and legs are aching, so I'll just rest them while I sip a cold one and check out my new "old" music.
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