Mini-Haul at the Local Record Show

Last Sunday, I hit the second local bi-annual record show of the year, and after almost two and a half hours, walked away with a handful of gently used vinyl records at pretty reasonable prices. I eye-balled some other albums at the show, but prices and/or the condition of the vinyl often put me off.

At one point, I slowed down to browse a table of books about heavy metal bands. I noted the author's name on each book: Martin Popoff. I knew that name. I had seen Martin on Sam Dunn's Youtube channel, BangerTV, so when I looked up at the guy behind the table, I recognized him. I also sort of knew him from a little business transaction way back in the 1990's. We did a little mail-order barter... my artwork for a copy of his very first published book (Riff Kills Man). After introducing myself to Martin at the record show, I had to relate all the details of our 90's exchange in order to jog his memory. And he did remember me. We finally met face to face. Pretty cool meeting a "minor" celebrity, a published author (he must have thirty or forty books... or more), and a fellow metal fan.

The inner sleeve of the A Farewell to Kings album by Rush.

It's always nice to get the original inside goodies with old issues of records.

Near the end of my stay, I was impressed by a couple of Max Webster albums which were autographed by all the members of the band, and for just $40 and $50... but that was still a bit too much for me, especially after having spent nearly my whole budgeted wad of cash. Plus I already owned those records, so no real reason to re-buy them just for the signatures. Right? Man, am I regretting this already?

Now, on to my purchases:

Van Halen's 1982 album Diver Down, which now completes my David Lee Roth-era set of VH vinyl recordings. That's all the Van Halen I need. No Hagar-era Halen for me. A very short album at just a smidge over a half hour, it is loaded with cover tunes, some of which are good, but it's the originals that are best... like Hang 'Em High, Secrets, and The Full Bug.

Rush's 1977 album A Farewell to Kings, which seems to be my current favourite album by the band. I've been searching for a reasonably-priced vinyl record of this for many months, only to get shut down every time when I move past a pretty good condition record jacket to find a badly scratched and/or scuffed disc inside. This one is in pretty good shape, besides a passage with a repeating clicking noise. I hate that... so I might have to continue the search for a better copy, or just break down and buy a brand new modern re-issue. 

The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul, a first pressing - and I'm not sure in which country... possibly Canada. And it's in mono, which I believe is my only non-stereo record. Sounds super clean, better than the noisy early 80's re-issue I already have. The track listing differs from my two different CD versions, but that's to be expected with these Beatles albums... record companies used to mess around, swapping songs in and out of albums depending on the country of pressing.

The Eagles' 1975 album One of These Nights... a very nice copy of what I feel is my favourite Eagles album. The title track is either my fave or one of my top faves by the band. Other great songs on here are Lyin' Eyes and Take it to the Limit... those are all the ones I know really well, though there are more tracks that will grow on me -  they're good, but I just haven't had time to absorb them fully yet. 

So, a nice little haul at the record show. I'll have to wait until next spring for the next one. In the meantime, there are the used shops, thrift stores, and of course, Discogs and other online sources. But I'm slowing down a bit in my record search. My wish list is getting smaller and the titles on there are the tougher ones to find both in good shape and for reasonable prices. Wish me luck?