May 172012
It’s time for a little Dugout Chatter, when Townspeople provide gut answers to a handful of probing questions. You know the drill, right? In case you’re not sure, there’s no right or wrong answers, just honest ones. Today’s Dugout Chatter questions will test the honesty of even the most candid Townspeople. Here goes!
- What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
- What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
- What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
- What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
- What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
I look forward to hearing about the ones that got way.
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
PiL’s Metal Box in the mid-80s for $25.
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
All of my 45s disappeared in the mid-90s and it breaks my heart to have lost the NME 45 with Husker Du covering “Ticket to Ride” along with tracks from (I think) Trouble Funk and Jesus and Mary Chain and one other band I can’t remember (assuming I got TF and JMC correct).
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
A 78 of Spike Jones’ “Der Fuehrer’s Face”
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
I’ve never sold or traded anything that I’ve regretted.
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
I have some punk 45s a friend bought while living in London in 1979. I really should digitize them and get them back to him…
* What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
I walked away from The Gun Club’s Miami and i did regret it for a few years. but then i found it again on a reissue. other than that, i have no such record.
* What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia by GBV
* What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
I am the world’s foremost anthracite mine sound recordist. I have been 2300 feet inside the earth with a mic and a DAT recorder.
* What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
anything i’ve ever lost, i’ve been able to get back or find again
* What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
Exile on Main Street by The Stones. i borrowed it from a friend who stopped being a friend. great consolation prize.
shawnkilroy wrote:
I can see this being a common underlying theme in this most regrettable of answers.
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
That bootleg CD of the Beatles’ Christmas Fan Club records that I saw on my last record store trip to Gloucester. I hope it’s still there!
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
This is probably rather unique. A copy of Barrence Whitfield & The Savages’ Dig Yourself that the artist himself borrowed from me to transfer to CD & he hasn’t returned it to me yet 😉
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
Probably my sister’s old copy of the Monkees’ 1st album that I ruined playing it on a old Victoria in our basement.
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
An Everly Brothers best of CD that came out on Arista in the late 80s, early 90s that I traded in after I got the box set.
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
The closest that I’ve done to that was to swap my beat copy of the Kinks Kronikals for my local library’s better conditioned one.
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
Echo and The Bunnymen — Heaven Up Here
Didn’t want to pay $3.25 in the used, changed my mind, went back to get it an hour later and it was gone! The incident stuck with me, so I just started buying anything I was remotely interested in — a trait that unfortunately continues today.
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned?
An old girlfriend ended up with a bunch of my mid-1980s cowpunk — including the Jason & The Scorchers EP and a couple of Rank & File albums. Still bitter about the Rank & File, which is out of print.
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
Teenage funoka once recorded Staying Alive back to back on an entire 90-minute cassette using my dad’s top-loading Panasonic deck. I should submit that to the record book.
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
I rarely traded anything back — but I did have this strange Peter Baumann (Tangerine Dream) solo album called Romance ’76 that I bought in the used in the early 80s and ended up trading in for cash. I’ve never seen it again and I wish I still had it.
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
As a teenybopper, I checked out Carly Simon’s Boys In The Trees from the Mpls. public library, and found it at my parents house in 2000 — it was 21 years overdue.
I second the treasure that is Mystery Train Records in Gloucester, MA. I make a pilgrimage at least once a summer.
• “just missed buying, or walked away from”
I’ve been blessed with a lack of self control so I can’t really think of any that I have walked away from.
• “lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned”
Far too many to recall. I “lost” a bunch in college, and the ones that weren’t mine but inadvertently ended up in my album collection don’t come close to offsetting the losses. If I have to pick one, I’ll go with the original mix of Raw Power.
• “What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?”
The record for starting the Last Man Standing thread with the most replies (which I subsequently lost to HVB)
• “selling/trading”
I never get rid of records no matter how much I dislike them, thinking that eventually I might end up liking them. Sometimes this pays off big time (Raw Power), sometimes it doesn’t (Pet Sounds).
• “stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc”
While attending a Catholic high school, our entire class had to go on an overnight retreat. At the retreat house, they had about 4-5 albums, one of which was a pre-MTV greatest hits collection by ZZ Top. I still have it, and I have no regrets.
I do love Mystery Train, and some Barrence Whitfield too.
I used to work in a newspaper wholesaler and we would take the singles off of the covers of music papers if any came back to be returned. I believe that in my cupboard full of vinyl that I will get around to digitizing some day when I’ve nothing better to do that I have at least one and probably multiple copies of that NME single. I certainly used to have it and haven’t got rid of much. When I come to look through the cupboard again, if I find that I have even a single copy then I will be happy to send it to you.
I don’t really have regrets about such things, but I do have a rather nice amp which came from a friend before he stopped being a friend, which has served me well for the last thirty years.
Thank you so much!
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
The Rolling Stones Black Box with the mini whiskey bottle. I had the 100 bucks the guy wanted for it, and it’s probably worth five times that now. At least I got the MoFi box!
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
Early on in my record collecting life I got that Jimi Hendrix Essential album with the 45 on the front cover. I loaned it to a friend, he lost the 45 (said it was never in it, but I don’t think he saw it!), so I never loaned records out again!
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
The 11 – 12 YMCA 50 Fly city record. I think it only lasted a year or two, but I had it for awhile!
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
My White Beatles Let It Be. I was loaded and gave it to a real old and dear friend I never see anymore, and I bet he doesn’t even listen to records anymore. what’s sad is that I knew it was worth some decent change! I also got rid of a lot of punk stuff when I was younger to a guy that sold something I used to want. I had no idea those would be worth anything!
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
All I can think of is Suzi Quatro’s Your Mama Won’t Like Me. I still have it! The library doesn’t have records anymore, so it’s good that I have it.
Rank and File albums are cheap, though! I saw a perfect copy of Sundown for three dollars awhile back. I almost bought it but then I remembered mine was nice, too.
missed buying, or walked away from
Some of the colored vinyl produced in the late seventies- eighties
What’s the coolest record you ever lost
Warren Zevon Excitable Boy, drove away from a friends house with it sitting on the top of the car…
What’s the coolest record you ever broke
Don’t think I ever broke one I liked, getting significant scratches on some?, most regrettably Neil Young’s Live Rust
regretted selling/trading
Toss up between Dire Straits Making Movies and The Secret Policeman’s Ball
coolest stolen or failed to return
In college while doing college radio took me a copy of Lavender Jane Loves Women. Was a party favorite! Unfortunetly was stolen from me several years later. Look this one up…it was a classic!
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
I passed on a Dylan at the ‘Albert Hall’ in 1966 bootleg at some point in the 70s. I regretted it until I found another one … which sounded AWFUL. Thank god that’s all been re-released, but I was really kicking myself for a while there.
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
Of all the things I ‘lost’ in the Katrina flood, the one that hurt the most was a compilation of soukous music called African Connection, Vol. 1: Zaire Choc! on cassette. It’s long out of print, and last year I actually spent $60 on a used CD copy. Totally worth it, it’s that good.
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
Back in the days when one brought singles to dance to at parties, my copy of Pass the Hatchet by Roger & the Gypsies was the envy of all my friends. I somehow managed to sit on it and break it in half, and I was never as cool again. Now of course it’s easy to find on the internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t37bIN1fphk
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
When I decided I was going to get rid of my vinyl, I sold my copy of No New York to a used vinyl store for peanuts without realizing how rare and valuable it was. This was also before I learned how to digitize. Damn.
Long before the used vinyl market really kicked in, I happened to walk into a place on Decatur St in the French Quarter and found the guy was selling Meters LPs for $40 apiece, because they were out of print and Japanese tourists wanted them desperately. I went right back home and got mine and talked him into giving me $25 apiece for maybe 6 or 7 of them. I don’t regret that at all, because all those records are available on CD in much better sounding versions.
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
I don’t really recall doing this. Maybe I’m blocking it out.
I also sold my copy of No New York for peanuts.
I’ll play…
Ornette Coleman released only one record on Impulse, if I had my facts straight. For years I really wanted a copy of that record. I still have no idea if it’s any good. I loved the Coltrane albums on Impulse and other releases on that label from the early-to-mid-’60s, and I thought Ornette on an Impulse album cover would be cool. I finally saw a copy on a wall for $40, which was a lot of money for me at the time. I couldn’t pull the trigger. I’ve never seen the album since.
Good question. I have no idea what happened to my dB’s “six-pack,” a collection of 6 dB’s picture-sleeve singles in one clear plastic package that I bought years ago. They were all singles from the first 2 albums, the 2 albums I love by them. I loved owning that collection. A couple times a year I think I’m going to find those records, but I can’t find them.
In middle school, I think, andyr and I borrowed an original pressing of a Fats Domino record from our music teacher. The vinyl was like a half inch thick. The record shattered as soon as I dropped it. We slipped the shards of vinyl back into the sleeve and shoved the album under her door. It was really lame. She knew we broke her album. I still feel bad about that.
I’ve probably done this more than most of you. I think I mentioned a while back that Human Switchboard’s Who’s Landing in My Hangar, which I bought on vinyl probably not too long after it was released, is an album I regret selling.
I think I’ve mentioned the night a friend and I were granted the right to steal 70 albums from a chain store managed by my friend’s old high school friend. They were under their expected monthly quota of shoplifting, so we helped bring the numbers into order. The only time I actually completely illegally stole an album, though, was X’s Under the Big Black Sun, using a technique taught to me by that same college friend. In high school I borrowed Television’s Marquee Moon from the library and never got around to returning it.
What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
Sometime around 1976, I saw the rare Giles, Giles, & Fripp LP in a discount store in Indianapolis, of all places. I passed because I was in the last few days of a 13,000 mile road trip with my older brother. Money was short and there wasn’t much room left in the excursion-fitted Mustang. I have a digital copy now.
I also remember being on a school trip to St. Pete in early 1970 and a buddy and I went to a record store. We found in the Beatles rack an album called The Silver Album of the World’s Greatest. It turned out to be a pre-release bootleg of Let It Be tracks. My buddy bought it.
What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
I lost all my old vinyl in a flood in 1992, including a lot of hard to find prog gems. I was already well into the process of replacing worn vinyl by CDs by then, and I made no effort to get new vinyl. I even sold off my turntable. Everything I’ve lost I now have in digitized form, so I have no regret now.
What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
In a drugged fit of madness in college, we turned a bad Leslie West album (The Great Fatsby) into an ashtray.
What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
Can’t think of any that haven’t been replaced by digital copies.
What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?
I can’t remember anything in particular. I either never stole any music or I was stoned at the time.
Missed buying: I should have bought the Costello box 2 1/2 Years when it came out. Since then, I’ve bought re-releases of the studio albums and have never heard El Mocambo .
Lost or loaned out: I’m pretty sure my CDs of Violator and The Soft Bulletin were stolen from my house during a party.
Broke: I left a box of 80’s college radio cassettes on the roof of the car during a college road trip, some were OK, some smashed. I’d probably be interested in hearing some Howard Devoto or Martha and the Muffins again sometime.
Sell/Trade: I’ve never sold back anything, besides the things I mention here, I have everything I’ve ever bought or been given.
I stole / borrowed: Can’t think of anything.
Missed buying: I’m a pretty cautious record buyer unless it’s a band that I adore and then I’ll collect every thing I can find. Luckily (or unluckily), I’m married to man who has less impulse control than me when it comes to music. When we met, his large cd collection rounded out a lot of the holes that I’d identified in my own cheap-skate collection. He still sneaks off and come back with music that I had mentioned in passing, most recently the latest Jim White.
Lost or Loaned out: Hmmm, there were some English Beat and REM cassettes that one of my roommates from grad school borrowed…Now a days I keep pretty close dibs on any music loaned out. However, when it comes to books, I’m still pulling out my hair trying to figure out who borrowed/stole my personalized copy of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” and copies of some other favorite books.
Broke: I don’t think I broke any records but had a cherished but cracked 45 of “Brandy” by Looking Glass. Although I could still play it if it was pressed together just right, I still more mourn that my mother, in an angry fit, threw it out. It’s sort of my Rosebud… (See previous DS post about growing up with am crap)
Sell/Trade: Maybe some day I’ll regret selling back Sarah Cracknell’s solo recordings, but in general I hold on to almost everything I buy (see cautious buyer, above). Mr. Royale, on the other hand, has sneakily sold back some things that I swear were my original purchases and I’m still harboring some grudge about, such as the second Laika album and one of the plethora of Stereolab recordings.
Stole/Borrowed: Ex-boyfriends have been very handy in this department. Some of these boyfriends and their recordings were cooler than others. I would now like to owe up and thank Eric for that his extended “loan” of the first Fugazi EP.