Yeah, I know… I rarely do an “Out of the Slot” on a weekend, and I know it might be a little disappointing, b/c I just know all you readers are chomping at the bit for the results from the first races of the “Secret Oktober” tournament series, namely the “Banzai Runner V – Group A” sports car challenge! It’s coming, I assure you, but you’ll have to check in with me next week, because I can’t post results while the races are still going on!
But honestly, that’s another little bit of “lore;” the reality is I had to work all weekend, and the only time I had was Saturday morning into the early afternoon, which I insisted on taking off to goto the first vinyl collector’s event I’ve been too in almost 30 years!
Your HB used to be an avid collector of vinyl records, and as I mentioned several times before – including here and here, most notably – my collection is rather extensive. Lately, though, I feel like that old bug is biting me again, and while at today’s prices I can never go back to the kind of collecting I used to do in the early 1990’s, there are a lot of things I wanted back in those days but never got. In that way, seeking those pieces now is a little like “Whale Hunting” for rare Thunderjets: I’m after select pieces that are going to require high prices. I went out to this event with 3 in mind and I scored 2 of them…well, two and a half, kind of…and in addition I picked up a couple of other pretty nice pieces I came across as well as few “impulse buys” that I didn’t really need but couldn’t turn down!
The event was held at one of the few vintage buildings that has managed to survive the wrecking balls of the rapacious developers who have destroyed the city over the last 15 years, although for how much longer is anyone’s guess; it is a protected structure, however, being one of only 2 surviving buildings in Denver with a terra-cotta tile fascia. For decades this was a sporting goods store, originally Gart’s and then, later, Sports Authority, but after they went bankrupt in 2016, the building fell into disuse and seemed like the inevitable had arrived. At some point the usual suspects moved in and the building is now owned by some California developer (of course, what else!) who I’m sure can’t wait to demolish it to build condos, but at the moment it is has been turned it into an “event center” of sorts for swap meets and other such gatherings. The building looks very worse for wear, but despite all this, and despite the overall awful condition of the city as a whole these days, it was still kind of a kick to go to an event like this in a historic building, even if I did have to run the usual gauntlet of homeless people and lunatics in alleys and doorways to walk there from where I garaged by car. Ah, the “blue city” experience! Isn’t it great?
My “grail hunt” for this show was an original release of the excellent first album by The Chameleons, Script of the Bridge, from 1983: the original mix on the original label. This haunting, melodic masterwork of the New Wave era is (or was) a forgotten gem, and the original pressing has sonic qualities that hit that sweet spot: just the right balance of raw post-punk energy with that widescreen, atmospheric guitar sound that keeps it from ever feeling dated. Its an analog presence that subsequent represses could not match, and equally important is that this original release has the original version of the sleeve art. There are at least 4 different versions of the sleeve artwork created for the various releases over the years, but the original is the best, because it is the creepiest!
I GOT IT! Its not the most prized 1st printing: it is not the original gatefold sleeve issue with the inner sleeve with pictures, and it still wasn’t cheap, but it is an early printing in a single sleeve and it is the original mix on the original label with the original artwork! I was thrilled to have scored a copy of it!
I also nabbed a copy of the Samhain slab November Coming Fire (another one I’ve mentioned here on this blog). My third goal was to find an original copy of the 2nd (and IMHO best) album by LA punk band The Flesh Eaters, A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die, which I owned decades ago but traded for something and never stopped regretting it. On this one, I only half-scored: I was at the show for over 3 hours because I hit every vendor looking for it but no one had it; I did, however, find a recent repress; not what I really wanted, but it was factory sealed and the deal was sweetened by it being printed on cool swirlly colored vinyl. Its not the original I was seeking, but its a good “settle.”
I made up for it though, by getting an unusual early Australian pressing of the Banshee’s 1981 tour-de- force Juju, one of the band’s best albums: this early “south Britain” release on the original Polydor label is hard to find off that continent and is in superb condition with its original inner sleeve. Couple that with a British-made Wonderland label pressing of the 12” single of the same band’s 1987 cover of “The Passenger,” their version of the Iggy Pop classic from their inimitable covers project Through the Looking Glass, a single which features two superb B-sides, including the achingly beautiful “Something Blue,” a song so breathtaking that it has often moved me to tears. It is truly one of the band’s best songs, and for decades it was available nowhere but as the 2nd track of this 12″ single! This replaces the cheaper US-made pressing on Geffen Records I’ve owned since the ‘90s, which was OK, I guess, but always felt like an imposter in my collection. And this particular record deserves a spotlight for more than one reason, because if you look closely at the back cover photograph of the hood ornament and badge of a classic car that adorns it, you might see that that particular badge and hood ornament are ones that your HB is intimately familiar with! Can you identify it?
Added to this: a couple of interesting Depeche Mode 12”’s on Mute records – one English and one German – with rare and unusual B-sides, and rounding out today’s acquisitions is one for Drag City! Well, of course I didn’t forget to pick up some “Music for the Track,” and I scored a clean copy of a Liberty Records release of a 1964 album called Boss Drag by an outfit called The T-Bones, which includes their renditions of gearhead standbys including “Shut Down,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Hey Little Cobra,” aaaand — yep, there is — “DRAG CITY!” How could I possibly have turned that down?!
So yeah, I spent some money – this stuff was never cheap and like everything else its more expensive than ever nowadays – but I got some enjoyment out of it before I had to go into the office and spend the best of the day fighting with a network configuration late into the night, not making it home until 8:30!
So, I’d say it’s time to put Boss Drag by The T-Bones on the old-school Singer auto-changer downstairs next to the track, flip on the power, and warm up the sports car fleet! We have a tournament to race!
I recognize that 56 Chevy on the Banshee album! If I recall the 55 didn’t have a “V” under the emblem for the V8 under the crest on the hood. Man, it looks like it was a cool even and you got some cool things! Congratulations on the finds and I bet there will be some cool platter parties with these! I’m gonna look up The Chameleons. I’m glad you got to go and understand about work. I have a ton of stuff going on at mine as well. 🙁