.february vinyl haul

A great haul! Stoked for these!

Lately I haven't purchased anything from Vinyl Me Please. All of the bands I've seen in concert I've been picking up their albums. When A comes to visit we usually hit up some of my favorite record stores. This time we had a mission to search for some 7" albums. A has never been to Haddonfield Record Exchange. They usually have a decent array of 7" albums. I scored New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson last time. What I found this time was amazing. One of the earliest albums my parents bought me was at age 3: Duran Duran - Wild Boys. For that album to be displayed in the front of the bin was just practically calling out to me. I snatched it up. I also found Madonna - True Blue (the vinyl is actually blue!), Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight (I owned this at age 5), Blondie - The Tide is High, Run DMC - Walk This Way, and the iconic "Two of Hearts" by Stacey Q. At the register they usually have some neat vintage pins. I picked up Thompson Twins, Janis Joplin, Eurythmics, and Duran Duran. $1.50 each.

Our second stop was Innergroove. Last time my major scores were Hole, Nirvana, and Smashing Pumpkins 7" albums. Ironically I found another Blondie 7" "Rapture" which compliments the one I previously bought. Searching through my favorite section of "Just In!" records I snatched B-52's "Cosmic Thing," Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" for $20 (cheapest I've seen was $30), and Prince's "1999" for $10. Yaaasss!!!

My new goal is to buy a cork board from Target and arrange my pins in a better fashion. No joke I have at least 150+ pins at this point. I rotate them all as much as I can.   

.when in doubt? ebay! don't pout!

There's many times where I go to record stores and cannot find what I am looking for. Where do I turn to next? eBay! These are albums I've accumulated off eBay for the past few months and honestly I'm done for quite a bit now!

Two were from Black Friday Record Store Day that places just instantly sold out of. No chance in hell of getting my hands on them. The B-52's album is golden yellow and from a live show back in 1979. Seeing Sleater-Kinney in New York and watching them cover "Rock Lobster" this album is very special to me. David Bowie's Earthling is very industrial sounding. Twice I've put it back because of the price. The day before his passing I literally saw one copy left on the wall of a record store and left without it. Next day going back it was gone. So, I resorted to eBay. The record is green. Thankfully both albums were a little under or the same price I would've paid for them on RSDBF. Shipping was inexpensive and not a big deal.

My Excuse 17 album is in mediocre condition. Getting that for $17 off eBay was a steal. It plays perfectly and I have a piece of little Carrie Brownstein screaming her lungs out on almost every song. Piece of Riot Grrrl history here. Don't even get me started on The Slits. I think I actually wrote to Carrie how frustrated I was at not being able to locate Cut. This album is Carrie's favorite and Kathleen H. of Bikini Kill claimed it's her desert island album if she could only bring one. To have something like this in my possession is the greatest thing. Most of the sellers with this item on eBay are from the UK. So I basically paid double the price of what I could get it for here. That's the problem. Nowhere to be found. This album is in EXCELLENT condition and plays like a charm. I kept the hardbound clear plastic cover the seller sent me for protection. "So Tough" is one of my favorite songs and to finally listen to it via record is insane! Ari Up is the greatest. You should see the feedback I left the seller and that the seller left me. It just proves I am a major dork and crazy for music I love.

The most recent album was a fight to the death. I opted for the "Buy it Now" option after losing so many auctions. Too many people bid on copies. Whipsmart is my second favorite Liz Phair album. You can never find this in stores. There is a rare Japanese version of this album in ruby red. My copy is white and unopened. I paid probably too much but in the end it's something I needed to finalize my collection on her. I only like her earlier albums to be honest. So for me, this was worth it.

Ebay is very addicting. I've been a member now for 16 years and got my first credit card at the age of 20 for that main reason! Most of my eBay finds were PJ Harvey singles. Now it's more of a variety of odds and ends. What do you use eBay for? Do you have any albums you cannot find in stores but are dying to get your hands on? 

.albums purchased in 2015

Be warned this is a MONSTER of a list. I did not buy all of these albums brand new. A good majority came from flea markets, yard sales, or used. There are others that I got through Vinyl Me Please. So here you go all 98 of them...

Grimes: Visions / Art Angels
Caribou: Our Love
Doomtree: All Hands
Bad Brains: Bad Brains
Sleater-Kinney: Sleater-Kinney / Call the Doctor / The Hot Rock / All Hands on the Bad One / One Beat / The Woods
Marianne Faithful: Broken English 
Erasure: The Innocents
Grace Jones: Nightclubbing / Fame / Slave to the Rhythm
Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia / Easter
The Motels: Little Robbers
St. Vincent: Marry Me / Actor / Strange Mercy / St. Vincent
Phil Collins: No Jacket Required
Elvis Costello: Taking Liberties
Prince and the Revolution: Purple Rain
Devo: Freedom of Choice
Four Tet: Pink
Blessed Feathers: There Will Be No Sad Tomorrow
B-52's: Whammy / Wild Planet / Live 8.24.79
Bikini Kill: Bikini Kill / Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Chvrches: Bones of What You Believe / Every Eye Open
Suzanne Vega: Solitude Standing
Wild Flag: Wild Flag
Portishead: Dummy
Janis Joplin: Pearl
Ex Hex: Rips
Television: Marquee Moon
Miguel: Wildheart
PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love
Lou Reed: Transformer
Punk 45 Vol 2: Underground Punk 1977-1981
Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed
The Graduate Soundtrack
David Bowie: Let's Dance
Duran Duran: Duran Duran
Fast Times at Ridgemont High Soundtrack
Fugazi: Fugazi
The Human League: Dare
The Moody Blues: The Other Side of Life
Pretty in Pink Soundtrack
Split Enz: True Colors
Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love
Kurt Vile: I Believe I'm Goin' Down
The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses
The Strokes: Is This It
Sonic Youth: Evol
Rilo Kiley: The Execution of All Things / More Adventurous
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels / Pt. 2
Radiohead: In Rainbows / King of Limbs
Johnny Marr: Playland
Ryan Adams: Demolition
Jeff Buckley: Grace
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
Depeche Mode: Violator
The Dismemberment Plan: Uncanny Valley
Dresden Dolls: The Virginia Monologues
Garbage: Garbage
High Fidelity Soundtrack
Garden State Soundtrack
Joanna Newsom: Divers
M83: Saturdays Youth
Gems: Kill the One You Love
Nils Frahm: Spaces
Tamaryn: Crane Kiss
Yes: Fragile
Green Day: Dookie
X-Ray Spex: Peel Sessions and Singles
Torres: Sprinter
Black Sabbath: Paranoid
Girlpool: Before the World Was Big
Nada Surf: High/Low
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders
Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill
Cat Power: Moon Pix
Oasis: What's the Story
Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted
TLC: CrazySexyCool
The Eels: Electro-Shock Blues
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary
The Spells: Age of Backwards EP

Records as Gifts!
No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love