Be sure to check out The 365 Days Project.
This extremely well done project was put together in 2003 and was unavailable for some time but has recently been archived. Basically one interesting/odd-ball mp3 was posted per day for a year complete with analysis, commentary and often album artwork. I've only had a chance to go though the first few months but there is some awesome stuff there. A few highlights off the top to get you started are #5 Janeen Brady & The Brite Singers - I'm a Morman, #15 Picking Up Girls Made Easy - The Women's Clothing Store Pick-Up, #18 Charlie Lewis - Four Songs, #19 Sister Gertrude Morgan - Let Us Make A Record, and #37 Bob Vido - Boo-Bah-Bah.
Just as entertaining as the songs themselves are the excellent commentary which accompanies each mp3. Its very well written and shows a true appreciation for outsider music or just weird music in general. Much of this stuff has been taken from thrift store vinyl finds as well as personal collections and other sources.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Friday, November 26, 2004
John Book's THRIFT STORE ADVENTURES Home Page
John Book's THRIFT STORE ADVENTURES
This is a really great site for anyone interested in vinyl oddities and thift store finds. It was John Book's site that served as the inspiration for the creation of this blog. He's an interesting guy which comes through in his taste for vinyl and his writing.
This is a really great site for anyone interested in vinyl oddities and thift store finds. It was John Book's site that served as the inspiration for the creation of this blog. He's an interesting guy which comes through in his taste for vinyl and his writing.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
St. Clair West
Went thrifting with Lizzy up to the Goodwill on St. Clair West about a month ago...
We spent quite a while digging through the vinyl and found a few gems. Found a copy of Donna Summer's 1976 LP A Love Trilogy. Wicked Giorgio Moroder production. Got a copy of a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam record from 89 called Straight to the Sky. Not as good as the earlier stuff but still satisfying to find a vintage freestyle record for 50 cents that hipster DJs are currently spending a lot of money on at Play De and other places online.
One of the big finds was the 12" of Techtronic's Pump up the Jam. Rinsed that out at the Cat's Eye Halloween party, it was one of the biggest tunes of the night. The kids are going crazy for the early 90s dance stuff these days.
Also got a second copy of Zepellin's album In Through the Out Door. A not so great late career Zep release. But my reason for grabbing it was to juggle the track Fool in the Rain. Its been a really fun track to play around with in the last few weeks - rockin the doubles it sounds pretty wicked.
Its all about going to the out of the way thrift stores. Making the effort to go off the beaten path leads to rewarding finds. For example, back in the spring I was staying with my Grandparents for a few days and we went down to the Salvation Army in Richmond Hill. I got the Sesame Street Fever record. Which has some wicked disco songs on it, namely the C is for Cookie disco version with Robin Gibb. The "C is for cookie, thats good enough for me" chorus gets everybody up and they've never heard it like this before. One of those instantly recognizable things from our childhood. First time I played it was at Paul and Tyrone's Loft party back in May and it was a huge hit with the floor.
We spent quite a while digging through the vinyl and found a few gems. Found a copy of Donna Summer's 1976 LP A Love Trilogy. Wicked Giorgio Moroder production. Got a copy of a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam record from 89 called Straight to the Sky. Not as good as the earlier stuff but still satisfying to find a vintage freestyle record for 50 cents that hipster DJs are currently spending a lot of money on at Play De and other places online.
One of the big finds was the 12" of Techtronic's Pump up the Jam. Rinsed that out at the Cat's Eye Halloween party, it was one of the biggest tunes of the night. The kids are going crazy for the early 90s dance stuff these days.
Also got a second copy of Zepellin's album In Through the Out Door. A not so great late career Zep release. But my reason for grabbing it was to juggle the track Fool in the Rain. Its been a really fun track to play around with in the last few weeks - rockin the doubles it sounds pretty wicked.
Its all about going to the out of the way thrift stores. Making the effort to go off the beaten path leads to rewarding finds. For example, back in the spring I was staying with my Grandparents for a few days and we went down to the Salvation Army in Richmond Hill. I got the Sesame Street Fever record. Which has some wicked disco songs on it, namely the C is for Cookie disco version with Robin Gibb. The "C is for cookie, thats good enough for me" chorus gets everybody up and they've never heard it like this before. One of those instantly recognizable things from our childhood. First time I played it was at Paul and Tyrone's Loft party back in May and it was a huge hit with the floor.
Thifting in London
I was in London two weeks ago visiting family and friends and got a chance to hit up a few thrift stores in search of vinyl.
I was happily surprised to discover that the Goodwill had lowered their vinyl prices to 6 for a dollar. That is as cheap as I've ever seen vinyl.
Some highlights from Goodwill include Bryan Adams' 1984 album Reckless which has Summer of '69 on it.
The Original Soundtrack to the Montreal '76 Olympics. Basically its bad modern Canadian classical music, but I got it mainly for the cover and novelty factor.
A copy of the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (5th of Beethoven!)
A Richard Simmons workout record. When i got it home I was disappointed to discover there was no disc in it, guess I forgot to check in the store. Still great for the cover though - Richard amognst a crowd of people all reaching upwards to the sky seemingly with hopeful and excited looks on their faces
J. Geils Band's album Freeze Frame which has Centerfold on it.
And the highlight of the highlights is this combination board game/comic book about Canadian Bilingualism from the 70s produced by the Government. It features a Quebecois Parrot and a group of kids who travel across Canada or something learning about multiculturalism. Its pure 70s Canadian Govt. stuff, classic. The best part is that it came with a 7" flex disc which has 4 songs on it about how much fun bilingualism can be.
Also found this 7" which is a promotional spot for Purex cleaner by Dinah Shore. First she talks about how great Purex is and then sings about it.
Its single sided. Pretty cool find.
Also got the single of Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky
Second stop was the Value Village.
Got a Jackie Wilson record from 1953. Great romantic type loungey mood music. But the best part is the cover art is done by Salvador Dali. There is a great photo on the back of Wilson and Dali shaking hands.
Found a copy of Bruce Willis' (yes, that Bruce Willis) 1987 Motown release The Return of Bruno. It features his attempt at a Blues Brothers style R&B thing but doesn't fare very well. It is comprised of mainly originals suprisingly, none of which are very good. The few covers he does are Secret Agent Man, Under the Boardwalk and Respect Yourself. weird stuff
Also got a copy of Springsteen's Born in the USA
The goldmine at VV was the 45s. Somebody dropped of a huge collection of 80s pop. I grabbed the following.
Roy Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know Its True
Taco - Puttin' on the Ritz
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Tony Basil - Mickey
The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep
Nena - 99 Luftballons
Huey Lewis and the News - I Want a New Drug
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
George Michael - Faith
Madonna - Like a Prayer
All in all it was one of my best thifting experiences to date.
I was happily surprised to discover that the Goodwill had lowered their vinyl prices to 6 for a dollar. That is as cheap as I've ever seen vinyl.
Some highlights from Goodwill include Bryan Adams' 1984 album Reckless which has Summer of '69 on it.
The Original Soundtrack to the Montreal '76 Olympics. Basically its bad modern Canadian classical music, but I got it mainly for the cover and novelty factor.
A copy of the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (5th of Beethoven!)
A Richard Simmons workout record. When i got it home I was disappointed to discover there was no disc in it, guess I forgot to check in the store. Still great for the cover though - Richard amognst a crowd of people all reaching upwards to the sky seemingly with hopeful and excited looks on their faces
J. Geils Band's album Freeze Frame which has Centerfold on it.
And the highlight of the highlights is this combination board game/comic book about Canadian Bilingualism from the 70s produced by the Government. It features a Quebecois Parrot and a group of kids who travel across Canada or something learning about multiculturalism. Its pure 70s Canadian Govt. stuff, classic. The best part is that it came with a 7" flex disc which has 4 songs on it about how much fun bilingualism can be.
Also found this 7" which is a promotional spot for Purex cleaner by Dinah Shore. First she talks about how great Purex is and then sings about it.
Its single sided. Pretty cool find.
Also got the single of Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky
Second stop was the Value Village.
Got a Jackie Wilson record from 1953. Great romantic type loungey mood music. But the best part is the cover art is done by Salvador Dali. There is a great photo on the back of Wilson and Dali shaking hands.
Found a copy of Bruce Willis' (yes, that Bruce Willis) 1987 Motown release The Return of Bruno. It features his attempt at a Blues Brothers style R&B thing but doesn't fare very well. It is comprised of mainly originals suprisingly, none of which are very good. The few covers he does are Secret Agent Man, Under the Boardwalk and Respect Yourself. weird stuff
Also got a copy of Springsteen's Born in the USA
The goldmine at VV was the 45s. Somebody dropped of a huge collection of 80s pop. I grabbed the following.
Roy Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know Its True
Taco - Puttin' on the Ritz
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Tony Basil - Mickey
The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep
Nena - 99 Luftballons
Huey Lewis and the News - I Want a New Drug
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
George Michael - Faith
Madonna - Like a Prayer
All in all it was one of my best thifting experiences to date.
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