#335: Musical Archaeological Discovery!

It’s #throwbackthursday!

RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale
#335: Musical Archaeological Discovery!

A couple weekends ago, I had a chance to dig through some old boxes looking for musical memories.   I found that, and a lot more.

I discovered a complete inventory of my entire music collection, that I had made as a kid.  Most of it was on cassette.  There’s no date on it, but thanks to my photographic memory of musical life events, I can easily date this to within +/- a couple months.  Let’s have a look and figure out when I made this inventory.

The first thing I noticed was there are 24 CD titles on this list.  I received my first CD player for Christmas of 1989.  That would place this list a fair bit after Christmas of ’89.

In the section for “Videos”, I only had four VHS titles at the time:  Kiss, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, and Warrant.  I know I received a Faith No More (You Fat Bastards) video for Christmas of ’92.  So we’re well before December 1992.

Back to the CD section.  The presence of the Led Zeppelin box set helps me narrow it down further.  I know I received that box set for Christmas of 1990.  I also remember getting Slaughter’s Stick It Live tape on December 28th of that year, and that cassette is on this list.

I distinctly recall my birthday in July 1991.  I received Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid on cassette (thanks sis), and Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge on CD (thanks Bob).  Neither are on this list.  Therefore, this was made sometime between Christmas of 1990, and July of ’91.  Just over six months. To narrow it down as tightly as possible, I need to look for purchases that I know I made in early 1991.

In April or May of ’91, I can remember getting the new Mr. Big (Lean Into It) on cassette, and the first Raw M.E.A.T CD.  Neither are on here.  Most definitively however, missing on this list is David Lee Roth’s newest, A Lil’ Ain’t Enough.  I know I got that for Easter of 1991.  Now we’re really close.  Somewhere between January to March of ’91!

I know I bought the uber-rare cassette single for Helix’s “Good to the Last Drop” really early in 1991.  Snow was still on the ground, and that cassette single is not listed here.   Therefore: I conclude that I created this list after Christmas 1990 or early in 1991, but probably during Christmas break 1990!  I would have had the spare time to work on it during break.

Some additional observations:

1. Apparently I hadn’t yet discovered alphabetizing.

2. The dollar values printed represent approximate guesses as to retail value.  I later made a revised list that replaced this with 5 star ratings, but I have not as yet found that version.

Here it is, now preserved digitally forever!  And look — I only owned one CD single!*  Final interesting note:  Most of the items on this list are long gone.  I’ve upgraded to CD on all the cassettes and only kept a handful.  I have most of the vinyl, but I gave away my ’45 of the Wrestlers.  I have some of the CDs, but others (Kiss, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Van Halen, Slaughter, Maiden, Motley Crue) have long been replaced by remasters.

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* Iron Maiden’s “Holy Smoke”, bought at Dr. Disc in the autumn of 1990.

48 comments

      1. I was really into RPGs and collecting wargames miniatures as a teen so my cash was always divided between that and music. I’d say it wasn’t until I started working full time that I started buying music more seriously. It’s just built and built since then. The more bands I like the more there is to buy so it just grows and grows… aargh

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        1. Yeah and all of us only contribute to each others’ debt load!

          And I STILL walk into my music room and say, “I have nothing here I want to listen to right now…better go check Amazon.”

          Liked by 1 person

        2. Speaking of debt loads… I’ll be sending you the bill for mine hahaha. You’re always spending my money!

          And I’m the same too. It’s ridiculous really. I’ve always got more music than I have time to listen to but I always feel like I need more!

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  2. Cool list from one of the better periods for music, nice.

    What I do find interesting is just how many of those records remain favorites of my own to this day; Badlands, Sonic Temple, 5150, OU812, Operation Mindcrime, Rage For Order, Slip Of The Tongue, Seventh Son, Somewhere In Time, Big Game, Defenders Of The Faith… AC/DC Aerosmith Def Leppard… Lottsa great music.

    Would love to discover an old similar list of my own :)

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    1. Hey Wardy thanks for stopping by!

      Glad to hear that have favourites from this list too. Rage for Order…such an underrated album. I truly didn’t “get” it for a couple years.

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  4. What a great find and that was some pretty effective deductive reasoning to put a date on it. Unfortunately, I never did make a list of my own back then. I’m glad you’ve since learned to alphabetize.

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    1. ME TOO. I remember I was still doing it this way (kinda random) for a long time, until my buddy T-Rev build me a CD tower that could hold about 500 discs. Then we went through and put everything in order. And it’s been that way ever since.

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      1. It’s the only way I was able to function as my CD collection grew. These days I don’t access my CDs as much so they’re in a mass jumble in the basement. However, my vinyl collection is growing to a size which will require alphabetizing soon.

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      2. I built my own 4×8 box, holds about 1200. And the vinyls are in one of those IKEA cabinets of 8 cubby holes… perfect size for them.

        Recently I just spent several evenings reorganizing the library downstairs. Now it’s all alphabetized and organized. A very satisfying feeling – get in there and GIV ‘ER!

        Mike, one day you will have your own room with all the shelving you need. It’ll happen!

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  5. Very cool, man! Oh year book photos. Guaranteeing your kids laugh at you for generation after generation…

    I know I kept a list of all my stuff. It was hadwritten at first, then I typed it up on my super-hot Amiga 500… But where that thing would be now? Probably long gone. My parents did give me boxes of all my old stuff when we moved back to the province and bought a house (a chance to clear out storage of all my crap). But I doubt anything is in there. One never knows, but my hopes wouldn’t be high about it. I know what my first cassette and my first CD were, but the whole list? Nah.

    Also: Soundtrack for the Adventures of Ford Fairlane? Duuuude…

    Also: $25 for Def Leppard Historia? That’s high. Do you mean Hysteria?

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    1. Nope! Historia was the name of the home video. Which was BAD ASS…and is now available on DVD. Man I watched that thing so many times. I did pay a lot for it. Zellers 1988 or 89. It was my first exposure to many of their videos, especially early. It had a cool Top of the Pops video for Too Late For Love that I had never seen. And the ORIGINAL video for Pour Some Sugar!!

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      1. I loved that one too! The t-shirt was technically given to my sister for x-mas, and then about two years later she had it in a pile of shirts to go to goodwill. WHAT?! She didn’t want it any more. Okay then, My family is not terribly sentimental (obviously…) :\

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  8. Wow. Sound like we had the same taste in music. I got Led Zep boxset and Slaughter Stick it Live cd that same Christmas, and I still have them today. Also, the first day I met my soon to be girlfriend, and now wife, she was playing Mr. Big on cassette in her car( I just bought her that same cassette again a few weeks ago to replace her long gone copy)

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  10. This is pretty awesome! I guess I’m not so organized as to make a list of things, but I used to keep my records in alphabetical order on the shelves (when I had a huge collection). By the way, I met Alice Cooper this past Sunday night in Moline, Illinois, after he opened for Motley Crue! What a great guy – truly nice, funny, and courteous. I’m so glad I plunked down the $499 for the VIP because it was totally worth it for the experience! And his show was way better than Motley Crue’s, although seeing that drum coaster was worth staying for!

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  11. I used to write all mine up in an exercise book. That system lasted for years and years until I got a computer which had a Lotus database on it and I taught myself how to write a database on it. The dedication!

    Really enjoyed this post Mike, especially the pics of that young, fresh-faced dude.

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  14. Wow. That’s some pretty good work to narrow down the age o’ this list! I used to write mine in a notebook. Last time I did one musta been around ’97, I reckon.

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