I have 31 discs of music to listen to now. And a whole lotta other goodies. Here we go!
First up – books. Peter Criss’ Makeup To Breakup, and the latest from Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Guiness’ Book of World Records. I’ve leafed through Peter’s book — all he seems to do is bitch about Paul and Gene. Review will come.
Next, Queen. A total of 8 discs of awesome remastered Queen to listen to: The Miracle, Jazz, A Night at the Opera, and Live Killers!
Next up, Rush. 6 discs in each of these two Sector box sets, including 2 DVD’s in 5.1 surround, plus 2 discs of 2112. Awesome. (I already have Sector 2 and have a review of that coming in the next few days.)
And the rest: The 4 disc Cult Love Omnibus Edition. Thin Lizzy’s Life Live (2 discs), Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra, and the new Rage Against The Machine XX edition (2 discs plus a DVD).
But that’s not all. Check out this Kiss lunchbox, these movies and vintage G1 Transformers 1988 “Bugly” action figure.
Lastly my folks got me this neat Joby camera tripod. This is going to come in handy when I make my next Transformers stop motion animated movie. I did a brief 15 second screen test — check that out too!
Hope your Christmas was filled with happiness, love, joy, and rock!
During a trip to Encore Records in Kitchener, Ontario, I found some pretty cool stuff among their used discs. I used to work with the guy behind the counter, Chris — trained him in fact. We had a chance to catch up and discuss the difficulties of being a collector. Piles and piles of discs, an expanding collection and lack of space for it. Filing systems. How easy it is to get behind in your filing. Good to know there are still kindred spirits out there.
Thanks for the discs Chris, and without further delay…
1. VAN HALEN – In Concert
This double CD is at least partially taken from Live Without A Net, the old Van Halen home video. That’s cool to me — some of those versions, like “Love Walks In”, were the originals that I was first familiar with. It’s weird today hearing Sammy Hagar play guitar solos on Van Halen songs, but that’s how I first heard them. $9 used.
2. HELIX – Wild In The Streets (Rock Candy remaster)
PROS: These hard-to-find (in Canada) Rock Candy reissues have great liner notes and pictures. CONS: It lacks the lyric sheet from my old Capitol Records version. This one was expensive ($14 used) but the great Heavy Metal OverloRd tells me they are well worth it.
3. FISH – “Credo” CD single
Limited edition, #5945. Cool? Yeah, but how many copies did they make of a Fish single? Anyway, this has two non-album cuts, a 7″ remix of the title track and a song called “Poet’s Moon”. “Credo” itself is a great song from Internal Exile. Great cover art by Mark Wilkinson! $6 used.
4. IRON MAIDEN – Virtual XI with limited edition lenticular cover
This was a limited edition (expensive in Canada) that had a 3D cover similar to the current Kiss Monster CD. I tried to get an idea of this in the photos. Look at Eddie’s finger in relation to the boy’s headphones. You can see it’s not in the same place in the two photos. It’s much cooler in person. Now, I know Aaron is probably going to give me shit for buying a Blaze Bayley album — any Blaze Bayley album — twice. But it’s more about the Maiden collection than Blaze. This is one I’d wanted back in the day but completely forgotten about. $10 used.
REPORT CARD
Encore Records, 54 Queen St. South, Kitchener ON, (519) 744-1370
Encore is as good as as any of the stores that Aaron and I reported on in Toronto. Sure, I’m biased in that I did train the guy behind the counter, and it was great having a conversation with somebody who understands my point of view vis-à-vis collecting. But their selection is second-to-none in this town (rock, indi, roots, jazz, blues, vinyl), with fair prices, and excellent quality. Not one blemish on any of the discs that I purchased. As an added note I found a number of Guided By Voices singles for Aaron (some stealthily pictured below) — although he is apparently banned from purchasing them at this time, until he wins the lottery!
As you may have read in a previous story, I recently had a significant birthday. One of the nice things I received was a brand-new camera. (Thanks mom & dad!) Up until now, I’ve been taking pictures of all the albums and collectibles with my Nokia c3 cell phone. (If this were a techie blog I couldn’t give that phone a glowing review, but as you can see it helped me get through the first few months of this.)
So this means, after I’m done posting all the old photos in upcoming entries, I can finally bring you better quality photos and videos. I know a lot of you love checking out the rare discs and collectibles. I never liked the photo quality on my blog, so I’m stoked to have a camera.
Here’s a bunch of photos with the old Nokia that I never got around to using.
I know some of you are following the Kiss reviews. We’re done the makeup years! Coming up, I will be covering the rest of the studio & live albums, and as many box sets and compilations as I have access to.
And, some of you follow the Record Store Tales. Coming up, you’ll read more classic quotes, hear about a lot more annoying customers, get the feel for what it’s like behind the counter, and discover more fantastic musical finds.
I decided to dust off the ol’ guitar today to do some writing and recording. I haven’t played a note in two years. Needless to say my fingers hate me right now. But I got the job done and a piece of music I don’t hate.
My weapon of choice (my only guitar) is the Vince Neil Washburn, a limited exition axe exclusive to Future Shop stores in Canada. It was limited to 2500 pieces, numbered, and retailed originally for $299.99. I got mine on clearance — $69.99, including the little practice amp, three Vince Neil picks, strap, and certificate of authenticity with Vince’s autograph. A close inspection reveals that it’s actual pen, not just printed on.
When I told people about my purchase, they’d usually respond, “Wait…isn’t Vince Neil the singer from Motley Crue?” Yes, he played guitar once in a blue moon live, but I guess that’s why I got mine so cheap on clearance. And it wasn’t the last one; my buddy Chris bought one too and re-sold it for profit.
Currently, there are none on eBay, so I suggest if you find one at a decent price, may as well pick it up! It’s a decent sounding guitar, the amp works as a practice amp but for me to record with, not so hot. I’m not really a guitar player, I can basically just play my way around blues scales, so I can’t really really review it as an instrument — just as a collector.
A sample of how the Vince Neil Washburn sounds can be found below. (Reminder: I am NOT a guitar player!)
I just dug up this old model kit I made in the 80’s. It is, of course, ZZ Top’s old car Eliminator. It’s been sitting for 25 years, so, quite dusty. To clean it will take a lot of work. Back then, I remember painting the engine logo was really tough. If you want to see a nice professionally painted rendition of this kit, click here.
The Hot Wheels toy, I’m sorry, I have no memory of where I got this! It’s very cool too, Definitely from the 80’s.
It has come, and it has gone. It was epic. I will post more details later. For now, enjoy the gallery.
For the record, the #1 song this year was “Gardenia” by Kyuss, and the mix tape features guest appearances from Jeff Woods, Craig Fee, and Stephen Hawking (although I’m pretty sure that last one was fake).
After a few years had gone by, there were too many damn rules to follow. There were so many, we literally had books full of them, with new rules being added regularly. It was pure insanity, because you had to remember some rule that was made (for example) 26 months ago. Not to mention if you dug far enough back, you could find rules that contradicted each other. It was like telling a dog to sit and come at the same time, you can’t do it.
One rule that stood firm was: “Thou Shalt Not Buy Product From a Sister Store“.
We had a complex structure of locations, but under no circumstances could a staff member buy product from a store that had a different owner. Their product was for their customers and not for us to pillage. But, when one of those owners who was a friend, sees the Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set come in, they call you to tell you. The rules meant nothing at that point. There were greater goals at hand.
This ultra-rare box was issued in 1990, as 10 discs, all sold separately. You could also get them on vinyl. I recall seeing a few of them, on 12″ vinyl, at my local Sam The Record Man (run by the near-legendary Al King) during one of my many teenage record store excursions.
CDs are my preferred format today. Collect all ten of the Maiden singles, and you could send away for the box that contains them. Obviously, a complete set is a rare find. This set came in complete, as is. I still have the receipt. I paid $135.99 on Oct 7, 2003. (With taxes, $156.39.)
It was worth every penny, but it was also worth the shit I caught for buying it from another owner. And did I get in shit for it!
At best, I was bending the rules. At best! I paid full price (no discount!), the owner himself rang it in, and he was happily on board with making a quick buck. He even personally delivered it to Kitchener. He could have simply said, “No”. He didn’t. Now, I take responsibility for my actions, but an owner has a lot more say in things than I do. I didn’t deserve what happened next.
A higher-up stormed into my store, pulled me into the office, slammed the door, and yelled. And yelled. And pointed a lot, and yelled some more.
It was a weird feeling. Here I was getting screamed at so much that the dogs could hear it 4 miles away, but also elated about my Iron Maiden find at the exact same time. It was like I didn’t know if I should be happy or pissed off! It’s like any time you see someone trying so hard not to smile.
I pulled it off. I also owned the fucking Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set!
Their big argument was “It’s a bad example to the employees”. But really, that wasn’t an issue. No employees knew about it — not one! — until they made a big show of it by yelling at me in store! The one that said I was a bad example, was the one who let the cat out of the bag.
I walked out of the office, head hanging, but then when out of sight, grinning ear to ear. Of course the two people who overheard the whole thing asked about it afterwards. Dandy Douche asked, “Do you think it was worth it? Would you do it again?” I said, “Absolutely. But next time I’m wearing a beard and a moustache, the whole disguise, and buying it in person!”
Unfortunately I never had the chance to do that. The Iron Maiden box set was one of the last big big items from my “holy grail list.” that came in.
Each disc contains two singles, plus an unreleased 10 minute interview with Nicko. One on every disc. They are called “Listen With Nicko!” parts I through X. Well worth the money, Nicko is friggin’ hilarious.
All singles included are complete (except Maiden Japan), plus a “Listen With Nicko!” bonus track. And again, you had to buy these all separately! On import! And according to the terms on the mail-in card, only UK residents could order the boxes to house the discs. Another thing I found interesting was that you had to mail in all ten slips in order to get the box. Whoever owned my box previously still has nine of his ten slips! (I am missing #9, “Can I Play With Madness” / “The Evil That Men Do”.) This can only make my box set rarer and more desirable to collectors.
DISC 1 – Running Free / Sanctuary
DISC 2 – Women In Uniform / Twilight Zone
DISC 3 –Purgatory / Maiden Japan
DISC 4 – Run to the Hills / The Number of the Beast
DISC 5 – Flight Of Icarus / The Trooper
DISC 6 – 2 Minutes to Midnight / Aces High
DISC 7 – Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)
DISC 8 – Wasted Years / Stranger in a Strange Land
DISC 9 – Can I Play With Madness / The Evil That Men Do
DISC 10 – The Clairvoyant (Live) / Infinite Dreams (Live)
Click below to embiggen the brand new photo gallery!
mikeladano.com 