RECORD STORE TALES #968: Go For the Songs From the Electric Heart
Trapper is Emm Gryner, Sean Kelly, Frank Gryner and Tim Timleck. For those who know, Trapper is also one of the best hard rock bands going, if you happen to like that retro-catchy sound done with expertise and skill. This style of music never died, but it was definitely harder to find after grunge hit the “reset” button. Bottom line though: a good song is a good song. Trapper write and play good songs!
Joe Elliott is a fan. Isn’t that enough?
I have liked Trapper since first hearing about the band in 2015, when they released their first cassette. I knew Emm Gryner by reputation and quickly became a fan of her solo work. Of course, I was will familiar with Sean Kelly from his many recordings with Helix, Lee Aaron, the Metal On Ice CD/book project, and so on. But I missed out on that limited edition tape. I also missed the five track CD release Go For the Heart, of which 300 copies were made.
And that is the point of this story: the collector’s disease. It’s a real thing, and I have the actual receipts. I decided I wanted “all the Trapper songs”. I looked on Discogs and much to my amazement, they had a copy of Go For the Heart for $75 plus shipping. $100 total. Last copy sold was $71, two years prior. It had been on my wishlist for some time. I did the math, and decided this was my best chance to own it. Go For the Heart has “Grand Bender” and “The Warrior” from the debut tape, so this would get me “all the Trapper songs” in physical form. Still flush with Christmas money, I decided to pull the trigger. Collector’s itch: temporarily scratched.
I felt quite satisfied with my myself!
The next day, I noticed my good buddy Aaron from the KMA had left a comment on my Friday January 14 live show, during which I unboxed my brand new Songs From the Electric North cassette. “Jealous you got the new Trapper,” he said. “I only have the one CD here.”
Wait…the CD? They only have one CD and it’s Go For the Heart. The one I just paid a hundred bucks for. And Aaron’s was signed by Emm and Sean! He paid a buck.
I had to tell Sean this story. “No regrets!” I said. And it is true. I paid a lot — maybe the most paid yet for that particular CD. But I wanted it. I wanted it for a while. I know what the last guy paid, and I paid $4 more. Will it appreciate in value? Not the point! I collect music from artists I like in physical formats. I wanted it, so I bought it.
Anybody who has spent 10 seconds glancing at this site knows one thing: I love Japanese imports!
Every music collector has his or her own priorities. Today, many fans prioritise vinyl, be it original pressings, reissues or both. Some like elaborate packaging; the bigger and bolder the better! My needs are pretty simple. I want all the songs, and I’ll buy however many physical editions it takes to get them all. That means that, over the years, I have purchased hundreds of Japanese CDs. They almost always have bonus tracks, and some of those bonus tracks never see the light of day again on any other releases. Those are the best kind!
There are two great sources for Japanese imports.
CD Japan, my main store for new releases. I have Whitesnake incoming!
Discogs.
It is Discogs that is responsible for today’s content. If you’re a music collector unfamiliar with Discogs, you need to change that right away.
A few weeks ago, one of my favourite lesser known metal bands called Leatherwolf was celebrating the 30th anniversary of their third album, 1989’s Street Ready. (Probably their best album, but that’s unimportant.) Someone on social media was showing off their most prized Leatherwolf collectible: A Japanese import CD of Street Ready, with a bonus track unreleased anywhere else! Out of print for almost 30 years, that’s a rarity if I ever saw one. Plus it has that feature that is like catnip to me: an unreleased bonus track. In this case, it was a track called “Alone in the Night”, and I wanted it. It’s rare that I go 30 years without even knowing about a song.
After a few weeks of researching, I decided to pull the trigger. A Discogs seller had a copy in excellent condition for about $50, which I realized was about the cheapest it gets in the condition I want. Its only flaw was a missing obi strip (the little piece of paper along the spine) which you sometimes have to accept you’ll never get. The main thing was that bonus track. I was happy with the seller’s 100% rating so I put it in my cart.
That’s when Discogs showed its evil side.
A message popped up, telling me that just in case I wanted to combine shipping, this seller had 81 other items from my wishlist.
81 items. All Japanese CDs.
Click.
I spent the next few minutes frantically adding items to my cart, deleting them, adding them again, and then finally deciding on dollar amount I was willing to splurge. I even gave it another few days to clear my head before I clicked “buy”. This is what I ended up with.
LEATHERWOLF – Street Ready. Bonus track: “Alone in the Night”.
Now some lucky soul can be gifted my original US compact disc, because this is my new treasure. I loved this album as a teenager, and I still like it today. There is some well written metal here, and now I have 11 tracks instead of 10. I still can’t believe I didn’t know about “Alone in the Night” all this time. If I knew that back in 1989, this CD would have been on my holy grail list long ago.
I screwed up. I already had a UK single for “Hip Today”; one of those “part one of a two disc set sold separately” deals. However, for whatever reason, I never ripped it to my computer. I never even played it! When I did a quick search, I couldn’t find “Kid Ego” in my files so I assumed I needed it. I do not, but that’s OK. This CD was only $11 because the seller listed it with no obi strip. Turns out the obi strip is tucked inside, so that’s a win.
TENACIOUS D – The Pick of Destiny. Bonus tracks “Kong”, “Training Medley”.
Two extra songs to be found here. This album had more bonus tracks elsewhere, on non-physical (download only) versions. Now I have all the physical tracks, at least. “Training Medley” was already in the collection on a CD single for “P.O.D.”, but “Kong” was completely unknown until now. Even our resident Tenacious D expert, Uncle Meat, has never heard it before. (For the record, the other two bonus tracks are “Rock Your Socks” from the iTunes pre-order, and “It’s Late” which you can download if you buy the vinyl. Vinyl wishlisted.) Tenacious D collectables are usually very expensive. Their single “Jazz” (which I am missing) goes for roughly $100. I paid $26 for The Pick of Destiny.
QUIET RIOT – Alive and Well. Bonus track: “The Wait”.
20 years ago, the classic Metal Health lineup of Quiet Riot reunited for a new album. Alive and Well was a mix of new songs and re-recordings, but they could have just released a 10 song CD instead, had they included “The Wait”. It’s puzzling how songs are chosen to be obscure bonus tracks on rare editions. “The Wait” is a ballad, very much like old Quiet Riot, and a frickin’ great one too. Had it been included, Alive and Well could have been a well balanced 10 song album, and “The Wait” might have been the best one. At one point Amazon were asking $100 for this CD. I was delighted to score it for just $22. Perhaps it was cheap because it was listed as missing the obi strip. It’s there and looks great! Now my Quiet Riot collection is one song closer to being complete.
THE SWORD – Apocryphon. Bonus tracks: the same five from the deluxe edition, plus “Hammer of Heaven”.
This album has been frustrating for me. There are two versions, one with 10 tracks and one with 15. Because there’s no track listing on the back cover, I’ve never taken a chance on it. I didn’t want to bring it home only to find it’s the 10 track version. I’ve wanted this album ever since “Cloak of Feathers” made it to number 15 on the 2017 Sausagefest countdown. The only thing better than a confirmed 15 track edition? A CD with 16 tracks! Japan received “Hammer of Heaven”, which was a standalone single in 2012. It’s a boogie as heavy as plutonium! This would be its only CD release! Obi is intact, for just $25. (I’m still going to want the single for “Hammer of Heaven” since it had a live B-side of “Ebethron” not included here.)
Not a bad little spending spree. Most of these Japanese imports were pretty affordable. It seems like I spent a lot of money for just a handful of songs, but such is the quest.
Where do you buy music? I put together an informal survey of where my music has come from over the last 12 months.
DISCOGS – What a great way to fill up on old 12” and 7” singles that I am missing. Not a great way to fill up on uber-rarities. For example, I cannot pay $63 for Tenacious D’s Jazz EP which has only one track. I cannot pay $58 for Iron Maiden’s “Virus” single on 12” vinyl which has two rare Soundhouse Tapes on the B-side.
AMAZON – The lion’s share of my music comes from here. Whether it be a new release or a reissue of something in a deluxe format, Amazon is my go-to store. The prices are fair and the shipping is free for all orders over $25, which is all my orders anyway. Also great for gift-giving when your family has created their own Amazon wishlists. And if you don’t want to buy new titles, Amazon has plenty of marketplace sellers who deal in affordable, good condition used CDs. You just have to check out their ratings, like you would on eBay.
ENCORE RECORDS – The newly relocated Mecca of music shopping in Kitchener. It was even better when Encore was located just around the corner from the great comic book store, Looking For Heroes. Then I could kill two birds with one stone (or as Ricky might say, get two birds stoned at once). Their selection of new and used is awesome. Any deluxe reissues that I don’t get from Amazon can easily be found there. T-shirts, oddball releases, singles…this is the place to go in the area. At least, this is where I go!
CD JAPAN – I’ve been buying on and off from CD Japan for over a decade, but only in the last year have I really gone hogwild. (Thanks, Mitch.) When I can find Japanese versions of albums with bonus tracks for only a little more than the domestic versions, I’m in. These guys have never let me down. I’ve bought about a dozen discs from them in the last 12 months, none of which I would have been able to buy affordably anywhere else that I shop. My biggest score ever was my recent Thin Lizzy At The BBC box set. CD Japan price, brand new? $140. Discogs price, for US issue? $322.
ITUNES – For exclusives only. I will never buy anything on iTunes that can be had physically. This year I purchased Mitch Lafon’s A World With Heroes EP on iTunes, and the odd bonus track here and there. That’s it. iTunes can fuck off otherwise.
TARANNA – Aaron and I do our annual Toronto trip and end up with many treasures every time! See our videos for more details. Also included here is the Toronto record show I attend each April.
And of course, sometimes you just have to buy music directly from the artist. Artists such as Lee Aaron and Helix have earned my dollars via their own websites this year.
Then, there are places I haven’t bought anything from this past year. Walmart, Best Buy…there’s no point, really. Others include:
EBAY – I have bought no music from eBay in over two years. When I’m looking for uber-rarities, this is a very expensive way to get them. A last resort only.
My old store – Although Aaron finds stuff he wants there all the time, I haven’t had any luck in the last 12 months. However that is simply because I have so many CDs. It’s not due to the quality of that store. They are excellent at selling good condition used items. I just haven’t found much this year. I’m sure I will again. I’m just very picky about which versions of items I want, and if I don’t find the exact version I just want to keep looking. I still recommend my old store to anyone looking for cheap, good quality used CDs.
Regardless of where I obtain my music, one thing is certain: The collection keeps growing, and growing, and growing. I am confident with 100% certainty that it will continue to grow, thanks to the fine vendors listed here!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 211: The House of Lords Debacle
Joe was on the other end of the phone. “Mike,” he said. “I have three CDs here by a band called House of Lords. You want?”
I’d first heard House of Lords in ’88. Gene Simmons was promoting them like mad. They were signed to his new imprint, $immons Records. A guy called Loz Netto was his first signing, but House of Lords was his first rock acquisition. They included ex-members of Guiffria, Quiet Riot, and Alice Cooper. I picked up their debut on the week of release, but I missed the second and third albums.
“I’ll take two!” I responded without hesitation. “I’ll take the ones titled Sahara and Demons Down.”
Joe laughed. “I knew you’d know who these guys were,” he said. I saw the pictures of the hairdos on the back and I knew it.”
“Thanks man, send ’em my way. I will buy them both for sure.”
Yes, Tommy Aldridge was in House of Lords for a minute
Joe had the two discs sent to my store, attention to me. But in between his store and mine, they had been intercepted. Someone had written on the transfer slips, “Sell at $11.99 — no discount.”
No discount? On House of Lords? The fuck was this?
Not that $11.99 is a bad price. That was a high but realistic sticker price for used copies of these albums. I can get Demons Down on CD from Discogs right now for under 8 bucks. If I had walked into another store and found them for $12, I would have bought them without hesitation. It was the principle of the thing that bothered me. I’ve talked before about how we didn’t get staff discounts on certain special or big ticket items. House of Lords was hardly the kind of band that would negate a staff discount. In fact, my boss (who had written the note) had no idea who House of Lords was.
He had obviously seen that the two discs were being sent to me, since he had written the note. Perhaps he looked at the back and spied the Simmons Records logo. Either way he personally nixed the the discount. I called him up to ask what the deal was.
“Hey,” I began. “These two House of Lords discs. What’s up with the price? No discount on these?”
“Nope,” he answered simply.
“Why?” I asked. “Nobody knows who they are.”
“That’s just what we’ve decided they’re worth,” he replied.
“Alright, well I’m going to pass on them then. I’m sending them back to Joe’s store.” I was disappointed. This kind of penny-ante crap had picked up in recent years. It was petty. It seemed arbitrary.
A few years later, more copies came in. I snagged those, discount intact. Much like most of the world, the powers that be had simply forgotten who House of Lords were. And I wasn’t about to say, “Hey, by the way, in case you forgot, staff aren’t supposed to get a discount on House of Lords.”
I’m listening to House of Lords right now. The funny thing is, for such “special” items, neither is really as good as their debut!
mikeladano.com 