RECORD STORE TALES Part 164: “You scratch my back…”
In the past, (Part 120, in fact) I talked about how T-Rev would keep his eyes peeled for discs that he knew I wanted. It worked out to be a mutually advantageous arrangement; a large chunk of my collection came to me simply because T-Rev knew I wanted something. I’m sure the reverse was also true. But this referred just to discs that showed up in our respective stores.
I had a different arrangement with “QUO”, who worked with me at my own store. In this case, we’d actually buy each other stuff while we were out on our own record shopping excursions. I found the following entries in my journal, illustrating exactly the kind of “you scratch my back…” arrangements that we had. It was pretty awesome.
Date: 2005/10/25 16:26
Today I picked up a Bright Eyes 45, an Arcade Fire 45 for QUO, and the new Motley DVD since I didn’t see the tour. I hope the documentary footage kicks ass! The last Motley DVD (given to me by an ex) really sucked. Maybe Vince actually sings on this one instead of letting the fans do it all!
I actually picked up the Bright Eyes 7″ for QUO as well, but he already had it, so I just kept it for myself. I don’t know which Arcade Fire I bought for him (it was probably “Rebellion”), but the Bright Eyes was “Gold Mine Gutted”. (The Motley DVD I am referring to was Carnival of Sins.)
This was in return of a favour QUO did for me, one week prior!
Date: 2005/10/18 10:00
QUO picked up three CDs for me in Toronto last night:
1. Bon Jovi “Have A Nice Day” single (has two live tracks first released on the box set, but in studio versions). 2. Bruce Dickinson Tyranny Of Souls Japanese import with bonus track. 3. Iron Maiden “The Trooper” CD single.
I remember giving QUO a wishlist. This was back when HMV Toronto still carried Japanese imports (which they no longer do, see rant here). I remember putting Avril Lavigne CD singles on that wishlist too!
This is what obsessive Record Store Guys do. We help each other out. It’s in our blood, the blood of the collector!
I’m going to be covering more of my rarities in 2013. Here’s a neat little item that I picked up back in 1996 for the princely sum of $4. A guy called me up and said he was bringing in some discs including a Sex Pistols 3″ single. I’d never owned a 3″ single before, so I knew right away that I would want it for myself. He came in right at the end of my shift and we did the deal.
This 3″ single contains 3 tracks, all of them available on Pistols albums:
“God Save the Queen” (from Never Mind the Bollocks)
“Did You No Wrong” (from Flogging a Dead Horse, which collected this B-side)
“Don’t Give Me No Lip Child” (from some versions of The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle)
I only own one Pistols album, a 2 CD edition of Never Mind the Bollocks, including a bonus disc called Spunk and Spedding Demos. That one album is more than enough Pistols for me (although I do still want to pick up Filthy Lucre Live) and I really never liked the bonus disc too much. The album itself is the meat and potatoes.
Having said that, this single was a great way for me to pick up two more Pistols songs that I liked, without having to get more albums that would probably sit collecting dust on my shelves. And I do like these two tunes. “Did You Know Wrong” is a particular favourite, “Don’t Give Me No Lip” sounds like it was probably recorded live in the studio. It’s muddy and you can barely hear Rotten. You certainly can’t really make out the words! You can hear tape drop out at 1:47, don’t know if that’s on the album or not.
Def Leppard have released the second in their series of iTunes re-recordings. The first, a double single of “Pour Some Sugar”/”Rock of Ages”, was a pretty straight “forgery” (to use Joe Elliot’s phrase). The second, entitled “Acoustic Medley 2012” is exactly what it sounds like it would be. Apparently, Leppard were playing this medley live, and decided to commit a studio version to tape.
The songs in the medley are: “Where Does Love Go When It Dies”, “Now”, “When Love and Hate Collide”, “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”, and “Two Steps Behind”. Total time: 7:32. The first two songs in the medley, I give Def Lep full points for. I’ve always been a sucker for the Slang album, so to hear something from Slang again, is just…wow. Maybe this is being done to pre-hype the Slang deluxe edition due 2013, eh?
“Now”, and the X album in general I’ve never been a huge fan of, as I made clear in my review. I give the band credit for putting “Now” back out there, since they rarely touch that album anymore. I’m all for obscure material being resurrected.
The other three tunes in the medley are a bit ho-hum, but taken as a whole it’s incredible how well they all work together. “Two Steps Behind” gets the majority of time in the medley, a song that I really never need to hear again. It’s pretty much identical to the standard version from the Retro-Active CD.
As mentioned, this is an iTunes-only release, but I’d love to see a physical product. Limited edition vinyl? I would buy that. Are you listening, Joe?
NEIL PEART – “The Hockey Theme” (2010 single, iTunes)
For my international friends and readers, you’re just going to have to take my word for it that this little tune is one of the most iconic pieces of music in our nation’s great history. Mike Myers called it “Canada’s second anthem”. If you’re home on a Saturday night, it’s a given that any true hoser is watching Hockey Night In Canada. That theme song was the anthem that said, “Alright fans, go get your beer and your jerseys, the action starts now.”
I won’t get into the details of why this song isn’t the theme to Hockey Night In Canada anymore, but the song was picked up by another network, and it still kicks off hockey games every week — just not on Hockey Night in Canada.
In 2010, Neil Peart did a drum and horns version of the theme song, and put it up for sale on iTunes. People bitched that they had to pay $1.29 for a song that was barely over a minute long. All I can say to those people is, don’t buy it. It you’re really huffing and puffing about paying $1.29 for a simply incredible piece of music by the world’s greatest drummer, then it is possible that you may in fact have no soul.
If you’re familiar with Neil’s work on the Burning For Buddy albums, then you already know that he tends to really kick traditional arrangements in the nuts. And that’s what he does here. He turns “The Hockey Theme” into a stomping, fill-laden anthem that is perfect for kicking off just about any mix CD that you have in mind.
Now, if we could only get an actual hockey season happening this year, we’d be talkin’!
Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012! Check out the video below if you missed it. This one bought at Paradise Bound.
MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO
THE CULT – “Lil’ Devil”(1987 double 12″ single, Polygram)
I had to pick this up. Two 12″ discs, one single. Although all the Cult studio B-sides are collected on the excellent Rare Cult box set, none of the live ones are. And I only have one other single from Electric, “Wild Flower”. This is a double 12″ single, 38 minutes long, including a 19 minute interview with Billy and Ian.
What can you say about “Lil’ Devil”? It’s sometimes forgotten on radio, next to “Love Removal Machine” and the aforementioned “Wild Flower”, but it’s certainly as good as either of those two songs. A swaggering rock song, this is a pinnacle of some sort for this type of track. Four guys in the room with amps. Marshalls. AC/DC comparisons were bandied about.
The B-sides include the familiar “Zap City”, a song that has cropped numerous times since, including The Manor Sessions EP and Best of Rare Cult. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s from the abandoned Peace sessions, which they ditched in order to re-record with Rick Rubin. It’s a lightning-like rock song, much like what The Cult would later do on Sonic Temple. It would have fit right in on that album.
Two live tracks, “Wild Thing/Louie Louie” and “Phoenix” are present as well. I love the live cover, it’s plenty fun. “Phoenix” is ragged with plenty of guitar noise and even a drum solo.
Last is in the interview. It’s informative but far too long. The best bits involve recording with Rick Rubin, and the decision to re-record the album that became Electric. I could have done without the extended song snippets (most people buying the single already owned the album!).
BLUE RODEO – “Til I Am Myself Again” (1990 cassette single)
From my years at the record store, I’ve seen scores of copies of this single on CD. It has four tracks, all album tracks. The cassette single on the other hand was something special. It had a unique bonus track called “5 Day Disaster” that (so far as I know) was exclusive to the cassette format.
In 1990, (Casino era) Blue Rodeo had gone down the road of simpler, short pop-country-rock songs, and “5 Day Disaster” is one of these. It’s a peppy, uptempo Jim Cuddy blaster with an unforgettable chorus. It has strong upfront keyboards by Bobby Wiseman, including a piano solo.
The A-side was of course one of Blue Rodeo’s biggest early hits. It too is a short poppy Jim Cuddy song. Both songs are credited to the duo of Greg Keelor/Jim Cuddy. It should be assumed that both songs were also produced by Pete Anderson, although the credits on “5 Day Disaster” are not clear, they both sound cut from the same cloth.
Cassette single tracklist: Side A: “Til I Am Myself Again” / Side B: “5 Day Disaster”
CD single (not shown in photos) tracklist: 1. “Til I Am Myself Again” 2. “What Am I Doing Here” 3. “Rebel” 4. “Diamond Mine”
4/5 stars
(NOTE: A few months after posting this review, Blue Rodeo reissued “5 Day Disaster”, now titled “5 Day Disaster Week”, on their excellent 1987-1993 box set! Thanks guys!)
Note that I have the US version of Casino below. Notice the different logo from the cassette? In the US they were still using the Diamond Mine logo!
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – “No One Knows”(UNKLE Remix) CD single (2002)
Remixes…meh.
There are a few different singles for “No One Knows”. The one you are currently taking a look at is the UNKLE remix single. As far as remixes go, this isn’t bad at all. It’s actually a really interesting remix, completely reinventing the song and changing it into something else, while still retaining that haunting Homme melody. A job well done, for sure, a truly good remix.
However I can’t rate this single any higher than 2 stars simply because it contains four versions of the same song, and I usually like a lot more out of my singles. The disc contains the original version, and three versions of the UNKLE remix (extended, edit, intrumental).
This is mainly for remix fans. Even completists should put this low on their priority lists. 2/5 stars
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)
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