"I'd buy that for a dollar!" Great purchases for a buck or less

Looking at You, Chaz Jankel
Relight My Fire, Dan Hartman
The Best of B.T.O. (So Far)

Orpheus Records (formerly in DC, currently in Arlington) going out of business sale--vinyl for a buck

Grupo Sportivo- Mistakes
Ian Dury-Lord Upminster
Mickey Jupp's legend
Skids-Scared to Dance

Cool! Mistakes was by far Grupo Sportivo's best album (at least of the four or so I've heard), and one of the great lost new wave albums, period, as far as I'm concerned. Pretty sure, though, that it was actually a compilation of the best tracks from a couple import (Dutch, I guess?) LPs I've never actually seen. In the States it originally came with a free 7-inch 6-song EP called More Mistakes tucked inside. Key track on EP: "Disco Really Made It (It's Yucky And I Hate It)." Still have my copy. But the LP's a lot better than the EP.

I got the second God Machine album on CD for £1 once.
Had various other good things, but nothing that springs to mind right now.

I found the Cure's Happily Ever After CD in a cutout bin for $1.00 in 1990. Its just a US compilation of 17 Seconds and Faith, which went out of print two months after its release (with, as I recall, 2000 copies outstanding). I sold it in 1997 on Ebay for $125 to some completist fanboy. Probably the best investment I've ever made.

If the big-swayzak/john tejada-fan-back-in-2001 who sells all his old records to Sonic Boom, who sell them back for 2-3 dollars is reading this, keep 'em coming (although I generally associate Swayzak and John Tejada, much more so than anyone else, with prolific output of particularly mediocre material, you've given me some good stuff!)

Huh. Someone came up with the exact same thread idea/title five years before I did. Curse you!

A friend of mine, who's a master digger, chanced upon a copy of The World of Cecil Taylor for pennies in the Salvation Army recently. It's pretty gubbed, but still, that's a rare and valuable record, not least cos it was reissued under a different name.

I've not managed any such finds, but I've picked up some nice stuff in that shop nonetheless, not least some 70s Dylan albums for 25p. Problem is that there are always diggers lurking there, waiting to pounce on any new donations.

My favourite £1 buy was a Rutles picture sleeve ep with Cheese & Onions, I Must Be In Love and A Girl Like You on it. It's not in the Record Collector guide, but it's not something I've ever come across.

quando quango - love tempo 12"
space - magic fly lp
from reckless records in chicago
plus tons and tons of shit from the dusty groove 35 cent bin

Crappy record store near the edge of the city that I haven't thought about in years, plays some of the worst music I've ever heard. Got 6 $1 records, including a copy of Giorgio Moroder - From Here to Eternity LP which looks like it hasn't even been touched, and other assorted dance 12's with stuff like Svek, Mike Ink, Remixes by Mad Mike Banks etc.

A pretty who'd have thunk it experience. :)

Vinyl I bought today. (Still like the specificity of this thread more than that catch-all rolling vinyl one.)

$2, thrift store, 46th and Queens Blvd, Sunnyside:

Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame I (Atlantic, 1983)

$4 total (= less than 50 cents each), vintage store, 48th and Skillman, Sunnyside:

Automatic Man Automatic Man (Island, 1976)
The Stanky Brown Group If The Lights Don't Get You The Helots Will (Sire, 1977) (if the band is stanky and brown rather than Stanky Brown being somebody's name, this should be filed in the S's rather than B's obviously)
Hoagy Carmichael Hoagy (RCA, 1981)
Desmond Child And Rouge Desmond Child And Rouge (Capitol, 1979)
Ducks Deluxe Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite (RCA, 1978) (already had this, but what the heck, I'm sure I'll find use for another one someday)
Gazebo Gazebo (Baby Italy, 1983)
Puhdys Das Buch (Pool West Germany, 1984)
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes This Time It's For Real (Epic, 1977)
Randy Travis Old 8 x 10 (Warner Bros., 1988)

Probably not the first time I've tried those Desmond Child and Southside Johnny LPs. Maybe this time they'll sink in. Or maybe I am just a glutton for punishment.

Passed up a couple other 50-cent '80s Randy Travis LPs, but Xgau gave them worse grades than the one I bought, so maybe that was smart. Passed on a 50-cent 1987 Guadalcanal Diary LP too (what did they sound like?), and a $2 1989 LP by Joe Hardy-produced New York hard rock band Law and Order, though if George advises otherwise, I'll go back for that one.

Automatic Man Automatic Man (Island, 1976)

Don't know if you'll like this. Requires more than one listen. Extension of Stomu Yamashita's Go, sort of, which was an experiment on jazz and middle of the road hard rock, the latter furnished by Pat Thrall, who made a lot more money with Pat Travers later but quit that, too, after co-writing "Smoking Whiskey, Drinkin' Cocaine." Anyway, Automatic Man is nothing like that. It's very spacey, often almost frictionless, sometimes veering into prog. One of the members -- singer/bassist, I think, is now much more famous as a songwriter/producer under another name. Plus Michael Shrieve's in the band as a kind of poor man's Jan Hammer. I like it but was there at the beginning. Definitely an acquired taste but not so convincing that you'd have stuck around for the second album, which was colored pink instead of blue, like this one.

Don't remember a great amount about Law & Order except that I had it on cassette, my band played with them in Allentown, and they were good guys. Kind of in the Circus of Power style but better although not that much so. They were part of the major label wave of second and third tier signings in the late Eighties of metal rock 'n' roll bands that were supposed to be more gritty and from-the-street than the hitmakers. Published about the same times as The Throbs and Vain and were in the same, uh, vein. About six months later, grunge washed them all away. Toss up whether it's worth 2 bucks. Depends on the whether and how much loose change you have in your pocket.

$2, thrift store, 46th and Queens Blvd, Sunnyside, today:

The Geraldine Fibbers Get Thee Gone (Sympathy For The Record Industry 10-inch EP, c. '90s I guess)

An extravagance, since I am a total fetishizing sucker when it comes to 10-inch EPs (even though it is impossible to find inner sleeves). Plus I've never liked anything by these '90s indie art roots nerds before (not that I've listened much), and why would this be any different? But I used to be (very) mildly curious about the Fibbers, and I figure, if I'm ever going to like anything by them, this'd be about the correct amount of songs. Plus they cover Dolly's "Jolene" on it; how bad could that be? (Pretty bad, but I'll probably keep it anyway.)

Of the last batch of cheapos I bought, I wound up liking Automatic Man more than George predicted. Also liked Arrington, Stanky Brown Group (its more pompy rocky Tully first side anyway), Hoagy, Desmond Child (a lot actually -- not sure anybody was ever more disco-metal), Gazebo, Puhdys (though '70s LPs I have by them rock harder), Southside Johnny (well that one's pretty darn marginal but I like when the Coasters show up at least), and Randy Travis. Which means I wound up liking the whole pile, I guess.

i've been obsessed of late with all Patrick Adams productions and was thrilled to find an original 12" of Universal Robot Band "Freak With Me" for $1.39 at Other Music, of all the places.

An extravagance, since I am a total fetishizing sucker when it comes to 10-inch EPs (even though it is impossible to find inner sleeves).

78" sleeves are 10 inch. http://www.bagsunlimited.com/cart/browse.asp?subcat=42 I guess I bought myself a lifetime supply several years ago.

The Geraldine Fibbers Get Thee Gone (Sympathy For The Record Industry 10-inch EP, c. '90s I guess)

An extravagance, since I am a total fetishizing sucker when it comes to 10-inch EPs (even though it is impossible to find inner sleeves). Plus I've never liked anything by these '90s indie art roots nerds before (not that I've listened much), and why would this be any different? But I used to be (very) mildly curious about the Fibbers, and I figure, if I'm ever going to like anything by them, this'd be about the correct amount of songs. Plus they cover Dolly's "Jolene" on it; how bad could that be? (Pretty bad, but I'll probably keep it anyway.)

This record sounds like a frog being choked while someone laboriously puts a guitar out of tune, but I love it; only thing I ever liked by them. Bought it when it came out & would buy a nearly infinite number for $2 each, or half of infinity for $4/ea. It was around the time of Uncle Tupelo's breakup and we were all looking for a new hip alternative country act. Didn't find it; found a choking frog. Still!

I just have to put in a good word here for the Fibbers' two proper albums, the 1st of which is a favorite of mine.

You think finding inner sleeves for 10" records is hard? Try finding OUTER sleeves!

Outer sleeves, what? (I think I have maybe three of those, out of several thousand albums. Never really understood what purpose they serve, unless the record cover is made out of paper. Though I actually think I own a 10-inch somewhere where that's the case.) Will look into those inner ones, though...

I always find great records at salvation armies in Queens. Lots of old-school italian outer-borough disco DJs who've moved on.

But tonight during dinner I listened to Joe Jackson's Night and Day, one of THE most ubiquitous dollar-bin records, at least in these parts, and I think it's a pretty wonderful record.

Jesus, I was just looking at craigslist for used CD's, and it's astonishing to think that people actually think they're going to be able to offload all their regrettable mid-late 90's junk (Backstreet Boys et al), for $5 a disc, but there's dozens of these people. One person was selling the Lion King Soundtrack for $10.

75 cents each, Value Village, Houston, this afternoon, all vinyl:

Ray Charles Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music (ABC Paramount, early '60s) (I used to own a late '80s reissue, but this one's the original pressing. Looks pretty scratched up though.)
Gulliver Gulliver (Elekta, early '70s I guess?) (Don't think I ever even heard of this before -- Daryl Hall's pre-Hall & Oates band)
Stacey Q "Shy Girl" (On The Spot 12-inch, 1985) (pre-debut LP indie-label single; already own the 7-inch.)
(Various) Every Which Way But Loose (Elektra, 1978) (w/ Eddie Rabbit, Charlie Rich, Mel Tillis, Hank Thompson, and lots of instrumentals about orangutans, apparently)

gulliver album is JUST about worth 75 cents. musically, that is. but i only played my copy once years ago. maybe i would like it more now. these things happen.

I've got the Gulliver CD. I got real excited about it about two years ago for about 20 seconds then realized it wasn't all that great.

CD: Bjork's "Homogenic" and Saint Etienne's "Tiger Bay"

12"s
LFO - "LFO"
Stacey Q - "Two of Hearts"
Afro-Rican - "Give it All You Got", Sun Town pressing
TLC - "Diggin' on Me"
Whitney Houston - "I'm Every Woman" (gatefold 2x12")
C+C Music Factory: "Things that Make You Go Hmmmm", "Gonna Make You Sweat"
The KLF - 3AM Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)
Missy Elliot - "Supa Dupa Fly"
Black Box - "Everybody, Everybody"

Curious about this Stacey Q, will investigate.

captain beefheart 'trout mask replica' gatefold LP in fantastic condition - 50 cents
best of ELO LP, brand new - 50 cents

$1 each LPs, garage sale, North Austin, last Saturday:

The Move Looking On (Capitol, no year listed)
Weather Report Sweetnighter (Columbia, 1973)

Move LP was 1970, apparently.

Bob Dylan, Planet Waves (original Asylum edition), 99¢ -- Wal Mart, 1979
Pigpen, Daylight, $1.00 -- Uncle Buck's, Oxford, 1997

"Citywide Garage Sale," Austin, today:

Joan Armatrading How Cruel (A&M EP, 1979) free
Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley Just Good Old Boys (Columbia LP, 1979) $1
Johnny Bristol Feeling The Magic (MGM LP, 1975) $1
Cold Chisel Cold Chisel (Elektra LP, 1980) $1
Headpins Line Of Fire (SGR LP, 1983) $2
Jackson Highway Jackson Highway (Capitol LP, 1980) (Never heard of them, but they have tons of facial hair and at least one great song title: "Rock and Roll Man [Hung Up On A Disco Girl]".) $1
Kansas Bringing It Back (Design Ltd. Music LP, 1980) (Strange looking apparent comp that "may contain previously recorded material" on a questionable indie label I never heard of) $1
O.B. McClinton If You Loved Her That Way (Stax LP, 1974) $1
Ronnie Milsip Images (RCA LP, 1979) (Nice gatefold, and possible disco-country potential) $1
Aaron Tippin Greatest Hits...And Then Some (RCA/BMG CD, 1997) (Road-tested about half of this already. Sounded better and tougher than I'd remembered him.) $3

Goodwill Store, North Central Austin, today:

(Various Artists) The Beatnuts Collection 2 (Strictly Break double LP, 2004) (Questionably legal compilation of songs with hopefully nutty beats that the Beatnuts have allegedly sampled, from Enoch Light, Serge Gainsbourg, Roy Ayers, Lou Rawls, Tyrone Davis, Zulema, Ann Peebles, Harry Nilsson, Electric Prunes, Lou Donaldson, Five Stairsteps, etc.) $2
(Various Artists) The Original Toga Party (Adam VIII double LP, 1979 ("As seen on TV" comp of clearly awesome '50s and '60s frat-party hits by the Isley Brothers, Sam Cooke, Dovels, Regents, Orlons, Kingsmen, Bobby Lewis, Joey Dee and the Starlighters, Lee Dorsey, Chips, The Essex, Kingsmen, Tommy James and Shondells, etc.) $2

Oliver and Jasper's International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal on Jackson Highway: "This band plays a very commercial style of Southern boogie, but not hard enough to stand alongside other outfits of the genre. Most of Blackfoot guest on one track."

BFC (Carl Craig) - 'Elements 1989-1990' on cd for 250yen (£1.80)

Recently:

Truth Hurts feat. Rakim — "Addictive" 12" $1
Felix feat. Jomanda — "Don't You Want Me" 12" $.50

$7.58 total (= $1 to $2 each + tax), some indepedent thrift store at Burnet and W. Koenig in Austin:

Dan Hartman Relight My Fire (Blue Sky LP, 1979)
Harlequins Four "Set It Off"/"Set It Off (With All That You Feel -- Instrumental)" (Jus Born 12-inch, 1985) (Competing cover of Strafe song, released pretty much simultaneously with the original version. This may or may not be my second copy of this; I still need to check)
Ohio Players Greatest Hits (Westbound, 1975) (Their earler, pre-huge-"Fire" crossover hits obv.)
Raze "Jack The Groove"/"Oh Song"/"Jump In Your Dance"/"Bonus" (Grove St. EP, no year listed) (Songwriting, production, mixing, recording studio credited to Vaughan Mason of "Rock Skate Roll Bounce" fame, with some help from one Ben E. Epps. Record label based in Orange, NJ. Pretty sure Raze were considered a sort of Jersey equivalent of house music, so this is probably mid '80s -- And yeah, the copies on line all say 1986, though most of those seem to be on British labels, which presumably means they came out at least slightly later than in the U.S.)
Gil Scott-Heron Moving Target (Arista LP, 1982) (West German pressing, which means this might have been owned by an American soldier stationed there the same time I was, who knows.)

So yeah, not much Rock this time. None, really. Though Dan Hartman does include a version of "Free Ride" with G.E Smith on lead guitar.

Passed up a couple c.-1986 Trax label house 12-inches that looked pretty scratched up, including "The House Music Anthem" by Marshall Jefferson. Also a very indie looking early (1979) Ricky Skaggs album on (bluegrass not rap) Sugar Hill. And a 3-LP live set of Christian rock on Myrrh from 1977 by Phil Keaggy, The Band Called David, and the 2nd Chapter of Acts. I would have bought that one but they wanted to charge me $4 for it, and I'm a cheapskate. Plus I probably never would get around to listening to the whole thing. Feel free to tell me if I was a dumbbell to pass any of those up.

even though phil keaggy is my lord and saviour (in his role as frontman for Glass Harp) and i do own a 2nd chapter of acts album that isn't half bad, you can live without the myrrh sampler.

i love raze, by the way!

$45-or-so total (including $5 entrance fee), Austin Record Convention (which apparently happens twice annually), N. Lamar in Austin morning. (Most old LPs there looked way overpriced -- total sucker-bait. The trick was to stick to $1 and $1.50 bins underneath the tables. Still spent way more money than I should have -- getting to the point where I need to break the habit again. But life is short.):

Ambrosia Life Beyond L.A. (Warner Bros., 1978) (w/ "How Much I Feel." Their highest charting album. Never bought an Ambrosia LP before -- I'm not much of a yachtsman -- and passed up a moldy looking copy of their debut, possibly a fatal mistake.)
American Tears Tear Gas (Columbia, 1975) (W/ a sheet of six band stickers inside. Plus they're wearing shag haircuts and gas masks. Drummer named "Tommy Gunn." Called "plod pomp" in Jasper & Oliver book.)
Carla Bley Sextet (Watt, 1987)
Bus Boys American Worker (Arista, 1982) (Said to be their hard-rock/AOR move, I believe)
Glen Campbell Southern Nights (Capitol, 1977)
Chicken Shack 100 Ton Chicken (Blue Horizon, 1969) (Did not expect them to look so Rennaissance-Fairy.)
Ry Cooder Paradise and Lunch (Warner Bros., 1974) (5-star album in first Rolling Stone Record Guide book, fwiw; I recognized the cool cover, though I bet the music sounds stodgier)
Daddy Cool Eagle Rock (Wizard EP, 1982) (Weren't they supposed to be Australia's answer to Sha Na Na or something? Feel like they were decently reviewed in Creem once, but maybe not)
Derringer Derringer (Blue Sky, 1976)
Esperanto Dance Macabre (A&M, 1974) (Apparently prog, though looks decadent in an early Eurodisco kind of way. Zero stars for all three albums in first RS guide!)
John Fred and his Playboy Band Love My Soul (Uni, 1970) (Xgau gave this a B-.)
Golden Earring The Hole (21 Records, 1986)
Head East Head East (A&M, 1978) (w/ "Since You Been Gone")
Head East Get Yourself Up (A&M, 1976) (Funny album cover -- a jeep hauling what looks like a giant load of weed, in the shape of of an Afro)
The Inmates Shot In The Dark (Polydor, 1980) (their second album, w/ their cover of the Music Machine's "Talk Talk," which lots of new wave bands covered, I just realized)
The Invisible Man's Band The Invisible Man's Band (Mango, 1980) (Chris Blackwell-produced disco by former Five Stairsteps, apparently)
Ironhorse Ironhorse (Scotti Brothers, 1979) (feat. Randy Bachman on guitar and vocals. Got some AOR play in Detroit at the time, but I don't think I've heard it since. Passed up a later LP by them.)
Chas Jankel Chas Jankel (A&M, 1981) (Ian Dury's lead Blockhead. W/ "Ai No Corrida," later that year a hit for Quincy Jones)
Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society Mandance (Antilles, 1982)
Shannon Jackson When Colors Play (Caravan of Dreams, 1987) (Same guy; not sure why he dropped the Ronald from his name. This actually made my Pazz & Jop Top 10 the year it came out, strangely enough.)
Tonio K Life In the Foodchain (Full Moon, 1978) (w/ his quasi-hit "Funky Western Civilization")
Tonio K Amerika (Arista, 1980)
Tonio K La Bomba (Capitol EP, 1982)(No real explanation for why I went Tonio Krazy, though I did pass on two later albums by him.)
Malcolm X "No Sell Out" (Tommy Boy 12-inch, 1983) (Music by Keith Leblanc. First time I've owned this in decades; first time I've ever owned it with the Macolm X picture sleeve on it. Looks like a later pressing than the one I had before.)
The Motors Tenement Steps (Virgin, 1980) (In that weird Traffic-like trapezoidal die-cut sleeve)
Juice Newton Dirty Looks (Capitol, 1983) (Sealed, though I won't keep it that way. LP cover looks extremely new wave.)
Nutz Hard Nutz (A&M, 1977) (George is a fan of these guys, I believe. "The proverbial support band and always guaranteed to keep the punters happy," say Jasper and Oliver, who claim "Wallbanger" -- included here -- is their best song. Popoff gives the album a 7/6.)
The Olympics The Officical Record Album Of The Olympics (Rhino, 1984) (Reissue from wannabee Coasters, who apparently had a pile of smallish hits)
Ossian Acelsziv (Artisjus, 1988) (Totally guessing about the record label. Very goofy looking Hungarian metal with unpronounceable song titles)
Sharks First Water (MCA, 1973) (Featuring Andy Fraser from Free on bass, plus a very pre-punk Chris Spedding on guitar!)
Spitballs Spitballs (Bersekley, 1978) (Apparently very short covers of 15 then-forgotten '60s oldies, from uncredited musicians partly produced by Kenny Laguna. Used to see this in cutout bins a lot; had no idea what it was.)
Michael Stanley Band Heartland (EMI, 1980) (w/ "He Can't Love You")
Isaac Payton Sweat Cotton Eyed Joe/Schottische, Jole Blon and Other Bandstand Favorites (Bellaire, year unknown) (One dealer had about 40 sealed copies of this -- weird, since I swear I just googled Isaac Payton Sweat for the first time few days ago. Maybe they used to sell this in country dance halls or something, and nobody bought it. Label is based in Texas; looks extremely cut-rate.)
Talas Sink Your Teeth Into That (Relativity, 1982) (Vaguely remember somebody comparing this power trio to Blue Cheer in a Creem Rock-a-rama or somewhere once. Probably bullshit, but I'm still curious. Popoff gives it a "5," but I don't think he liked Blue Cheer much in the first place. Also I just noticed they have Billy Sheehan on bass.)
Teka Ensemble Golya, Golya, Glice: Hungarian Folk Games And Dances (Hungarian Records, 1980) (Looks cute and authentic at the same time, though the label is based in Teaneck, NJ.)
World Saxophone Quartet Plays Duke Ellington (Nonesuch Digital, 1986) (The "digital" trend for pre-CD vinyl didn't last very long, did it?)
Zuider Zee Zuider Zee (Columbia, 1975) ("Wooden and uninteresting 1975 album from a group with an Abbey Road-era Beatles fixation," RS record guide says. Appropriately given their end-of-alphabetness, they do a song called "Zeebra." Also one called "The Last Song Of Its Kind," but it doesn't say what kind it is.)

all the musicians are identified in my copy of spitballs. you know, jonathan richman, greg kihn, members of earth quake, etc. in fact i think it even has a group picture of everyone who played on the album.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/COKE-BOYS-DJ-WYNTER-ONLYRAPPERHEARDWORLDWIDE-COKEBOY-30COKE/223639046864?hash=item3411ed0ad0:g:7dAAAOSwbdxdZI7k

.@oryxofelia wanted to hit a thrift store so while she was perusing dated fashion at the local @GoodwillIntl I hit the CD section not expecting much. I found far more than I could have hoped for for only 99¢ a pop. pic.twitter.com/LGtQsqPyxm

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) March 27, 2021

The Sarah Brightman was for her; the Therapy? CD single was the most unexpected thing to find and the Willie Nelson tribute has some great bands on it.

Already started listening to the Methods of Mayhem. Wow, does it suck, haha!

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) March 27, 2021

Hardly obscure, but here I am listening to The Good, the Bad and the Queen for the hundredth time, got it for a dollar in some cutprice store a decade ago. I love the Allen/Simonon grooves so much.