Burlington Records [Burlington VT]

Vermont - the last state on the entire east coast I have not been to, stopped in, had a meal, worked in, slept in.  The circumstances that set this one up probably will not recur, so I knew I had to take advantage.  I arrived on a Monday set to work on Tuesday about 30 min north.  My colleague picked me up and off we went.  With nary a record in sight to my knowledge in St. Albans, I knew my best bet (only bet) would be Wednesday morning before I got back on my flight.  I took a bus early Wednesday morning south to Burlington and rode around on a bike share for a while, killing time until one of the handful of record stores opened.

After coffee and a scone, I walked over to the shop. I was a bit early so I lollygagged around until 11am for the doors to be unlocked.  I was beginning to toe the line on how much time would be required to get back to the airport and get through security.  I wondered about everyone I saw - was this the owner? But alas they would walk on by.  Finally the proprietor did arrive and I jolted through the doors, the day's first customer.

I have to admit, I didn't give this place a good look over, I had cut it too close so I probably wasn't in the store for more than 10 minutes.  I gave the jazz section a once over but that was about it.  I will say it was a well organized space and clearly popular because even in that 10 minutes a number of other potential clients had already arrived and got to digging themselves.  This was such a cool, fun area I long to return to drink more coffee, ride more bikes and dig yet again in a state so unique and full of joy (at least in my personal memories) that it will be a special time to recount forever.

STATE #35 - COMPLETED!

Goodwill [Plainfield IN]

I have been through this store and this area too many times to count at this point - I just created a new label to keep track of all these trips so you know it is getting serious!.  I pulled some scores out of here over the years and even when I strike out I enjoy the hunt.  That could be said of all places as I am an optimistic and realistic digger, but especially here in central Indiana as I am almost always in a great mood when I get the opportunity to travel here.

I am a sucker for 12" singles and I love alternate remixes and that kind of stuff.  So it was a no brainer to scoop up this guy.  At work we use this sometimes as a triumphant theme song when we complete a big job (even though it is actually a forlorn love song).  Both versions here are interesting to someone like myself who has long enjoyed and analyzed the song.

What an awesome record.  The vinyl itself was totally covered in cat hair and dust but the grooves aren't dirty, just surface filth.  Took that off easily with a microfiber rag and my custom 99% isopropyl/distilled water mix.  Nice to see that someone actually used an inner sleeve with a generic outer sleeve, often it seems like people think that because they don't have a legit outer sleeve it isn't needed.  Neglect! Ironically it looks like this did come with a proper outer sleeve, which leads me to believe (hope?) that this was used by a DJ or something somewhere.  The outer sleeve isn't beat up like it was abused, but the corners are so soft and worn it looks like it had been rubbed and touched and used thousands of times.  I just used it again to dub both sides and what a delight they are! The instrumental is truncated and is really more of an instrumental of the remix on side A than the normal LP cut.  Also pretty awesome that I was only charged for a 45 so I saved a few cents.  I don't care about the few cents but it is nice to keep it under a buck and not have to carry around a load of change the rest of the day!