Hog Days 2017 Flea Market, Kewanee IL

Always a highlight of my summer, Hog Days did not disappoint this year.  In between the metric ton of pork I consumed, there was actually a record vendor at the flea market! Very nice collection, everything was bagged and individually priced and they had a 'premium' section with some nice wares as well.  I didn't grab anything, and I eventually left the vinyl below behind which I have come to greatly regret.  The title and cover art caught my eye, I was convinced it was a band but this is actually a compilation of no-name metal bands from the early 80s.  Looks like it is also part of a series which contains further releases of no-name metal bands from the early 80s.  This one here seems to also be the first release from this label.  Should have grabbed it!

Goodwill, Kewanee IL

Visited the Kewanee Goodwill a number of times with varying results.  Had an interesting visit on this late April afternoon as I dodged a tough rain storm.  There were a nice selection of legit 70s-80s rock albums, just one after the other, I was surprised to find them all together in any Goodwill and definitely here, way out west.

I ended up going for Double Fantasy and the Player s/t debut.  The latter is an important bookend to my well rounded soft rock collection; the Lennon/Ono collab I grabbed just because the condition looked good and I knew this would sell for more in any record store (and you just aren't going to encounter this in a thrift store).  The Aerosmith doesn't interest me but surely would entice many other customers.  The America album was released just after their peak but still not something you run across every day.

But it was the late 60s comp that caught my eye.  Unfortunately, there was no vinyl inside the jacket but this gem contains a number of hits which I have been prowling for 45s on for a good while.  All The Buckingham's hits from my home town are favorites since childhood and track A2 is no exception.  Track A4 is a lesser known semi-hit for an obscure band who's biggest smash is far more well known.  Track A9 is a garage rocker that I don't think many people outside of that generation (and many who were part of it) are aware of, I surely am - that raucous and dirty sound is a real turn on for me.  And the opener for the second side is a really solid track that I only really became acquainted with in the past half a year or so.  Even more intriguing is an alternate version of this release with no record company info anywhere on the jacket or center labels, and an different cover to boot! Definitely on the look out for either.

I was a bit disappointed when I reached the counter to find that these records were individually priced, apparently Goodwill knew they had some nice platters on their hands and wanted to take advantage.  Had I known, I'd have left the Lennon LP behind.  After all, I already have the single that most interests me.  But as they didn't attempt a downright rape, I anted up and got out of there, dodging the rain drops on a sprint to the car with my new scores.

So long, Andy's

It is truly helpless to know that what was probably my favorite thrift store of all time is no more.  Fantastic Andy's of Kewanee Illinois closed sometime in early 2016.  I first visited Kewanee (and Andy's) in the late fall of 2014.  I went back a few times in 2015 but only blogged once almost exactly one year ago when I picked up some more platters.

I think I last was in there around Thanksgiving of last year.  I wish I could go back and savor that visit a bit longer or say thanks for Andy.  The thing that made this store great was 'the junk factor'.  I have no problem with antique malls and I've been in some high end thrift stores but of course you have to be very careful in places like that and the malls even have protocols to follow.  Again, I enjoy those experiences very much.  Then you have Goodwill - I estimate that I have documented visits to at least 35 of them all around the nation.  But they are often so 'middle of the road' that there is nothing to do there.  It isn't quite antiseptic, but where's the junk? 

The junk factor has to be just right - there needs to be enough entertaining stuff in there to smile at and think 'who is going to buy that??'.  And most of all, there needs to be enough stuff in there that you DO want - and Andy's almost always fufilled that.  And when they didn't, well the place was entertaining enough just to roam around in.  He had scraps of paper everywhere with little notes: some described items, some were almost private messages that seemed to be just for you!

And of course you had Andy himself behind the register.  I never said anything to him I don't think, except 'thank you' and things like that.  But if there was ever a person that really had a castle - and he was surely the king - it was him.

504 N. East Street was the landmark of an empire.  Too many times we'd stop in then I'd run across the street to grab some beers for later that night.  I feel kind of bad that I took his picture without permission but now that the place is closed, and I'll surely never cross paths with him again, you better believe I am glad to took them.  I don't know how long the place was open but I know that it's gone now.

I just got back hours ago from yet another weekend out west.  I was there earlier this month and saw the place was shut down and you could see inside it was all demolished.  Even the sign out front was swinging by a single hinge, sad and dilapidated. I wonder what became of the alien on the roof? I hope Andy took him home - I'll bet he did.  

Some animals had attempted to scorn the awesome legacy (and they failed) by tossing a brick or something through the side window.  This weekend I rode by bike over there after dark and parked out back.  When there was no traffic on East Street (and of course, I saw a cop as I waited), I darted inside to have a look around.  After I crunched through the broken glass and crawled over the wreckage, I took a couple pics.  Below is my evidence.

Fantastic Andy's is gone.  Long live Fantastic Andy's.  And godspeed to Andy himself, where ever he may be.

Looking south on East Street, broken glass (not my doing) on the right.

Behind the counter.  To the left, a back room that I never really noticed before.  This must have been Andy's office.  To the right is the counter, where the register sat and the double doors at the end of the frame led to the second building where more treasures awaited you.

The door on the right was the front door.  The second door I believe was unused and was blocked by the record rack.  Oddest of all is the 'play' stuck to the shelf there.  It was pitch black in there - I could only aim my phone and snap pics with the flash and move on, I was probably in there for 3-4 minutes max.  I did not notice that until I was out of there and reviewing the footage.  It is still very eerie and looks very surreal.  

Geneseo Go-To

Having exhaustively thrifted our way around town (and Morris, on the way), stir craziness set in after one night.  With a lazy Sunday upon us, I found an antique mall in nearby Geneseo, about 30 minutes away, and we set out.

As we came down Route 6, we screeched into the parking lot, caught off guard by what we now know was another totally unrelated antique mall just a few doors away from our actual destination.  C&S was peeking around the corner - but here we were at Antique Asylum!

In we went - even the foyer was filled with their wares.  We marched through and after a friendly greeting from the presumed proprietor we peeled our eyes in search for the goods we pursued.  Before long, I hit a two tiered shelf of records jammed in a bookshelf.  

                                           

The gods shone down upon me; after I complained recently about my girlfriend's copy of 'Look Around' with retail sticker, I found my own replacement copy with the shrink wrap (albeit opened) tight as a drum.  Far from a consolation prize...while it might not have been something new and exciting it would suffice if I could find nothing else.  But we were far from finished.

Pyrex was EVERYWHERE - I quickly made my decision on a beautiful 'Early American' refrigerator container which I have been eating my tempeh fried rice out of for two days now, back here at home.  My girl just seemed to find piece after piece, there was no end.  I almost lost interest in digging through records until she called me over to another booth to have a look at some stuff she thought I might be interested in.  She had set aside a copy of a Verve classic which had no price tag - I honestly considered leaving it behind lest I have to tolerate the clerk telling me it is $25 (which it very well may have been based on its condition and other details I would find out much later).  Still, I added it to my heap and figured I'd roll the dice, and turn it away if need be.  But as I looked over her shoulder, within this tiny stack of records (less than 10) I had to reach out and seize her - it was a copy of the proto-Fleetwood Mack record I have been looking at for years.  I've never seen a copy up close - at least not in a 'thrift' environment - and this one as well was not priced! I racked my brain to try and figure out if I was making a mistake and my memory had failed me - was this a reprint? I swore none existed. Unsure of its value or rarity I picked it up anyways.  This record was so out of the blue I had begun to question my own knowledge.  Time would tell I had no call to do so!

We looked at some other booths and records/Pyrex and then eventually made our way to the counter.  Usually antique malls work on clearly tagged items for the purpose of the consignment that brought them there: they will be marked with not only the price (set by the individual sellers, not on site, not the proprietor) and the booth#.  Antique asylum was a bit more hap hazard, unless I was misunderstanding this system had broken down to say the least.  When the clerk got to the records, he asked where I 'got' them.  I vaguely tried to reference the booth, or the vicinity, I told him 'there, in the back'.  The place is pretty big....the booths even were not clearly numbered (not that I feel this would be my responsibility to memorize - I've been to much larger and much more organized antique malls before).  

Then he asked the fateful question which would get these rarities into my bins at home, and the question that every collector of anything hopes to hear in such a situation, with such items:

"So these are $1, right?"

I can't say I lied - it isn't like I removed the price tag or something (though I am not necessarily above that, at least not in a junked out thrift store).  I half mumbled something about them not really being marked at all and before we knew it, he had charged us $3 for my three records plus a Monkees record my girl had grabbed for a total of about $45 which included the bulk of Pyrex we were carrying out.  

When I got home, I began to peruse the 25 different versions of the Verve record to figure out which was my own.  In overwhelming situations like this, I always immediately eliminate the non-US versions and any promos.  Of course, I very well may have a promo (or an import) but before I even begin to closely examine it I assume I do not.  Well I dug through the remaining 6 versions and was troubled by the fact that my copy did not seem to match any of them.  I was most troubled by the odd yellow center labels on the record itself - I own 8 other Verve records and they all have the trademarked black center labels.  Our of frustration, I pulled the record out of its sleeve (original inner sleeve in MINT condition) to have a closer look and noticed some very fine print at the bottom: DISC JOCKEY RECORD NOT FOR SALE.  Oh my lord - I did have the promo! (It is mono as well).  Perhaps best of all, once I gave it a listen I confirmed what I already had figured to know: it is MINT! The jacket has so little wear it is almost concerning but when you drop the needle and hear not a crack or pop you know you have something special when the record will be 50 years old in 12 months. Score of a lifetime! Best of all is the succinct (to say the least) review posted by a discogs user who's collection and reviews are all Jimmy Smith oriented (he may be biased). 

Quite simply, one of the best jazz albums of all time.

The Buckingham-Nicks album took even longer to figure out which version I had (there are 30).  By no means do I rely on the discogs marketplace to value my collection (nor do I collect for value anyways) but it is nice to see the last copy sold for $20 and someone has one up now for $85.  The cheapest copy from any version is $20 and it quickly escalates from there.  I knew all this all along - which is why I did not and still cannot believe I got it for a buck.  I must admit the jacket has some water damage but the vinyl is pristine.  Hell of a buy.

                              

After that we trudged on down the road to C&S.  The pyrex situation there was totally out of control - found full sets of so many bowls I could not believe it, many patterns I have never seen before.  But I am not in the market for sets, I want to build them myself so I did not buy any Pyrex.  I did not buy any records either as none of it interested me but my girl lost her mind over finding a Leonard Cohen classic she apparently has been hunting for a long time.  Like my stops in Kewanee, the initial hunt trumped the second one badly.  But I try to leave no stone unturned - if you tell me a place has nothing, I'll just go ahead and find out on my own.

Return to Kewanee

I don't know of a more colorful shop or more colorful proprietor than Fantastic Andy's in Kewanee IL.  I first visited last fall and I came away with a mountain of scores.  The place is touched by God I think - my luck continued and my spirits were generally lifted upon entering.

I now require only the debut from 5th Dimension after picking up this mint condition (I actually saw more than one copy!) copy of album #6.  Well, technically there are more albums in their discography but as I already have #7 and 8, I feel that best covers their 'golden years'.  Better yet, the gatefold remains unopened - the shrink is peeled back but the gatefold is still a closed gate.  I joked that when it opens you will get to breathe deeply of some wonderful 1970s air - my girlfriend's 7 year old daughter was quite interested by this proposition and begged me to tear it off.  No no my dear - not today, and maybe never at all! (I do have one other record I purchased in the same condition, it too remains sealed!)

I have long had an eye out for 'Super Session' - yet to come across a thrift store copy but I was plenty pleased to find the follow up with still original inner sleeves and generally great condition.  Already tore through disc #1 last night when I got home, I was not disappointed.

But like my time in Morris just a few hours earlier, I was patient enough to dig through the 45s once again.  The instrumental B-side is alternately hilarious, disturbing and evocative.  What production! But alas, it is a picture sleeve it seems and I purchased without.  Oh well.  I also scooped up a 7" to add to my roster of 80s soft rock hits, great use of falsetto here.

I found these 'special order' slips mixed in with the 45s, dated circa 1985.  Shirley Hudson - I respect your love for music and vinyl!

                           

She grabbed the Ray Price album visible above her head - as a spare for framing.

After initially leaving it behind due to condition (please leave your Pyrex out of the dishwasher people!), I went back grabbed the green 403 I need to complete my second 'Multi Color' set of nesting round bowls.  And already used it to help cook tonight's dinner.  My girlfriend came away with an equally beat up casserole that we used to bake a truly perfect fritatta (and I've eaten and cooked my share) the next morning, as well as a really obscure pattern 404 ('Americana').

I had heard about the 'other building' but did not visit last fall as it is not heated.  It was indeed filled with things of no use to me but genuinely added to the delight of the day's hunt.  

I got one of these flyers with a gifted record years ago, before I even had this blog.  It still sits in the outer sleeve of that platter - don't know how I bothered not to grab one last fall and scan for that post!

I had to start taking notes on the back of the flyer from Andy's to keep track of all the places we hit and the scores we grabbed! (notice we did hit Goodwill in Kewanee but I did not mention it here.  A scant ~15 records, none purchased, all junk - it would only insult the important part of my visit chronicled above!

Morris Run Through

Made a stop for lunch in Morris Illinois on my way to Kewanee another 90 minutes down the road.  After some Swedish meatballs at R' Place, we quickly made a jaunt over to St. Vincent's and Goodwill to hunt for some treasures.

St. V's was up first...I don't think I've ever seen a collection of vinyl so carefully oriented towards a singular genre/style: country.  It had to be 99% and as the collection was not very big, that meant only 1-2 records did not qualify.  Obviously, the LP in the front of the bin did not make the cut in that regard, but it was then followed up by a nice segment of Alabama's discography.  I passed on 'Mountain Music' and my girl grabbed it - I regretted it within the hour.  It was in really prime shape.

Another wonderful anomaly about this place was the 45 bin.  I usually don't waste my time digging through 100 scratched 'naked' records without jackets but I don't think there were more than one or two (out of at least 30) that were left uncovered.  My eye caught a Ray Price 7" but I let it go as I was not familiar with either the A or B side.  As the vast majority of his resume is on Columbia, I did not know if the odd record label here was distinguishing this as being from perhaps the mid 80s or what.  I continued leafing through the basket and quickly found another: same obscure record label and again two more tracks I did not know.  Again, I left it behind.  Just moments later I found a third, and struck gold with the B side which is one of my favorite tracks on 'For The Good Times' (which I own in Quadraphonic - and got for free!).  As I had not found an LP yet to purchase and most of the 45s were not interesting enough, I had been setting the Ray Price 45s aside 'just in case'.  When I was done I noticed that all three had jukebox strips lodged in the paper sleeve! So I did indeed buy all of them.  

                           

The song that drew me in is however re-recorded there in the early 80s (that font was a dead giveaway...I wasn't far off with my initial guess).  This arrangement is in a lower key and had some slightly over the top fiddle in the first verse and even a marimba in the 3rd verse!  The higher pitch of the original is fitting for the lyrical content which I always though bordered on cocky, which was even better given the tracks that proceeded it on the Quad album previously mentioned, which are anything but.

As we were standing in line (my girlfriend also got some Pyrex/Corningware) I noticed a small shoe rack.  I was wearing a pair of Nike Presto slipons that I have had for at least 10 years.  At one time, I had as many as 4 different pairs - these were great shoes.  This pair was still wearable but the smell inside was becoming unbearable - too many bike rides in the rain had created some serious wet dog smell to emanate from inside.  Ironically, I had just Febreezed them to pretty good results the day before, for the first time.  But there was a pair of white slip ons (no name brand) which were brand new with tags.  We asked the clerk how much and after a moment the 'boss' emerged from the backroom to tell me only $3.99! I promptly changed my shoes and left them outside and put the new ones on.  I have made a habit of leaving my used shoes in a place someone can find them when I feel they have run their course.  As long as they are decent, maybe someone else might like to use them, or need them even.

After that magical shopping expidition, we made a very quick fly by at Goodwill - there were only a handful of records in the peculiar shared (CD/LP) bin...and they all sucked.  No Pyrex either - we got back on the road, with hopes of more scores in store (our optimism was rewarded!)

Fantastic Andy's, Kewanee IL

Went for a road trip to visit my girlfriend's home town for the weekend and stopped by Fantastic Andy's, a place she had already told me about.  I was eager to check it out after hearing some wild stories.  

A very important record was purchased here (by her) over a year ago - still probably my favorite and definitely the most important Engelbert record to me, 'We Made It Happen'. At that time she was just beginning to branch out on her interest in Engelbert's music (she was barely more familliar with his discography than I), she gave me the record and said 'I might like it'.  Of course that has proven to be a wild understatement and that record has honestly changed my life.  So back to Mecca I went, to see where gold is spun and magic drips from the walls of Andy's consignment shop.

I questioned my own motives as my hunt began as I pulled out so many records that I wondered if I was just getting carried away and buying stuff I didn't need because I was excited to be there.  But as I have since sobered from the intoxicating ways of these four walls, I can attest that indeed I carry no regret with my purchases.

Glen Campbell - The Artistry Of Glen Campbell
Normally I'd stay away from Glen's compilations but the packaging is beautiful and it is in insane good condition so I could not resist.  I may go ahead and play C1 at the next Bar Mitzvah I attend.  Also jammed inside was a huge full color concert program - total bonus that I'd bet did not come with the actual release.

Mike + The Mechanics* - Mike + The Mechanics 
I did not buy this for A2 but A1, a song everyone knows but not by title.  Such a great track and this record will fit well within the virtual bookends of my growing 80s collection which also contains Benny Mardones and Gino Vanelli (amongst others).

Sade - Promise 
Like the record above, I continue to evade the obvious justification for purchase.  It is actually A1 that brought this one home, by far my favorite Sade song and one of my favorites in general.  I was introduced to the track by MF Doom (by way of the Molemen) on the title track here, later renamed 'Kon Queso' (which I later appropriated for my own music video)

Alvin Lee & Mylon Le Fevre* - On The Road To Freedom
I don't have a clear reason for this one besides that it called out to me.  I am aware of Alvin Lee's work with Ten Years After and his general guitar bravado but the cover just looked interesting.

Tom Jones - I (Who Have Nothing)
#11 in the Parrot discography so far - this one is still in the plastic wrapper.

Dionne Warwick, Glen Campbell, Burt Bacharach - On The Move 
A very odd promo record for Chevrolet which drew me in for the Glen Campbell tracks and put me in the sleeper hold for 'Walk On By', which I think has some of the most ingenius producing ever.  Such an excellent and haunting song with sparse instrumentation.

Suntones, The - Somewhere
My barbershop obsession continues.  The '61 International champs record even contains a mailorder form to order their other LPs - AND an envelope to boot to put it in! There are oxidation marks on the inner sleeve where you can see that neither item shifted inside the jacket for many years.  Where things get really odd is that this is the 4th barbershop album between my girlfriend and I - and all are autographed.  Three were found in thrift stores (the other on eBay) and its just a strange coincidence that this trend continues.  May it never cease!

My girlfriend bought my favorite Elvis record (which I already have, addendum forthcoming) for $3 which is a steal considering its in good shape and the original custom inner sleeves are intact.  I on the other hand paid $11 for mine and its warped (we joke that it has been 'plier-ed' - the act of being damaged purposefully with a pair of pliers).  She relented after I complained of this unfair fact for a couple hours and said I should just have it.  Now I feel disgusted with myself and plan to return it to her tomorrow, so that I may live on for eternity with my plier-ed special edition.

There is just no way at all that this many great records should be housed in this small, cluttered space.  The groups of vinyl I grabbed pushed me over the edge of 400 LPs (includes my scant couple 10" records but not 7"), which is exciting.

I also saw a copy of everyone's favorite Ray Price album (well that's not totally true) which was ironic given that my girlfriend's grandmother (who lived and died in this small town) held that as one of her favorites, and its another album and artist that I was introduced to via the same method as Engelbert.  

Grandma -> girlfriend -> and me.

I'll close with this smattering of pics from inside and outside the store.  Andy's small notes stuck in the most random places are excellent stuff.

this was taped to an item that had nothing to do with liver sausage, recipes or food at all)

                                      

the other album she bought besides Live in Hawaii is visible here.  Andy's hat simply says 'Sport'.