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!

Garage Sale, Belvidere IL

Rubbermaid totes and laundry baskets are the earmarks for a solid junk sale.  I found this one via my old amigo gsalr.com on a Friday afternoon, way out in this rural area of NW Illinois.  As I perused the crap I could hear rifle report way in the distance, somewhere beyond the seemingly infinite cornfields all around me.  As the gsalr.com ad states above, this place was filled with crap that must have taken the guy days to haul out and roughly arrange.  Luckily the records were prominently placed on a rusty old cart, with the lower shelf holding two tool boxes with 45s banging around inside, most sans paper sleeves.  I found another cardboard box just behind that held more empty loot.  I got the standard offer to buy them all which is ironic given I actually bought nothing.

Salvation Army, Belvidere IL

I ended up being 'lucky' enough to go back to Belvidere four times in just a few weeks and I wouldn't be surprised if I get another call soon.  On one trip I brought my bike as I had so few tools to bring there was plenty of room in the truck.  I hadn't planned to search for vinyl but when I was whizzing down the road I saw a SA so I slammed on the brakes and headed in.  They had a nice load of vinyl but it was all stacked for maximum ring wear and minimum navigability.  I bent my neck and read the spines for a while until I got bored and headed back out again.  Hopefully my friend above scored something nice.

South Jax Antique Mall [Jacksonville IL]

Man I love antique malls.  I love having a nice afternoon to myself, after my work is done, when I am out in the middle of nowhere and an antique mall to dig through.  It is relaxing and the kind of 'smell the flowers' activity we all need to take in for ourselves regularly, one way or another.

I love looking at old stuff, call it what you will: 'antiques' or just 'junk'.  But there are always the odd bin of crummy vinyl lurking around corners in these places.

Jacksonville is a nice place, quiet and peaceful.  The most remarkable thing about it perhaps is that my cell phone actually is 'roaming' when I am there (I have since been back), and I've taken my phone many different places and to two other countries without incident! I don't care about the roaming so much as I don't pay the bill, but data transfer (even small stuff) takes ages.  A good time to 'unplug' and just relax.

I did come out of here with some Pyrex, as I have mentioned many times both my girlfriend and myself collect.  I dug all the records you see here but didn't come across anything worthy of note.  No matter.  I just like the adventure.  I already have over 700 records.  How many more do I need? I could retire entirely and be happy (and have trouble getting through all this vinyl) or I can try to take a step back and enjoy the process.  Which I think I do!

It is something of an antique mall tradition that when you get rung up, the person behind the counter uses this old school table to calculate your tax because they almost never have legit cash registers.    They had one here and it looked like it had been in service for a long, long time.  I know I've said it above, but my #1 memory of this place is peace and serenity.  I long to go back.  I hope I do before long.

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.

Willful Wandering in Wilmington

Got a call out of the blue to head down to Wilmington Illinois.  Where is that? I had no idea either - I seriously figured it had to be down in central Illinois or beyond.  Turns out, it's just a little south of Joilet so only about an hour for me.

So I drove down there the next day and was ready to work about 8:30 (I was meeting the customer who drove from Wisconsin).  We worked for about 90 minutes and had a major issue (customer brought incorrect material) so we put everything on hold while they had someone drive down the correct stuff.  So I promptly headed for the nearest thrift store.

Had some trouble chasing Ultimate Thrift Store down as they had moved but rather than update the listing on Google Maps, they created a new one.  And I lost my 50/50 bet and of course headed for the wrong one.  (I have since made the correction on Maps).  I walked in and asked for the records and they had just one little stack of 45s.  But would you believe that I not only found a 45, it was a nice Tom Jones promo and wasn't even in the database? Not bad!

After that I headed down to a small antique mall in downtown Wilmington.  The place is run by a military fanatic so they also sell knives and ammo and some other stuff.  There was one cubicle in the mall which must have been his as it was filled with army surplus type stuff.  I was looking for some MREs which I might have actually bought one.  But as suspected based on my experience in these types of places, they did have plenty of records.

These two gems were the only ones I considered buying.  Actually, there was a third which was in the bin to the right.  The Robin Trower I would have bought just to be a completist as I have #1 and 2 and this is #3.  The Priest vinyl is one of my favorite records ever and I do regret that.  But neither as much as the one you cannot see.  My girlfriend scolded me as well and told me I should have just bought it for her.  It is still on my mind, should have grabbed it.  I had the tape in grade school (the edited cover) and played it to death.  

I also was able to stop over at St. Vincent in Joilet as I had to come back the next day. Glad to check that off my list. Lots to do in Wilmington!

This business card has WiFi, requires a passcode and also has a strong cellular signal.

St. Vincent, Joilet

Probably the final St. V's anywhere in the Chicagoland area (or beyond) that I have left, not counting out of state locations (though I've seen more than a few of them!).  I never get out this way so when I had the opportunity, I wasn't about to let it pass.

Nice stash of vinyl, albeit stored vertically which is useless when not organized.  All you can do is stretch out your neck and get to work! I was elbow-to-elbow with another digger for about the first couple minutes.  He was a bit chatty and looking back, I was a little too focused and probably should have been nicer.  But I think in those situation (not that they come up often) I have a sick paranoia that my new 'friend' will grab a score before I do, and I'm mad that I have to share the area so I just hunt faster and more efficiently, carefully scanning the covers in the hopes of finding the pot of gold before they do.  In this case, I think he got the hint and moved on all on his own.

I produced two very nice scores (as seen below) but I had to pass on both.  For the former, I already have it and mine is autographed.  Still nice to come across this classic barbershop album from the local boys and international champs.

As for the latter, this was a major heartbreaker.  This is the second time of late that I have found a Versatones album which had something else inside.  And while it may seem unbelievable, I know that the Frank Yankovic jacket is not in there.  Because if it was, I would have to find it and look inside in the hopes that the jackets just got switched.  But the experienced thrift store digger's greatest weapon is being able to identify the hundreds and hundreds of 'commons' at just a glance, and to be able to visually sort albums, mentally, without almost ever stopping.  And I would have stopped at a Frank Yankovic album just to have a glance.  I looked inside the Versatones jacket almost on a whim, an afterthought and I probably made an audible sound as evidence of my extreme disappointment.  Still, I got some great photos of the band from the gatefold (only Versatones gatefold that I know of) which also provided some excellent historical info on the members which I was glad to share on discogs.  I considered buying it anyway - I considered buying the 4 Renegades album also to try and sell - but I decided to leave empty handed.

I also found this album which looks to be Brazilian (or Portugese).  I can find nothing in my quick search on the artist or the label but the most interesting part is the writing on the generic outer sleeve.  What looks like it may be notes from some Brazilian reveal to actually be really poor Spanish written by an obvious gavacho.

J&S Antiques, Manlius IL

Had my eye on this for a couple years, it is right at the Interstate 80 interchange but never had time to stop.  Made time on this journey and it was worth it as we found a bunch of crates of 7" right inside the front door.  I did not buy anything at all for myself, but I did see plenty, and I grabbed one of those 7" records for my girlfriend's mom to play on her new record player we had just gotten her.

Otherwise it was unremarkable.  There were plenty of booths with vinyl and the place was nicely laid out and pretty clean and well organized.  It had good character and charm and was pleasant to hang out in.  I always assumed this was in Sheffield, and the now abandoned Sheffield Diner next door seems to attest to that.  But check out the numerous artifacts I found celebrating Manlius, which I had never heard of.  The map may say one thing, but the locals know better.

                              

Goodwill, Geneseo IL

                        

Last time I was in town, I wasted some time trying to find a Goodwill round these parts. Turns out it was just a 'donation center' which may be just the box.  We did find it this time, and I think it may be brand new and did not even exist last year.

Besides the comedy gem seen below, there was nothing else.  Still worth a stop.  Swung through Antique Asylum and C&S afterwards and had fun browsing their wares but did not come away with anything there either.

Mired in Morris

Did a run through Morris on my way out west and hit up the old haunts.  St. Vincent continues to get worse in the vinyl department, the one remaining crate is even more in the back of the store, over by the bathrooms now.  It held nothing but junk, save for an ED&JFC album you don't see too often.

We got out of there and headed over to Goodwill and as predicted, the bin was packed with junk.  I didn't care, and just kind of relaxed and looked at the books while my girlfriend continued checking out the housewares and clothes.  Then near the books, I noticed another stack of vinyl on the ground.  This is a good 10' away from the actual record bin and I almost missed it!

you can see the actual record bin in the distance

I guess I was due after my polka near-miss recently in Algonquin.  As I mentioned after that visit, I do my best to limit my polka collection.  And Jimmy Sturr is totally off my radar but this release seemed odd.  It was a double album for starters, and there was a date - 1978.  This is long before he won any Grammys.  And best of all, it has what I call a 'toilet paper jacket', this is the super cheap card stock that feels like its been water damaged even when it hasn't, I have some European records that use this.  All of this led me to believe that this is one of his first releases.  No doubt still with a very small value, but a large value to me to know I have one of the first.  It is on a no-name 'record label' and the center labels are red on one record and blue on the other - very cool.  Unfortunately I gave it a listen the other day and its pretty corny, many of the songs have a bunch of women singing and it sounds like music for a cartoon as a result.  The instrumentals however are nice and I'm still glad I grabbed it.