Garage Sale [Pleasant Prarie WI]

Had a horrible 5am on site starttime in Kenosha for a job that could not have gone anymore badly.  Worse yet, it was finally rescheduled for completion weeks later and I could not go as I was elsewhere.  My colleague went in my stead and screwed things up so royally that he had to return the following day to make amends.  Despite all this madness, I came up relatively big at a local garage sale!

This was probably the most records I've ever seen at a garage sale.  I came up on a number of scores and had a chat with the proprietor.  He told me a few times that this was just the 'junk' from his collection (and much if it did indeed qualify as that).  I ended up buying four records.  Two of them were worth it, the other two I sort of blew it on.

Narada Michael Walden - Garden Of Love Light 
I knew Mr. Narada from his work with Mahivishnu Orchestra (in their later years, not the early albums I already own).  I knew this couldn't be very bad and I was right, it is some solid fusion.

Genesis - Seconds Out
This is a 2xLP live album.  The jacket is super water damaged and chewed up but the records look good.  The owner actually jumped from his lawn chair when he saw me with it, thinking an album had mistakenly gotten mixed up with the 'junk'.  When he saw the condition he said it was a double.  But I blew it because I thought this was early work from the group with Peter Gabriel on vocals based on the track list.  But indeed it is Phil Collins on the mic.

Anita Baker - Rapture
My mom had this on cassette when I was growing up and she listened to it a lot on a boom box.  I hated it then but this is some solid R&B and this was well worth my money.  Already ran through it quite a bit.

Unknown Artist - Music From The Motion Picture FM
If I had seen on discogs that this was credited to 'unknown artist' I would have known better but in my haste I grabbed it.  Yes indeed, it is some random musicians cranking through the setlist, including the Steely Dan title cut.  The vocalist on that one is an odd bird, it is hard to define what he was going for but it is not true to the original.  Great cover art though.

I should have grabbed this! I took a pic because the cover is outrageous (back cover is just as good),
but now I see I already own 10 albums with Mr. Baretto's performances!
Worse yet this record even seems to have some small value.  Damn!

I think he wanted $10 for the 4 records.  I offered him a $20 and told him to keep the change.  I offered that he let me inside to see his larger collection for 10 minutes.  If I found anything I wanted, he picks the price, if he doesn't want to sell it, then we let it be.  He wouldn't budge.

The below photos were taken from gsalr.com and uploaded by the seller and seem to perhaps evidence his hoarder behaviors.

Appleton via Cycle

My adventures in central Wisconsin's metropolis of Appleton are long running and well documented.  Normally I only should be up here once a year if that, but in recent years I've had the excuse to be up here a few times.

On this trip, Monday was a travel day.  I left home about 1pm with a 4pm ETA.  However, I stopped in Sussex on the way to buy a bike for $75 (it is only my 6th bike, who's counting).  I got up there about 5:30pm and had a quick bite to eat before I had the rare chance to embark on an around town mission via bicycle.  What a treat!

There are so many places to choose from up and down College Ave. and beyond, not to mention my eventual need for beer (plenty of bars and liquor stores to choose from).  However it was getting into the evening and many of my spots for records were closing, so I had to choose wisely, and quickly.  I decided on Fox Valley Thrift where I had good luck in the past.  I only had about an half an hour before they closed and they were 4 miles away.  I knew I could pull that but I'd have to move briskly.

I headed west on College Ave. from my hotel and quickly determined that this was a road which is extremely not bike friendly.  So I headed south a block to find a parallel street with hopefully less (and slower moving) traffic.  I stopped and checked the map and decided that Spencer would take me most of the way there and hopefully was a bit more calm.

Things were indeed more of a joy to cycle down on my new wheels...I made it a couple miles before I saw a sign for Goodwill! I've been to (a) Goodwill in Appleton already - but I knew this wasn't it.  I have been to many cities with more than one but somehow this seemed odd.  I soon found out why.  I knew this would make a visit to Fox Valley impossible but I only would have had a few moments in there anyway before they began harassing me and the other lurking clients to get the hell out so they could lock up for the night.

I've only been to a couple: one in NC and another that didn't have any records so I did not post about it (don't even remember the city at this point).  The trick is this, people: these facilities will often not even appear in your Google Maps searches for 'thrift store' or 'resale store'.  They are listed under 'outlet store' and while I am not certain I agree with that name, the meaning is the same: these places sell in bulk.  They have giant bins on wheels about 8' long filled with all manner of things, but most often clothing.  They actually have scales at check out and sell clothes by the pound.  Nothing is labeled, you have to dig around through the busted DVD players and someone's old undies to see if you can unearth some ratty old vinyl.  In North Carolina, I actually hit it big - I grabbed a couple 45s and also an LP that I have since found again, but at that time never before.

It was literally in the last row, back of the store, opposite the entrance that I found the stash.  At first, I only saw some VHS tapes but my vinyl intuition tells me that that is usually where the books and records and located.  I was (as usual) correct.  It was a mere two half filled tubs, but I'll take it.

                   

As expected, they were riddled with junk.  But wait - what is this? a 5xLP Longines Symphonette boxset of Herb Alpert? I already have every A&M release through the mid 70s, but I have no problem adding this mint condition set, replete with all the original documentation inside.  The records even looked unplayed! I drug it to the counter for checkout and the clerk started at it, tossing it over and over in her hands and started to try to slide the records out when I realized the source of her confusion.  I said "it's a record" and she replied with a simple 'ah' before she rang me up for $1.  I was nervous that had she realized that this was actually five records she would charge me $5, or perhaps hold up the entire sale as it would then perhaps not mesh with the concrete rules for pricing that the Goodwill organization had posted on the wall:

After that, I stepped back outside and checked the time.  Now everything seemed to be closed, which was a shame since I was full of energy and eager to ride my new bike to hell and back in search of more platters.  I scanned through the map yet again and besides the many that just locked up at 6, others were about to at 6:30 or 7:00, and others still closed entirely on Monday.  I began to prepare myself for the contingency that this visit may be my only one.  Then I found Bethesda Thrift about 3 miles north, where I scored a nice barbershop record before.  My visits since were unfruitful but at least they were open.  I was off!

The first thing that alarmed me was that the magazine rack of vinyl was gone! Oh no - had they aborted the sale of vinyl altogether? But as I approached I saw that where it once stood was a table filled with vinyl in all sorts of different containers, with more on the floor beneath! Good God!

When that led me nowhere besides a visit with Mantovani and friends, I figured I'd briefly glance at the books when I found the relocated magazine rack, with yet more records! Here I found one worthy of note, and I hold just a hint of remorse for letting it go.  I already know that I have the best Jack Jones LP available (courtesy a very kind Santa this past year) but this might be a close second for the opener/closer.  I am very curious to hear it...but I decided I could do that via other methods that did not involve adding another record to the landfill which is my collection.  I'm listening now on YouTube and while I dig the tropical vibe lended by the guitar, but his voice is a bit thin in comparison to Engelbert's.  But I already knew that even the best pale when contrasted - it isn't easy to top the king!

Starship Records [Waukesha WI]

This trip was marked by a few interesting things:

1) I didn't sleep well the night before, I slept at my parents house and my dad likes to get up at about 4:45am and take a VERY LONG shower and rustle around the house for an hour or more before he goes to work.  So I laid in bed but woke up at about 5am.

2) I had to drive to Sussex to meet with a customer and meetings sometimes wear me out more than just working, the talking talking talking....I mean I do love the sound of my own voice but even I have limits.

3) I drank a bunch of coffee before I left and then some iced tea with lunch and I had to pee so bad when I was in this record store I wanted to hook up a catheter. 

4) I finally stopped to pee afterwards and when I left the gas station I backed into a huge barrier like an idiot and busted up the back bumper on the company vehicle.  I drove that truck all the way home from Mobile Alabama not to mention the 1000s of miles I log in bad weather, etc...I haven't hit ANYTHING since I was about 18.

5) Half of this store was closed off for remodeling and that included their jazz and country sections.  So I didn't spend much time in here for that reason, not to mention the others above.

St. Vincent [Portage WI]

As I returned from a totally fruitless journey from central Wisconsin, I was rewarded with a bevy of vinyl, the likes of which never before seen!  I stumbled upon just one more store that I had to inspect on my way.  My work vehicle runs on E85 so I have to plot my stops for fuel, I checked the map and did some quick navigation to see that Portage was on the way and looked large enough to have a few gas stations.  So I got off the expressway and on the 3 mile ride to the station, I rolled right past yet another St. Vincent!

I decided to fuel up first, and stop by on the way back.  I did, and I rolled quietly inside to see what could be seen.  As has happened so many times before, I saw no vinyl.  When that happens, I look for books as they are often displayed together.  I saw the sign, and I was magnetized into the back room...

Surrounded by bookshelves on all walls, the record bin sat happily in the middle of the floor.  Less happy was me; it held nothing of interest.  So, I carried on.....

Marshfield Mania En Masse

After the beating I took in nearby Wausau, only a real masochist would come back for more.  But I had to drive to Marshfield and my awaiting hotel, and more thrift stores lurked there.  How could I resist the brutality? (Answer: I couldn't).

Goodwill Marshfield had some really interesting bins, pinned to a pegboard.  Never saw anything like this before and it is interesting enough of an option to keep in the back of my mind.  The contents however were far less interesting than the containers, save for one rarely seen Engelbert album.  

I quickly tried to locate a nearby St. Vincent but when I arrived it looked a lot more like a soup kitchen than a thrift store.  The facility was HUGE but after my inspection I decided there was no thrift store and I was too disheartened to care anymore anyways after 5 strikeouts in less than half a day.  At that point, I gave it up for the night.

However the next morning, after completing my tasks in town, I headed back towards home.  And again, I had to cruise by St. V's, and this time from the opposite direction.  And it was there, high above the road and only seen from a 1/4 mile away by land, or otherwise by hot air balloon or dirigible the beacon I had been looking for. 

So I parked in front and took a rainy jaunt around the place trying to find the damn door! I finally found it in back (I later learned there was one on the main drag not 10' from my vehicle) and I headed in.

The place was huge, I finally realized there was more lurking below me and having the records actually acknowledged on the sign was a comforting touch.

It was indeed a large bin - and while I bought nothing I did find a few worthy of note.  Actually that isn't true - the Tom Jones live record I've owned for ages and I do see it with some regularity.  But when will I find the 2xLP? Never seen one, ever (though I could buy it online for a few bucks I'm sure).  The 5th Dimension album I searched for long and hard before I completed the discography (well, their first 8 albums at least).  And while this is not the Canadian press (which I later attained), I did once hold this Pickwick reissue in my collection after scoring it at a garage sale (and later making it into a hand-me-down to my girlfriend).  And it is indeed a great album, and a potent debut.

War in Wausau

It is ironic that given the proximity of Wisconsin to Chicago, I get up there less frequently than far away locales like Texas and New Hampshire (should be going back there in a month or two).  But I did reap the rewards of a trip to central Wisconsin and while I (SPOILER ALERT!) came back with absolutely nothing, it wasn't for lack of trying.

I had a meeting at 2pm in Wausau and it was about a 4 hour drive.  This gave me enough time to swing into one store before I headed to the plant.  St. Vincent is always a safe bet and this turned out to be a pretty big, nice one.

But alas, their lonely upright of milk crates contained nothing but a bunch of junk.  Oh well, upwards and onwards I go....

After my meeting, I needed to drive to Marshfield but before I did I had the whole afternoon to take advantage of the prodigious number of thrift stores in town.  Next up was Hope Thrift, who I had called ahead to assure they had a cache of vinyl.  After receiving confirmation, I was on my way.

This place was pretty big - lots of furniture and lots of back rooms in a maze-like compound.  I found these giant sagging racks of platters along the back wall of an out of the way room.  They were all stored vertically so I cracked my neck and got to crawling around to inspect them as best I could.  And like the Chinese sailboat - we had a serious JUNK on our hands.  Bye bye.

I have visited a Bethesda Thrift in Appleton long ago and I found a nice score over there.  So it was nice to have a familiar face and I launched into my inspection without hesitation.

This place had a solitary rack along a wall which was chock full o' crap.  More neck craning revealed that I and started to laugh at my misfortune.  Bust after bust.

As I started to head out, I noticed a singular milk crate just chilling in the middle of the store near the register.  Apparently they have an in-house record grader who decided this was the cream of the crop and needed to be quarantined from all the Mantovani in the bookshelf.  They were individually priced at varying levels.

While this may qualify as a 'vintage/collectible' item, eBay's price points are surely no kind of  benchmark in my book.  But more importantly, all this vinyl was at best moderately above the level of interest in the bookcase.  No thanks!

At this point, my obsession was in full force.  What kind of an idiot would continue to roll around in these haunts with so much bad luck? Myself would be the answer, and my travels at this point are truly irrational.

Would you return you hand to a hot stove after it just burned you? Or would you learn that doing so would inflict pain and you ought to take up another pastime? Lets just say that my hands are quite crispy.

Besides the beating I took in this record bin, I also got a terse word from the clerk who felt the need to remind me they closed at 4pm, upon my arrival at 3:50pm.  Good news for her: I am fast when paging through jackets, and this landfill held no interest anyhow.  See ya, Wausau.  It's been real and it's been fun...but it hasn't been real fun...

WI Circuit

Had a grueling 3-day trip through Wisconsin and Minnesota and took advantage of whatever I could find on the way, which in this case ended up consisting of entirely Goodwill stores.

Day #1 my work was in Sussex WI.  I stayed the night in nearby Brookfield.  This allowed me to hit Goodwill stores in Brookfield and also neighboring Waukesha.

Waukesha presented nothing but a bunch of junk, save a terribly out of place proto-hardcore release from a seminal group.  Of course, record was missing from the jacket and nowhere to be found.  I'd have grabbed this for sure.

After that I sped back to Brookfield before dinner to hit up that store.  Here I found a near half empty bin, however it contained some interesting stuff.  The Engelbert double album you see here is truly bad: disc one is a live album that contains none of his own recordings and disc two consists of re-recordings of his Parrot years songs which are terribly overproduced and ruined entirely.  That being said, I have only seen this album in the wild one other time and of course I bought it (at a garage sale in Franklin Park, before I even started this blog).  As I now own it, a sighting is noteworthy but that is about it.  Worse yet, one of the albums is missing from the sleeve as well.  You'd think things couldn't be anymore pathetic, but there was a saving grace.

I found first the booklet (which is easily mistakable for a concert program) which comes with the 'Just For You' compilation.  Of course, my copy was missing the booklet.  So that was a score.  But after that I found a totally unreleated Engelbert concert program!  This was a huge score.  But I knew I could not bring these items up to the counter - they were not priced and certainly were not albums, they would not sell them to me.  So I jammed them inside the sad old copy of 'All Of Me' and paid $1 for everything.

back cover of the excellent concert program I scooped

Remember how a minute ago I said that it could not get anymore sad? Well it does: the remaining album has a unique brand of warping that I can only suspect it totally man made, and manually done.  A while back I well overpaid for my favorite Elvis album (ironically also a double LP) and it too has one of the discs with this kind of damage.

did someone use a pliers on this thing or what??

On day #2 I drove from Brookfield to Hastings MN.  I did some in Tomah for gas and visited a Goodwill there but they had no records.  I have hunted in the Hastings area before, just a couple months ago.  I really wanted to get back to the Goodwill in Eagan as I left something behind there and have huge regrets.  However, the last time I was out there I flew in to the Twin Cities, which made a stop in Eagan more convenient - this time as I am driving, it would be too far out of my way as it was super cold out and I didn't have a ton of time.  So I stayed in Hudson and worked in Hastings at the end of day #2 I drove to Chippewa Falls to stay my final night.

Like my first night, I was able to hit up two Goodwills in short order.  The first stop was in Eau Claire.  I didn't see much there besides a ridiculous compilation who's contents does not accurately reflect the decidedly not-tough cover.  And an ABBA single I found on top of the shelf.

The final stop of this trip and the last place I went before I hunkered down in my hotel with a few beers was in Lake Hallie.  And alas, the last stop was a good one.  I decided to start collecting Bob James albums a few months ago, after looking at them for years in record stores and bins.  I am all too familiar with his work (discogs.com says I have 16 releases with his credits on them but less than half of those are his own albums) - I've had his early stuff downloaded years before I even seriously collected records.  Of course those early releases are prized and can fetch a few dollars so they aren't usually found in thrift stores.  He 'counts' through the titles of his first eight albums and I've been able to scoop that one as well as five and six in thrift stores in the past few months.  I decided that those first octet of records would be my limit, save the two collaborations with Earl Klugh (which I also have already gotten quite easily).  

Anyway, the Bob James lesson is done; the punchline is that I found a near mint copy of 'One' for $1, even has the original CTI inner sleeve.  No reason at all this should be in a Goodwill anywhere, best of all it was right in front, didn't even have to search for it.  You can see it sitting below where I set it momentarily to snap a pic.  I was tempted to grab the album, lower right, for its lead track (my jam of the moment, admitted unabashedly) not to mention the duet on track B1.  But my soft rock collection is good enough for now.  A man must have limits.

Goodwill [Oshkosh WI]

Not much going on here....maybe 12 records stuffed next to a bunch of old video tapes.  I did find a cookbook I needed but I guess that is a bit outside the realm of what we do here, at this blog.  Any Debbie Gibson collectors however - now you know where to go.

Appleton Thrift Mania

Downtown Appleton offers a trio of record stores and I've already hit most of the thrift stores in the surrounding area.  Still, leaving no stone unturned and no crate un-dug, I trudged on during a more recent trip to revisit some old haunts and see what was left.

BETHESDA THRIFT

I called in advance to make sure they had vinyl.  After a lengthy wait, I was told they did.  This was true - but just barely, they had hardly more than 10-12 vinyls in a rack.  Still, I located a copy of an 80s barbershop LP that I was very pleased to see turn up.  

A-TOWN THRIFT

I neglected to take a photo of the 3-4 crates of vinyl at this location but as I came away with nothing, no loss there.  

FOX VALLEY THRIFT

I struck pay dirt at this place.  I came up on an early Engelbert mono variation I can find on neither discogs nor ebay...its been around but it will suffice at least until I find another one (if I ever do).  I grabbed yet another Ray Price LP in very nice condition (I will be working on his discography for many years to come).  Then things got interesting.

I have not ever and swore I never would...but I contemplated buying a record sans jacket.  A few weeks ago I grabbed a cheap K-Tel 80s comp and I found another one here, equally as cheesy.  That being said, I have spun the hell out of the one I already have so I really wanted this one.  I even dug into some other junk record and stole the inner sleeve so my new platter had some kind of prophylactic until I could get it safely home, nearly 400 miles away.

I brought my scores to the counter and was told that they could not sell me the comp as it was not priced.  I understand the store policy, and I understand the motives behind it but I figure this would be a great time to price it right then and there.  I asked bluntly 'so you don't want my money then?' and just got a blank stare with another iteration of the policy.  I took the other two after paying and got the hell out of there.  Oh well.

ST. VINCENT

I visited here once before last spring and the ridiculous 10 cent record sale is still in action.  I was headed to my hotel when I drove by and remembered the place...figured I might as well stop in.  Glad I did.  

I found my 2nd barbershop album in a few hours, this one never before seen.  I have done massive independent research on the Decca Top 10 Quartet albums released annually since 1953 but I had never heard of a release with this scope before.  Inner sleeve still in tact - this was a no brainer for 10 cents or even 10x that.  I also scooped a 2xLP Eng comp for my girlfriend (found my own copy last summer at a garage sale).

FAIR MARKET THRIFT STORE

Never willing to leave well enough alone, the 4 stores I hit the day previous were not enough.  I did not think I would have any time to explore more (or anywhere to go, for that matter) but I got stuck up there another night.  I called this place in advance to make sure they had records and sped over, getting in about 15 minutes before close.  Nothing worthy of a purchase unfortunately but still worth the trip.

 

GOODWILL

I noticed this place on the way to Fair Market so I swung through.  Unbelievably found yet another barbershop classic, this one especially worthy of note for the appearance of the 1973 champs who have no full length of their own that I know of.  Better yet is track B4 which was every bit as good as I thought it might be.