November 14, 2008

Thrift Store Booty


With regards to sweet vinyl finds, I often read posts about thrift store digs. I'm always jealous because in this area thrift stores SUCK!

I know for fact, through a few hours of court-appointed community service.. er, I mean VOLUNTEER work- that if either you want it, have a friend or family member that might want it, or can make a buck off it on ebay, being a sorter for Good Will or Veterans of America has its perks. There's three levels to sorting what the trucks bring in: unusable (trash), acceptable (put it in the bin to be priced so truly poor people that need it most can't even afford to buy it), and "Sweet, my cousin's boyfriend could use this!"- otherwise known as 'My Pile'.

So it was a surprise the other night when a quick run to all the closest thrifts in search of an old turntable and vacuum to build a record cleaning machine out of, turned out instead to be a bit of a vinyl score. I took with me a friend from the building, whom is recovering from a recent 12 week round of chemo & radiation for prostate cancer, complicated by his diabetes. He is on the up swing of it, and desperate to tag along anywhere I'll take him. Thrifts are a fave of his, and we stopped at several. He was the first to eyeball the Patrice Rushen 12" Forget Me Nots and asked if I'd ever heard of it. Of course I busted right into the chorus with hand claps and sound effects. He handed me the record, I rolled it out of its tattered cover and found it looking brand new! "Get outta town!" As I started flipping through the bazillion records I'd never consider, I kept finding 12"s in the same tattered covers, holding brand new looking records. Obviously- these all came from the same collection, that looks to have been a substitute scratching post for a feisty kitty.

Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots
Cheryl Lynn - Shake It Up Tonight
Donna Summer / Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough)
SOS Band - Take Your Time Do It Right
Evelyn Champagne King - Shame
Ashford & Simpson - Found A Cure
Sister Sledge - We Are Family
Taka Boom - Night Dancin'
Oneway - Let's Talk

Total: $5.94
No turntables or vacuums to be found.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

I swear thrift store finds are the sweetest, because it's truly about being in the right place at the right time. I've built my Herb Alpert & Burt Bacharach collections almost entirely from thrift stores.

CEO said...

ahaha I saw a TON of Herb Alpert!