In 1998 i was on a major U2 kick. Major. Them and the Stones were all i listened to for months. I already owned all the music, but started to buy more and more vinyl from both bands. I managed to pick up a few gaps in my vinyl collection from both bands (U2’s Wide Awake In America and the Stone’s Rolled Gold were the two big finds for me at the time). But as you would know, both bands have a lot of vinyl releases pre 1998 and it was hard to find good vinyl at decent prices in those days. I feel its easier now.
My number one U2 must have was Achtung Baby on vinyl. I searched everywhere. I had friends looking for me too. But nothing. Its release in 1991 was towards the death of the old MC / CD / LP days when albums were released on all three mediums in good numbers. Ive heard that Achtung Baby had less copies of the vinyl produced as their label wanted to promote the Philips DCC format at the time. Late 1998 I was in one of my favourite record stores – RedEye Records in Sydney. At the time i was broke. If i recall correctly, I was spending about 80% of my income on living and car expenses so i wasn’t cashed up like i once was. So i go to the second hand section of the store and straight to the “R” and the “S” sections (the Stones were commonly in both) and there was nothing new. Then over to the “U” section. Its the normal copies of Joshua Tree, Blood Red Sky, War, etc. And there right at the back was Achtung Baby. WOOHOO!!! But my elevation (get it??) was short lived. It was destroyed – vinyl in bad shape and the cover was bent and just not in good condition. Damn it. And it was $14. I got something else (cant recall what) and left the store with the feeling that i had made a mistake in letting it go. I went back a few days later to hopefully get it and the record store dude said it had gone.
Over the last 12 years ive searched many record stores in many countries for Achtung Baby on vinyl. I have a mental list of records that I call “JUST BUY IT NO MATTER WHAT THE COST” – Achtung Baby is on that list. So too is a few Metallica records – the top item being the gold vinyl of the Creeping Death / Jump In The Fire EP. Ive missed out on a few Metallica records on eBay at the last minute but out there in record store land VinylDude416 cant out bid me!!! On my list is also my favourite Springsteen bootleg ever – his show from December 15 1978, commonly known as Winterland Night. To have this on vinyl would be a dream come true.
Today i found all three of them.
It was one of those days on my trip where i had nothing planned and just decided to go back to the Acropolis to admire its awesomeness again, then wander around a bit. Maybe head to the Hard Rock Cafe in Athens for a drink. Just do whatever. After the Acropolis I walked over the other side of the mountain away from the city. I ended up in some laneways and eventually at a few more ruins. The other side of these was a metro station and next to that was the Athens Flea Market. Usual made in China tourist stuff everywhere, overpriced clothes, etc – not really a true Flea Market. There was a Nike store that had aircon so i walked in and straight away saw that next to it was a record store. Out of the Nike aircon and into the dusty smoky no aircon record store i go. I love the smell of vinyl in the afternoon!
I go to the Metal / Hard Rock section (force of habit) and HOLY FCUKING SH1T its all 50% off. Calm down Adam. CALM THE FCUK DOWN!!!! Trying to contain my excitement I decided to casually skip the A section and straight to the B – Bon Jovi. A few 12” that i already have. But there in all its MINT CONDITION GLORY is the Japanese 12” for Wanted. Ive seen it on ebay. Ive seen it in Record Collector magazine. Ive seen it for over $100. And now ill see it in MY RECORD COLLECTION. For 13 Euros thank you very much.
Then i notice the section entitled Guns n Roses. Oh dear God theres a whole section.......... First item is a Welcome To The Jungle 12” but i have it already. But its cheap – 8 Euros. I should get it again?? I decide to leave it alone and let some other record nerd discover it. But i do go outside and take a photo of the store and use the GPS setting on my new camera to map the co-ordinates so i can come back even in the event of a nuclear winter and get me more records. Or i could have just written down the address, but whatevs. But a few records in to the GNR section i find the 12” of Patience. WHOAH! When i was a kid i got $5 a week pocket money and that didn’t go that for for a 12 year old who was fast becoming obsessed with Rolling Stone Magazine, cassingles, 12” and 7” records, Albums, tapes, etc. I didn’t have a CD player at that stage. But anyway, when GNR dropped Patience it was released on normal 7” with Rocket Queen as the b side. Why oh why do bands put out singles with standard album cuts as b sides??? The cassingle (that i purchased as a kid) had the same songs. BUT the 12” record had an interview with Axl Rose as a bonus to fill up those 5 extra inches of glorious vinyl. Ive never heard the interview. Ive read the manuscript online, but ive never HEARD it. Guess what??? I now can. 8 Euros. SCORE!!
A scanned the other sections. Dusty Fingers!! A few gems that i would have purchased if i had more cash and didn’t have to spend a fortune on freight to send stuff back to Australia. Actually im lying to myself. There were probably 30 items i would have purchased today just in the Heavy Metal / Hard Rock 50% off section. Remember that this was just the clearance section of a larger section that was a sub section of one of the greatest record stores ive been in my entire life. Whoah. Anyway i go to the Metallica section of the non discounted area. A few gems, and a few items that i already own. Some fluff too. Some in bad condition. Towards the back I see a shimmer of gold catch my eye. Could it be? No it cant be. YES IT IS. MOTHERFCUKER!!!!!!!!!!!! Creeping Death / Jump In The Fire on gold vinyl. I nearly cried. And only 32 Euros. Sure its not the most collectible of the Metallica stuff thats out there, but its the item that i wanted the most. Most of the really rare stuff is amazing, but overpriced, hard to get and im a realist when it comes to Metallica collectibles – i pay what im comfortable to pay and have come across some epic deals in the last almost 20 years of collecting their stuff. I got an original 10” picture disc of One for $21 on eBay 5 or 6 years ago. Garage Days on CD for $40. Garage Days on Vinyl for $52 on eBay too. These items are all worth a heck of a lot more. But the one item i NEEDED was that gold Creeping Death / Jump In The Fire EP. Chris got it about 10 or so years ago in an auction for a good deal, and i was happy for the lucky b@stard but i wanted it too. Now i got it!
I go to the Springsteen section and eyeball the Beatles section. The word mammoth doesn’t do justice to the size of that Beatles collection. You could seriously go in there, buy it all and you would have the collection to out collection all other collections that ive ever seen. It was as if Yoko went in there and dropped a stack of records down for more crack money. It was at this point that i knew id found the holy grail of record stores. Everything was here. The prices were good. The staff were dorks, but cool and helpful. The collections were well looked after (mostly) and the store had bagged them all to protect them from greasy fingers. The store was in the middle of nowhere meaning no high street rents that in turn jack up the prices of the sweet sweet records. And they had everything in order. Normal albums, rare releases, international versions, singles, picture discs, etc. It was intense. I wish so many of my friends were there with me, especially my fellow 2530 vinyl compadre. They even had little stools you could sit on while flipping through the records. Probably cause most record nerd have fat a55es
The Springsteen collection was about a quarter the size of the Beatles collection. A quick glance had me doing a little happy dance. I tried to be cool and i think i was. I sat down on one of the stools and it was cool to no longer get knee cramps from spending too long flipping through the records. This store is amazing. The Springsteen section had a lot of what i already own. A few items were out of my price range – a half speed master of Born To Run anyone??? Some Japanese original releases (with the OBI strip). A few singles. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but i did grab a copy of the 1981 UK Tour promo record. Not too rare but it does feature one of my most favourite Eric Meola photos on the cover. Ive admired it for years, never found it and now own it.
Then was the Springsteen bootleg section. I flipped away and there was some real gems here. Stuff ive never even heard of. Stuff i have on CD through the magic of torrents or Cd trading. Stuff that ive read about but never laid eyes on. And there – right at the back showing signs of many years of pre loved playing, was a copy of my most treasured / most favourite / most played / most talked about / most wanted on original glorious vinyl bootleg. Ever. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Winterland, San Francisco. December 15 1978. If i said that i didn’t almost fall of my stool id be lying. If i said i didn’t nearly stop breathing id be lying. If i said that i wasn’t the happiest record nerd on the planet at that very moment in time id be lying. I tried to contain my excitement as i checked out the condition. I have this bootleg in 4 different mixes. So being able to play it so i could hear it properly want a major priority, but i didn’t want to get one thats ruined. I own the infamous Crystal Cat bootleg. The 2004 remaster of that release. A recent fans attempt at a remaster and a vinyl to CD conversion of this very vinyl that i now own. The cover isn’t the best quality, but the 3 records are in good quality. I played them on the turntable in the store to check. I went straight to The Fever, which in my opinion is the best ever version of the song. Ive used that very version many many times on mix discs for people as well as my The Audio Project mix in 2002. Epic.
I could have left the store majorly happy right there and then. But i didn’t.
Fee and Sean have me on a White Stripes mission for the missing record in their (or is it Fee’s?) collection – Get Behind Me Satan. I looked in the W section of the 50% off section of the Alternative section as well as the W and the S section of the Alternative section AND i also looked in the White Stripes section of the Alternative section and i found nothing but bootlegs. Mainly BBC / John Peel sessions. Damn it. But i looked in the Red Hot Chili Peppers section and there it was – my most highly sought after item for my RHCP collection – Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The sticker said it was an original German pressing from 1991. It was 46 Euros. I left it behind. I know ill regret it – actually i already do. But knowing that Fee and Sean got it the other day (a re issue??) in Sydney has me hoping that one day – maybe one day- i too will find it again. Yep, im majorly regretting it now.
Not far from the Red Hots section was the U2 section. It was HUGE. Not Beatles huge but big enough. I went to the start of the section and the very first item in there was a 1991 Clear Vinyl promo copy of Achtung Baby. Kill. Me Now. I actually had to stand up off my (rather comfortable) stool. I was floored. The hunt is over. Ive found it. I had it once and i let it slip away through my fingers. 12 years of regret. 12 years of searching. 12 years of walking in to record stores just wondering “what if?” And now i own it. 36 Euros. And its not just the beautiful black vinyl that we all love. No no no no no, its see thru clear vinyl. And its a promo only copy. And its mine all mine. Mine forever. Its not the ultimate record ive been searching for forever. Its not the most valuable item. But its been an album that has been with me through a lot since its release in 1991. I hated it on its release. I loved it when i heard One. I became obsessed with it in 1995. I forgot about it when i heard POP for the first time. Then in 1998 I rediscovered it and have listened to it at least monthly since. Id occasionally look at my U2 section and could visualise a copy of Achtung Baby in there one day – maybe one day. Today i got it.
To top it all off, as im flipping through the rest of the u2 section, i came across a copy of U2’s POP on picture disc. I didn’t know it existed. I know the black normal issue vinyl copies are hard to find but this??? This is cool. This is amazing. This might be one of those fakes from Russia, but who cares?? This is MINE.
I skipped the rest of the store. There was just too much to go through. I did quickly glance at the 7” collection and there were some amazing items in there. It looked like 12 Wurlitzer Jukebox’s had exploded and the records had fallen into mint condition sleeves and then found their way to this Athenian Record Emporium. They were closing shortly. I only had a few items, but was over 150 Euros already. Itll cost me another 30-40 Euros to mail it all back to Australia. As im about to pay the owner said “less for cash” im thinking maybe 2-3% discount to match the fee they pay for Amex / Visa / etc. Nope – 156 Euros was rounded down to a flat 120 Euros. Woohoo!!
As im leaving (promising to be back there when i return from the Greek islands to see U2 in early September), the owner points to a staircase across from his shop. “Over there, down those stairs. That is the FUNK, SOUL, JAZZ and HIP HOP section” Sean Quilkey, get on the next flight to Athens. NOW.
adam
(spin the black circle)
