Event Attendance: Portland's Night Owl Record Show - April 11, 2015

Have I not been to the Night Owl Record Show in two years? I guess that's possible. This time around I was barely even there - I ended up with about 55 minutes between installing a chain-link fence in our backyard and evening plans to see a cover band in Beaverton with which to scramble around the crowded, stale-beer reek and try to find semi-gems amongst the madness.

I did good, considering! Here is what I bought:

The Doors - Alive, She Cried (1983)

There's this dude who's always at the record shows, always selling Zappa, Beatles, Talking Heads, and Doors stuff. He sells plenty of other vinyl in the same classic-ish rock categories, but those are the ones I care about. He's got a spot at Crossroads, too. I've picked up cool Doors stuff from him in the past, but this was about as cool as it was going to get this time around: A Guatemalan pressing of a Doors live compilation released in 1983.

Robby Krieger - No Habla (1989)

Also picked up this not-oft-sought after LP, which brings my total Krieger solo-record count to two. Feeling pretty weird about that. Not shockingly, he tackles a couple Doors songs on this LP.

Sci-Fi Sex Stars - "Rockit Miss U.S.A."/"Teenage Thunder" 12"

I barely understand what this is. Some crazy synth madness from the dude from Sputnik. I was just getting down for the cover art.

J.J. Fad - Supersonic: The Album (1988)

Still crazy to me that Dre and Yella were making this album at the exact same time they were rolling deep with N.W.A. and Eazy. And speaking of deep, I've somehow ended up with a bunch of J.J. Fad records on the Ruthless label. Young businessmen, they were. Entrepreneurs. I bet they were not nice to these poor girls.

Defari - Focused Daily (1999)

I saw Outkast at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles in 2001, and a pre-fame Ludacris and a mid-fame Xzibit were the opening acts. Xzibit had a dude with him who impressed me during the show, and I made a point to seek out his CD when I got back home. I did, and it was this album, and I had the CD for a long time and never came across the vinyl, but somehow at this record show I finally did. West Coast Liks shit right here.

Faith No More - "Epic" 12" (1990)

I'm not sure I'd ever seen this cover version of this single before. This is an import 12" on the Slash/London label, with three live tracks and a sticker on the front of it that mentions Kerrang! magazine's #1 ranking of The Real Thing in their '89 awards. Hot endorsement! 1989-issue Mike Patton on the back cover wearing high-tops and a Mr. Bungle t-shirt.

I bought all those records from a few different dealers, but I was really looking around for the couple from the late Boom Wow! Records, who always have the best hip-hop stuff. I didn't think they were there; turns out I'm just blind. The dude of the couple was there, and though I had precious little time at this point, I speed-flipped and ended up finding some great stuff.

Souls of Mischief - "Never No More" 12" (1994)

He had the "'93 Til Infinity" 12", too, but it was $25 and I can't even smoke like that. This one's a solid little single in its own right - a "Rock On Mix" of "Make Your Mind Up," a "76 Seville Mix" of the title track, and a song called "Good Feeling" that I think might be exclusive to this single. There's some instrumentals on here, too. Man, these kids can rap.

2 Live Crew - "Me So Horny" 12" (1989)

I bought Nasty as They Wanna Be recently; I guess this seemed like its logical companion. I was gambling on the B-sides on this thing being somewhat interesting, and they are. There are two remixes of "Get the Fuck Out of My House" and they are both booty-shake steez, ready to be played at high volume in a club full of University of Miami satin Starter jackets.

Schoolly D - "No More Rock 'N Roll" 12" (1988)

I was listening to Schoolly's Smoke Some Kill on the way to the record show, so I guess it made sense that I'd come across this single. The cover doesn't say that it's a promo, but the vinyl does, and there's an unlisted track on the first side, which seems to just be an instrumental with the chorus vocals left in. There's also a clean "UK Mix" and a remix of "Treacherous" on the flip. You know this guy invented gangsta rap, right?

Low Profile - "Pay Ya Dues" 12" (1989)

I've been meaning to buy Low Profile's lone album for about 20 years now - ever since I heard Cube mention them in "I Gotta Say What Up," I think. (Side note: "I Gotta Say What Up" is the greatest shout-out song of all time. Recognize.) Well, I've never found that. But I did find this 12", which is pretty sweet. Two album tracks, an instrumental, and some bonus beats. Not sure why it's so tough to find early WC shit. I could really use a copy of the first Maad Circle LP, too.

M-4 Sers - I am a Star (1987)

No idea what this is, other than 1987 and Miami and there's a song called "Crack is Wack" on it. I'm down.

Anquette - "Ghetto Style" 12" (1987)

Little embarrassed I'd never heard of these gals. More Miami bass, but this one's on the Luke Skyywalker label. One of those 12"s that features an instrumental of a song that's otherwise not on the record. Makes sense!

This song is actually pretty dope.

Digital Underground - "Doowutchyalike" 12" (1990)

I have the "Doowutchyalike"/"Packet Man" 12", but I somehow didn't have this one. It features the song "Hip-Hop Doll," which I did not have and had not heard before, so I'm cool with that.

Point Blank MC's - "What This Party Needs" 12" (1986)

I passed this record up the very last time I was at Boom Wow!, and I think maybe they dropped the price this time around, too. Either way, I was too intrigued to let this slide again. I mean, what a cover.

MC EZ & Troup - "Just Rhymin"/"Get Retarded" 12"

Craig Mack before he was Craig Mack! My streak of picking up pre-fame rap records continues. It's weird though - the songs on here are listed as being by "C. Mack." Mack's on some "real name, no gimmicks" shit? Tough call in dropping the MC EZ moniker!

The CIA - Cru' in Action! (1987)

Speaking of pre-fame rappers, here's the Ice Cube/Sir Jinx/Dr. Dre single that came out a year before N.W.A. hit the streets. Can't believe I didn't have this one - it's actually not that rare, but apparently I haven't come across it. Finally did. Still not sure if this is called Cru' in Action, the CIA EP, or My Posse.

The Skinny Boys - Weightless (1986)

I picked up a few Skinny Boys cassettes over the past few years, or maybe it was just one. Either way, I've gone down a Skinny road and there's no stopping me now. I am actually feeling good about this one - it's in great shape and on the dope-ass Warlock label.






Record Store Day 2015 is mere days away. Will I buy some shit? Probably.

Internet Buys, April 2014: The Dayz of Wayback

I bought some records online over the past few weeks that I have been wanting for years. These are records that I kept thinking I would come across in stores for prices that weren't ridiculous, but it never happened.

So, they have that in common. What a bunch of them also have in common, and I think this is why I tracked them all down simultaneously, is that they're debut records from rappers whose subsequent projects would take them in a completely different - and usually more successful - direction, leaving these slabs o' wax as semi-rarities to be hunted down by goons like me.

These are them:

Total Devastation - In the S.F. Streets (1990)

Before Total Devastation were blazing doobs full-time at the hemp rally, they were flossing on the streets of Frisco in jumpsuits and Jordans, dabbling in gangsta rap. Red Eye goes by "B. Fresh" on this thing, and Big Tone aka Big Smoke aka Da Soopa Doopa goes by "Toss-Up T," I think. Still finding themselves. This fan-made video for "Comin' Up Hard" features some sweet early footage.

So, this record popped up on eBay about a month ago for the first time in at least a year, and I was there, bidding high and early. No movement for the entire auction until some shitbag last-seconded me and nabbed it. I was irate and resorted to Discogs, where I was able to pick it up for the same price, also in the shrink, also with the original promo sticker on the front. And while I was at it, the guy selling it also had this record, sealed, which I have also been looking for forever, so I added it on:

Total Devastation - "Many Clouds of Smoke" 12" (1993)

The pothead anthem that hooked me the minute I saw the video on Bohemia Afterdark at 3 in the morning when I was 17. This record features one of those remixes that is labeled "remix" but the only difference I can find between it and the album version is that it's 7 seconds longer. These crazy stoners.

This is a three-dollar record and I have never been able to find one in the wild. Found their other 12" singles, though. I think this may complete the ol' TD collection. Another mountain climbed.

The New Style - Independent Leaders (1989)

Before Naughty By Nature were yoking the joker, they were dropping knowledge as The New Style. (In fact, you can still hear the "new style" drop in "Yoke the Joker.) Treach was then known as "Double T. Treachery" (which he would call back to during his Naughty days), Vin Rock was "Vinnie Rock," and Kay-Gee had a hi-top fade that couldn't be coming more correct. They would soon ditch the dancers, hook up with Latifah, and take over.

So, around the same time I was going deep-cut steez with TD, this album showed up in my eBay feed and the price was surprisingly low. I've only ever seen this in a shop once, and the dude was trying to get $35 for a warpy-sleeved copy. That shit's a no-go with me. The person selling this copy on eBay did not put "Naughty By Nature" in the title of the auction, which may be why I was able to cop this for less than 10 bucks. Can't call myself a real Naughty collector without this one. Next stop: this 12".

Freddie Foxxx - Freddie Foxxx is Here (1989)

Speaking of Queen Latifah, before Freddie Foxxx was getting so tough with La and the Flavor Unit, before he became Bumpy Knuckles, and way before the industry shakedown, he was rolling deep with Eric B. (the Rakim one) and cutting the occasional cringe-worthy love song that is probably one of the reasons he's not quick to acknowledge this album's existence. Come on, Bump: it was over 25 years ago.

I've come close to buying this record 10 times over the past 15 years, but just never pulled the trigger. After nabbing all those other early-career footnotes, I needed to keep the buzz going so I found this one on eBay and paid what it's worth. Sweet copy. Felt good.

Freddie Foxxx - "Somebody Else Bumped Your Girl" 12" (1989)

I did not order this record when I bought Freddie Foxxx is Here, but it showed up in the same package. It's not in the best shape, but for free, I will take it. Not sure if the seller did this on accident or as a fun favor, and I'm not going to ask. This 12" features a remix and a dub version. Very 1989.

MC's of Rap - Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (1988)

I'm not sure how I got mixed up in an eBay auction for this one. This has nothing in common with the other records I picked up, but what it does have is one of the greatest names for a rap group ever, and it's an LP that I've seen a few times when I've been out-of-town record shopping, and it's always been a little too expensive for a record that I knew would be flat-out audio garbage. I love how they didn't even capitalize the "c" in "Mc" like it's "Micks of Rap." Just so great.

Smoove Matty Matt - "Rapping Wrestling" 12" (1987)

Discogs has got this thing listed as coming out in '86, but the way ol' Matty Matt talks about the wrestling on this song makes me think it's more towards '87. Needless to say, there is no date on the vinyl. I've known about this record for a while, and I even bought Smoove Matty Matt's sole other release, "I'm Not the One," sometime in the last year or so. Been waiting for a copy of this single to show up on eBay for less than $20. Waiting finally paid off and I got a great copy for half that.

The song is amazing, too - this dude's not dicking around on the casual-fan tip. To know that much about wrestling in the mid-80's you had to really be a cable-having, TV-guide-referencing, VCR-setting mat fan. And he's sampling Dusty Rhodes and shit! The originator of the wrestling-rap style.

Melvana - "Sacrifice" b/w "Way of the World" 7" (1993)

This is a bootleg 7" of a dicey bootleg recording of Dave and Chris from Nirvana joining Buzz from the Melvins onstage at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle in January of 1992. These songs are both Flipper covers, and it's all really loosey-goosey. My brother bought this record for me as a gift many years ago and at a low-point moment in my life about 10 years ago, I sold it on eBay. I always felt like a real ass for doing it, but figured I'd just pick it up again when I got my shit together.

Of course, by that time, the record had become a minor collector's item and the prices had really ramped up. They've pretty much stayed there, but I got a decent price on a great copy of this record, and I shall not let it slip away. Good to hear these songs again. You can almost smell the beer-soaked thermals.

Speaking of my brother, he's going to be out here for Record Store Day 2015, which is almost a week away. When it comes to RSD, I think I'm mostly excited about this:

Event Attendance: The Eugene Record Convention - February 15, 2015

Back again, after missing it last time on account of idiocy!

The Eugene Record Convention is one of the biggest of the year, and anyone who's anyone in the vinyl game is there: the bootleg DVD guys, the incongruous old people smiling kindly while peddling their dollar records from old liquor boxes, the angry aging goth-y dude who doesn't price his records but gets pissed when you tell him you're not paying the exorbitant asking prices he comes up with in front of you on the spot - the whole gang!

I drove down early from Portland, got there at about 10:15, and stayed until around 12:45. All in all it was a good show - didn't have too much trouble finding stuff I wanted, but I also didn't leave feeling like I had to make some tough decisions. I guess that's all you can hope for - that, and a dry day so the dudes at this thing didn't get their mildew reek all riled up. Got that, too! And a bunch of records. Here's what I grabbed:

The Doors - "Hello, I Love You" 2x7" (1979)

I paid a little too much for this but I'd never seen it before and I think I got excited. But in my defense it is kind of cool: a double-7" gatefold single released in 1979, featuring "Hello, I Love You" and "Love Me Two Times" on the first disc - both credited as "Taken from the album 13," which is a 1970 compilation so that is odd - and "Ghost Song" and a live version of "Roadhouse Blues" are on the second record, both taken from An American Prayer, which on the inside of the gatefold, next to original art by Jim Morrison, is referred to as An American Dream. Also, both tracks on the second single are credited solely to Jim Morrison. They just keep on making the myths, man.

Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" 7" (1978)

It's getting harder for me to find Talking Heads 12" records I don't have, so I've moved on to 7"s before I eventually move on to the sort of collecting that will cripple me financially and embarrass me publicly. This is a promo version of the "Psycho Killer" single, which includes an acoustic version on the B-side that was, I think, exclusive to this single.

Talking Heads - "Love Goes to Building on Fire" 7" (1977)

That's how they write the song title out on the label. Never seen it without the "→" before but there you go. This is another promo, and it's also the first commercial release from the band, so I'm pretty excited about this one. I think it's their only record where they're a three-piece in the photo. Stereo version on one side, mono version on the other. Radio ready!

Talking Heads - "Stop Making Sense (Girlfriend is Better)" 7" (1984)

Another promo version! This one's weird, too: it has the same sleeve as the commercially released single, which says it has the non-album live version of "Heaven" from Stop Making Sense on the B-side, when in fact it has the album version of "Girlfriend is Better" on the flip, which I guess kind of makes sense. Barely gotten into these Talking Heads singles and I'm already scooping the variants. Kid's got the knack.

Talking Heads - "And She Was" 12" (1985)

Yet another promo single from Talking Heads, though this one's a 12". I must have the UK version of this, because I've got one with a slimmer sleeve and a different track listing. This is the US version with a big fat gold promo stamp on the front.

Talking Heads - "Love for Sale" 12" (1986)

Double-sided LP-version promo. Seriously didn't realize I'd purchased this many promos.

Talking Heads - "Stay Up Late" 12" (1985)

They call me Promo Boy.

Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979)

This one is not a promo, but it is a Japanese version with a gatefold cover with the lyrics in Japanese on the inside. Not bad.

Rancid - Let's Go 2x10"(1994)

Not sure if I've ever mentioned this here before, but I think Rancid's first two full-length albums are super sweet. I fully blame my brother for getting me into them. Same with NOFX. Both great. I actually saw Rancid at the W.O.W. Hall in Eugene, Oregon, in September of 1994. I remember punk-rock girls go-go dancing on the stage and being really drunk. This is an original pressing of this record, in a gatefold double-10" on white vinyl.

V/A - The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years OST (1988)

I paid a little too much for this, but I'd never seen it in the wild before and it's not really the kind of record I'm probably ever going to hunt down on eBay. Features weird little spoken interludes (clips from the film) by Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, Steven Tyler, and, of course, Rikki Rockett. When I brought this home and looked inside the jacket I found a "U.S. Arnie" Garbage Pail Kid and two photographs of a punk-rock kid in NYC in 1997 - one in front of CBGB and one in front of a foggy cityscape while the patches on his jacket presumably flap in the wind. Those items will be staying in there forever.

The Lee Harvey Oswald Band - A Taste of Prison (1994)

I had heard of The Lee Harvey Oswald band, but I didn't actually get into this record until a few years back. Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers did a cover of the band's "Jesus Never Lived on Mars" on his Sundowner LP and it got me curious. Come to find out it's an old Rick Sims project, and Rick was in the Supersuckers right around this same time, so it all makes sense. This is some real sleaze rock, if the surgical tubing around the arm of the topless chick on the cover didn't connect those dots for you.

The Fugs - It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest (1968)

Been meaning to listen to these guys but I can't remember why. This was cheap and the cover sold me. I'm worried they're going to be a watered-down Mothers.

The Doors - Other Voices (1971)

I always forget they released this 6 months after L.A. Woman and 3 months after Morrison died. Feels so far away from all that. I have never owned a copy of this record, nor its counterpart, the equally odd Full Circle. I'll buy that one someday, too. This one was a really nice copy with the original Elektra sleeve and lyric sheet intact, so I pulled the trigger. If the post-Morrison Doors albums teach us anything, it's that Krieger's got Manzarek beat when it comes to vocals.

The Doors - L.A. Woman: The Workshop Sessions (2012)

The 40th Anniversary edition of L.A. Woman came with a bonus disc that also got released as its own thing, which is this, The Workshop Sessions. Been waiting to find a used copy of this, and I finally did. This is some loose Doors music, but it's cool to hear early versions of "The Changeling" and a few others. Double LP, 3-sided vinyl with lyrics etched in the 4th, which is corny.

Billy Idol - Vital Idol (1987)

I have the original 1985 European version of Vital Idol, but that one leaves off "To Be A Lover (Mother of Mercy Mix)," which is a damn crime. This is the one I grew up with and I apparently did not own a nice copy of it but now I do.

Billy Idol - "Eyes Without a Face" 12" (1984)

If you thought I was above buying a Billy Idol picture disc single, you were dead wrong. Was going to buy some more but after getting into it with the aforementioned no-sticker genius over a German import "Hot In the City" 12" with the original picture sleeve, things got irreparably soured for me.

Marley Marl - "He Cuts So Fresh (feat. MC Shan)" 12" (?)

Was really excited about finding this because I'd never seen it before and now that I'm looking it up I'm finding that it's some weird bootleg. Huh. Thought the cover looked a little goony.

Cupid D & The Plush Posse - "Reality" 12" (1991)

My old pals from the sadly departed Boom Wow! Records were at the show, which was great, because they've always got the best rap 12" singles. She gave me this one for free because I was buying a bunch of other stuff and she wasn't sure if it was any good. I love the DIY-ness of it all, but the lyrics end up being corny shit about praying. Oh but it'll be filed.

Kid Sensation - "Back 2 Boom"/"I S.P.I.T"" 12" (1989)

Double A-side 12" from Mix-A-Lot's prodigy, circa 1989, straight outta Seattle. And look at those Jordan IVs. This is my shit. And of course there's bonus beats. "Back 2 Boom" remains dope.

Northern State - Dying in Stereo (2003)

Did not expect to find this - in fact I'm not even sure I knew it existed on vinyl, though it makes sense that it would. These girls would eventually release an album on the Ipecac label that is sorely unappreciated.

Outkast - "Git Up, Git Out" 12" (1994)

Look at those kids. Some remixed clean versions on this thing, which is frustrating. Copped this from Boom Wow! for sure.

Outkast - "Elevators (Me & You)" 12" (1996)

Great cover on this one. Bunch of weird instrumental versions here, too.

Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" 12" (1991)

Seems like something that should be in any legitimate rap fan's collection. Thinking about getting that cover tattooed across my back.

Naughty By Nature - "O.P.P." 12" (1991)

I've been snatching up Naughty By Nature 12"s for years now and I somehow never came across the one that kicked it all off. Nothing special here, just vocal and instrumental versions of the title track and "Wickedest Man Alive," but still a must-have for an idiot like me. Gold promo stamp adds to the excitement!




Another successful trip to a record show I first attended way back in 1998, if you can believe that. Next year I plan to full-on fight the no-price guy and receive a permanent ban, which would be totally worth it.

An eBay Vinyl Story About People Who Are Really Bad At It

I own a nice, original copy of The Doors' Waiting for the Sun. It's the gold-label, first-press stereo edition, complete with the original Elektra inner sleeve, and it's probably worth $25 because it really is - and I should know because I just took it out to confirm - in ultra-sweet shape.

And that's great. But the White Whale Grail™ copy of this LP is the mono version. There's rumored to be only 5-6,000 copies in existence, and for a band like The Doors that spans so many generations, that gets spread thin pretty quick. When you add in the condition issues that are bound to come up with any record that's almost 50 years old, it doesn't take the laid-back, post-meditation-sesh logic of Raymond Daniel Manzarek to see why pristine mono copies are serious collector's items.

I don't see myself owning one of these anytime soon because it's way out of my range, but I do love to check eBay and see what these weirdos have been coughing up - it's reliably The Doors' most high-ticket LP on eBay, barring the occasional ultra-rarity. Turns out, a really nice copy sold at the beginning of the year, and yowsa:

I personally think that price is a tad on the ridiculous side, but hey: never underestimate the impulsiveness of the modern record collector when that clock's ticking down to zero.

The top photo in this post is the pic of the record that sold. (You can view the auction here until they remove it.) The big difference, as far as appearances go, between the mono and stereo versions of this record is at the top of the front cover. As you can see in the top photo, there's a white bar-type thingy with some letters in it. The stereo version doesn't have that. It looks like this:

There's no white box - just white text that has the catalog number and says something about it being compatible with mono phonographs.

Just want to point out how easy they are to tell apart. From a distance. Without your glasses. Fucking squinting.

I go back to the eBay list of mono copies of Waiting for the Sun that have sold recently, which I've sorted by most expensive at the top, and I click on the next one down, the auction title not really registering at first. This is what I see:

A bunch of stuff immediately started coming at me when I was looking at this.

First, the title: It's the exact same one as the link I had clicked before. Simple explanation (and if you've ever sold anything on eBay you probably already know how this works): When looking up stuff that has recently sold on eBay, when you click through to the original listing, there's a link that says "Sell one like this" or something like that. When you do that, it auto-populates the same copy, including the title, as the one you're clicking from. It became clear to me pretty quick that that's what happened here.

The Pictures:

This is the main photo. The photo that clearly shows a beat-to-shit stereo copy of The Doors' Waiting for the Sun, with the name "Debby" or possibly "Doug" written in ballpoint pen near the top right. You have probably seen something similar at a shitty garage sale.

This blurry photo of the inside cover seems accidental and leaves me feeling fairly certain that weed has probably been de-seeded on this cover at some point in the past half-decade.

You can almost see the footprint in the top there.

Mono copies of this record also have a white bar in the top right on the back. Much unlike this one.

The number of bids: 30 is the bid count, not the number of people bidding. When looking at the details of how the bidding played out, you can see that after a certain point it was just a back-and-forth between two people, and then someone swooped in at the very end and won it:

Dude thought he was pretty slick right there.

The seller: 15 in the feedback count doesn't really line up with somebody selling $400 records.

No questions: If people ask you a question about the item you're selling during an auction, you can respond to that person publicly, on the auction page, to head off anyone with a similar question. You can't see it in the photo up there, but there were none posted.

$3.17 Economy Shipping: eBay default - never used by reputable, gouge-happy record sellers.

There are no photos of the actual record: I mean my god.

The description of this record reads as follows: "The Doors Waiting for the Sun The Celebration Of The Lizard. Good condition has original sleeve in good condition, cover and record is in good condition."

Which is great news for anyone wondering if it was in good condition. But that's all there is. For comparison's sake, here's about 1/5 of the description on the one that sold for $811:

They go on to explain their grading process in detail, and other nerdy shit that serves as your only comfort when you're dropping close to a G on a record you can't look at in real life. Makes sense.

So, after examining all this stuff, my eye went back to that "94.1% Positive feedback" next to the seller's name. Dude got dinged. I felt where this was going, but I had to confirm, and there it was:

"LP described as MONO, beat up STEREO sent instead, dispute filed"

There's a bunch of different ways this all could have gone down, but let me make clear that everyone involved is at fault and is stupid, but especially the person who bought the record, who is the stupidest.

I don't think the seller put this record up for auction with the intent to rip anyone off. It's all too naive. They either saw that a copy sold for $811 and thought "Hey, I have that exact same record!" because they have no idea what's going on, or they were planning to sell the record anyway and just tried to go with the description that made the most money in the past.

If they were trying to fool anyone, they wouldn't have posted those shitty photos. And the only thing that mentions "mono" is in the title. And so many other glaring red flags.

I don't know if the person who bought the record feels like they were taken for a ride, but come on, brudda.

Quick review of the red-hot warning signs that you should not be paying $411 for this record:

• The LP pictured is worth $3
• The seller had sold 4 things on eBay previous to this, none of which were records and one of which was Hot Rod magazines
• The title describes it as a "beauty" and that's waaaaaay off

But let me say this: the people who got the bidding up that high are equally responsible, if not more so. When people see that there's 20-some bids on a record and it's in the hundreds of dollars, they can almost be forgiven for assuming it's legit. Which is why sellers sometimes have other people or dummy accounts bid their shit up. Which I don't think happened here, because you'd still have to be a real clod to bite after seeing those pics.

I'm begging you to get your shit together.

I realized that I actually have 3 copies of Waiting for the Sun: I have the beat-up, butterfly-label copy I bought in downtown Salem as a teenager, and then I have two first-press copies - one with the original inner sleeve and one without. And the one without has a little bit of writing on the cover. No idea why I have that one.

Feel free to tell me what you think of all this.

Here's a sweet live version of my favorite song from Waiting for the Sun, "Not to Touch the Earth":