RECORD SWAP - PART 1: THE ONE WHAT WILL MAKE YOU MAD

OK, LET'S GET AHEAD OF THE QUESTION:

REKKIDS? Y U POST REKKIDS?

WE ARE INTO FEBRUARY, THE ONLY TRADING CARD PURCHASE I MADE THIS YEAR GOT CANCELLED AND I NEED SOMETHING TO POST OTHER THAN THE 60SOMETHING CARDS I HAVE LEFT OF MY COMC PICKUPS THAT I HAVE IN THE QUEUE. BESIDES, WHAT ARE ALBUM COVERS BUT GIGANTIC MUSIC-THEMED TRADING CARDS THAT COME FREE WITH A SLAB OF CRUNCHY WAXY STUFF THAT TASTES TERRIBLE 40 YEARS LATER?

EVERY YEAR AT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY CENTER THEY HAVE A BOOK SWAP. YOU CAN DROP OFF BOOKS, CDS, DVDS AND RECORDS AND TAKE HOME AN EQUAL NUMBER OF NEW BOOKS THE NEXT DAY. YOU CAN EVEN TAKE MORE HOME, THE PERSON WHO CHECKED ME OUT WAS PRACTICALLY BEGGING ME TO TAKE MORE BOOKS SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO BOX UP THE LEFTOVERS AT THE END OF THE DAY. I'VE DONE THIS FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND IT'S A LOT OF FUN AND DOESN'T COST ANYTHING. WHILE I MOSTLY TRADE BOOKS (AND LET MY DAUGHTER TAKE MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR) I ALSO TRY TO SWAP OUT SOME MUSIC AND MOVIES EACH YEAR FOR FUN. I HAVE HAD SOME GREAT LUCK FINDING ODDBALL STUFF IN THE PAST SO I FOUND FIVE RECORDS TO SWAP THIS YEAR. HERE'S FIVE POSTS SHOWING OFF WHAT I GAVE UP AND WHAT I GOT IN RETURN. GIVE RECORDS ARE ORDERED IN ORDER OF QUALITY, GOT RECORDS IN THE ORDER I FOUND THEM IN THE CRATES. FIVE POSTS BECAUSE THIS WAY I CAN RAMBLE ON A LITTLE MORE WITHOUT HAVING A GIANT  MONSTROCITY OF A POST WITH 97 IMAGES AND 20,000 WORDS THAT DOESN'T GET PUBLISHED UNTIL JULY

RECORD GIVEN: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - BORN IN THE USA

NOW THE YELLING STARTS. WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET RID OF THE BOSS??? ARE YOU SOME KINDA COMYOONISS??? YES, PROBABLY. AND I DECIDED TO TRADE IT BECAUSE IN ORDER FOR A COMMUNITY SWAP TO WORK YOU GOTTA GIVE QUALITY IF YOU HOPE TO GET SOME QUALITY BACK. THIS IS ACTUALLY THE SECOND COPY OF THIS ALBUM I HAD, THE FIRST ONE I HAD WHEN I WAS A KID AND IT JUST SORTA VANISHED AT SOME POINT OR ANOTHER AND THIS COPY I GOT AT A LIBRARY BOOK SALE A FEW YEARS BACK FOR A BUCK. I NEVER LISTENED TO IT EVEN ONCE. I WAS ORIGINALLY GOING TO TRADE IN A CAT STEVENS' GREATEST HITS DISC I ALREADY HAD ON CD, BUT WHEN I TOOK IT OUT TO INSPECT IT I FOUND A GIANT BUT ALMOST INVISIBLE CRACK ON THE THING. I THEN FOUND THIS AND KNEW WHAT I HAD TO DO. I'M HOPING THIS MADE SOMEONE HAPPY, AND THERE'S A THRILL IN DIGGING THROUGH THE CRATES LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT'S WAY BETTER THAN THE GOOD THING YOU GAVE UP. BESIDES, THERE ARE MILLIONS OF COPIES OF THIS ALBUM OUT THERE, I CAN GET A DOZEN MORE IF I WANTED

SO THIS IS DEFINITELY AN ICONIC ALBUM COVER, BUT HAVING THE SAME IMAGE ON THE FRONT AND BACK IS A BIT LAZY. THE MARKETERS REALLY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO MOVE THIS RECORD.  THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD TRACKLIST THERE, THIS IS PRACTICALLY A GREATEST HITS ALBUM. I AM NOT A HARDCORE SPRINGSTEEN FAN AND DON'T HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT MOST OF IT. GLORY DAYS IS A BANGER THOUGH, THAT IS A FACT. AND IT'S ABOUT BASEBALL! SO THAT MAKES THIS POST COMPLETELY APPROPRIATE FOR THE BLOG

I LOVE RECORD LABELS AND I TOOK PICTURES OF ALL OF THEM AND I'M GOING TO INFLICT THEM UPON YOU. THIS COLUMBIA RECORDS LABEL FROM THE 80S IS A LITTLE BORING THOUGH. I'M NOT CRAZY ABOUT THE YELLOW TEXT AND THEY HAVE SOME MUCH BETTER LABELS

AM REALIZING NOW THAT I DON'T REALLY NEED BOTH SIDES OF THE RECORD LABEL IN THE POST. I TOOK PICTURES OF EVERYTHING BECAUSE I HAVE A THOUGHT IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD TO MAKE A NEW BLOG/TUMBLR/MASTOTWITTERDON ACCOUNT TO POST NOTHING BUT RECORDS BUT THAT'S SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER DAY. I'VE ALREADY UPLOADED ALL THE PICS AND ATE UP MY GIGABYTES SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO LOOK AT THEM

THIS IS A NEAT INSERT IN THE RECORD SLEEVE A LYRIC SHEET PRINTED ON TOP OF A FAINT PIC OF BRUCE SO YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE EITHER. I LOVE FINDING NEAT STUFF IN RECORDS SLEEVES, ESPECIALLY EXTRA GOODIES THAT ORIGINALLY CAME WITH THE RECORD

THE SECOND HALF OF THE LYRIC SHEET. IF YOU OPEN IT UP IN A NEW TAB YOU MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO READ IT. I'M A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED THE LAST FEW LINES OF I'M ON FIRE ON THE FIRST SIDE OF THE SHEET SO EACH SIDE IS ON ONE SITE OF THE LYRIC SHEET

RECORD GOT: OSCAR LEVANT - LEVANT PLAYS GERSHWIN

WHEN I GOT INTO THE BOOK SWAP THE PLAN OF ATTACK WAS THUS:

1) HIT THE HUMOR TABLE RIGHT INSIDE THE ENTRANCE LOOKING FOR SOME COOL COMIC-RELATED BOOKS (RESULT: SUCCESS)

2) STEER TOWARD THE SPORTS/MOVIES/COLLECTIBLES TABLE TO MAYBE GRAB SOME CARD-RELATED STUFF (RESULT: SUCCESS)

3) ATTACK THE RECORDS. 

I GOT TO THE RECORDS AND THERE WAS ALREADY A FEW LADIES SCROUNGING IN THE ROCK AND POP CRATES SO I HAD TO SETTLE FOR THE GOODWILL-LEFTOVERS EASY LISTENING CRATE. I IMMEDIATELY FOUND THIS ONE. OSCAR LEVANT IS A FANTASTIC PIANIST AND GEORGE GERSHWIN'S MUSIC IS ICONIC. BUT FORGET ALL THAT, THIS ALBUM COVER IS FRIGGIN FANTASTIC. I LOVE 50S ALBUM DESIGN SO MUCH, SO ELAGANTLY CHEESY. ALL THEY REALLY NEEDED WAS THE PIANO, EIFFEL TOWER AND THE PRETTY LADY LOUNGING ON RED WHITE AND BLUE PILLOWS, BUT THEY CRAMMED IN CHAMPAIGNE AND A TOP HAT AND STREAMERS AND A GUY ON CLARINET AND FLAGS AND... HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES? THERE'S SO MUCH ON THIS COVER

OLD-ASS ALBUM COVERS ALSO HAVE AN ENTIRE NOVEL ON THE BACK FOR LAGNIAPPE SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO READ WHILE LISTENING TO THE PRETTY MUSIC. YOU DON'T GET NOVELS WITH YOUR SPOTIFY NOWADAYS, IT'S A DAMN SHAME. NOTE ALSO THE HELPFUL WARNING NOT TO FUCK UP YOUR RECORDS WITH SHITTY NEEDLES. ASK YOUR DEALER FOR NEW COLUMBIA NEEDLES. THAT'S HOW THEY GET YA, LURE YOU IN WITH A NOVEL AND THEN MAKE ALL THE PROFIT ON THE NEEDLES

ANOTHER FUN THING ABOUT PICKING UP OLD RECORDS IS THAT IT'S AN ADVENTURE FINDING OUT IF THERE EVEN IS A RECORD SLEEVE PROTECTING YOU DELICATE WAX. THE BOSS HAD NO SLEEVE AND THUS, NO PICTURES. THIS ONE DOES HAVE A SLEEVE, JUST FOR A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RECORD. THE WORLD'S BEST LOVED WALTZES BY MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA HAS A PRETTY DOPE COVER ITSELF. HOW LEVANT GOT MORTON'S SLEEVE WE'LL NEVER KNOW

BUT WE GOT A WHOLE SECOND NOVEL OF LINER NOTES FOR WALTZES THIS TIME. THIS WAS A VERY APPROPRIATE PICKUP FROM A BOOK SWAP

NOW THIS IS A BOMB-ASS COLUMBIA RECORDS LABEL. I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH. THE BRIGHT RED LABEL, THE TYPE ON THAT COLUMBIA NAME AND THOSE WEIRD LITTLE LOGOS ON EITHER SIDE THAT LOOK LIKE A CYCLOPS, A MARTIAN OR A BEWILDERED DUCK DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT. FANTASTIC. I KNOW I JUST SAID I WAS GOING TO SHOW OFF BOTH LABEL SIDES BUT BLOGGER JUST ATE SIDE A AND I'M NOT UPLOADING IT AGAIN

FINAL VERDICT: DID I DO GOOD IN THIS SWAP?

EH, I DID OK. I LIKE LOOKING AT THIS COVER BETTER AND RHAPSODY IN BLUE IS AN ALL-TIMER. I DIDN'T SEE WHO GOT MY SPRINGSTEEN DISC BUT I HOPE THEY ARE ENJOYING IT AND USING COLUMBIA NEEDLES FOR THEIR LISTENING EXPERIENCE. I AM SURE THAT GIVING UP SOMETHING QUALITY GAVE ME SOME NEEDED GOOD LUCK FOR FUTURE CRATE DIGGING, WHICH WOU WILL SEE SOON ENOUGH