Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl…I keep getting more and more and I get more addicted to wanting more and more.  My wife shakes her head and just sighs at this point.  I guess I could be drinking, smoking or doing drugs, but thankfully that is not the case.  If I did those things, I would consume everything and I would just be throwing money away.  With the vinyl purchases, I at least could sell them if I ran out of money, so it is an investment…yeah, let’s go with that!!

There is a friend at work that her husband has 2 big crates of vinyl in their closet and she wants them out of the house.  So before they took them somewhere to sell them, she gave me first crack at going through them and letting me pick out the ones I want first. I gave her a fair price (more than any record store would give her, even more than they would in store credit).

The crates were very heavy and full of vinyl.  My wife said I should take them upstairs in the Loft and sit with the family while I went through them.  I declined as they were too dang heavy and I didn’t want to tackle the stairs with them.  Instead, I stayed downstairs for a couple hours and slowly went through the collection.

The collection consisted of albums from the late 50’s all the way up to the late 80’s.  Each crate was sort of themed.  The one crate was from the 50’s-70’s and it was all her husband’s parents vinyl.  It had stuff I had never heard of and a lot I had.  There was Elvis, Liberace (I passed on those), Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, the Kingston Trio and I could go on and on.

The other crate was his collection.  It was all Pop and early 80’s Hip Hop including Run DMC, LL Cool J and a lot of 12″ Maxi Singles.  The Pop side was Madonna, U2, Eagles, Neil Diamond and a lot of other artists.  Like I said it was chock full of vinyl.  I went through and decided on 39 vinyls and a handful of 45 Singles. It was so much fun I almost couldn’t contain myself.

So what did I get?  Well, sit back and have a seat because it is a lot to get through.

Let us start with some of the earliest albums that were in the first crate.  First up is one I just had to grab due to my love for guitars (btw, I can’t play…I just love guitars).  It is the great Les Paul with Mary Ford from 1958.

The next up is from trio of old time rockers…Bill Haley & his Comets, Chubby Checker and Herman’s Hermits…

Now how about an early Beatles album (a little rough shape, but kept it anyway)…

Then we have Dean Martin and Dave Brubeck…

There are a couple I am excited about which are two Johnny Cash albums…Can never have enough Cash…

And the last two from the first crate are two Live Elvis albums. What is cool about these two are that they have the same exact album cover and yet are two totally different live shows.  Very interesting to me…

Now we are on to the 2nd crate.  This one I struggled on which ones to keep and which ones to give back.  He had a Michael Jackson Thriller album and an Eagles Greatest Hits Volume 1 that were both in such great condition, but I didn’t take those as I already had those (in great condition).  Here is what I did get…

Speaking of Eagles, there were two I didn’t have…Eagles Live and Greatest Hits Volume 2…

There were several Madonna albums including Madonna and Like a Virgin as well as a 12″ Maxi Single of Borderline…I took them all…

They had a couple of U2 albums including Joshua Tree and Live: Under the Blood Red Sky…Mint condition…

How about Bryan Adams, did he have Bryan Adams?  Why yes he did…I am so glad you asked.  He had Into the Fire and a 12″ Single of Diana, Summer of ’69 and The Bryan Adamix.

And it doesn’t stop there.  There was the Jazz Singer and Hot August Night from Neil Diamond…mint condition as well.  Apparently, these albums have been in storage for 20+ years.

That has to be enough right?  Wrong.  How about Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill?  Yep…

What about Tears for Fears, Robert Palmer and Phil Collins?  Check, Check & Check…

Dire Straits, The Kinks, The J. Geils Band and Toto…yes, yes, yes & yes yet again…

The Outfield, Huey Lewis & the News, Billy Joel and Lionel Richie…

And lastly, Earth, Wind & Fire, Urban Cowboy Soundtrack and Rush (okay, the Rush one is actually crap and not in good shape)

Wow!! I am tired.  That is a crazy amount.  What was that…that isn’t everything.  Are you kidding?  Nope…how about some Singles?

Mr. Mister, Dire Straits, Madonna, Hall & Oates, Heart, a-ha, Pat Benatar and Depeche Mode…(not pictured were Falco and John Cougar singles).  And this time, it is the last.  It is the Maxi Singles for “We Are the World” and Run DMC’s “Walk this Way” (with Aerosmith)…

That is it!  What a score!  I was amazed at the condition of most of these which is why I bit the bullet on so many.  Sadly, not much in the way of Hard Rock, but I like old school pop as well and especially from the 80’s. I will take that stuff all day long.  Now, how to find the time to listen to all this stuff.  It could take awhile, but on the bright side I have a ton more albums for inspiration on single & album reviews.

Until Next time…