Rant #1,836: Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)

While most of the country was preparing itself for the Super Bowl, I was preparing myself to have fun in a much different way.

On Saturday, I went to my local record shop, and I bought the place out.

No, I don't own the place, I just purchased a number of records--45s and LPs--to allow me to listen to the music on Sunday, giving me something to do in place of watching a game I have no interest in.

Sure, I did other things--I watched several movies this weekend, watched several TV shows I recorded--but I also went through this "new" old music that I bought, and I digitized a load of it, so I can listen to it in my car.

When I was a kid, my passion was, in order, collecting comic books, baseball cards and records, but as I have gotten older, records have trumped the other things as my passion, the thing that gets me away from the nonsense we all go through and helps me to relax.

For Hanukkah, my wife gave me a gift certificate to my local record store, which sells both old and new records, CDs and other music paraphernalia, and on Saturday, I decided to use the certificate to purchase some new "old" music for my collection.

I didn't think I would blow the entire gift certificate in one day, but I did, and I got an entire load of really nice things to add to my collection, which counts in the many thousands at this point, with no reason to cap it at that number.

Among the music that I purchased on Saturday was a single, a boot single--in other words, unauthorized--from the Beatles. It showcases two of their very early songs, and it came with a nice picture sleeve. I have so many legitimate Beatles records in my collection, and yes, I have some boots, too, so here is another one.

I also purchased an album by the late Joe South, a singer/songwriter who I really liked in the 1960s. He wrote and/or sang a number of great songs during the latter stages of that decade, and you might remember him for the song "The Games People Play."

The album I purchased, South's "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home," doesn't feature that tune, but it does include "Walk a Mile In My Shoes," another one of his biggest hits, as well as a few other great songs. I listened to it yesterday as I was digitizing it, and yes, this guy was talented.

This is a really good album, and although I have a few of his LPs in my collection, this one might actually be the best one that he put out.

Another LP that I purchased was sort of a greatest hits of the old Liberty Records label. "More Original Golden Greats"--the sequel to the equally engaging "The Original Golden Greats," which I have had in my collection for ages--features hit singles by the top artists on that old label, including Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Cher.

It is a real musical timepiece of another time, and I am happy that I finally found it.

Another LP I bought appears to be very rare--so rare, in fact, that I can't even find very much about it on the Internet, and I can't find a photo of it, either.

The album, "Three At the Top" on the old Tower Records label, features a couple of tracks each by Johnny Rivers, Tom Jones and Freddie and the Dreamers.

The Rivers and Jones tracks I have never heard before--leading me to believe that these songs were licensed by Tower Records, and they are the only tracks from these artists that they were able to legally release--and a few hit sides by Freddie and the Dreamers, including "I'm Telling You Now."

It is an interesting record, featuring very early tunes by Jones and Rivers, mixed in with a few better known songs from Freddie and the gang.

I also purchased records by Billy Vera, Tina Mason, Dionne Warwick, Lulu, Nancy Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Ann-Margret, as well as a couple of movie soundtracks from the 1960s.

I haven't listened to everything yet, but let me tell you, I really can't wait to digitize this haul and give them all a listen.

So, in the midst of Super Bowl frenzy, I managed to stay away from all of it, and I am so happy that I could do this, and not break the bank--although I did use up the entire gift certificate--in doing so.

What will the coming weekend hold for me?

Who knows---we still have a work week to play out, so I am not going to put the cart before the horse just yet.