Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector

Another month passes, so I take time out to record my occasions of weakness when faced with buyable vinyl!

Firstly, Father’s Day saw my son give me the present of Metallica’s “Creeping Death” EP. Now the significance of this is that the b-side features the “Garage Days Revisited” pairing of “Am I Evil” and “Blitzkrieg”, two nwobhm classics reintroduced to a new generation of metal fans by the premier thrash act of the day. Of course that lead onto having to get a copy of the “Garage Days Re-revisited $5.98 EP”. Now the UK issue isn’t that common or that cheap. Just a four track vinyl to comply with UK chart regulations I managed to find a pristine copy… but for £20! Mind you, I saved on the usual post and packaging charges as I got it from local shop “Gwlad Deg” in Ammanford.

Now someone in South Wales has clearly been raising a bit of cash by selling their Metallica collection as at other visits to the shop during the month I also found “And Justice For All” (£8) and “Master Of Puppets” for ten pound. Clearly I’ve been on a heavier trip recently as other items of the louder persuasion purchased include Judas Priest’s 1990 release “Painkiller” (£1.50) and Manowar’s “Hail To England” for £3.

A few 80s albums that I’ve been on the look out for for a while turned up at “Deg” too; and at reasonable prices as well. Fastway’s “Trick Or Treat” and “On Target” set me back £5 for the two. Lillian Axe’s “Love And War”, an album introduced to me by an old work colleague way back in the 90s was another that cost just £3 too, whilst Leatherwolf’s “Street Ready” which includes personal favourite “Hideaway” was only £2. Still in the eighties and again at £2, I also picked up Black Sabbath’s “Seventh Star”, the first Tony Iommi solo album except that wasn’t allowed to be so!

Blues rock is never far from my turntable no matter what else I’m listening too, and whilst the superb new Walter Trout album “The Outsider” has been the pick of the month from that style, George Thorogood’s “Bad To The Bone” album was too good a bargain to miss at £1.50.

Of course, the seventies provides the cream of classic rock so any chance to pick up some famous releases at decent prices can’t be missed. Deep Purple’s magnum opus “In Rock” in gatefold sleeve on sale for a fiver couldn’t be left in the rack, and neither could the Uriah Heep 2LP “Live!” album which for £5 came complete with inners and souvenir tour booklet. A lesser known Nazareth album “Malice In Wonderland” was just a pound, Budgie’s “Impeckable” £2.50 and the Yes classic “Close To The Edge” a mere £3.

A nice find (I thought!!) was the Queen debut album, and not the Fame label reissue either, for just a couple of pounds whilst finally I got the U.F.O. compilation double “Headstone”. Another one that cost £5 its one I’ve been after for ages mainly due to the fact it was my first U.F.O. compilation way back when, and also because I do enjoy a good Pete Frame “Rock Family Tree”, the U.F.O. one of which adorns the inner covers of the gatefold sleeve. A final purchase from Deg for the month was the sympathy buy of Status Quo’s “Twelve Gold Bars II+I” double album on offer for a criminally low 50p!

The final addition to the collection in June was a nice gift from the postman! The poor bloke that has to deliver my online purchases turns out to be a rock fan himself and kindly gave me a copy of Trapeze “Medusa” after we got chatting about the possible demise of Planet Rock a while back. A great album worth a hell of a lot more than nothing!

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BL

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