There are signs of recovery in the high street; only this week I salvaged the News single 50% Reduction from a local charity shop. That's a few weeks after discovering Bloody by the Golinski Brothers in another local charity shop. Scavenging of late had been a joyless task, there's little mirth to be found in discovering piles of Yes LP's for £1 or myriad Blaster Bates LP's, notwithstanding the schoolyard smirk his name brings to one's lips. Tales of chimney blasting or topographic oceans tend to send me into a Rip Van Winkle-like slumber. I paid 50p for the News single which seemed only fair as it had Limited Edition Pay No More Than 57p emblazoned on the label. I have the A side on a comp so it was the B side that fascinated me most. Called High Society it sounds like a musical punch up between Sparks, Sweet and Classix Nouveau which may sound grim but does acquire a sneaky charm after four plays.
On a more prosaic note I also came across two Caravan LP's, In The Land Of Grey And Pink and Waterloo Lily. Now I'm not going to discuss the merits of Caravan, I hardly feel qualified to as they were a little before my time, but burdening both LP's with a £25 price tag seems excessive. That's what they're worth in the RRPG but they have to be in mint condition to deserve that valuation. A high price of £50 was tagged onto Fresh Cream by Cream. In mint condition fine but these LP's weren't. And £10 for Queen 2. That's not even in the RRPG. (Not that I'm claiming the RRPG is infallible; the News single is worth at least £20 and it doesn't merit an entry). This was Oxfam, famous for overpricing, and though I don't begrudge them getting the highest price for their wares I only hope these LP's aren't going to be sitting there for six months. That doesn't benefit anyone.
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4 comments:
I also paid 50p for that News 7", though that was in the late 80's when it probably was a 50p record.
We've got one of those Oxfam 'record shops' here in Edinburgh. They price by RRPG too. Even the should be cheap stuff are overpriced (like sleeveless Sham singles for £2.50 etc). Luckily there's a Shelter shop down the street a bit with a corner of the shop dedicated to records. The lady who runs that is obviously clueless to the existence of RRPG. I felt like I was wearing a mask as I pulled a Trainspotters and a Frantic Elevators out of the many 50p items recently.
We don't have charity shops over here. It's a right shame. We have flea-markets sometimes, but it's not the same. We've got tremendous wooden shoes though.
Good scavenge there James. If you ever come across singles by the Wee Cherubs or the Hardy Boys (indie group, not the US lads) I'd be interested. Both Scottish bands that you never see south of Leicester.
If I ever get into collecting wooden shoes I'll be over your way
45 Revs.
Local stuff is surprisingly hard to come by up here. It doesn't help that there isn't anything resembling a decent record shop left. You can forget finding either of those, or a Harvest, Absentees, Bupa & The Shop Assistants etc. I'll keep an eye open though.
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