2019 Purchases

Here are the music purchases of 2019 quantified in some detail. Check the 2019 cover grid dropdown to just see a grid of the cover images.

April 2019

1. Mott The Hoople: All The Young Dudes DLX RM – Columbia Records – US – DL – iTunes/$9.99
2. Mott The Hoople: Saturday Gigs – Columbia Records – US – DL – iTunes/$1.29
3. Mott The Hoople: Foxy Foxy – Columbia Records – US – DL – iTunes/$1.29
4. Fingerprintz: Dancing With Myself – Virgin ‎– VS 23512 – UK – 12″ green – Antique mall/$4.40
5. Propaganda: The Nine Lives Of Dr. Mabuse (13th Life Mix) – ZTT ‎– 12 ZTAS 2 – UK – 12″ – Antique mall/$1.20
6. David Werner: Whizz Kid – RCA Victor ‎– APL1-0350 – US – LP – Square Records/$4.00
7. David Werner: David Werner – Epic ‎– AS 628 – USP – 12″ – Square Records/$3.00
8. Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove – Warner Bros. Records ‎– WBSD 8803 – US – 12″ – Square Records/$4.00
9. Split Enz: Beginning Of The Enz – Chrysalis ‎– CHR 1329 – CAN – LP – Square Records/$4.00
10. Phil Manzanera: Primitive Guitars – Editions EG ‎– EEGCD 14 – US – CD – Square Records/$5.00
11. Shuggie Otis: Inspiration Information DLX RM – Luaka Bop ‎– 72348-50473-2-9 – US – CD – Square Records/$6.00
12. Bryan Ferry: Olympia – Astralwerks ‎– ASW 06428 – US – CD – Square Records/$1.00
13. The Artist (Formerly Known As Prince): Chaos And Disorder – Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 46317-2 – Square Records/$6.00
14. Floy Joy: Into The Hot – Virgin ‎– V2319 – UK – LP – Time Traveler/$2.99
15. The Human League: Empire State Human – Virgin ‎– VS 294 – UK – 7″ – Time Traveler/$1.99
16. The B-52’s: Private Idaho – Warner Bros. Records ‎– WBS 49537 – US – 7″ – Time Traveler/$1.99
17. The B-52’s: Give Me Back My Man  – Island Records ‎– WIP 6579 – UK – 7″ – Time Traveler/$7.99
18. Scritti Politti: Perfect Way – Warner Bros. Records ‎– 7-28949 – US – 7″ – Time Traveler/$2.99
19. Associates: Party Fears Two – Associates ‎– asc 1 – UK – 7″ – Time Traveler/$4.99
20. Various: Miniatures One+Two – Cherry Red ‎– CDBRED361 – UK – 2xCD – Merch/$15.00
21. The Artist (Formerly Known As Prince): The Versace Experience – Prelude 2 Gold – The Prince Estate ‎– 19075918324S1 – US – CASS – Harvest Records/$13.99
22. Graham Parker: Cloud Symbols – 100% Records ‎– 100CD84 – UK – CD – Harvest Records/$13.99
23. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks Solo Acoustic 40th Anniversary – Quake Records ‎– QR011 – US – CD – Merch/$15.00
24. Yes: Drama DLX RM – Rhino Records ‎– R2 73795 – US – CD – gift
25. Visage: Visage DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters ‎– RUBY06CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters webstore/$9.99
26. Trees: Sleep Convention DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters ‎– RUBY05CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters webstore/$6.99
27. Sade: Diamond Life – Portrait ‎– RK 39581 – US – CD – ?/$?

January through March’s influx felt great! I really want to pare down purchases to a much smaller level of things that really mean a lot to me. But it all went pear-shaped in April. Almost a release per day! But I maintain that everything bought was timely and compelling, even if it was more than I wanted to buy. We were on a road trip to see Mott The Hoople and “All The Young Dudes” was conspicuously absent from the Record Cell. My wife was pining for it so we relented and got the DL to play on the iPad in the car. I also wanted to hear “Saturday Gigs”  and “Foxy Foxy” from the 1975 “Greatest Hits” album because they were non-LP singles I had never heard. Good thing too, because the anthemic “Saturday Gigs” was one of the encores on the Saturday we saw them!

Then I ran into a record I badly needed in an antique mall in West Virginia. That was the finger-out-of-the-dike moment for me, and then once in Akron, it suddenly made sense to shop at Time Traveler while I was up there. That I found another good store nearby was kismet. But twelve titles at two stores isn’t that bad, right? I was seeing Graham Parker and wanted to hear his new album first, so I went to Harvest Records to order it on the day after RSD 2019, only to see the Prince “Versace Experience” tempting me like a purple and gold succubus. Before April 19, 2019, a copy of that would have cost me two months pay! And now there were 4000 more copies that were not going to last very long!

And then I ordered the new Parker CD the next pay’s “mad money” budget – a modest $20 I hold back for anything I want or stumble upon. It was a good choice because the new “Cloud Symbols” was a supremely ingratiating release that Parker played a nice chunk of live. Merch tables had other delights as well. Parker had just released a acoustic 40th anniversary “Sparks” CD that will likely be at merch tables only and when seeing Mott, I was thrilled to find both of Morgan Fischer’s “Miniatures” albums on a 2xCD from Cherry Red finally in my grasp!

Finally there were a handful of titles at the end of the month, tumbling in. A guy on the “general” forum on Discogs was giving away three Yes CDs he had dupes of. One of these was “Drama,” the album with The Buggles instead of Rick Wakeman/Jon Anderson in the lineup that I have much time for. Was it the DLX RM with a ton of unreleased material? Yes! The guy sent it to me gratis! I looked at his want list [as long as mine with 1000+ titles] but it was full of Prog. I can dabble but anything I have in the Record Cell after the Great Prog Purge of 1978, I’m not inclined to give up. He’s not getting my Crimson; just saying. I’m grateful, but…

Several pages into his want list I saw the perfect way to return karma: he wanted a copy of the Stick Men “Kollected” free promo sampler that they were handing out at the King Crimson merch tables on tour. I somehow ended up with two copies in my merch feeding frenzy in 2017, and this was just waiting to be sent back to that gent! Wow! Sometimes the universe is perfect.

Then I saw last week on the New Wave Outpost Forum that Rubellan Remasters was having a 25% off sale last weekend. Scott Davies is a guy like me who started with CD-Rs of rarities but has now taken the painful step of becoming a real micro label. His standards are very high and he has released what seems to be the best ever copy of the Visage debut. And he had less than 50 left in his stock. He paid for the right to make x-many CDs of that title and the rest had been distributed in the last eight months. If I wanted this [and I did] I should act immediately. Plus, he also had the CD by Trees which I had wanted since 1982 and a glowing Trouser Press review but had never seen on LP until last summer crate digging in Los Angeles during RonKonII. By then I knew he was releasing it on the preferred format along with the unreleased second Trees album. I had to get those! Besides, they were just $21.49 including shipping and I had them in hand within 56 hours! No jury would convict me!!

Finally, after decades of antipathy, my wife bought a copy of Sade’s “Diamond Life” to hear on a recent road trip where the preponderance of ambient CDs she pulled to listen to posed a practical problem. I guess it’s finally time to listen to this and see if my feelings on Sade may have changed in 35 years. She’s always been the sort of artist I should have loved, especially in 1985 when I was leaning heavily into the NWOBJP.

Subtotal: $146.08

May 2019

1. Roy Orbison: Mystery Girl DLX RM –  Legacy ‎– 88697607032 – US – CD+DVD – rummage sale/$1.50
2. RAM: August 1791 – Willibelle Publishing & Sales – US – CD – merch table/$20
3. Slow Children: Cottoncloud9 – SC3 – US – CD-R – gift
4. Stephen Duffy: I Love My Friends DLX RM – Needle Mythology ‎– NEMYCD001 – UK – 2xCD – superdeluxeedition.com/$17.41

A nice quite month with a little merch outlay and a DLX RM or two. RAM were a great Haitian band my wife saw in the local freekly and investigated so we quickly penciled in that show which saw me discovering new ways to dance to the amazing polyrhythms they were putting down with four drummers and two percussionists. Stephen Duffy released a new version of “I Love My Friends” and not only was it easy to afford, I had sold some things in my Discogs store so I could pre-order it with impunity! Finally, Pal Shazar had run across a Slow Children review here and kindly offered me a copy of their [great] new CD of 2016. Yes. ma’am! Once I get the first two albums digitized it may be time for that Slow Children Rock G.P.A.®!

Subtotal: $38.91

Holding steady at ridiculously low levels of consumption and I suffer no ill effects! I bought the last Human League album cheaply due to curiosity… and we all know what happened to the cat! We saw an amazing House Of Waters show and just had to buy some merch. Finally, my wife found me a Ken Nordine CD! He’s finally in the Record Cell after too many years absent! It’s no exaggeration to say that Nordine was one of the three voices who made me what I am today: A guy with a well-trained voice who longs to be a staff announcer! In a world… that no longer needs staff announcers! <heavy sigh>

September 2019

1. B.E.F.: Music Of Quality + Distinction Vol. 1 – Virgin ‎- VV2219 – UK – 5×7″ box – gift
2. Les Filles De Illighadad: Eghass Malan – Sahel Sounds ‎– SS-044 – US – CD – merch table/$15.00
3. Johnny Marr: Call The Comet – Sire ‎– NVCD004 – US – CD – gift
4. The Cars: Candy-O DLX RM – Elektra ‎– R2 560031 – US – CD – gift
5. The Cars: Panorama DLX RM – Elektra ‎– R2 560030 – US – CD – gift
6. Ultravox!: Ha! Ha! Ha! DLX RM – Lmlr ‎– 782 211 – FR – CD – gift
7. Real Life: Flame – Curb Records ‎– MCA-5639 – US – LP – record show/$6.00
8. The Passions: African Mine – Polydor ‎– POSP 384 – UK – 2×7” – record show/$2.00
9. Boys Next Door: Shivers – Mushroom ‎– K-7492 – OZ – 7” – record show/$3.00
10. Mick Karn: Titles – Caroline Blue Plate ‎– CAROL 1675-2 – US – CD – record show/$3.00
11. Mick Karn: The Tooth Mother – CMP Records ‎– CMP CD 1008 – GER – CD – record show/$3.00
12. Mick Karn: The Mick Karn Collector’s Edition – Times Square Records ‎– TSQD 9901 – US – CD – record show/$3.00
13. Ryuichi Sakamoto + Kazumi Watanabe: Tokyo Joe – Denon ‎– DC 8586 – JPN – CD – record show/$3.00
14. Eddie Jobson: Zinc – One Way Records ‎– S21 56846 – US – CD – record show/$3.00
15. Rush: Feedback EP – Atlantic ‎– 83728-2 – US – CD EP – record show/$3.00
16. Rush: Clockwork Angels – Roadrunner Records ‎– 1686-176562 – US – CD – record show/$3.00
17. Gary Daly: Gone From Here – UK – CD – MusicGlue/$16.44

Subtotal: $63.44

One more package arrived from my benefactor today. The sacred B.E.F. box of MQDVI from 1982. I nwever had this but knew people [chasinvictoria] who did. In fact, in America, I’d only ever seen this boxed set version of the amazing cover album in any record stores. It’s the best post-modern cover album of all time, by my reckoning. Martyn Ware is a genius of pop. There… I said it. I’d probably buy an LP of this but I’ve never seen one. I only had the 90s CD, and that had a remix of the Tina Turner song, so this one was more than just a fetish object to adore. We got the CD by Les Filles De Illighadad at their show in town recently and I have become instantly hypnotized by it! This one will get a lot of play! Then birthday gifts came into play with the very timely arrival of the other two Cars DLX RMs that were just what I needed. As well as the third turn by Mr. Marr. And my wife got me a rare French kami sleeve pressing of “Ha! Ha! Ha!” because sometimes you need to hear the smoke and flames. Then at month’s end, a surprise Record Show threw my spending into chaos with lots of items at modest prices. That Mick Karn cache was a godsend! Curious to hear late model Rush from after the period I loved best. I bought another copy of Real Life’s “Flame” by mistake. Whoops. Then the Gary Daly [China Crisis] solo album finally got ordered. It has certainly lived up to the advance word. Just a lovely album that I’m thrilled to have.

October 2019

1. Gary Daly: Gone From Here Remixes – UK – DL – MusicGlue/gift
2. Rain To Rust: Flowers Of Doubt – Innsmouth Productions ‎– INS003 – TUR – DL – Bandcamp/$6.60
3. Maria Conchita Alonso: Dangerous Rhythm – US – DL – iTunes/$0.99

subtotal: $7.59

A month of music buying that was almost not there! Fine by me. The Gary Daly remixes seemed to be there then gone in a eyeblink. Thank goodness I got them when I did! I liked the debut album by Rain To Rust, a new European Post-Punk one man band of no small talent. And I checked in iTunes to see if the semi-legendary first ever Ultravox! cover by way of Maria Conchita Alonso in 1982 was finally available for DL. It was!

November 2019

1. Shriekback: Knowledge, Power Truth + Sex – Arista ‎– 206 608 – GER – EP – record show/$5.00
2. The Tourists: Reality Effect –  Logo ‎– YX-7254-LG – JPN – LP – record show/$35.00
3. Head Noise: Über-Fantastique – UK – DL – Bandcamp/promo
4. SPK: Machine Age Voodoo DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters ‎– RUBY01CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters/$10.99
5. Krisma: Fido DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters ‎– RUBY02CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters/$8.99
6. The Passions: Sanctuary DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters ‎– RUBY08CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters/promo
7. Skafish: Skafish DLX RM – 829 Records – 829005 – US – CD – Kickstarter/$20
8. Simple Minds: Live In The City Of Angels DLX – BMG ‎– 538528490 – UK – 4xCD – Simple Minds webstore/$19.00
9. Hector Zazou: Sahara Blue – riStar Music ‎– WK 57779 – US – CD – Harvest Records/$3.00

Subtotal: $101.98

One LP here was almost a third of this money, but I was thrilled to get a JPN copy of The Tourists “Reality Effect” at a local record show, where I also picked up the rare German Shriekback EP that I didn’t actually need. Ooooh. Decadent! I finally got the new Simple Minds DLX ED live set from their big tour I saw last year. The bonus tracks were worth their weight in gold. My second favorite Simple Minds official live album resulted. The $19 cost was so cheap I felt like they were paying me to order it. The long simmering “Skafish” reissue on CD finally happened and it was just as amazing as I had suspected for decades. I was also thrilled when the gent who runs Rubellan Remasters reached out to me and offered a promo of his latest release, the third Passions album on CD! I am so broke, I felt guilty accepting his offer, so I acted on buying some other goods he’s reissued late last year as well as yet another copy of the amazing Trees CD to gift to a friend. I should probably be flat out collecting the Rubellan Remasters label. The label owner has very high standards and congruent tastes with mine. And I got an interesting promo submission from the contact form from a New Wave trio out of Wales doing good stuff with Head Noise.

December 2019

1. Anum Preto: Inferno Interno – self-released – BR – DL – Bandcamp/$2.00
2. Shriekback: Some Kinds Of Light [plus postcard] – self released – SHRIEKCD019 – UK – CD – Indiegogo/$39.00
3. The Go-Betweens: Bright Yellow Bright Orange – Jetset Records ‎– TWA58CD – US – CD – Earshot Winston-Salem/$5.00
4. Iggy Pop: The Idiot –  Virgin ‎– 2-91342 – US – CD – Earshot Winston-Salem/$6.00
5. Sparks: Please Don’t Fuck Up My World – L’il Beethoven Records – US – DL – iTunes/$1.29

Subtotal: $53.29

A relatively quiet December with almost nothing happening. Anum Preto were new but effective Post-Punk from Brazil who self-released on Bandcamp. We always try to keep up with Shriekback and this time I was able to pitch in to their crowdsource for getting the band together to write in the studio, the old fashioned way. I went above the minimum buy-in because I had the money that time, and… Shriekback. Finally, an unplanned trip to Winston-Salem to view an art exhibit [Lyendecker + The Golden Age Of American Illustration] meant that my friends Elisa + Tom could go music shopping with me at the fine Earshot Records there. The shop is a well curated small store with always something interesting if you look. In this case, I bought a copy of “The Idiot” on CD [finally!] as well as one of the late period Go-Betweens albums I’d missed when they happened, as I had no idea that McLennan and Forster had worked together again in the new millennium until fairly recently. Finally, Sparks released the song of the hour as a DL only single that definitely got the last word on 2019.

Half Year Subtotals: 56 releases | $266.50 | average cost – $4.76/title

YEAR END TOTALS: 103 releases | $636.42 | average cost – $6.18/title

…no more to come