Forgive me. I've never owned a Misfits record before. I used to have a taped-over TDK with a mishmash of songs, but I've never owned an album proper. Some of those so-called classics just slip through the vinyl cracks, and even when you think you've heard it, well, I guess not. I bought Static Age for $10.98, which these days passes for a steal, the price of vinyl on full ascension. People complain about the price of gasoline, but at least it comes down occasionally and at great speed. This new era of niche vinyl lovers has driven the prices beyond what I'll schlep out on anything but a sure thing, and that's sad, because I'm a lifetime digger. Do people regularly shell out $17.99 for an album they've only read about? Is everybody previewing everything via download and then just dropping the big load once they've determined the quality? I don't know, because everyone I know rolls their eyes when they see my record player. I am a very small island in my social circles, so what people do or don't do in the fetish world of vinyl record buying is a big mystery.
But I'm curious, because we've been through a number of stages, but seeing cd list prices six bucks less than vinyl list reminds ya of the tectonic shift. If you ask your typical bald, middle-aged, spectacle-wearing cultural critic, he'll write that music as a material item has been dead for a long time. Free, according to the caffeinated folks at Wired, is the new norm, and we're all supposed to get used to it. Of course, as any former Soulseek user will tell ya, what comes free through your computer at night and made you romp down the steps each morning to see what arrived in the Transfer box becomes sterile and empty over time. If everything is free, what has value?
Well, at least that is part of my experience, if not all of it. When the Soulseek kick started waning, I went back to vinyl, and that made the process of acquiring music fun again. After awhile, though, I missed a few things. Most of all, I missed the hunt for nuggets, the cheapies some hungover buyer had mispriced. Finding that underpriced record you've been seeking forever is why diggers dig. Or just seeing something that looks weird and at a few bucks is worth the risk and won't tarnish the experience if it sucks. Unfortunately, it gets harder and harder to find anything like that anymore, at least at the stores I now occasionally sneak away to. Granted, my time is far more limited these days, but I never find vinyl nuggets anymore, at least the way I define them. I even started rummaging through the cd bins, at least the bargain ones, because the hunt for cheap remained an important part of the experience. It makes no sense, unless you consider that seeing some record for a buck reminds you that you just might like it; thinking about what you might like on Soulseek requires you to recall, but digging is about recognition, and any cognition expert will tell you the latter is a far easier part of our memory to access. So I see a Ministry greatest hits record and think, what the fuck? One enjoyable song is worth a buck, and the process far more than that.
And so I bought a Misfits record, because the reissue business has made quality vinyl a viable option. I'm curious, though: are these reissue folks making any money at this, or is it a selfless effort of love? Are those 4 Men with Beards profiting, or are they making vinyl that no longer exists that they'd like to hear? I don't know the answer to these questions. All I know is that if you offer me a record that has held up for twenty or thirty years at five or six bucks less than one that a few folks on the Internet are hyping, I have a very easy decision. For the record, I can't believe how good this Misfits record is. Really, I am not kidding. It's fucking hit city.
4 comments:
I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch...you better think about it baby!!! Denying the absolute wall-to-wall hit factor of The Misfits is ridiculous. Should appeal to 78 year olds as much as it appeals to 13 year olds.
The folks I know that have done reissues the legit way tell me that "getting the rights" costs a pretty penny, particularly when you are dealing with a major label, as 4 Men With Beards often do, assuming they are operating at a level above or equal to quasi-legality. Their production and manufacturing costs ain't cheap either: they typically use 180gm vinyl and deluxe "tip-on" heavy sleeves. Very well done, sure.
What's more fun? Cycling through your blogroll and downloading something OR going to a record store, finding a $3 LP from 1976 with questionable moustaches and trousers complimenting the high-level rock found within? The answer, of course, is watching TV and eating potato chips.
but what happens when the remote gets slippery from all the grease on your fingers
I agree with much of the sentiment. Except I probably spend more on vinyl now bc it's my one splurge. I mean even spending $50 at a store seems harmless bc it's just $50 for the whole month of splurges (outside of beer, of course). Moreover, it's NOTHING compared to a pair of shoes my wife buys.
I know nothing of the Misfits. The football players and weight loggers at my school were really into them, though. Coincidence?
The Misfits were adopted after the original band broke up by many douchebags, but the early songs stand up by anybody's standards. Class A punk rock anthems one after the next.
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