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For my next few posts, I will now start showing the really juicy records I was able to get. Over the weekend, I went to a record show in Philadelphia, and I was able to pull some absolute heaters from the sellers there. The biggest of these finds for me would definitely have to be the Mort Garson records I found, in particular an original 1976 copy of Mother Earth's Plantasia (with the Simmons mattress sticker on the front).

Ever since I started collecting, on my Discogs I have my wantlist of items that I am looking for, and its up into the thousands now. Plantasia was one of the first 5 records in that list. I love this record to death and it has been an everlasting quest to find this record for the collection. Now the quest is complete. I was also happy that it included the extra booklet that comes with the album, so I have a complete package.

The Wozard of Iz was also a very good find from this show, as that is one of the weirder records in the Mort Garson canon, but Plantasia is what takes the spotlight from these finds today.

Credit: The Vinyl Dinosaur

This was an art piece they had recently received for their art gallery, and I thought it was so crazy, that I had to post it here. I made sure to give credit to the store, as they're the ones who received it and took the pictures.

I called this Folk Art as it does not have a name, and that's the only way the store (or I) could classify it. It was made by a person who was in prison circa 1909 (judged by the president portraits ending at around Teddy Roosevelt, so 1909 at the latest).

For my collecting post for today, You're never going to believe what I just got. I went to my local record store looking for some new stuff, and I ended up helping him out with some collections that he was getting in that day. After I did that, he told me he set something aside for me, since he sets aside stuff for regulars who might be interested. When he pulled it out, my jaw hit the floor; it was a original pressing of the first Stooges album. It wasn't in the best of shape (like a visual G+-low VG), but it still played very well on the turntable like a VG record, and the cover was at least VG+. The owner said that someone had recently come in with a stack of records with mostly boring stuff and he only pulled out a couple things, with this record being one of them. He ended up letting me have the record for only $40! Again, I will note that the record plays to a VG level, so its still very listenable. Overall, I am very happy to own this record, so now the only original Stooges record I'm missing is Funhouse.

What a completely unexpected find that I had this weekend from my local record store. I went into my local record store, and the owner told me that he left something aside, since he thought that I'd be interested. When he pulled it out to show me, I couldn't believe what I was seeing; a 7 inch copy of Elvis Costello's "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" on the Two-Tone label.

To give context to this record, the story goes that after Costello's former label Radar Records went under, the parent label WEA was preparing to create a new sublabel for Costello called F-Beat Records. However, in the interim before the new label was made, Elvis Costello produced the first Specials album. Through that relationship and due to the fact that he was without a label at that time, he was preparing to release his newest single on the Two-Tone label that the Specials both founded and were signed to. However, as WEA needed a release to launch the new label they were making, they put out an injunction on Two-Tone to not release the record and get it for themselves.

The single eventually came out on F-Beat and became a big hit for Costello in the UK, but by the time the injunction was placed, 1000 copies of the single were already pressed on Two-Tone. Therefore, the copies of the single were given out only at shows in London and New York City during the Get Happy tour. The only way you could get this single is if you went to one of those Elvis Costello shows at the time and received it during the giveaway. It is easily one of the rarest records on the Two-Tone label.

With that context, you can understand why I was understandably shocked to see it before my eyes in the store. It had apparently come in a batch of random records, none of which were close in genre to Elvis Costello, and it was just strewn about with the records. Despite that, it is in VG+-NM shape on the vinyl and sounds crystal clear. I asked the store owner how much he wanted for it, and he said that I could take it due to being a loyal customer and for helping him out on previous occasions. I couldn't believe that he was giving it away, and I tried to pay, but he insisted. Overall, I am super happy to own this record now and it's been a pleasure to listen to it.