Thrift Shop Record Hop

Thrift Shop Record Hop, an Introduction

By Rich Wilhelm

Hi there. My name is Rich and I collect records—both albums and singles, as well as the occasional old-time 78. I’ve been collecting records since around 1975, when I was 10 years old.

I keep up with the times—I have CDs and MP3s and I even listen to artists who have only ever offered their music in these formats. But ultimately records are what I love.

Why records? There are many reasons:

• Even though CDs are nice and shiny, records are my favorite archival way to own music.
• Records, both albums and singles, have the best format for cover art.
• Records are what I grew up with (even if I did have that unfortunate flirtation with cassettes when I went off to college in 1983).
• Most important is this: records are fun. We listen to CDs and MP3s, but we play records. I very much enjoy the tactile experience of placing a needle onto a spinning disc and hearing sound emerge from it. The crackles and pops? All part of the experience. [Note: Although it was an “unthrifty” purchase, I do own a turntable that allows me to transfer the contents of records onto CDs. Because I can’t carry a record player around with me, much as that idea might appeal to me.]

While I love and patronize truly great record stores (sadly, their numbers are dwindling), I’ve done much of my record buying in thrift shops. Again there are many reasons for this:

• Thrift shop records are usually pretty cheap.
• Thrift shop records allow me to reclaim and reanimate a musical experience that someone else has left behind.
• Thrift shop records go a long way toward satisfying my very eclectic musical taste.
• Thrift shop records lead me to music that—even today—I’m not going to find on iTunes, Amazon.com or via most other conventional 21^st century music-gathering methods.
• Thrift shops are fun!

(Clearly fun is emerging as a theme here, as well it should.)

As an example of why thrift shop record collecting is so cool, let me tell you about the visit that my wife Donna and I made to Liberty Thrift Shop in Collegeville, Pa. recently (this shop was profiled by my friend and fellow TSC correspondent Christine Waldman). I spent about an hour flipping through the records at Liberty and emerged with some treasures that I clearly wouldn’t have found anywhere other than a thrift store.

Looking for two different full-length versions (“rock” and “big band”) of Sammy Davis Jr. singing the Alka Seltzer theme song (“Plop Plop Fizz Fizz”), complete with additional lyrics and fully committed vocal performances from Sammy (well, at least as much as he was able to commit to Alka Seltzer)? I found them at Liberty.

Have you been searching for a greasy, gritty, drenched-in-soul organ jazz instrumental that is so insanely cool that you’ll wonder how you got through 45 years of life without hearing it and now want to make sure you hear it at least once every two weeks for the rest of your life? I found that at Liberty as well, in the form of Jon Thomas’ “Hot Tip,” from his Big Beat on the Organ album.

Have you always wanted to start a collection of classic movie soundtracks on vinyl? Henry Mancini’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s score is a great place to start and it was at Liberty.

There is so much more to tell and in upcoming columns I will, tackling such topics as:

• “Hauls” from single thrift shop visits;
• Collecting various genres (country, polka, lounge and more) via thrift shops;
• Focusing on the discography of specific artists;
• Artsy and crafty repurposings of thrift store albums;
• Interviews with other like-minded thrifty record fans;
• The continuing allure of K-tel/Ronco compilations; and
• Much more!

I hope you’ll join me next time ‘round, when I highlight some fun ways to repurpose your favorite thrift store record albums.

I plan to close each column with a playlist of relevant tunes and this week is no exception. Here’s a playlist I like to call Songs Found at Liberty Thrift in Collegeville:

Benji excerpt (spoken word album for kids)

“Something for Cat”-Henry Mancini

“Plop Plop Fizz Fizz (Big Band)”-Sammy Davis Jr.

“How Do I Make You”-Linda Ronstadt

“When I Think of You”-Janet Jackson

“Simba”-Martin Denny

“Wine”-Conway Twitty

“Love Is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Show theme)-Sonny Curtis

“Hotel Happiness”-Dora Hall

“Hot Tip”-Jon Thomas

“Tell Me Tomorrow”-Smokey Robinson

“Moon River Cha Cha”-Henry Mancini

“Harper Valley PTA-Jeannie C. Riley

“Blame It On The Stones”-Kris Kristofferson

“Kids Say The Darndest Things”-Tammy Wynette

“Georgy Girl”-Baja Marimba Band

“Alabama, Louisiana or Maybe Tennessee”-Buck Owens

“Plop Plop Fizz Fizz (rock)”-Sammy Davis Jr.

“Fat Back”-Jon Thomas

Rich Wilhelm is a writer/editor, as well as an amateur photographer/videographer and a lifelong record collector. Rich is a veteran blogger whose thoughts on a wide variety of topics can be found at The Dichotomy of the Dog (http://marimbadog.livejournal.com), and he is the author of the forthcoming Surreal Record Hop—Seven Years as a Cool and Strange Music Correspondent. Rich lives with his wife Donna, his sons Jimmy and Chris, and their dog Jolie, in Phoenixville, Pa.