I'd been keeping an eye out for Rickie Lee Jones' _Girl at her Volcano_ of late, on the basis that it's the one album of hers that we don't own. The other day, puttering around the web, I found out that the album was released on vinyl during the early 80s and has been out of print for quite some time. It may also have been some sort of limited edition release or some such. So...does anyone who was conscious during the early 80s have a copy of this album? (I believe it's a 7" record). Barring that, where might I look to find a copy of it for sale? I'm not in the habit of buying vinyl used, so I don't know where to start looking...34 responses total.
You might try her website, if she has one. Even if it isn't posted, maybe it could be if the fans were vocal enough about it.
I think "Girl At Her Volcano" is 10", not 7". There was a minor craze for ten-inch 33 1/3 releases right around 1980. Have you checked the local used music shops, especially Encore? Encore and PJs still seem to be doing good business in vinyl.
www.rickieleejones.com says it's available on CD from Japan. Famously expensive www.cdeurope.com lists two editions for $36-$40, ouch.
alta vista search on the album title yields a copy for sale: http://www.sonicrec.com/rten_1.html I have no info on this firm.
and there are other used copies of the original vinyl release in the $6-$10 range. CD Banzai lists it at two prices (??) around $30, which is standard for Japan. Apparently there is also a US cassette?
(You da man, Ken!)
Also try GEMM at www.gemm.com. Rarities turn up there every so often.
Yeah, I noticed the Japanese release, but there's no way I'm paying $36 for it. I checked Wazoo recently; they didn't have it. (That was Most Impressive, Ken, by the way. I'll check www.sonicrec.com out)
Aha! Victory! Wazoo does have it - two copies, even. They just keep all their 10" records in a small, well-hidden bin that I never in a million years would have found if I hadn't _happened_ to stop in again and ask, and they guy behind the counter hadn't _happened_ to ask me what format the album was in... So I've listened through it once, and I'm a little dissappointed, actually. It's an album of covers, which is always a bad sign with Rickie Lee Jones - my other least favorite album of hers is her other cover album, _Pop Pop_. And only after buying the record did I find the note at the bottom that says the cassette release has an extra track on it that I really would have wanted: a live recording from her first tour of an otherwise unreleased original. Ah well... such is life.
So now that orinoco has found the out-of-print item he was looking for, I'll drift a bit. The unpleasant reality is that music has to go out of print, to make room in the stores and distribution channels for new releases. 20 years ago, I read that the rule of thumb was that an album would be kept in print as long as it sold about 5000 copies per year. Even into the late LP era of the 1980s, I generally found that most albums could be found up to five years after their release, no matter how obscure they were. The business seems to be churning much faster now, and many discs which are disappointing sellers seem to go away in about a year.
That's *currently* the "unpleasant reality." When (if) digital music distribution ever becomes commonplace, it'll be much more practical for stuff to stay 'in print' forever..
I recall hearing that Folkways keeps the last copy of each album they take out of print, and that they'll make tape copies for people on request. Many small/local bands will do the same if you beg nicely. Obviously, this isn't a viable way to go for larger/more commercial operations, though.
I recently discovered that most of David Bowie's albums are out of circulation. I'd have to order most of them from Eurpoe or Japan. Although I like Bowie's music, I don;t want to pay $20-30 per CD. Oh well, I guess it's off to the used CD stores.
Yeah, Ryko stopped releasing them. I found "Station to Station" in a cut-out bin for $1, though, so they shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm really pissed that, as soon as I start really liking Vic Chesnutt, all of his albums except his two most recent ones go out of print! Bah!
Borders Outlet, on Ford Road in Canton, MI seems to get discontinued Ryko disks.
Ryko also seems to dump a lot of cutouts at Best Buy from time to time.. If anyone finds a stash of the Bowie discs marked way down, please let me know. I've got most of the ones I know I like but I'd be willing to take a flyer on some of the other stuff if the price was right.. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it otaking.. His stuff was out of print once before (before Rykodisk) and got picked up -- I'm sure it'll soon be carried by some other distributor
I find it hard to believe that a big name musician like Bowie would have most of his albums out of print for any length of time. Then again, stranger things have happened.
I wonder if this is part of the great Bowie financial restructuring (anyone remember last year's Bowie bond offering?)
My recollection is that Ryko ended up with the Bowie catalog because of Bowie's ego... the story I recall is that Bowie was demanding that his back catalog be sold at full price, a status afforded very few artists -- the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and I don't think there are many others. Ryko was willing to meet those terms. The deal was for a fixed period of time; I don't know why it was not renewed.
("last year's Bowie bond offering"? hrm?)
Bowie made music news last year by offering a bond issue of his projected earnings for the next N years.. The bonds were actually very highly rated by financial analysts -- apparently the Bowie catalog still pulls in a lot of money. Speculation was that the offering was prompted by Bowie's desire to move to another country where tax laws were less favorable -- the bond issue would supposedly allow him to take the taxation under the system of his then current country of residence and thus not incur a big hit from taxation wherever he was moving..
Wow....
The stuff us mortal never have to worry about.... ,
I recently found out that the entire 'English Beat' catalogue is out of print. All I want is a copy of the first album so I can have their cover of Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown". The guy at Wazoo said the last one they had sold for $60(US). Yipes! Well, maybe someone will pick up on that one too.
"Teats of a Clone"
Wow! I can't believe that the Beat's catalogue has been allowed to go out of print! Bill, I can make you a copy of the CD if you're interested, I wouldn't do that normally, but if it is indeed out of print I don't have a moral problem doing it.
Wow.. I guess it's time to make a backup of my copy of "I Just Can't Stop It" I'd definitely be bummed if I lost or damaged it and couldn't replace it -- it's my favorite 80's/Two-Tone-Era ska album. (followed by the Specials' debut album..)
That Specials debut album is a real strong album. Not a miss on it.
Yep. Too bad the same can't be said about the rest of their catalog.. But although the Specials album is truer to the original ska sound (no mystery when you consider the material they cover..) I really like the mix of pop and 80s ska on "I Just Can't Stop It" As far as the (English) Beat and the Specials are concerned, I kind of wish both bands had just stopped while they were way, way, ahead.. While each produced some decent material later on, neither ever even came close to matching the quality of their first albums and members of both groups eventually proceeded to release cringe-inducing embarrassments before finally giving up..
Wow, I was quite surprised to read that The (English) Beat had gone completely out of print. But I checked, and I cannot find any listings for them in online catalogs; they are even gone from the import online catalogs. I would have expected there to be at least a best-of compilation. I should make a car tape from my LP of the first album, and maybe also the WHAT IS BEAT? collection; I hunted for years to get the UK 2-LP version of that, which seemed to have lots more goodies than the boring American edition.
I found a used copy today of a first album called THE SPECIALS, produced by Elvis Costello, 1980. Is that the album Mike and Chris are praising?
Most likely. If I recall correctly they may have had several albums that were just titled "The Specials".. As far as I know, Costello only produced one of their albums, but on the other hand I thought that the first album was from 1979, not 1980. The first track on the album we're talking about is "A Message To You, Rudy" A number of the tracks are flat-out covers of classic 60's Jamaican ska tunes. What's surprising is that the originals are also good.
If I get spotted by any Grexers who read the music.cf, ask to see my homage to the Beat (English Beat stateside) I carry it with me all the time.
re #14-22 (regarding Bowie): I was in the record store earlier today and noticed that the Bowie CDs are back. The new issues are on EMI if I remember correctly. They don't have the bonus tracks that the Ryko releases had, which is something of a mixed blessing. The bonus tracks on some of the Ryko releases were quite good and not too out-of-place with the album. However, I'd like to have a word with whoever decided to "improve" "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" with "Velvet Goldmine", "Sweet Head", and yet another "John, I'm Only Dancing"..
You have several choices: