Yaba may, or may not, but I frequently check out Thrift Stores. I'm there looking for interesting, and always cheap, records (LP and 45) and CDs. The personnel aren't, usually, familiar with what's valuable, and every once in a (sometimes) long while, you'll run into something cool. This could be for other products as well. A few examples:
* There was a cabinet they were selling. I opened it up and inside, in near perfect condition, were a bunch of original 45's (7" vinyl) records, in their original sleeves, from the 1950s. I, instantly, got just about every record by The Crew Cuts and a good number by The Diamonds (of "Little Darlin'" fame), among other pop items, all for around 25 cents (back then) each.
* Most LPs you'll find are ethnic albums (Polka's, Czech music, "The Sounds of Ireland", Scottish bagpipe music...), Broadway Soundtracks, Christmas albums and CDs and non-rock pop (Robert Goulet, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Jerry Vale...) but then... I found a solo Jimmy Ruffin (Motown artist) album I had never seen before. It was in good shape, and worth more than the $1.00 I paid for it.
* The very first record I bought from a thrift store in the 1970s was the hit single "Medicine Man" by The Buchanan Brothers, a Top 40 hit in 1969. Back then I paid no more than 25 cents for it.
* I found a 2-LP "Greatest Hit" set by the 1960s Swedish Rock band, The Hep Stars. It isn't a U.S. pressing. I'd never heard their music and it was satisfying to listen to these Swedish stars. The group featured keyboardist Benny Andersson who went on to world wide success in ABBA.
... and there are more good finds. Thanks to the low prices, I sometimes, buy CDs and LPs by artists I know of, but have only a passing interest in. Sometimes I'll find something good there that I, otherwise, would have never heard.
Thanks for reading this.
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