Flea Market Finds 2017 #1

This past Sunday was opening day at the local outdoor flea market. Usually opening day is kind of a mixed bag--the vendor turn-out is great, but their tables look almost exactly as they did at the end of last season. As a record collector this is particularly maddening; flipping past the same grimy copies of Saturday Night Fever and countless JFK tribute records that you've seen every week since 2013 is nothing if not an exercise in frustration. That being said, the gods of dusty trash were smiling upon me this particular Sunday, as I ended up coming home with a pretty bitchin' record haul. Without further ado, here's everything picked up!

Star Fleet Project by Brian May + Friends and Seventh Star by Black Sabbath

My first finds of the day came from a box that contained well-worn copies of pretty much every album Michael Schenker ever played on, twice. Star Fleet Project is a "mini lp" featuring Brian May and Eddie Van Halen on guitar, with a 12 minute blues jam on the b-side. Seventh Star is basically a Tony Iommi solo record with Glenn Hughes singing and Eric Singer on drums. These two are in pretty solid VG+ condition, so I was more than happy to pay $5 for the pair.

Destroyer by KISS 

Nothing particularly special about this one--it's just a tan-label repress, of which I already have a few copies more than I need. However, this one looked to be in pretty sweet condition, so I couldn't pass it up. The seller was asking $10, but accepted my counter of $7.

 

The Barbarians by The Barbarians and The Boston Tea Party by The Boston Tea Party

A pair of self-titled albums from one-and-done 60s bands. The Barbarians were a garage band from Cape Cod, best known for their songs "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl?" and "Moulty," an autobiographical song sung by the band's one-handed drummer. The Boston Tea Party were a pop-psych band from, you guessed it, Burbank, California--wait, what? The Barbarians is the Rhino reissue from 1979 in NM condition, while The Boston Tea Party is an original from 1968 still sealed. The seller was asking $25 and $40 respectively, but I ended up getting the pair for $45  \m/(>.<)\m/

Strange Mercy by St. Vincent

This was sitting behind a beat-up copy of Briefcase Full of Blues, still sealed, along with 3 or 4 other grimy records. I asked how much the seller was asking, and he said $1 each. I've never really been inclined to seek our her music on my own, but for $1 I'll try anything.

All in all a super-promising start to the 2017 flea market season, and hopefully a sign of things to come!