BeBop Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 I recently purchased an LP that I’d been looking for since about 1970. Yes, 1970. And I’d been looking HARD. Daily, in most cases. (I travel constantly, and, until recently, I could visit one or two different record stores a day. Today, most of the places I travel don’t have record stores.) Since around 1990, I’ve been scouring the web. That’s all by the way. I have the LP now. Oddly, I don’t feel relieved about finding this specimen. Nor do I feel joyous. Oh, I’ll enjoy the music; I’ve heard it before and, while it may be a while before I can spin the LP, I’m sure it will be enjoyable. But perhaps less enjoyable than hearing something for the first time. Something I acquired with considerably less effort and expense. The overwhelming feeling is of satisfaction in freeing up time and energy for something else. Anything else. I’m unlikely to take on such a quest in the future, because my collecting days are over. And, moreover, I’m no longer a completist. (I gave up on the last few 78s and cassettes I need to complete my artist collection.) I’ve also come to realize that many out-of-print items are unavailable for a reason. Obviously, this is not universally true. As an aside, I’m glad I was looking for an LP; if this had been a CD, I don’t think I would have found as much contentment in physical possession as I do in this slab of grooved (and groovy!) vinyl. Anyway, this is just rumination on the subject of collecting. Perhaps it will strike a chord with someone who has a related story to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Tell us what it is! Tell us what it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Tell us what it is! Tell us what it is! ← I forget. (Actually, that's closer to the truth than you can imagine.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 (edited) Tell us what it is! Tell us what it is! ← I forget. (Actually, that's closer to the truth than you can imagine.) ← You've been looking for this for 35 years and now you forget. Yeah, sure. edited for spelling. Edited August 10, 2005 by 7/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 ...or perhaps I'm afraid someone's going to pop up and say "Hey, I've got three copies of that!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Frampton Comes Alive. (This was REALLY tough to find in 1970.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Frampton Comes Alive. (This was REALLY tough to find in 1970.) ← If I was you I'd quit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Frampton Comes Alive. (This was REALLY tough to find in 1970.) ← If I was you I'd quit too. ← If I was Peter Frampton, I'd have quit (recording). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) Don Juan syndrome. The chasing after it is sometimes more fun than getting it. Edited August 12, 2005 by jlhoots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) Frampton Comes Alive. (This was REALLY tough to find in 1970.) Why? Beause it wasn't released for another 5 or 6 years? Fess up...you were looking for Edited August 11, 2005 by Son-of-a-Weizen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjazz Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 It's called the Law of Diminishing Returns. The more you have, the less you appreciate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Plus, the chase is always sweeter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 ...or perhaps I'm afraid someone's going to pop up and say "Hey, I've got three copies of that!". ← You know it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 A little while back, I finally came across some Duke Ellington vinyl that I'd been looking for for sixteen years. The realization of how long I'd been looking for it just made me feel old. Nice to have, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 I was a bit surprised that more people didn't have tales of the long quest. Perhaps y'all are too young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 I was a bit surprised that more people didn't have tales of the long quest. Perhaps y'all are too young. ← Nah, I'm just too embarrassed to go into details about that long-coveted Herb Alpert LP that I finally - finally! - found in the thrift store last week. Who would've expected to find it there? Seriously, though, i've found that most long searches, when finally completed, end up being more disappointing than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 I was a bit surprised that more people didn't have tales of the long quest. Perhaps y'all are too young. ← Seriously, though, i've found that most long searches, when finally completed, end up being more disappointing than anything else. ← I'm old enough to have been there. I agree that actually finding somethning can be disappointing. I've found a few things I looked for for years and realized that I didn't really want them anymore but had just kept on looking out of some weird reflexive quirk. It's happened more often with books than with records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 As is the case with many things in life, anticipation is often greater than realization. Although this made sound odd, I generally get pretty amped up about ordering a set from Mosaic, and even more so as I anticipate its arrival. Then when it finally gets here, and I crack the pack, I sense something of a let down. In the immortal words of George Costanza, "Is that wrong?" I think it would be interesting to cut a psychologist loose on this kind of behavioral reaction. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 Have to agree. The chase is sweeter. Took me a long time to get the Clayton Mosaic and longer to persuade the seller to sell. Once I received, it I played but I can't say I played the heck out of it or I reach for it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 Have to agree. The chase is sweeter. Same with sex ..... it's a saddening moment when there is no more to be found. Now why do newly discovered Trane or Bird recordings make us all flip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nelson Posted August 21, 2005 Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 BeBop: "I was a bit surprised that more people didn't have tales of the long quest." Well, BeBop, you were coy and disingenuous in setting us up with your 35-year search for an LP you refused to name. It's hard for us to identify with your constant struggle to obtain something so rare that, upon finding a copy, it's too horrible for you to mention. Don't blame us for bailing out from your thread when you give us nothing to go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted August 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 I'm sorry if my approach turned anyone off. This thread, as I'd conceived it, was about collecting and, ultimately, finding. It wasn't about one record. I didn't want it to devolve into the merits of one record, whether that record was worth the search, whether I looked in the right places, et cetera. I was more interested in the psychology and passion of the search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.