Immense $1 Vinyl Sale in Kansas City

[Hot Ptah]

In case anyone in the Kansas City area has not heard, the Music Exchange's vinyl collection, which was always advertised as 1 million strong, is being sold for $1 per album by an auction company.

The albums are in complete disorganization, as if all one million of them were dropped at once from a great height, were not damaged and then were put back at random into boxes.

The sale is taking place in a warehouse in the West Bottoms with no air conditioning or ventilation generally. It's a hot, sweaty job to paw through the albums.

Many boxes of albums have not been opened yet, I noticed. The sale is going on for about ten days.

I went today, the first day, over my noon hour, got 50 great jazz albums, and then stopped. I picked up some great Pablo gems, a whole section of Teddy Wilson, and assorted great items from a variety of artists.

With the extreme disorganization, one will be flipping through yet another box of mediocre 1970s hard rock, country, show tunes and oddities, when right there is a Pablo gem in mint condition--the only jazz album in the entire box. Why is it there? Those finds gave me the strength to continue.

There is a lot of classical music in the boxes. Oddly, I saw virtually no blues. The Music Exchange always had a large blues section. The blues may be in the boxes which have not been opened yet.

One example of how odd this sale is--in the midst of an area of boxes of Christmas music, rock and country, which were not very inspiring, two of the old box set appeared back to back in perfect condition--Fletcher Henderson, "A Study in Frustration". It was as if a god had dipped a finger covered in gold into the middle of some muck and left the gold there.

Edited July 16, 2008 by Hot Ptah

[sidewinder]

Fletcher Henderson, "A Study in Frustration". It was as if a god had dipped a finger covered in gold into the middle of some muck and left the gold there.

A good one. I found my copy of that gen in a discount sale too - also in excellent condition.

As the great Sun Ra once said when he saw this box set in a shop window - 'He wasn't frustrated at all !!

Edited July 17, 2008 by sidewinder

[stuartjewkes]

I'd love to get lost in that lot for a few days

[Hot Ptah]

I'd love to get lost in that lot for a few days

It's fun, but the amount of chaff that one must flip through to find the kernels of wheat is amazing. It's really bad chaff, too. It's not just a lot of rock albums. There are many thousands of albums that even a thrift store would be sorry to take in.

[stuartjewkes]

I'd love to get lost in that lot for a few days

It's fun, but the amount of chaff that one must flip through to find the kernels of wheat is amazing. It's really bad chaff, too. It's not just a lot of rock albums. There are many thousands of albums that even a thrift store would be sorry to take in.

Strange as it sounds I actually enjoy that as much as finding a bargain! I have pretty varied tastes and take great pleasure in finding curios cheap. For example I was rooting through a few boxes of vinyl in a little tin shack in Manchester not long ago and found a British band doing versions of Jelly Roll songs originally conceived for a ballet that had to be played almost perfectly to the original record. I won't listen to it a million times (it is good though) but I like hearing something with a story.

I also picked up a 10" of Motorhead Girlschool, a strange trade off of songs between two 80s metal acts with a duet on the flip. Lots of fun.

If I can find one thing similar to this (as well, of course, as the things I'm REALLY looking for) then rooting through 5000 records has been worth while.

[Hot Ptah]

I'd love to get lost in that lot for a few days

It's fun, but the amount of chaff that one must flip through to find the kernels of wheat is amazing. It's really bad chaff, too. It's not just a lot of rock albums. There are many thousands of albums that even a thrift store would be sorry to take in.

Strange as it sounds I actually enjoy that as much as finding a bargain! I have pretty varied tastes and take great pleasure in finding curios cheap. For example I was rooting through a few boxes of vinyl in a little tin shack in Manchester not long ago and found a British band doing versions of Jelly Roll songs originally conceived for a ballet that had to be played almost perfectly to the original record. I won't listen to it a million times (it is good though) but I like hearing something with a story.

I also picked up a 10" of Motorhead Girlschool, a strange trade off of songs between two 80s metal acts with a duet on the flip. Lots of fun.

If I can find one thing similar to this (as well, of course, as the things I'm REALLY looking for) then rooting through 5000 records has been worth while.

Multiply your story by 200 (in terms of both volume and weirdness), add in oppressive heat, stagnant air, and dirt, and a $1 price for every album, and you have the Music Exchange sale.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Hot Ptah