I was reminded of me and a mate playing our way through a box of 200 US blind buy singles in the 80s and getting more and more frustrated as we listened to endless C&W, bubblegum pop and just crap generally and finding nothing! Anyone spent several valuable hours of their lives doing the same? I bet you have - but any gems ever surfaced? 

I used to collect rockabilly a bit and one time in Cincinnati (1990 or so?) three older doo wop collectors bought a tractor trailer of 45s that had been sitting in a warehouse in Tennessee for decades. after they cleared out the doowop, they sold the rest out of a storefront every weekend for a couple months. listened to thousands of records ... (got a minter of "bopping high school baby" by Don Willis)... I didn't collect soul back then (was a teen)... wonder what was in there... if I could only go back!!

When I got to know Rob Smith really well, he used to allow me up in the old, somewhat dangerous atrium. I used to sort the bags and piles of records to see if I could find anything he had not spotted he should sell separately or keep.

I spent hours, sometimes days up there going through the endless piles and bags with a tiny record player there at one stage to play them on as I went through. After a while it got too dangerous and the safe area was much less. There was no record player then and I suspect the electrics up there were dodgy too.

Those were very happy days indeed. I was just a kid but he told me labels to look out for and so on and I found some ace stuff tucked away. He gave me huge discounts and free cheap records for it.

I would happily spend weeks going through vinyl. Something to get back too now I am in my fifties

 

4 hours ago, LiamGP said:

I was reminded of me and a mate playing our way through a box of 200 US blind buy singles in the 80s and getting more and more frustrated as we listened to endless C&W, bubblegum pop and just crap generally and finding nothing! Anyone spent several valuable hours of their lives doing the same? I bet you have - but any gems ever surfaced? 

I once looked through nearly a couple of dozen in the USA before finding a Pat Boone record

4 hours ago, Thinksmart said:

When I got to know Rob Smith really well, he used to allow me up in the old, somewhat dangerous atrium. I used to sort the bags and piles of records to see if I could find anything he had not spotted he should sell separately or keep.

I spent hours, sometimes days up there going through the endless piles and bags with a tiny record player there at one stage to play them on as I went through. After a while it got too dangerous and the safe area was much less. There was no record player then and I suspect the electrics up there were dodgy too.

Those were very happy days indeed. I was just a kid but he told me labels to look out for and so on and I found some ace stuff tucked away. He gave me huge discounts and free cheap records for it.

I would happily spend weeks going through vinyl. Something to get back too now I am in my fifties

 

I worked for Rob Smith for several years I to used to sort the stock upstairs  found numerous big sounds first ever copy of rodd Keith "the Lord said ' 5 copies gwen Davis Jackie beavers on revilot, dream merchants on Renee, Maurice Jackson on weiss, numerous other sounds. 

I've gone through literally millions of 45s in my many years of record scrounging.  I can't really estimate the number I looked through in one day at John Anderson's, or Bob Hillyard's or Jane's House of Records, or Music Man Murray's, or Ray Avery's, or Bob May's, or Record Merchandising, or Wenzel's Music Town, or Art Turco's or any others of the large warehouses or distributors.  And, I can't recall all the great records I found at each place.  I do remember finding all 4 Moniques at John Andersons, and paying only 3 quid apiece for them (including the 2 valuable ones).  I remember paying 50 cents for The Servicemen on Chartmaker.  I found hundreds of high-value Soul and R&B and Blues records over the years on days I searched through many thousands of 45s.  30 years ago, I could have recounted what I found where and when.  But now those are distant memories, seemingly from someone else's life.

I once bought an Ian Levine soul pack - playing through them was an ordeal!

I've spent many hours on many weekends going through racks of records, well worth doing if you have the time

Edited October 31, 20195 yr by Shufflin

Most I've ever gone through would be in Athens last year, for anyone who hasn't been there's a market and a street full of second hand but mostly junk shops, 99%of the records in piles with no sleeves I would guess ex juke box, hope was fed by finding several import red and black atlantics , a couple of Joe Tex on I think Greek Mercury all in shocking condition, a decent Greek release of Groovin with Mr Bloe which I regret not paying three euros for no other reason than the label  but you know what it's like there might just be that hidden nugget so waded through piles and piles of dusty unloved 45's.  We went in one second hand shop of the tourist trail , three Paul Anka ep's , couldn't work out the titles so left 'em, came on here on our return to see a post mentioning a Paul Anka track only available on a foreign ep, think it was Spanish, didn't go with any expectation of finding any records at all and was pleasantly surprised though ultimately disappointed.  

Back in the 70s I went through a second hand shop in Altrincham they must have had around 10,000 singles in a back room and I went through the lot.

In those days I used to make my living selling records and I was looking for anything of any genre that I could make a profit on, having been in there for at least a couple of hours I had found nothing, then in the last row of the last box I turned up an unplayed UK CBS red and white demo of Lynne Randell - Ciao Baby

B**llocks !!! ……... why could it not have been "Stranger In My Arms" I threw it down on top of the box in disgust, my frustration soon turned into joy when it flipped and landed B side up. I wasn't aware at the time that "Stranger" was in fact the B side. I cant remember how much I payed for it but it wouldn't have  exceeded 50 pence and the profit I made from the ensuing sale certainly made up for the amount of time I'd spent rummaging.

On 29/10/2019 at 17:50, LiamGP said:

I was reminded of me and a mate playing our way through a box of 200 US blind buy singles in the 80s and getting more and more frustrated as we listened to endless C&W, bubblegum pop and just crap generally and finding nothing! Anyone spent several valuable hours of their lives doing the same? I bet you have - but any gems ever surfaced? 

Once spent 5 days going through about 90.000 singles in Pennsylvania, I looked like a chimney sweep at the end of every day 😂

Got 3 copies Trends, 2 copies Cavaliers, 2 Willie Kendrick, some Okeh stuff, demo Younghearts and about 30 others singles. About 20 years ago. A long story but basically the seller told me that they once belonged to a person who replaced records on juke boxes and instead chucking them out (or whatever he was supposed to do) he kept them, then died.

 

Couple of old digs,  come to mind. First would be Vinyl exchange, Camden town around 1987. The basement was full of singles, in the region of 10k most without sleeves, many 10-50p. Loads of Motown, tune up british x2, one way out British, nothing to good good for my baby,  British, ECT. Bought loads of imports blind lots of c and w, a couple of bits that later turned out to be interesting. Good education for me.

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