A bronze statue of Bon Scott was unveiled in Fremantle, Western Australia in October 2008.
I decided to pull the trigger on one of my prized record collector items: the original press of The Misfits first single, Cough/Cool on Blank Records. This record was pressed and released in 1977 by the band itself in edition of 500. It doesn't have the same sound and feel as the subsequent material The Misfits are known for but it's still way cool. Why would I sell such a thing? Well, the simple fact is that it goes for so much money I just couldn't sit on it any longer. I got it close to 20 years ago when the KBD craze was in its infancy and many of the people who are buying this stuff now were still in diapers. I believe it went for about $100 then and I got it for next to nothing from a Jazz dealer who looked down his nose at such uncouth little items.
My auction yielded $1,976, so I did well on my investment. Maybe it will increase in value in the future but then again, maybe it won't. I know I lose several inches of record collector penis by parting with this 45 but I'm adding several inches to my guitar penis, as the proceeds will more than cover the cost of the Gibson SG '61 Reissue that I recently purchased. So, there you have it. Fully justified. My pre-posting reserach showed, as many know, that this record has been booted innumerable times. Some say that Glen Danzig was responsible for some of the boots but one of my informants, who actually knows & played with Danzig, assured me that was not the case. I was told by one person to sell immediately because Danzig was sitting on a bunch of these and could flood the market with them at any time, thus deflating the market price it currently commanded. I'm not so cynical or conspiracy-minded to believe that but who really knows what the future or Glen Danza holds.
I guess this blog posting is my memorial to this fine slab of wax. I will miss having it. There is no doubt about that. But I'm still left with just about every other damned Misfits single and LP, as well as the thousands of other singles and LP's that are warping the floor in my apartment. Maybe there's a quality over quantity argument to be made. I have so much great music and there's only so much time in a day, week, month, etc., to dedicate to listening. How will I ever get to it all? Now that I have a spiffy new guitar for inspiration, perhaps I'll spend more time making music than listening to others'. The auction drew a lot of interest, as there were over 1,300 different viewers and about 150 watchers. There were 7 or 8 bidders including usrname thingsdogsdo, who had a very provocative article written about him on the KBD Records website. Nice to know that I'm rubbing elbows with such legendary characters.
Obsession is a great new double LP released on Bully Records. It is a collection of first-rate hard rock and psych rarities spanning the years 1967 thru 1974 compiled by stoner rock connoisseur extroadinare, Mike Davis. This collection makes the unatainable gems that psychedelic dreams are made of accessible to mere mortals for the first time. Even if you are well-versed and equally obsessed with the compulsive world of collectible and obscure records, you will still find stuff on this release that will raise more than an eyebrow. Included in this incredible treasury are South American rock luminaries like La Barra De Chocolate and Los Chickichaka; Tropicalia rarities from Quarteto Nova Era, Flavio Kurt and Suely e Os Kantikus; and Turkish legends Arif Sag & Erkin Koray, to name just a few. The centerpiece of this project, Obsession, by India's most popular rock band, Atomic Forest, is alone worth the price of admission into this mystical foray around the globe. Each track is a total monster and will have you wondering how the hell you made it this far in life without ever hearing this stuff before. There's a mighty 15 tracks in all. Both the deluxe gatefold LP and CD contain liner notes providing a brief bio and a few words about each selection. If you like your rock-n-roll guitar nice-n-fuzzy with extra wah, then this, my friend, is for you. Contact Academy Records directly to obtain a copy of this killer before they're gone. You won't regret it.
Here are the tracks:
1) Atomic Forest - Intro / Obsession '77 (Inida 197?)
2) Quarteto Nova Era - De Repente (Brazil 1968)
3) Arif Sag - Osman Pelivan (Turkey 1972)
4) Sonora Casino - Astronautas A Mercurio (Peru 1972)
5) Flavio Kurt - Walderez Walderea (Brazil 1971)
6) Erkin Koray - Hor Gorme Garibi (Turkey 1972)
7) Novos Bahianos - Globo Morto (Brazil 1971)
8) Los Chikichaka - Musica Mulata (Uruguay 1973)
9) Arnaud Rodriguez - Murituri (Brazil 1972)
10) Ovni 87 - Sueno Un Camino (Uruguay 1968)
11) Suely e Os Kantikus - Esperanto (Brazil 1968)
12) Jean Paul "El Troglodita" - Everything Is Gonna Change (Peru 1972)
13) Ersen - Gonese Don Cicegim (Turkey 1974)
14) Barra De Chocolate - Ladron De Un Prisonero (Argentina 1967)
15) Atomic Forest - Obsession '77 Version 2 (India 197?)