People You Buy Records From
DJPrestige
1,710 Posts
as mentioned in the Stinky Steve post, people we buy records from are crazy. let's hear some stories about your regulars you buy records from.
Comments
Early 90's...Got a tip that a guy had a house filled with records in Corsicana, Texas about 40 miles South of Dallas...found the house which stood on about 10 acres and knocked on the door.....this old guy in his 70's comes to the front door, no shirt on and a trail of burns on his chest where his cigarette(s) had apparently fallen....his skin was yellowish like a guy with serious Liver disease.
We tell him that we're looking for records and he yells into his MOTHER(who KNOWS how old she was and what she looked like!!!) that he was going out to the Barn.
We follow him around back and as we walk we can't help but notice that there are about 100 trees and nailed up to every single tree is a page out of Gay Porn magazines!!! And tied to the branches of each tree are 100's of empty gallon milk containers. One of us got up enough nerve to ask him what it was all about and he said...."Oh, that's just my hobby"!! No clue what was going on with this guy but we scored about 500 cool 45's and got the fuck out.
About 3-4 years later I passed by and the house was burned down to the ground!!
ap
2 million dollars to 600 dollars...now that's persuasion.....
Julio - very kind mexican dude, dubbed "scarecrow" because of his stiff demeanor and upright position. Always has a few records I'm after.
Ake - My man at the swaps! Great friend in the vinyl struggle. I remember when I didn't know the cat and he scooped some blues from a crate beside me. I think that was the first time I made his acquaintance.
Graham and Record City - the store that gets the most action, stop sleepin' folks!
Stephen (dstill808) and M-Theory - always a pleasure to deal with! Fun stores, keep it up dudes!
Al Garth - bigups, Mr. sandiegorecordshow.com himself, always a pleasure to trade/sell/buy from.
Steve Kader - cool knowledgeable dude, always stocks great latin, jazz, soul, etc. Some of you have bought from him via the 'bay.
Matt - CD dude, has sold me a few records over time. Another swap buddy, no ayo.
Danny and his grandfather - dude always breaks me off the rock and private weirdo stuff he is not feeling anymore, props.
Storage dealers - White George, Black George, and the "Steve, Mando, Mark and crew." Sometimes difficult to deal with but they are down to work with you if they recognize you.
And props to all local record store owners and operations. Special shouts to Record City and M-theory for always being dope. Special shout to Lou's even though I never go there.
Off the Record gets the gasface for overpricing and having a mean staff!
??? I do not know. I have dealt with weirdos in La Jolla, Del Mar, and gotten mosquito bites near the lagoons. Plaese to PM. Last time you brought this up it seemed to be a more mysterious and secretive story!
Went to a garage Sale once and this older woman had about 10,000 LP's in her garage.....pulled about 700 keepers......radio station promos from '59-'65...when I got done she asked if I wanted to look at more....brought me into her family bathroom and opened up the clothes hamper which was filled with LP's....found the ultra-rare Jackie Wilson "Razzle dazzle" LP in that hamper....crazy shit.
Another time a woman who answered an ad I ran in the paper invited me over and seemed perfectly normal....let me look through her deceased husband's jazz collection which was top notch......when it came time to pay her she turned down my pretty decent offer, looked me square in the eyes and said "I want a little puppy that I can wash in the sink".....I awkwardly asked her what she meant and she repeated the same thing but in a more whiny, passive voice...it was obvious she was out of her friggin' mind....never said another coherent thing to me and took my offer on my second attempt ........ I got the hell out of there.
sounds like these guys are brothers. I forgot to mention how he always yeliing he got some soul. "got some marvin gaye over here" Banned....
"oddball" richie -- another weird but nice dude at the flea market. has a huge set-up at the flea market. i call him "oddball" because he used to always call the records i looked for as "oddball". then he started to realize the "oddball" records sold for more money than what he normally charged (a dollar or two). he's got this mustache and is kind of crazy grin on his face much of the time.
cece -- a sweet older black woman with cancer. always wears antique flapper style hats from the 20s and 30s because she likes fashion and of course--is bald because of the chemotherapy.
she is seriously the soulstrutter's dream dealer. she used to bring out hundreds of records every week. rare jazz (scored two og coltrane blue trane's off her), lots of rare funk 45s and lps, free avant/spiritual jazz records, soul records, bizarre psych records, moder soul, rare hip-hop 12"s etc.
almost always they were in really nice shape.
she is a bit strange because she would have weird quirks about her ( i think stemming from her cancer). like sometimes she would say she would be at the flea market a certain day or time and she wouldn't arrive. kind of flakey--but whatever.
another record guy there (the jerk i've mentioned before) who hates me and feels as though he is entitled to go through every record at the flea market first because he is an old dude was upset when cece would give me a stack to go through and then give her a stack to go through.
she was just trying to be fair and i'm glad she was.
anyhow--this guy started cursing me out because i didn't give him a record he wanted out of a bunch i found and cece didn't like that--he started cursing cece out and cece made him go away--saying she wouldn't deal with him again.
apparently that was one of the last times she brought out records. jerky old dude screwed a lot of things up.
there is a bunch of crazy people i've seen come and go that i would buy from. this one guy with the worst toupee EVER i scored a bunch of stuff from either died or quit setting up at the fleas.
NC DEALERS
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SPIKEL
DESCRIPTION: 50-something KISS Kollectro extraordinaire with jester hat permanently attached to his head.
QUOTE: "Make sure to come back next week. I'm bringing some stuff from the house."
ALAN THE FURNITURE GUY
DESCRIPTION: 40-something black dude in sweats selling antique furniture.
QUOTE: To anyone he knows: "Hey Million Dollar!" To me: "What's up Record Man!" Mock frowning and pleading: "Now don't tell anyone I gave you these prices, partner. I gotta make a living."
BARRY
DESCRIPTION: 50-something used book/record store owner and "sash saver" mogul
QUOTE: "You remember I'm looking for Hawaiian slack guitar records, right?" preceded by or followed by an extended anecdote or ten.
BAMBI
DESCRIPTION: 50-something grizzled antique glass dealer with a garage full of 1000s of classic rock albums
QUOTE: "In first grade we were supposed to write our name on the blackboard but I thought we were supposed to write our favorite cartoon character. They've called me that ever since."
LEW S.
DESCRIPTION: 60-something longtime NC Master of Raer Soul 45s and Keb Darge's "favorite place to dig"
QUOTE 1: "That's what makes that song good for shag dancing. (demonstrates dance step while $300+ soul 45 spins) It's that 'ease back.'"
QUOTE 2: (walking out of the record show right as you arrive) "Find anything good recently?"
MATT S.
DESCRIPTION: 50-something raer 45 dealer. Picture Bob Crane with 20 pounds added to his cheeks, constantly cell-phoning Sound Library for price checks.
QUOTE: "I create funk markets worldwide." (genesis of his internet nickname "World Funk Market Creator" or WFMC for short)
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NC DEALERS (DECEASED)
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JOHN SWAIN (RIP)
DESCRIPTION: Undisputed King of the NC Record Dealers
QUOTE: "ANHGHHHHH (swigs cough syrup straight from the bottle with a Jolt cola chaser) That's just some doo wop crap."
GENE of GENE'S RECORDS (RIP)
DESCRIPTION: Sixtysomething black member of beach music band with a tooth missing
QUOTE: "Um.. this one is three bucks." (no matter what record)
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OTHER INTERESTING EAST COAST DEALERS
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VAL SHIVELY
DESCRIPTION: The man with more 45s in his store than the rest of the entire east coast
QUOTE: "You guys want sodas?"
TIM FROM RAS (aka Coffinjoe)
DESCRIPTION: "Big Tim From Ras" with the reggae records. No hair on his head but lots on his chin.
QUOTE: "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
this one didn't happen to me, but my friend who told it to me swears it's true.....
So, guy gets a call from a woman who states "my husband died and left his record collection to me. Are you interested in coming over tonight?" Guy says sure (as we all do) and goes over at about 9pm that night. Woman opens the door and quietly ushers him in. Going through the livingroom to the entrance to the basement, guy spots a dude laying on the couch watching tv, or sleeping or something like that. Woman shows him downstairs, where he finds about 6000 records awaiting him. She goes back upstairs and guy starts to dig. Long story short version, the collection is the shit. Pulling all sorts of good titles. A short while later, he needs to go upstairs to take a piss or something like that. Finds lady and asks where the bathroom is. She guides him back through the livingroom towards the bathroom. Dude is still on the couch, when our hero notices that the dude is in the same position. THEN our hero realises that THIS is the husband, AND THAT IS HE LYING THERE DEAD ON THE COUCH. She called about the records, before she even called the ambulance. Needless to say, our hero left, but not after buying what he had, and digging for another hour and pulling some more pieces...
supposed totally true, as relayed to me from my man in Chicago.....
Jamaican Guy @ Flea Market - He basically brings records whenever he feels like it. The times he doesn't bring records he just brings large bins of 80's clothes that sell like hotcakes. The worst part is, when he HAS records they are dope, but you need to get to him the minute he takes em out or theyre gone. And if you ask him, "Hey Chris, got any records today?" he gets all pissy. "no no records today, NO RECORD! today, only clothes, clothes. all you want is records records records!!".
this fuckign guy also once sold me a polaroid sx 70 that didn't work. when i approached him he gave me shit.
>when prime talks about people getting into fights or agruements over vinyl, i'm the king. there isn't a time we go out that i don't have words with someone. i mean people think that they have raer shit, and it's junk, all scratched and shit.
Brian C, heavy psych dealer:
Last time I saw this dude, he's out of control. Like, a dealer at a record show scaring away potential customers.
Evidence:
-After a customer said a few "I have that, I got this", he started OPENLY[/b] saying as he talked to me how "I hate this guy over here, he's a fucking asshole."[/b] Literally, in louder than conversational tone as to get the guy to hear him.
-He has shown a picture of his daughter, stated how he has trained her to look for records with him, states something to the effect of "she's my world", then says "If only record holes were bigger, my life would be complete." (For you slow guys out there, he wants to have sex with his records).[/b]
-He labels Country "Cuntry" on purpose because he doesn't like the music hicks make.
-Last show, he professed his desire to start a "Cult of Hate"[/b], and that while liking hippie music, he hates his fellow man and wants to kill them all.
-In the same stream as his "Cult of Hate" discussion, he said that he hates rap and wishes all makers of rap were "in the World Trade Center when it collapsed."[/b]
Another instance I had was with "John the scumbag". John the scumbag used his daughter's savings account[/b] to buy a house for himself. That as a sidenote, meeting John The Scumbag was where the intrigue stems from.
I call this dude up for the first time, he says to meet him at this out of the way rundown apt complex near the train tracks. I'm there when he stated he'd be there. I knock on the front door, ring the doorbell, then I go around to the fire escape in the back. I go up the stairs and knock on the door. It's not a fire escape, come to find out, but a back stairwell entryway to an apt. A woman comes to the door and answers it drinking a beer (it's about 11 AM) and has nothing on but a bra and panties. BUT, fellas, don't get your hopes up. She looks like a fat dumpy Shelley Duvall with one of those bellies that looks like a "front butt." So I say, is John here? And she's like he's my neighbor, you can go knock on his door. She makes -0- effort to get dressed/decent. So while she's talking to me, she's talking on her phone. As I walk to go out of her apt into the interior hallway, I notice two things. She has a caged rabbit and TONS OF NEWSPAPERS lying around. TONS! Perhaps litter paper for the rabbit, but sheets of it are lying all around the apt. So I go knock, he's not there. Come back in, try to ask if she knows where dude is.
As she's talking to me, she's talking to this person and giving them the play by play about me.
"Yeah, I answered the door, so what?"
"Yeah, he's big, but thinner than Rich."
"Yeah, I think I could take him if I have to." (To which I laugh out loud).
So finally, John the scumbag comes up the stairwell, I say thank you to white trash Shelley Duvall, and go scoop hip hop raers of a lifetime dirt cheap and Lyn Christopher raers from him. The end.
Peace! Add on people, I always enjoy these.
T.N.
people involved: myself, the guy, woman(the guy's girlfriend), young boy (age 8 or so)
i arrive and everything is normal aside from the guy's strange conversational style of ending each phrase with my name.
everyone is seated in the living room and then guy takes me to the basement to look at the records. i spend about 2 minutes looking at water-logged bootsy lps and tell guy that i'm gonna pass on them. he says alright and leads me back upstairs.
we get to the top of the stairs and all of a sudden the girlfriend walks out completely naked. guy goes ballistic at this and kinda ushers me back down the stairs. he then locks me in the basement and proceeds to beat the shit out of the girlfriend on the other side of the door. i'm just standing on the steps like "what happens next here?". after a minute or so he reopens the door acting like it's all good and i head to the door past the child who was apparently unfazed by the proceedings.
haha
i buy from this guy often and he's always talking about how he takes care of his moms at home and he's filling up the house with records. i can just imagine a poor old lady having to navigate a record dungeon with stacks falling on her head. pet peeves: mexican dudes trying to steal his tapes
video game dude and kid at local flea market: their store is just a load of overpriced used video games but they keep a few records in the corner, sometimes has suprises. the guy plays dr. mario on nes for hours. i hilariously found silk degrees and sealed endless flight next to each other in the same box
quote: "all games are guaranteed to play" every 5 minutes
I AM SURPRISED YOU DID NOT FINISH YOUR STORY PROPERLY:
"
=
SOOO
HAH!
Kind of sad, and amazing at the same time. Kind of like a party where every one of my emotions is invited......?
i go back n forth between trading records with friends and shopping etc
but i can tell u the 3 types of shopkeepers i have to deal with
Dealer 1: lets me dig once through unpriced goldmine...proceeds to tell me how alot of said records are rare...after only finding one in the price guide, he comes at me with a flat price...surprised that i take it....he says come back anytime....he has never let me back in...maybe hes bi-polar...???cuz now hes a total prick
Dealer 2: gets the heat...always hooks me up with deals...lets me dig through unpriced basements....known him for years....still a dickhead no matter how nice i am to him
Dealer 3: not a dealer...just a person with records in their basement...puts ad in the paper...who thinks just because it is vinyl...and just because her daughter says "these are worth money"...that she should try to sell me 5 water logged basement flooded bullshit Creedence LPs for 800 bucks
crack of dawn
zorro
pencil thin
black corner
unibomber
deep six
silver pony tail man
paco
b.o.x.
5 dollar man
lumina trash
acid washed face burn
sun ra face burn
the polak
mcgyver
dorrito man
and others...
madfrog (paris oldies but goldies , oh wait I didnt buy anything there BECAUSE he was a jerk
mrparanoid a.k.a. mr-listen-to-a-record-thats-under-10-euros-wtf!
my-husband-does-the-prices