Category Archives: Vinyl Finds

Chicagoland Record Collectors Show Hillside, Illinois

Record Shops, Vinyl Finds, , , , ,

My first-ever visit to the Chicagoland Record Collectors show at the Best Western in Hillside Illinois was a very pleasant surprise. To be honest, I expected something a lot smaller somehow, but there were a large number of dealers with a wide range of titles. Organizers for this show say classic rock gets a lot of attention here, but I was happy to discover a treasure trove of 80s indies and alternative (before that turned into a bad word) and a great deal of weirdness on vinyl.

My own personal scores were deliciously contradictory–I found a SEALED copy of the quite elusive Daniel Amos album Fearful Symmetry (they were the most unique and original thing about the 80s Christian New Wave movement that flourished briefly in the mid 80s) AND a copy of the Diamanda Galas album, Saint of the Pit. At the same stall–how cool is that? The GMUZIK vendor is where I found those–I liked his selections best of all. Since this record show is held every two months, you’ll have plenty of chances to visit GMUZIK–and I strongly suggest you do.

And how about the weirdness on vinyl? Well, where do I start? Feast your eyes on these babies:

This band is a class act…but the NEXT album would complete the circle. Once again I find the most wonderful dichotomies in the record bins. From panties to Jesus on the SAME TABLE.


The Chicagoland Record Collectors show has early bird hours–an insane 6:30 AM–but as it happens, there’s a damn good reason for that. Once the normal hours begin at 9AM the place is mobbed. I got all my finds by showing up for the early bird, and fortunately the Best Western Hotel (4400 Frontage Road in Hillside Illinois) where this show is held has a breakfast buffet. Good thing! Don’t take your chances with the maddening crowds after 9–show up early and get your crate digging on.

I highly recommend this show and cannot wait for the next one.

Continue reading Chicagoland Record Collectors Show Hillside, Illinois →

More Random Pics From Vinyl Road Rage 2

Record Shops, Vinyl Finds, vinyl road rage, , , , , , ,

Vinyl Road Rage has been a crazy journey but definitely fun. There are TONS of record store reviews from the road yet to come…I have stores in Allentown, Toledo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York City and elsewhere to write up yet…the final leg of the trip begins Thursday (Aug 19 2010) with Toledo, and finally the drive back to Chicago where I’ll do my very last vinyl store of Vinyl Road Rage 2 at Laurie’s Planet of Sound.

All in all, I’ve hit 22 record stores on the trip so far and there are three more left. It’s been great and I am already thinking about Vinyl Road Rage Part Three…but I’ll save THAT discussion for another day. Now, enjoy some random images from the Chicago to New York City vinyl spree:

Saucy Silvia? I cannot WAIT to hear this one. Sex is the thing that started it all, indeed! Does she mean her recording career or what?

IndieWax Records had a tiny little dog that falls in love with each and every person that walks in the door. It was cute. But I was more interested in that pile of vinyl. Does that make me heartless? Or just obsessed?

I remember Not My Son from my days in San Antonio, Texas. Carol Steele, one of the members, got me hooked up with a massive interview (as in, there were five or six guys all talking at once) with the members of Voodoo Glow Skulls during a show at Emo’s in Austin back in the 90s. Then she sort of vanished off the face of the earth and I never saw her again. Always wondered what happened to the band and I was taken down memory lane here seeing this single.

Chicago Record Stores: The Old School Records

Record Shops, Vinyl Finds, vinyl road rage, , , , ,

I have a sentimental fondness for the Chicagoland indie record store The Old School. Located at 7446 W. Madison Forest Park, The Old School Records put me back on the collector’s game in 2005 after being out for well over three years. I’ve found more than a few lovely vinyl titles here including part of the Aphex Twin Analord series, Danny Elfman’s Corpse Bride OST, and one of my favorite slabs of vinyl by The Orb, Komplott–which I like to play DJ sets with at half speed and mashup Harold Budd under.

The Old School Records does have one thing going against it–there is a large amount of vinyl on the floor and I’ve given myself plenty of grief on hands and knees crate digging here. I strongly recommend a beer after digging through those floor-based stacks–a muscle relaxant is a very good thing indeed. Ergonomically speaking, The Old School isn’t good on knees or spinal columns more than two decades old.

The Old School has a collection of old cassettes, too. I just so happen to have a cassette deck in my vehicle–the mighty Vinyl Road Rage machine christened last year as the DreadMobile, so this collection would be tempting if I didn’t already have an amusingly large number of dusty old tapes.

I’d rate this shop as a great place for new collectors to start out, especially if you’re looking for post-punk or want to fill holes in your new romantic collection. I also found a small pile of my favorite genre, weirdness on vinyl, and the soundtracks section is worth the spinal injury you’ll get–I scored the soundtrack to A Zed and Two Noughts and some other things I’ve never seen elsewhere. Nice.

Vinyl Road Rage 2 Chicago to NYC Dates and Itinerary

Events, Record Shops, Vinyl Finds, vinyl road rage, ,

Vinyl Road Rage Two gets underway on August 12. The Chicago-to-New York road trip will hit a dozen or more indie record shops along the way, starting in Indiana and winding up in Greenwich Village.

Turntabling blogged last year’s Vinyl Road Rage from Chicago to San Antonio, Texas and this year should be even wilder. If you have a suggestion for record stores we should hit along the way from Chicago to NYC, please drop a comment and let us know what we’re missing on our current list.

The itinerary looks something like this–subject to revision, addition, etc. The stops include but aren’t limited to:

Michiana Used Music & Media 4609 Grape Road  Mishawaka, IN 46545-8257 ( 574) 247-1188

Record Revolution 1828 Coventry Road Cleveland Hts, OH 44118-1692 (216) 321-7661

15801 Waterloo Rd Cleveland, OH 44110
11600 Detroit Avenue Cleveland, OH 44102-2320 (216) 221-9200
2136 Murray Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Mr. Mike’s
27 S 3rd St Harrisburg, PA 17101
808 St John St Allentown, PA 18103
239 Bleecker St New York, NY 10014
210 Thompson Street New York, NY 10012-484
218 E. 5th St. NY NY
The Thing
1001 Manhattan, Brooklyn NY
Rainbow Music
130 1st Ave. New York, NY 10009