It's amazing what happens when you put your interests out into the universe and make it known what you want (Lana Del Rey)

Three Hollies' albums came to live at Maple Grove this week

Wie geht's?

Yes. This post IS about records, but it's also about so much more!

I love sorting through my uniquely compiled record collection. It's a truly unique collection - no one else on the planet has exactly the same combination of records that I do.

If it's not a record I bought brand new, I often wonder about a record's provenance as I'm gazing at the cover. I know where I bought each one and when. But the origin story and the previous owners of the record are unknown to me, a mystery - even if they've made a dick move by adding their name to the cover (an absolute no no).

Having just come back from New Plymouth and an obligatory visit to Vinyl Countdown, I have been wondering about a trio of Hollies' albums I picked up cheaply. All are NZ presses and in truly mint condition. One dates from 1965, another 1969 and the third from 1979.

The covers are in excellent condition - no names or marks on them. 

Someone, or a succession of people, looked after these records really well for a long time and didn't play them much. Curious! Certainly, they never took them to parties or loaned them out. 

This is rare - I have picked up a number of Hollies' albums second hand over the years and none of them are in this pristine condition.

Eventually the three turned up at Vinyl Countdown where they sat for some time before the management reduced them in price to shift them. Then I came along.

I like to think one person owned them and loved them and kept them safe. Some people are like that - they care. 

To whom it may concern: Thank you for taking great care of them and passing them on to Vinyl Countdown in such great condition. I have given them a new home in my unique collection. They will be played, but I will also take great care of them while they are in my possession. Until they eventually head off into pastures new, that is.

Love and peace - Wozza

Reflections of the way life used to be (The Supremes)

Wie geht's?

Me? Box of fluffy ducks.

While the LOML has been engaged in horse activities with her friend during the last few days in Hawke's Bay, I have been revisiting some old record shop haunts. 

Napier is well stocked with a quality record shop in Just For The Record. When I went to visit, they had moved location, but I tracked them down, and was very happy I did.

They had a copy of an album that I owned in 1969 but stupidly sold at some point along the way. Not only that but it (The Hollies' Reflection) only cost me $15 and was in mint condition (unlike the average copy I'd seen last week in a Hastings' shop for $50).

So, I can warmly recommend Just For The Record.

The actual album is a weird one: it comes from 1965 and didn't have any hits on it, and then was re-released in a stereo version in 1969. Which was when I came across it as an impressionable 12 year old. It entered my world because it was on a budget label and I was keen on the pop sounds of the Hollies.

It's so good to have an old friend back in the collection.

Love and peace - The Wozz