YOT BDTW Blue

A couple of years ago it dawned on me that I would NEVER own this thing. I've wanted one of these for pretty much ever, but just never been prepared to pay the required price. And quite literally every time I started to prepare myself to spend the kind of money necessary to get one, the price would rise. It just felt like the price would continue to climb for the rest of eternity and the amount of money I had laying about would never be enough.

However, thanks to a friend who was crazy enough to have two copies of this, and understanding enough to let me pay in two installments, I've finally crossed off one of my biggest and most long standing wants from my list.

The first time I was offered one was from some dude who used to run the Art Monk Construction record label. This was circa 1996, in the early days of email. I can't remember where he got my email address from, but the dude emailed me and said that he wanted to sell his blue YOT BDTW and he was looking for $90. I said no instantly. The thought of someone paying $90 for anything back then was too much to take. To put it in perspective, a year prior I had paid circa $30 for a Chain Of Strength 7" test press. So saying no was an easy decision. Obviously though, with hindsight, I have regretted that decision many times over in the years since. Several years later (circa 2004) I remember seeing one sell on eBay for like $400, and my mind was blown. How could anyone spend that much money on a record? I'd never known anything like it. Crazy. A couple of years the price had gone over the $500 mark. And then a couple of years after that the market price seemed to be $750. Then, wouldn't you know it, they started selling for over $800 on the bay. It seemed like it would never end. I started to imagine myself in twenty years wishing I had paid $1,000 for one because, at this rate, the price in 2030 would be ten grand.

Fortunately, in early 2011 all of the planets fell into alignment and my time came. But I wonder what the me of 1996 would have said if I could go back & tell him that saying no to Eric Astor's apparently stupid $90 offer would cost fifteen years of waiting? Ha!

Anyway, this is without doubt one of the best looking & distinctive colours of vinyl I have ever seen. OK, it's clear blue which is itself not a rarely seen colour, but it's a distinct shade. It changes in the light and can range from a deep to a very pale blue. Beautiful.