Road Trip! Part I (The 7"s)

A couple of weeks ago I won two 7"s from a UK seller on eBay. Nothing too exciting, just a couple of things that were going cheap. But when trying to sort out payment, the seller let slip that he had about 700 other records to sell, and asked if I had a want list I could send over. So I sent the want list. A few minutes later I got a reply to say he had about 10 things. A few emails then flew back and forth. Turns out this guy knows someone I know and used to buy a lot of stuff back in the mid 90s. I figured he must have some interesting bits in his collection, but unfortunately he didn't have a list and wasn't about to make one just for me. So I asked if I could go round to his house to look through the collection. He agreed, and we set it up for weekend. I have to admit, I was pretty excited in the preceding couple of days. I mean, its been a LONG time since I've been round to someone's house to check out (and raid) their collection. But I figured it would make a nice change to flick through a pile of records rather than look down a list of text on the computer. So when Saturday came I drove about 75 miles to a small town on the south coast of England, then spent a couple of hours going through this dude's collection. I came home with quite a lot of records, but without a big pile of money that I unfortunately had to leave behind. I'm going to cover this by making 3 separate entries in the blog, since it would be too much to detail all in one go. Today, the 7"s that I bought for myself...

First up, the two 7"s that I won on eBay. A green Down By Law 7" (since I've been listening to them again recently after a break of several years), and a boot of the Last Rights 7" (since the original is kinda expensive these days, so I figure this is a cool enough substitute for now):

Next, a 7 Seconds 7" on Positive Force records on clear, which is actually my first 7 Seconds record:

Next, the Alone In A Crowd 7" second press. I have the first press. I don't think I've ever seen this second press before. The cover is crap and made of thin paper, the labels are rubbish and the insert is whack. God knows why everything was changed for the second press. What were they thinking?

Next up, a couple of Apartment 213 split 7"s that are probably crap (I can't remember what Apartment 213 sounds like to be honest, I haven't listened to their 7" for probably ten years now):

A couple of common, easy to get pressings here from the 97 era. Nothing exciting. Just versions I don't already have of records that I do already have.

I was excited about these next two, even though they are nothing to look at... the Avail 7"s. I used to own these bu t traded them away years ago:

I was also excited about this one - the Brotherhood 7" with the red cover. I have three other versions of this one. This was the one I was missing that has proved the hardest to come by:

Also, I picked up a weird version of the second Chain Of Strength 7". This one has a photocopied sleeve and small, photocopied insert. No idea what the crack is with this one, but this marks the 8th different version I now own of this record.

A couple of Chamberlain 7"s. After not having listened to this band in ages, I span their second LP last week, inspired by the impending Burning Fight show. It reminded me that I like this band, even in the later country rock years. These 7"s are on some pseudo major label:

Next, a variation of an early Hydrahead 7" that I used to have but sold, the Corrin 7" on clear. Also pictured is the Deathwish Kids demo 7" with screened print on the back of the one sided record:

Next, a pair of Econochrist 7"s. I never listened to this band in my life before. But something made me think I should check them out about 17 years after I first heard of them:

I'm stoked to get this one back... The first Four Walls Falling 7". Again, I used to have this but traded it away ten or eleven years ago for god knows what. I thought they all had a numbered dust sleeve though, which this one lacks. Next to it is a Get Up Kids & Braid split tour 7" which I also never owned despite the fact that I used to like the Get Up Kids when this came out & that I went to see them on this tour:

These next ones I'm not stoked on, but I just thought that I should own. A pair of Gorilla Biscuits boots... although the Flex one isn't technically a boot. I've never heard either of these before. I'm not overly arsed. Just picked them up because they were cheap really.

The first Grade 7". I used to rock this band a lot back in 97-99 era, but I never owned this before.

Another one I used to own but sold or traded away - The Icemen 7". This one is on red. I used to own it on black so this is a nice upgrade. I must say, The Icemen 7" annoys me for its lack of insert. Next to it is a yellow vinyl Infest 7". This is just some reissue, but I don't fancy paying hundreds of dollars for a colour first press, so this is good enough for me.

Next, the Insted 7" on red (which I never owned before, I have gold), next to a Jazz June 7". Probably the first time Insted & The Jazz June have been seen together I imagine.

The original first press of the Life's Blood 7" on Combined Effort, which has been on my want list for ages, next to some Sheer Terror 7" with a crap cover:

A pair of Overcast 7"s that aren't particularly interesting, but I was listening to their LP a few weeks ago & I kinda like it:

I'm stoked on this next pair.. Rancor first 7" on green, but with a red cover (the green is supposed to come with a green cover). And next to it, my favourite 7"s of the haul, the Sub Zero 7" on blue. This one has been on my want list since 1996 or maybe even before, so I'm stoked to finally have it:

Next up, the most expensive 7" of the lot, the Unity 7" on Wishingwell Records. Never owned this one before. I'm slightly disappointed though that this copy doesn't have an insert. I'm not sure if its supposed to have an insert or not, but I'm assuming it is. I'd be grateful if anyone out there who has one could do me a photocopy of theirs. Get in touch. Also pictured is the original pressing of the Youth Defense League 'American Pride' 7" on blue. I only wanted this because they were on the 'NY Hardcore The Way It Is' LP. Been after it for years. I'm sure its crap though.

Finally, some 7" comps. The Rebuilding 7" with purple & grey sleeve (again, used to own it but got rid of it), and the 'Lacking Mindset' 7", which I mainly wanted because it features Unbroken.

And finally, the Super J Records double live 7". This features some Doghouse bands (Endpoint, Transcend, Majority Of One etc.) from about 1991. Its not the best comp in the world, but I picked this up because its on clear and I only have it on black:

So there you go. Not a bad haul for a Saturday afternoon eh? Coming next time, the LPs...