War Justified, Hate Glorified By Patriotic Lies

Despite it now being January 2018, I've managed to go back in time to make one last post for 2017. The reason is that I just want history to show that I picked this record up in 2017. Having it sit in 2018 just wouldn't sit right with me.

This record is a limited pressing of the self-titled Ressurection 7" that came out on New Age Records back in 1991. I can't remember the story exactly (I read it somewhere once) but I think this was a pre-release edition of 50 copies made before the record was properly ready to sell. I think that this was sold at some big show (at City Gardens, NJ?). Whatever. Anyway, the point is that there were only 50 copies, they were on red vinyl, and had a limited sleeve and handwritten labels. It looks absolutely nothing like any other version of this record.

So to say that this record was a white whale for me would be understating it slightly. I first became aware of it's existence at some point in the late 90s. I think I saw it listed on someone's trade list. However, it was just words in a list of text. There were no pictures back then. So I made a mental note of it and hoped I would one day get one. But as the years rolled on, part of me forgot about it. It NEVER appeared for sale, and I never saw it on anyone else's trade list. I think it even reached the point where I wasn't even sure it really existed. I vaguely remember someone back in about 2004 on an online message board saying that they were going to interview Mike Hartsfield (of New Age Records) and asked for suggestions for questions, and I put forth 'please can you ask him if the Ressurection 7" on red vinyl actually exists?'. It was reaching mythical status and I just wanted to know.

At some point over the next couple of years I did actually see one. One appeared on eBay, but the sleeve was in such poor condition that I didn't bid. But it sold for more than I expected. Over the next few years I think I saw one or two more appear on eBay, but each time I failed to win. It started to feel like I was not destined to own this record.

In 2016 my luck changed. Some guy on instagram was selling his collection, and put a photo up of a whole bunch of 7"s. One stood out to me immediately. The limited Ressurection 7"! So I sent a message and managed to secure it. Within probably a couple of hours I had agreed a deal and paid. Job done. Or so I thought. Because fate then conspired against me... twice!

The First time, the seller posted another pic of 7"s for sale about a month later, and the Ressurection 7" was again in a pic. So I messaged him to ask why. He then told me he had sold it. I was confused. Basically, he had somehow forgotten that I had paid for it, then sold it again to someone else. And mailed it off to them. He offered me a refund immediately, but my response was quite clear - 'I don't want a refund - I want you to get the record back!'. By good fortune, he had sold it to Chris, and with Chris being such a solid dude he understood and sent the 7" on to me... although via my friend in the States.

The second fuck up was when my friend sent the Ressurection 7" on to me in a big box along with 97 other records, which subsequently got lost en route. The box never showed up and I never received the record. And of all the records in the box, the Ressurection 7" was the one that hurt the most.

Well, eventually, in December 2017, there was a happy ending to the story. I was going to a show in London and 108 were on the bill. A friend of mine had managed to arrange for Rob Fish (vocalist in 108, who used to be in Ressurection) to bring him over a limited 108 skate deck. Given that he had his email address, I asked if he could ask Rob if there was any chance that he had any spares of the limited Ressurection 7" on red vinyl. Within an hour he had sent a reply to say 'yes' which included a picture, and said to make an offer. I was gobsmacked. So I made a very generous offer, to ensure that the answer would be yes, and lo and behold I got a positive response. He then agreed to bring it to the show. When I walked into the show, he was the first person I saw, and within five minutes I had the record in my hand. The only thing left to do was to grab a souvenir photo to mark the occasion.

It turned out that Rob didn't have any spare copies at all. He had one copy. Number 1 of 50. I told him it didn't feel right for me to own it, and that by rights it should live with him. But he told me that he had never really kept stuff, and was missing lots and lots of records he had appeared on. He also told me it was cool to have it go to someone who would appreciate it so much. It's cool to own number 1, and it's a kinda cool story, but I still don't feel quite right owning this and knowing Rob doesn't have one.