Here’s a screen grab from last nights Cobert Report, if you look closely you’ll see the new Cheap Trick cart in his hand and the red Panasonic Pump that he put to it’s employment and we got our first listen to the tape on a national scale. Watch the show on Hulu before it’s gone. I hope this little PR causes the tape to be sold out and Ampex dusts off their cart making equipment and we get new Capital mail order tapes again.

I went to a fun sale last Friday run by a music enthusiast with all kinds of guitars in various states of decay. Lot s of Lps and 8 tracks too it was like a mini music store from the late 70’s. I got music that the cool kids use to listen to like Deep Purple, Rare Earth, Aerosmith and Queen. I use to listen to that in the day but all the with it cliques never gave me the time of day because my hair was too short and I never had the gene for pot enjoyment, and once punk and new wave became available these long hairs keep digging The Doobie Brothers while I went through 3 Q-Are We Not Me A-We Are Devo lps and a whole group of dorky people creeped out of the woodwork and I had pals.

Michael Jacko is dead and I’ve been grooving to J5 tapes as of late and he was so much better back then before and I personally blame him for all the overplayed interchangeable modern R&B music that we can’t get rid of anymore. So I’m conflicted.

I found a bunch of non rock 60’s carts from a very Mormon yard sale. Lots of flat packs from Rat Packs (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.) with melted rollers, I’m not sure I want to open up this can of worms. The best one of the bunch was by Joey Heatherton titled The Joey Heatherton Albumn (sic). I don’t have many memories of her and wonder why a girl was named “Joey” but I do remember her being sultry and doing a commercial for the Perfect Sleeper mattress by Serta. It’s not too bad with a Beach Boys cover and the standard Someone To Watch Over Me. I see it’s been released on CD and got a laugh over it since they’re playing up the sexy angle and show her in all her topless glory on the cover. I said before I’m big on celebrity singers but I hope Rodney Dangerfield’s Rappin Rodney isn’t reissued in this fashion.

Everyone in the 8 track scene is buzzing about that Cheap Trick is releasing an 8 track of there latest album http://cheaptrick.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=10_21036&pc=CTAM64

I’m pretty excited, I know it’s a novelty but if we get behind this other mainstream artists might pick up the ball and do the same thing. Just the idea of looking at the tape and seeing a copywrite of 2009 on it makes my heart skip a beat. But this doesn’t come at a price, these babies are going for a whopping $30.00 Cheap Trick indeed! I figure they are carrying on the spirit of vintage carts and keeping it rich mans music and elitist.

Finally an 8 track find came in the form of a small box of carts for $10 for 30. I’m spoiled by cheap carts and yard sales and normally would have balked at this but I noticed at the bottom of the box was a reel to reel tape of The Beatle Abby Road in decent shape. This should net me a pretty penny on the net so the tapes became an after thought. But upon closer examination I could have done worse. Every Neil Diamond tape was there along with a bunch of Harry Nilsson tapes, ELO, and I was happy it only had one Barbara Streisand. They’re going to the collection at work since I set up an 8 track station there. I was a bit disappointed by the sales so far since now we get 20 sales a week and nothing got me on an adrenalin high. Lately it’s people who buy lots of blue décor at Walmart then next season go for the red look and dump last season so it’s all colorful garage sales of crap. I’m waiting for a hermetically sealed estate sale to camp out at.

Hit a sale and saw a small box of 8 tracks and grabbed one by Little Anthony and the guy who ran it said he had tons more in the back and made 6 trips to it and brought up 5 medium boxes full of tracks. I was ecstatic for a while until I cracked a few open and found scores of Christmas tapes, country music and easy listening. It’s like his taste and mine live in parallel universes. I even felt a little bad after he went out of his way to drag out these boxes and I walked away with 6 measly carts. Nancy Sinatra, Ozark Mt Daredevils, Minnie Riperton, Moody Blues and Jay & The Americans. I hope someone comes along and grabs the rest and makes his day but I have a feeling I’ll be seeing this huge lot at St Vincent DePaul’s thrift store for a dime each.

Sales have been majorly sucking for eBay and the junk store lately and after 8 of them I got a wine rack and one of those glass tables with a large ceramic bear holding it up that were big about 6 years ago. Come on people we’re in a recession sell your crap theirs money to made out here.

I’m back online after my puter was hit with a Trojan and turned into a giant spam machine.

I had a strange 8 track moment last weekend I was at some estate sale in the late afternoon when it was pretty much picked over and ask if they had any 8 track tapes and the woman said he thought her husband had some and lead me to a basement that was illuminated by a few small Christmas tree lights and we both searched and she went to call him and locked the door behind her. And for the next 5 mins that seemed like a lifetime I was felling like that woman in the pit on Silence of The Lambs waiting for the Gimp to get home. Finally she came over with a small stack of country tapes and at that point I didn’t care and just planned my escape once the door was pried open. I’m going to have a backup plan when I hit these.

And lightning strikes twice, I found another Umbo, this one was from a woman who bought her house a few years back and it was sitting in her laundry room, I got it for a whole $2.

I got these for $5 because the woman’s husband was in the basement and she wanted to get them out fast before he came back and changed his mind about selling them. I usually rifle through boxes for the good stuff but the clock was running. I later discovered most of them were compilations like K-tel and a few 50s blast from the past, some Kiss, ELO, Abba, a Stars on 45’s irritating tape, Wagner’s Ride of The Valkyries, by my favorite classical composer Leopold Stokowski, an Elvis soundtrack sung by Ronnie McDowell (from Dick Clark Motion Pictures). Also 2 tapes by The Monks of Weston Priory and while I look at listening to religious music a type of torture they brought to mind those Benedictine Monks that were the flavor of the month in the mid 1990’s, you think Perry Ferrell would have signed them up for Lollapalooza.

I finally went Dirty Harry on my tenants and broke into the house, put their possessions in storage and changed the locks and all I got back was a nasty letter pinned on the door threatening to sue, but I’m ready and the way they never have 2 nickels to rub together for a lawyer I figure I’ll have it rented out in a few weeks. It was kind of empowering and I’ve been on a high all week.