The Scrounger's Report

Sep. 28, 2002

The Return of the Scrounger's Report!

I thought about calling this "The Unintentional Scrounger's Report", or "The Accidental Scrounger's Report", perhaps the "The 'Just Say No' Scounger's Report", or maybe even "Minor Labels? Well It's a Minor Town! Scrounger's Report".

For just about the first time ever, I can honestly say that I didn't intend to buy CDs on Saturday. Seriously! The purpose of my 200-mile drive to Evansville, Indiana, was to pick up a pair of speakers that I bought from a guy online. I got on the road at 7:00 am, and actually had my business taken care of, picked up the speakers, and was ready to leave the Hoosier state by 11:00 am. I figured I'd be home before 3:00pm with most of the day left to putz around.

Oh, foolish mortal. It was then I made my fatal mistake. On the way out of town, I spotted a "Book and Music Exchange", and figured I had time to kill. The dark side lured me in. When all was said and done, it was 3 CD stores later, 7pm, and I still hadn't left Indiana.

From a procurement standpoint, both quantity and quality, this was quite possibly the finest trip I may have ever had. Especially if you look at things from a minor-label or regional-act standpoint. All sorts of stuff I'd never seen before. Even above and beyond the stuff I did buy, there was boatloads of hard rock and glam material to be had. If I hadn't already had so many of the discs, I could have picked up 50-75 out-of-print titles just at 2 of the stores. If you get to Evansville, you want to check out the "Book and Music Exchange". There are two of them, one on Diamond Avenue, and one on Washington Avenue, both straight shots off route 41. Both stores are gold mines for the hard rock enthusiast. The last store I hit, Coconuts, was pretty much a waste of time, with one MAJOR exception, the find of the day. More on that later.

The one problem with having a large CD collection, is that I find myself having to venture further and further afield on road trips to "get my fix". My normal stomping grounds in Central Illinois haven't yielded a "haul" in quite a while; plus I think I've found many of the regional hard rock albums from around here. A 4-hour road trip is about the limit of my endurance. It means spending 8 hours driving to and from the hunting grounds... makes for a long day. I haven't done Chicago proper or St. Louis yet; not sure if I will. I *hate* large cities, especially ones I'm unfamiliar with. Too easy to find oneself stuck in the "wrong side of town" so to speak (kinda like the time I let a buddy drive us up to Chicago to the Consumer Electronics Show at McCormick Place, and we ended up in Cabrini Green... NOT RECOMMENDED!). Plus, in my experience, music stores there have a tendency to be dominated by, shall we say, more "urban" types of music.

To me the optimum hunting grounds are blue-collar towns with populations of 25,000-250,000. Economically depressed former steel town? Them's good eatin'!! :) College towns can be good as well, depending on the college; usually heavy turnover in stores there (did I mention that Evansville is the home of Indiana State University?)

Ok, back to the task at hand. Found boatloads of stuff. Am adding cover art this time so you can see what some of the discs look like.

Some of the toughest discs I found were ones I already owned, so I picked them up to help fund my addiction :). If you want any of these, please email me. PayPal preferred, check or MO ok. Prices include shipping to both U.S. and non-U.S. addresses; discs sent without cases but securely packaged in a bubble mailer.

CDs for Sale

Bang Tango - Ain't No Jive...Live! 1992. MCA Records. Want some glam with that? $6.50

David Drew - Safety Love. 1988. MCA Records. Cutout. Is it pop? Is it AOR? Is it glam? Is it punk? It's all four... I think. $5.99

Distance - Under the One Sky. 1989. Reprise Records. Cutout Excellent high-tech AOR!! Very highly recommended. $8.99

Bounce the Ocean - S/T. 1991. Private Music. One of my absolute favorite CDs, and tough to find as well. Some might call it pop, some might call it "Hi-tech AOR". Either way the production is lush and the vocal harmonies are magnificent. Phenomenal stuff! $14.99

Treasure Seeker - A Tribute to the Past. 1998. Treasure Hunt Records (Germany). If you are a fan of Christian hard rock and heavy metal, this is a must-have! I believe the band performing is the power metal act "Seventh Avenue". It is a tribute album to classic Chistian hard rock. Covered bands include Saint, Stryper, Leviticus, Bloodgood, REZ, Jerusalem, Force 3, Bride, and Creed. Extremely tough to find. $18.99

Idle Cure - 2nd Avenue. 1990. Frontline Records. WAY out-of-print Christian AOR classic. I'm not sure if the S/T is tougher to find, or this one. Either way, you're spending some time hunting... $17.99

Marchello - Destiny. 1989. CBS Records. OOP hard rock gem. Don't let the cover art fool you, this one is top notch. Another one of my favorites. 2 black magic marker Xs in the upper right quadrant of the booklet, so we'll drop this a notch or two: $9.99

Danger Kitty - Love Rocket. 2001. Discover Card. Would you believe that this 1-track single is going for as much as $16 on Ebay?? It's a cool promo item that Discover Card sent out last year. $8.99 SOLD!

WWIII - S/T. 1990. Hollywood Records. I'll be honest, I'm NOT a fan of Mandy Lion's voice. Apparently some people think this disc is the cat's meow. Whatever. It's OOP, somebody buy it. $14.99

White Lion - Fight to Survive. 1985. Grand Slamm Records. Their toughest CD to find, and IMHO the best material they ever put out. This one is in exellent condition. $21.99 SOLD!

Joanna Dean - Misbehavin'. 1988. Polydor Records. Pretty solid female-fronted hard rock. I'm not exactly sure why, but this disc goes for $30-75 on Ebay. Is there a connection with another group that I'm missing? $39.99

and the last of the discs for sale:

Circus of Power - S/T. 1988. RCA Records. TOUGH FIND!! This is the first one I've ever found (I bought my copy on Ebay). Gritty rough bar rawk. $44.99

CDs I'm Keeping

Forced Entry - The Shore. 1995. Morning Woods Records. Filling in holes in my thrash collection...

Raymond May - Unadulterated Addiction. 1988. Elektra Records. An ultracheap gamble; not overly my thing. Sometimes pop, sometimes glammish... a bit Jagger-esque at times...different.

Forbidden - Raw Evil (Live at the Dynamo). 1989. Combat/Relativity Recods. I've always enjoyed their brand of technical thrash. This 4-track live EP is worth picking up, if for no other reason than their cover of Judas Priest's "Victim of Changes".

Krush - Welcome to Paradise. 1999. Self-released. Pretty solid hard rock straying into melodic metal at times.

Asia - Rare. 1999. Resurgence (United Kingdom). At first glance I thought this was a bootleg, but according to the official Asia site, it's a legit release. I haven't listened to it yet, but, the liner notes piqued my curiosity: "... After a decade of making music together, Downes and Payne took a well-deserved break from the road and turned an eye towards soundtrack work. The duo looked to branch out in new directions and take full advantage of the capabilities of their new recording studio in Wales. Two projects of note occupied their time. Their first non-Asia endeavor was creating the music for David Attenborough's nature film, 'Salmon: Against the Tides' an elegant and charming soundtrack, their music added majesty and a touch of class to the underwater world of Attenborough's documentary. The follow-up project, the music for a CD Rom video game, sadly never saw the light of day due to creative differences with the producers. The CD you are holding in your hands gives a glimpse of what may have been - a hard driving ASIA with a metallic edge unlike their previous efforts."

Heir Apparent - Graceful Inheritance. 1987. Black Dragon (France). Ok, so this was a "silly" purchase. I already had the Hellion Records reissue, but quite frankly, the artwork SUCKS, so I picked up this original release (plus I'm curious to hear if there are any audible differences between the two; I believe the Hellion release was supposedly remastered).

David Neil Cline - Malefic Influence. 2001. Gazochtahagen Records. I was initially going to pass this by, judging it by the cover to be some silly 70s prog act. Then I flipped it over to see a guy wailing on a flying V guitar. Ok, now you've got my attention. The production/mix is a bit suspect, but overall it's decent straight ahead hard rock/melodic metal. Could use a bit more polish and heavier use of vocal harmonies...

Ben Treschel - Balance of Power. 1991. Self-released. Another one that caught my eye via the artwork. Guy on beach holding electric guitar (we won't bother with the logical of question of where he'd be plugging it in or the potential fun of playing an electrical instrument standing in water). Very melodic hard rock, a fun listen; normal production issues from a self-released effort from that era.

Chroming Rose - Garden of Eden. 1991. Electrola (Germany). Ok, color me surprised: I didn't know Chroming Rose had been around this long. If I recall their more recent material has taken on a more progressive air, whereas this is more traditional power metal (hence more up my alley). Very good schtuff!

Bulletboys - Freakshow. 1991. Warner Brothers (France). Ok, so this was a superfluous "completists only" type of purchase. Why would I pick this up when it can be found in every bargain bin on the face of the planet? Answer: this is the first one I've ever seen that has the artist and album title on the cover. I'm guessing the European released versions did this, whereas the U.S. version just had the guy's head with no wording at all.

Carl Dixon - One. 1993. Interplanet Music (Germany). Excellent hard rock from this ex-Coney Hatch front man...

Dantallion - Eight, Skate and Donate. 1993. Self-released. Local act out of Evansville itself. Southern bar rock.

Urgent Cry - Love^3/Seraph - Silence. 1994. Big Toe Records. Seriously minor label. A 2-on-1 CD, 4 tracks from these 2 Christian hard rock acts. Urgent Cry is the better of the two, produced by "Jimmy Jamison" (methinks not the same one, but who knows, maybe the first name was mispelled...)

Doro - Fight + 1. 2002. Steamhammer/SPV (Germany). Newest effort from our teutonic hottie. Ok, but nothing spectacular. One question: who is the absolute babe to the left of Doro on the inside cover of the booklet? YOWZA!!

Brian Johnson & Geordie - Keep on Rocking! 1989. Anchor/DCC Compact Classics. Not sure when this was actually recorded; was before he joined AC/DC.

Zaxas - S/T. 1995. Noise Records. Excellent!! Christian technical power metal, very melodic and powerful stuff.

Velvet Revolution - Back in the Red. 1993. Self-released. Hi, who the hell are ya? This thing reeks small-market indie. 6-track heavier edged glam, almost too heavy to be considered "glam". Not bad...

Mother's Finest - Black Radio Won't Play This Record. 1992. Scotti Brothers. Ok, I'll admit it, I am a COMPLETE MORON! I'd never bothered to listen to a MF disc when I'd seen them in the past, simply because I just assumed they were a soul, hip-hop, r&b, or rap act. I wouldn't have listened to this one either, except for the fact that I cought that it was on Scotti Brothers Records, hardly an urban label. Well fuck me running... I've been missing out on some kick-ass stuff here. Imagine '80s Tina Turner... but a shitload heavier. Lots of crunchy guitarwork.

Intense Confession - Whispers of Fear. 1991. Rare Earth Records. Another local band from Evansville. Heavier-edged prog rock.

Shylock - S/T. 1999. Point Music. German. Very. Very. German. How does one describe this? A blend of Bonfire and Axxis (with the emphasis on the latter). It's got more of a raw feel to it, a bar rock sound. Good stuff.

Joey Tafolla - Out of the Sun. 1987. Shrapnel Records. I don't normally go after instrumental stuff, but this looked SOOOOOO vintage '80s, I simply had to. Some excellent jamming goin' on here. Tony Macalpine provides keyboards, and Paul Gilbert (Racer X) provides quite a few guitar solos. Recommended!

Thunderhead - Killing With Style. 1994. CMC International. Blistering. In-your-face hard rock with loads of attitude. Dropped this in the truck CD player as I was driving down the road, hit track 2, let my jaw drop, and said to myself "Well, I'm betting *this* song never got any air play..." Quite possibly the most blatant, raw, anti-homosexual song I've heard outside of the skinhead community. I'm guessing Thunderhead never played in San Fransisco, if ya know what I mean... if you're not offended it's actually quite a humorous song... :)

Candy Harlots - Five Wicked Ways. 1992. Virgin (Australia). Harder-edged glam with attitude. Very solid, IMHO. Cross Poison and Bon Jovi, then make it a bit heavier.

Bad Habitz - Dedicated to Thin Lizzy. 1993. Vertigo (Japan). Ok... this is different... a Thin Lizzy tribute, including Ronnie Le Tekro (TNT) on guitars. Quite good!

BSR - The Fire Under Your Feet. 1998. Sock Music. Another local band from Evansville... VERY melodic and powerful hard rock. This disc has 7 studio tracks and 4 live tracks. Why am I getting the feeling that the live music scene in Evansville just smokes???

Elixir - Lethal Potion. 1990. Sonic (United Kingdom). Features Clive Burr (Iron Maiden) on drums. I don't recognize any of the other players. Quite excellent melodic hard rock, more of a classic or perhaps NWOBHM style.

20/20 Blind - Never Far. 1994. Intersound (Canada). Whoa!! Excellent Christian melodic metal. Never heard of these guys before. At times they sound just on the cusp of that mid '90s alterna sound, but then they retreat back to the land of real music and everything's allright again. Lots of crunch.

And last, but certainly not least, a disc I've been hunting for a LONG time; I can finally ditch that damned CDR. It was the last disc I found on Saturday, and it made my day, ending the scrounge on a perfect note. Of all the places for me to find it, at Coconuts, in the metal section, with a $2.99 price tag!!!

Dalton - The Race Is On. 1987. EMI (Sweden). Absolutely ESSENTIAL Scandi AOR. A must-own that goes for unGodly sums on Ebay. I was afraid I'd have to shell out the BigBux (TM). Lady luck smiled on me bigtime!

Well, that's all for this time. A long-assed day, but majorly fruitful; one of the most satisfying trips I've had in a long, long time.

Until next time, Keep Rockin'!!

-Dan