The Scrounger's Report

Jul. 03, 2000

Sergeant Scrounger reporting for duty, Sir!

Well, it's been over a month since I've done one of my little
"travelogues" about my CD scrounging, so on Friday I decided
to throw caution to the wind and set out for that thriving
metropolis an hour north of here, Kankakee, Illinois.

While the pawn shops weren't the treasure trove I found
the last time I scrounged there, "Bed Smart" proved to
reveal some interesting items (gotta love a combination
cheezy furniture store - CD store; who came up with *that*
combination?).

While I didn't come home with a boatload of stuff, I certainly
picked up some unusual/not-often-found discs. A couple of
these are tough finds...

First a few singles for $1.50 each:

Junkyard - 3 Cut Sampler. 1991. Geffen Records.
No Sweat - Tear Down the Walls. 1990. London Records.
Steve Plunkett - When the Tables Turn. 1992. Quality Records.

On to the full-length disques:

7 Seconds - New Wind. 1986. Better Youth Organization (France). $1.65
   Well, this one was a failed gamble. I think it's one of
   those youth ministries things. It has the look of hard rock,
   but it's really poorly produced and horribly performed.

Coven - Blessed is the Black. 1990. Medusa Records. $6.00
   Hey, I like '80s thrash/heavy metal...

Simple Minds - Life in a Day. 1986 (1982). Virgin Records. $6.00
   I've never seen this one here in the U.S. I'm guessing
   it's their first album? Not nearly as polished as their
   later works...

Poetic Justice - Watch Your Back. 1994. Poetic Justice. $6.00
   Local band evidently. Hard rock that, had they had a 
   production budget, and appeared 5 years earlier, they
   might have "been someone." 1994 was WAY too late for this
   stuff in the U.S....

Slyce - S/T. 1990. 4pm Records. $6.00
   Who is this putz, and how in blazes did he manage to finagle
   Joe Lynn Turner doing vocals on 3 tracks? Weird...

New England - S/T. 1993 (1979). MCA Records (Japan). $6.00
   For some stupid reason, I thought that the Renaissance
   Records release was the first time this appeared on CD.
   Evidently I was wrong...

Soundtrack - Nothing in Common. 1986. Arista. $5.00
   Supposedly this is a real tough one. Potential tracks of
   interest from Richard Marx and Christopher Cross.

Myles Goodwyn - S/T. 1988. Atlantic. $5.00
   I'm assuming this is the Myles Goodwyn of April Wine
   fame. If it is, boy this is a radical departure for
   him. This is poppy stuff, and it's not even really
   all that well done. :(

WWIII - S/T. 1990. Hollywood Records. $6.00
   Produced by Mike Slamer. It's a shame that Mandy
   Lion can't sing worth a damn.

Bride - Silence is Madness. 1989. Pure Metal Records. $9.95
   I was surprised as hell to find this, in the store's
   new CD section to boot. Still sealed. Unfortunately
   its collectibility value has diminished considerably
   since its reissue early this year...

Arlen Salte - Great Big Noise. 1991. Image 7 Rocks. $5.00
   I picked this one up simply because of the label it's on.
   Christian hard rock, with female backing vocals. Not bad.

And lastly, courtesy of Roger at Wishing Well,

Greg X. Volz - Come Out Fighting. 1988. Myrrh Records. $17.00
   Maybe it's my perception, but this disc seems to kick
   the collective asses of the other 2 discs I have from
   him (Exodus, River is Rising). I never even knew about
   the Aerosmith cover (Dream On). Excellent disc!!!

All in all not a bad day. Till next time,

-Dan