Record Buying Tips

Do you own a copy of Buckingham Nicks? It was Stevi Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham's pre-Fleetwood Mac pairing featuring an icky cover both probably regret. Issued on Polydor in 1973 it's credits show that the duo and producer/engineer Keith Olsen knew what they were doing!

The production and player credits are star studded: Jim Keltner and Ron (Ronnie) Tutt on drums, Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, among them. The album was recorded at famed Sound City. Not bad for a debut. But it flopped, probably in great part because Polydor America at that time didn't know what it was doing in the rock world. In fact to this day it's not been released on CD.

At one time used copies went for big bucks and today clean originals (STERLING stamp, MR [Monarch] pressing plant) go for around $50.

For some reason I never bought the record, probably in part because of the icky cover. By the time curiosity set in, the price was more than I wanted to pay.

Last year I found this copy at a used record store for a few bucks. The reason? Well, look at that scratch! But I figured for a few bucks at least I could check out the music and if I liked it enough, I'd drop a few more dollars for a clean copy.

Not only does that scratch look bad, it feels bad too! Run a finger over the scratch and you can feel the destruction. But incredibly, after cleaning, the surfaces were quiet and it turned out that the scratch, though nasty looking and feeling, was so close to the groove surface that the stylus rides well below and you do not hear anything! At least with a modern "severe" profile stylus that gets all the way into the grooves.

The lesson here is, if it's a record you're interested in and it's cheap enough and not completely chewed up, for a buck or three, take a chance! I'm glad I did.

And when it comes to mono records, take a chance even if the record looks chewed up and stepped on by a golf pro! I was at a church sale and found a copy of Philles Records Presents Today's Hits (PHLP 4004). Only 3 copies appear on popsike.com, priced at $40, $81 and for one in shrink wrap $200! I paid $1.00.

Played with a mono cartridge, this record sounds incredible!. It sounds nothing like it looks.