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Ever since the beginning of summer, and
especially since about the first of August, 1
have been consciously trying to replace some
ot my previously-voluminous record collec
tion. (It was stolen awhile ago, but 1 won’t
get into the how and whyiore ot that here,
except to say that the guy who did it is dead,
and therefore unprosecutahle.)
lust this past weekend, 1 was in Atlanta
from about 8 p.m. Thursday until 10 p.m. or
so on Tuesday In that period of time, 1 only
managed to visit one thrift store — a placed
didn’t know about beforehand: my friend Rob
Martin had pointed it out to me in our trav
el' about the city Thursday night. “This is a
killer store,” he informed me. He was right.
kelly Hogan, the .Atlanta-based singer
who lu> a new CD ot her own out, in addi
tion to her work in The Rock-A-Teens and
at least two other bands) i' an old friend and
once-in-a-blue-moon limiting partner. 1
called her to see n she would or could accom
pany me, but she had other plans. “Maybe if
you think of me while you’re looking and
know how 1 wish 1 could be there with you,
you’ll find better stuff than it vou don’t," she
cooed into the phone. "That always works
with me. 1 guess it’s like a :en thing.” 1 prom
ised her that I would.
Turns out they were having a book sale at
the place, which is The St. Benedict Society
Thrift Store at 7)3 Monroe Drive, N'E (A
church charity, they have another store at 667
S. Atlanta St. in Roswell that sells only
clothes. The Monroe Drive store also has
books, records, furniture, and even had a
couple ot working 8-track players.) 1 arrived
right after lunch, which
was around
By the time ! was fin
ished looking through
everything, it was after
4 r-nt.
In that time, 1 man
aged to score two siz
able boxes ot books plus
a generous sack ot LP
records for 532.1 ought
to be able to realize at
least 5150 in trade out
ot what 1 found; there
were some truly amaz
ing items. (Thanks,
Kelly!) Unfortunately,
there were no 45 records in residence at the
time of my visit, or 1 would have gladly
glommed them up.
Apparently Kelly's zen presence lasted
longer than just that afternoon. Although 1
was only able to visit that one thrift store in
Atlanta, 1 did manage to get by several other
familiar and not-so-familiar haunts of mine
in the city. In one of the latter, a used book
and record store, the owner, a longtime friend,
pulled a box out from under a counter. I
bought these 45s in a big deal that included a
skiilion albums,” he confided. “1 haven t even
looked through them, although they were just
like this when they came in — not a one of
them has a sleeve and they re probably beat
to pieces. You can have the entire box for 55
if you won’t look at them until you get home.
If they end up all being unplayable junk, bring
them back, and I'll give you your money back
in credit. Just don’t tell anyone where you got
them, or every Tom, Dick, and Harriet will
be coming by trying to get an Ort deal, he
cautioned. How could I lose?
Imagine my surprise when 1 got home and
finally managed to
bring them in and
spread them out on
the den floor at 1:25
a.m. this morning.
Virtually halt of die
373 pieces in the box
were classic 1960 s
soul: Aretha Franklin,
The Temptations, The
Supremes, Mary
Wells, Joe Tex, Wilson
Pickett, Otis Redding,
Martha The
Vandellas — what a
It's true that
were well-used,
but overall they look pretty good — deep
scratches appear only on a couple ot discs.
More importantly, virtually everything in
the box was something that 1 had not yet
managed to locate on an original 45! Of the
373-piece total, 1 counted 123 that I really
wanted and had not found except on perhaps
an LP and roughly 150 more that I will gladly
keep. About 50 are items that 1 am not sure
whether 1 want to keep or not; the remaining
50 are either things I know I do not want or
else are in too bad a condition for me to want.
Nearly all of that last group are from 1983
or later; how they could have gotten so
mangled in only a decade or so is beyond me.
Perhaps they have lived hard lives and need
to go visit the Potter’s House, which also
serves as a record rehabilitation center,
whether anyone knows that aspect of their
service or not.
There were quite a few records in the col
lection that 1 thought 1 would never see again:
"Don't Be A Drop-Out" by James Brown,
“Harlem Shuffle” by Bob & Earl, “Finger
Poppin’ Tune" and "The Twist” by Hank
Ballard And The Midnighters, “My Guy" by
Mary Wells, “My Girl" by The Temptations,
"Papa Was Too” by Joe Tex, “The Walk” by
Jimmy McGracklin, and “Everybody Plays The
Fool” by The Main Ingredient are nine that
come immediately to mind.
There were enough goodies in that one box
alone for me to go back on the radio and run
an entire month’s worth ol shows. (In one ot
my past incarnations, 1 hosted Ort's Oldies
Radio Problc.n on WUOG from the station's
inception in 1972 until 1 retired in 1981.) And
1 just might! (At least you could change the
station if you didn't want to hear me, you
know.)
So, Kelly, thank you tor being there, in spite
of the fact that you were not. I will see to it
that you get this column; it gives you credit
where such is due, if you think of it in that way.
Now 1 gotta go home and sort out and file
away those 373 records. In a subsequent col
umn, I’ll tell you about one or more ot the
people who got me started in my interests in
music, radio and record collecting — just not
tonight. Wish me being kept in spins and
needles, folks. 30.)
© 1996 William Orten Carlton.
in one of my past
incarnations, I
hosted Ort's Oldies
Radio Problem on
WUOG from the
station's inception
in 1972 until I
retired in 1981.
arrakech
£xpres$
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