White whales & holy grails
- never/ever
- Posts: 26478
- Joined: 27 Jun 2008, 14:21
- Location: Journeying through a burning brain
White whales & holy grails
I heard from a friend of mine who went to Japan and managed to finally trace down an album he was chasing for decades- the (execrably bad) Terry Funk disco-album!
It brought back memories of me traveling to Germany to trace down and get my hands on the original Natures Mortes -LP on 4AD, at the time one of those collector rarities.
Any of you still have a 'white elephant' to chase? What was the biggest effort you had to make to get the album you always wanted to have?
It brought back memories of me traveling to Germany to trace down and get my hands on the original Natures Mortes -LP on 4AD, at the time one of those collector rarities.
Any of you still have a 'white elephant' to chase? What was the biggest effort you had to make to get the album you always wanted to have?
Last edited by never/ever on 12 Jan 2019, 20:36, edited 1 time in total.
kath wrote:i do not wanna buy the world a fucquin gotdamn coke.
- GoogaMooga
- custodian of oldies
- Posts: 30379
- Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
- Location: Denmark
Re: White elephants?
I think you mean "holy grail"; a "white elephant" is an unwanted item, something you are stuck with that has no resale value.
white elephants: Sony and Sanyo Betamax vcr's, Pioneer Laserdisc player
holy grails: Japanese Victor CD of Van McCoy's album "Disco Baby" (containing the hit "The Hustle"), also Bonnie St. Claire - any CD with "Waikiki Man".
Zilth Pilchards eventually clued me on to a copy of "Disco Baby" for sale; with Bonnie St. Claire, it was the goup's name, who had recorded "Waikiki Man" which I fondly remembered from chldhood (pre-google search). Eventually, it appeared in a German mail order catalog, forget which. All pre-internet days.
white elephants: Sony and Sanyo Betamax vcr's, Pioneer Laserdisc player
holy grails: Japanese Victor CD of Van McCoy's album "Disco Baby" (containing the hit "The Hustle"), also Bonnie St. Claire - any CD with "Waikiki Man".
Zilth Pilchards eventually clued me on to a copy of "Disco Baby" for sale; with Bonnie St. Claire, it was the goup's name, who had recorded "Waikiki Man" which I fondly remembered from chldhood (pre-google search). Eventually, it appeared in a German mail order catalog, forget which. All pre-internet days.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck
- Snarfyguy
- Dominated by the Obscure
- Posts: 53502
- Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:04
- Location: New York
Re: White elephants?
GoogaMooga wrote:I think you mean "holy grail"; a "white elephant" is an unwanted item, something you are stuck with that has no resale value.
Maybe he means "white whale," an obsession you pursue until it destroys you.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
- never/ever
- Posts: 26478
- Joined: 27 Jun 2008, 14:21
- Location: Journeying through a burning brain
Re: White elephants?
I've always heard it called a white elephant- something rare and often obscure.
kath wrote:i do not wanna buy the world a fucquin gotdamn coke.
- ConnyOlivetti
- Probing The Sonic Heritage
- Posts: 10588
- Joined: 06 Nov 2003, 07:14
- Location: Below The North Pole
- Contact:
Re: White elephants?
Well, there is the first Faust album, on Polydor, clear vinyl
not that hard to get, but not sure I'm willing to pay....
not that hard to get, but not sure I'm willing to pay....
Charlie O. wrote:I think Coan and Googa are right.
Un enfant dans electronica!
Je suis!
- Fonz
- Posts: 4088
- Joined: 17 Feb 2014, 14:10
- Location: Nevermore
Re: White elephants?
Not a record, but a book: ‘Cyborg’, by Martin Caidin. The book that the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ was based on.
Me and a pal always wondered if it even existed, having seen it in the credits for the TV show.
I found a copy in a charity shop, after years of searching. £1.
Truly satisfying.
Me and a pal always wondered if it even existed, having seen it in the credits for the TV show.
I found a copy in a charity shop, after years of searching. £1.
Truly satisfying.
Heyyyy!
"Fonz clearly has no fucks to give. I like the cut of his Cupicidal gib."
"Fonz clearly has no fucks to give. I like the cut of his Cupicidal gib."
-
- Posts: 2340
- Joined: 05 Jul 2017, 23:05
Re: White elephants?
In the past it was a vinyl copy of Stepping Out, a live album by Joan Armatrading. Now it is a vinyl copy of Original Soundtracks Vol 1 by Passengers - you know, that U2 side project with Miss Sarajevo on it.
-
- Posts: 2340
- Joined: 05 Jul 2017, 23:05
Re: White elephants?
Fonz wrote:Not a record, but a book: ‘Cyborg’, by Martin Caidin. The book that the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ was based on.
Me and a pal always wondered if it even existed, having seen it in the credits for the TV show.
I found a copy in a charity shop, after years of searching. £1.
Truly satisfying.
I used to have a copy - read it in the 70s
- NMB
- Posts: 4775
- Joined: 22 Jun 2005, 20:46
- Location: Darkest Surrey
Re: White elephants?
never/ever wrote:I've always heard it called a white elephant- something rare and often obscure.
To me a white elephant means a prolonged but pointless exercise. So spending years searching for an album which turns out to be terrible would be a white elephant, but it’s the search that’s the elephant not the album.
turn on, tune in, nod off
- yomptepi
- BCB thumbscrew of Justice
- Posts: 36415
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 17:57
- Location: well
Re: White elephants?
White Elephant.
"a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of."
See also HS2
Sinclair C5
Any Robbie Williams record.
"a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of."
See also HS2
Sinclair C5
Any Robbie Williams record.
You don't like me...do you?
- clive gash
- wannabee enfant terrible
- Posts: 17219
- Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
- Location: down the rabbit hole
Re: White elephants?
...and Preludin.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...
...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...
...I'm producing facts here...
- never/ever
- Posts: 26478
- Joined: 27 Jun 2008, 14:21
- Location: Journeying through a burning brain
Re: White whales & holy grails
Thanks everyone, topic title duly changed!
kath wrote:i do not wanna buy the world a fucquin gotdamn coke.
- Walk In My Shadow
- Hello Laydeez
- Posts: 38731
- Joined: 23 Jul 2003, 20:02
- Location: The Good, the Bad, both ugly
- Contact:
Re: White whales & holy grails
Probably several.
The first Nancy & Lee cd for starters.
The first Nancy & Lee cd for starters.
Beneluxfunkmeisterlurvegod
- Count Machuki
- BCB Cup Champion 2013
- Posts: 39534
- Joined: 11 Jun 2005, 15:28
- Location: HAIL, ATLANTA!
Re: White whales & holy grails
Wild Wood on vinyl would be nice, too - even the recent reissue is $100+
There must be loads of others I can't think of right now.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D
- harvey k-tel
- Long Player
- Posts: 40893
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 23:20
- Location: 1220 on your AM dial
Re: White whales & holy grails
Count Machuki wrote:
Wild Wood on vinyl would be nice, too - even the recent reissue is $100+
There must be loads of others I can't think of right now.
I found a record at a yard sale this past summer that I picked up just because the cover was beautiful, all in sanskrit and just blue and white. Cool old design. When I flipped it over and saw there were a handful of tracks by 'Mohd Rafi' I scooped it up, but it's pretty much scratched to shit and unplayable.
Tempora mutatur et nos mutamur in illis
- Count Machuki
- BCB Cup Champion 2013
- Posts: 39534
- Joined: 11 Jun 2005, 15:28
- Location: HAIL, ATLANTA!
Re: White whales & holy grails
harvey k-tel wrote:Count Machuki wrote:
Wild Wood on vinyl would be nice, too - even the recent reissue is $100+
There must be loads of others I can't think of right now.
I found a record at a yard sale this past summer that I picked up just because the cover was beautiful, all in sanskrit and just blue and white. Cool old design. When I flipped it over and saw there were a handful of tracks by 'Mohd Rafi' I scooped it up, but it's pretty much scratched to shit and unplayable.
Oh, bummer. I would have done exactly as you did if it makes you feel any better.
I never, ever, ever see Indian stuff at record stores or thrifts or estate sales or anything down here. I think Indian folks must have moved to Georgia well into the CD era.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D
- GoogaMooga
- custodian of oldies
- Posts: 30379
- Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
- Location: Denmark
Re: White whales & holy grails
I find the occasional Indian CD here in thrift, but it can be months between.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck
- BARON CORNY DOG
- Diamond Geezer
- Posts: 45153
- Joined: 18 Jul 2003, 05:38
- Location: Impregnable Citadel of Technicality
Re: White whales & holy grails
There are lots of things I’d love to have but they aren’t so elusive nowadays thanks to Discogs. Want an OG Big Star Radio City? No problem. Cough up the dough.
take5_d_shorterer wrote:If John Bonham simply didn't listen to enough Tommy Johnson or Blind Willie Mctell, that's his doing.
- pcqgod
- Posts: 19971
- Joined: 11 Apr 2010, 07:23
- Location: Ohio
Re: White whales & holy grails
Still Baron wrote:There are lots of things I’d love to have but they aren’t so elusive nowadays thanks to Discogs. Want an OG Big Star Radio City? No problem. Cough up the dough.
Yeah, Ebay, Discogs, and other sites always seem the solution to otherwise unfindable music these days. Took me a long time to find the Young Fresh Fellows' "Beans and Tolerance" record, though.
Where would rock 'n' roll be without feedback?