For a long time I sat and wondered how to begin this post. When I was first struck with the idea it was because I was looking at this ‘ad’ and thought – wow, that’s crazy. I wanted to write a thing. But, here I sit, having gone through 38 or so intro’s and bodies and I can’t really begin.
It’s crazy.
Imma just start. When I moved to Worcester, ma in the early 90’s I found this terrific sort of yard-sale shop in a great old brick mill building. Was awesome, you walked below the sidewalk in, massive corridors and courtyards, and there was the shop – vast. Just, vast. Dude had everything, even mannequins he was harboring “because some bastard in New York has been hoarding them all and you can’t et them anywhere…”. He told me this after he refused me sale of one. But I cared not, pffft, I don’t want a mannequin anyway. I wanted a turntable because I just grabbed my old records from my parents house upon moving into my new place and I wanted to listen to them. Make a tape.
He had a couple turntables and I got the ‘best’ one, a Dual CS530. I left it where it sat for a while and he showed me around the vastness of his shop. We talked about all sorts of stuff and on my way out, turntable at the register, I asked him to recommend me some new music, something I might not have heard before, something ‘bass-y’, with a good groove. Fella didn’t hesitate bending down at the counter and returning with a Morphine tape. Cure for Pain. He said some stuff about Morphine…I bought the tape. It kicked/kicks ass. Boys and me saw them at Clark that one time. They were awesome. High-five, shop-guy.
I paid $35 for that turntable and I got him down from $40. Pffft, $40 was way too much for this piece of barely-acceptable turntable, long after anybody gave a shit about turntables. It served me just fine, though, and later with my Yamaha RX-595 and the KEF Q-15’s it was fine, too. Although this ‘system’ in the overall was ass. The turntable lasted in and out of storage and use over the years but was on its last leg when I started to get back into albums in ‘11/’12 and I replaced it with a significantly better turntable I got through CraigsList for $60. The same tt is ridiculous today.
It’s crazy.
In any case, that’s the story of how I bought an old raggedy Dual turntable, in Dec ‘92, for $35 that is on sale today, 29 may 21, decades later, for $191.25,. And that’s down from $225.
Inflation my well-toned-middled-aged ass. It’s crazy.
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