This year’s carboot season well and truly slipped my mind. Driving to work on Firday I suddenly noticed the sign for the last bootsale of the year. Aye carumba! As I rocked up late in the closing hour, just as everyone was packing away I though how this was an apt metaphor for my carboot attitude this year.
Idiot record collectors may scoff at the idea of hunting at these events, but really they can be gold mines. When speaking face to face you can strike deals and haggle to increase the value for money factor. Not to mention the joys of wandering around with a nice cold can of DC in the summer sun, trying to figure out how on earth anyone in their right mind hopes to sell an old TV remote for a set that’s probably older than you are.
If you’re after a mint condition first pressing Beatles LP for under a fiver, you’re probably going to be out of luck at a carboot sale, but if you fancy bulking out your collection with good quality mainstream staples at a reasonable cost, it really is the place to go. Charity shops generally have a good selection, but with vastly inflated prices. This is of course fair; I’d never begrudge the starving children of Africa or little Johnny getting a nice bed in a hospice. Online, prices have become staggeringly expensive and artificially inflated way beyond the actual value of items.
Today’s purchase is a good example. I paid 50p for what would be classed as a sleeve G to VG, media VG to VG+. On discogs you’d be looking to pay around £2.50 for a similarly classed item, ignoring of course postage and packing. If I was a capitalist, I’d surely sell this one on and make a tidy profit. Thankfully I’m not.
I’m slightly reticent to blog about the KLF, the masterminds behind this track. With such a rich and interesting history behind them, and the countless essays already written about them, a few words scratched in haste in the afternoon sun can hardly penetrate the depth of such an infamous and influential act. So, let’s just keep things brief. While many of my generation, and especially those of the current generation, may dismiss the KLF as flagrant commercial pirates, pillaging the charts for all they are worth, you really cannot deny they played the system with aplomb and always kept one step ahead of the game.
For my money, they turned a mirror at the burgeoning celebrity pop chart world of the 1980s, analysing what they were presented with and extracting any utility laden elements and using it to their own ends. Yet, at the same time they weren’t swallowed by pop culture maschine. They managed to retained an esoteric element of charm and distinction, and struck at the heart of the culture while remaining somewhat on the fringes. They had a post-modern irony to them, that what they were doing was blatantly uncool, but because they recognised that fact and had constructed another layer of identity around this fact they suddenly became incredibly cool. Of course, this was in a way that if you actually acknowledged this cool, it would instantly become uncool. Whoops, I guess they’re uncool again now. Then again, it’s been years, I’m sure they won’t mind me rumbling them this late in the game.
Idiot record collectors may scoff at the idea of hunting at these events, but really they can be gold mines. When speaking face to face you can strike deals and haggle to increase the value for money factor. Not to mention the joys of wandering around with a nice cold can of DC in the summer sun, trying to figure out how on earth anyone in their right mind hopes to sell an old TV remote for a set that’s probably older than you are.
If you’re after a mint condition first pressing Beatles LP for under a fiver, you’re probably going to be out of luck at a carboot sale, but if you fancy bulking out your collection with good quality mainstream staples at a reasonable cost, it really is the place to go. Charity shops generally have a good selection, but with vastly inflated prices. This is of course fair; I’d never begrudge the starving children of Africa or little Johnny getting a nice bed in a hospice. Online, prices have become staggeringly expensive and artificially inflated way beyond the actual value of items.
Today’s purchase is a good example. I paid 50p for what would be classed as a sleeve G to VG, media VG to VG+. On discogs you’d be looking to pay around £2.50 for a similarly classed item, ignoring of course postage and packing. If I was a capitalist, I’d surely sell this one on and make a tidy profit. Thankfully I’m not.
I’m slightly reticent to blog about the KLF, the masterminds behind this track. With such a rich and interesting history behind them, and the countless essays already written about them, a few words scratched in haste in the afternoon sun can hardly penetrate the depth of such an infamous and influential act. So, let’s just keep things brief. While many of my generation, and especially those of the current generation, may dismiss the KLF as flagrant commercial pirates, pillaging the charts for all they are worth, you really cannot deny they played the system with aplomb and always kept one step ahead of the game.
For my money, they turned a mirror at the burgeoning celebrity pop chart world of the 1980s, analysing what they were presented with and extracting any utility laden elements and using it to their own ends. Yet, at the same time they weren’t swallowed by pop culture maschine. They managed to retained an esoteric element of charm and distinction, and struck at the heart of the culture while remaining somewhat on the fringes. They had a post-modern irony to them, that what they were doing was blatantly uncool, but because they recognised that fact and had constructed another layer of identity around this fact they suddenly became incredibly cool. Of course, this was in a way that if you actually acknowledged this cool, it would instantly become uncool. Whoops, I guess they’re uncool again now. Then again, it’s been years, I’m sure they won’t mind me rumbling them this late in the game.
The Timelords – Doctorin’ The Tardis (Minimal)
[KLF Communications : KLF 003T]
(1988)
Tetsworth Carboot Sale: £0.50
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