My [Formerly Owned] Dejay SP-20 Record Player

This was a portable turntable I bought when I started collecting records. The video below shows me demonstrating the turntable shortly before I donated it to a thrift store because I needed space for my Newcomb record player.

Happy National Vinyl Record Day 2011

I managed to get out of the house today and hit my local thrift store to celebrate National Vinyl Record Day. I found some great records- at least, in my opinion.

An 8 RPM Record

This is an 8 rpm record, it was released by the Library of Congress for the blind. You don't see these types of records very often at thrift stores in my neck of the woods these days. The featured video happens to be one of my more popular YouTube channel uploads.

Gilmar Record 243- Eight Fake Hits On A 45 RPM EP Translucent Red Vinyl!

This is one of the dozens of Gilmar Records releases I have in my collection. However, this is my only color pressing from this record label! Click to watch on YouTube and read the history of this label, at least as much as I know now. Please note that the information I have compiled was hard to find. I am lucky that Google Books and Scholar was able help me where general Google searches did not! One of the most helpful resources uncovered (at least to me) was learning that Billboard magazine is a great resource to learn about what was going on in the music industry in years past from the perspectives of experts in the field at a given point in time. 

Side A- see label image for track listings

Side B- see label image for track listings

Promenade records- A "Sound-Alike" Recording Of "I Shot Mr. Lee"

The song "Mr. Lee" was a major hit, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B charts for 4 weeks. Later, after the Bobbettes failed to produce a hit after "Mr. Lee," they wrote the song (which is very similar) "I Shot Mr. Lee," which was then recorded and reached #56 on the charts. The real mystery is this record label only covered top-40 hits, which is odd considering that this song only peaked at #56, making this only a minor hit. The most likely theory is sometimes these labels covered songs beginning to show up on the charts that the label thought would become major top-40 hits by the time the record it was slated to appear on was pressed and distributed. 

My Newcomb EDT-30 M 4-Speed Portable

Last Saturday, I found this record player at one of my local thrift stores! However, the speaker cut out a day after I got it, so I put on the headphones to see if the amp still worked. Otherwise, the turntable is in perfect order, but the speaker stops working!

Update: 8-6-11 I just had it looked at; however, the speaker needs to be replaced; on the flip side, I have found a cord that allows me to plug it straight into my stereo system!

Update 2021: I had to get rid of this record player in late fall 2014, I miss this record player, but I have since obtained a similar Califone with a variable speed adjustment feature.