Monday, April 26, 2010

Mail-Order


4-26-10 Mail-Order


Kind of hard to get around it these days – I have mail-ordered some CD’s recently:


ADDERLEY, CANNONBALL / MILT JACKSON – THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER, RIVERSIDE US SACD jazz

BARTOK CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA, TELARC US SACD classical

DONOVAN STORYTELLER, AUDIO FIDELITY US SACD

GENESIS TRICK OF THE TALE, VIRGIN UK SACD + NTSC DVD

GENESIS WIND & WUTHERING, VIRGIN UK SACD + NTSC DVD

MOODY BLUES EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR, THRESHOLD UK SACD

MOODY BLUES SEVENTH SOJOURN, THRESHOLD UK SACD

RAVEL DAPHNIS ET CHLOE, RCA RED US SACD classical

WHO, THE – LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL (2000), SPV DE SACDx3


Most of what I have been mail-ordering are SACD’s, due to their increasingly limited availability. The above titles came from eBay, Amazon and a place called Elusive Disc, which specializes in audiophile vinyl and CD’s. If you don’t know what the fuss ever was about SACD’s, I can only say that everything I’ve heard so far as an SACD has been re-mastered beautifully. I am not set up to play 5.1 moxes of anything, I am just listening to SACD’s in stereo – on my 70’s equipment (apart from the SACD player, ‘natch).


I once mail-ordered some very cheap stuff from a place in NYC “King Carol”, if memory serves (5 x copies of a 99 cent Mort Garson LP “The Dusk To Dawn Orchestra” on Elektra – still never on CD!) – 35+ years ago! I went through a phase of mail-ordering progressive rock LP’s towards the end of the 70’s, when European artists were tough to find stocked anyplace. I’ve mail-ordered stuff from Red Eye in Australia, a good, reputable dealer. I’ve used Fun Records in Germany (who hasn’t?). I used to run a small mail-order company, “ANZ Imports” – when nobody else was importing much from ‘down under’ (in the early 80’s). I wrote their catalogue!


The above titles arrived on my doorstep for the following reasons: Cannomball Adderley was won inexpensively on eBay, as was the Bartok SACD; Donovan and Genesis came off of Elusive Disc’s website – at sale prices (not terribly cheap, but SACD’s I’ve not seen offered elsewhere); the Moody Blues came from Amazon.com via a local company called something like “Import CD’s” – these are the 2 I just never see stocked anywhere, and both were have-able for no more than standard retail – I could’ve mail-ordered them from Amazon.co.uk, but the shipping would’ve been a lot more then. Ravel is an RCA “Living Stereo” SACD – all of which I have been greatly impressed with (never having heard much classical music). And, finally, The Who came off of eBay for a good price, a triple SACD for under $20 – and it’s ¾ of The Who!


Also recently received via mail-order:


ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND EAT A PEACH, MERCURY US SACD

BERLIOZ REQUIEM, RCA RED SEAL US SACD classical

BERLIOZ SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE, RCA RED SEAL US SACD classical

BERTIGNAC, LOUIS LONGTEMPS, POLYDOR FR SACD + DVD

HANCOCK, HERBIE V.S.O.P. (The Quintet), SONY JPN SACD jazz

PINK FLOYD MONEY, EMI US SACD Single, promo

KOTTKE, LEO 6- AND 12-STRING GUITAR, TAKOMA US SACD

STOCKHAUSEN, KARLHEINZ STIMMUNG, HARMONIA MUNDI AU SACD classical


…all from eBay…and I just read about some new (rock & jazz) SACD’s coming out in Japan! Oh, boy – the little blue light is going to be coming on!


- Ron

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having grown up in Orlando, Florida, I have Mr. Ware to thank for opening my eyes to the vistas of mail order. By the late 80s that was how I was getting the stuff I wanted most, since by that time, I had outgrown the Orlando record/disc pool. By the early 90s it was hundreds of dollars a month, but I was getting things that were absolutely unavailable otherwise. I still have released that astound me to this day.

Of course, where I live now, it's even more imperative to get the goods via mail. I run across almost nothing that I want severely. Sure, I still browse local sources. Once in a blue moon I'll find stuff at the top of my list but it's sparingly so! Sure there's some good things that turn up, but very little magic.

Last September, I bought $250 worth of hotly desired vinyl that completed many collections that had been hanging for years in a state of "almost complete." The postage on these babies amounted to a third of that dollar amount, but it was well worth the satisfaction of finally having those discs!

These days it's possible to get CDs I might want for <$1.00 in cost plus the Amazon standard of $2.98 shipping. If I were to see such discs in used stores here (not likely) they would certainly be in the $6-8 range, so even with postage, mail order is my friend!

Ron Kane said...

For sheer oddness, mail-order is imperative for collecting and finding SACD's. Even in Los Angeles, they're hard to find.

RK