There is a subset of collectors that every record company wants to hook — completists. In the ‘90s, they got me.
Completist: (noun) a person who attempts to complete a collection or set, especially a collector who wants to collect an example of every item in a particular field: This recording is a must for obsessive Sinatra completists. I’d only recommend this movie to Hepburn completists.
If I were to use the language of addiction, I would say that I’m a casual completist. I’m not scouring eBay for every release, import and bootleg I can get my hands on, but sometimes something sticks with me in addition to the great music — packaging, design or some other unique thing. Fortunately, this trait doesn’t rear it’s head often, but when it does, I can get a bit of a one-track mind. I become aware of 4AD records and their beautifully designed sleeves. I see the cool packaging that came with Elastica 7" singles and cassettes from Deceptive Records, and I saw the brilliant cases that housed Garbage 7" singles in Europe. Suddenly, I had to have the full set. I set alarms to win auctions at four in the morning and staked out local record stores on release days. The ones that I completed:
Garbage debut album 7" singles:
Subhuman/#1 Crush — in a rubber sleeve with embossed Garbage logo
Vow — metal sleeve with Garbage logo
Queer — hard plastic sleeve with logo
Only Happy When It Rains — Metallic looking sleeve with die-cut logo
Stupid Girl — Blue and Red knit cloth sleeves with logo
Milk — Cardboard sleeve with 3-D logo in middle
Deceptive records Elastica 7" singles in brown sleeves with portraits of band members on the labels (Connection, Waking Up, Vaseline & Stutter)
PJ Harvey 7" singles from “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea”
(Good Fortune, This Is Love, A Place Called Home)
I have a giant task ahead of me — lots more records to get back — but completing these mini collections will give me a bit of satisfaction the second time I get them.
