Where do I begin with this project and what type of detective skills are required? (A mix of Liam Neeson from Taken, Debra Morgan from Dexter and Calvin & Hobbes’ Tracer Bullet would be cool, right?) Of the millions of records produced, how am I going to find the exact ones I purchased at Car City Records, Repeat The Beat or Off The Record? Fortunately I’ve only used three email addresses in the last 20 years, so my first step is to go through my email archives to find any correspondence with buyers. After that, I’ll be leaning on whatever help I can get from eBay, Discogs and the internet.
My goal is to give each record on the list below its own writeup. Wouldn’t you care more about my copy of Siamese Dream if I told you how the signature involved Nick Cave a group of Tibetan monks, George Clinton and Kelly Deal’s lips?
If you’re curious about the entire list, the records I’m seeking are below — all autographed, all original issues:
Smashing Pumpkins — Siamese Dream
Smashing Pumpkins — Gish
Smashing Pumpkins — Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness (Reaquired)
Smashing Pumpkins — Siamese Singles Box Set
Siouxsie & The Banshees — The Rapture
Jane’s Addiction — Ritual De Lo Habitual
Liz Phair — Exile In Guyville (Reaquired)
Liz Phair — Whip Smart
Liz Phair — Carnivore 7"
Lush — Single Girl 7" (Reaquired)
Lush — Lovelife LP
Lush — Hypocrite
Lush — Split
Lush — Spooky
PJ Harvey — 50 Ft. Queenie 12"
PJ Harvey — Four Track Demos
PJ Harvey — To Bring You My Love
PJ Harvey — Dry
PJ Harvey — A Place Called Home 7"
Veruca Salt — American Thighs LP (Reaquired)
Veruca Salt — Seether 7" (Reaquired)
Foo Fighters — Foo Fighters LP
Culture Club — Colour By Numbers
Garbage — Subhuman 7"
Garbage — Vow 7"
Garbage — Queer 7"
Garbage — Stupid Girl 7"
Garbage — Only Happy When It Rains 7"
Garbage — Milk 7"
Garbage — Garbage LP 7" Box Set
Oasis — Definitely Maybe LP
Oasis — What’s The Story….? LP
Oasis — What’s The Story….? 12" Single
Oasis — Roll With It 12"
Oasis — Don’t Look Back In Anger 12"
Oasis — D’You Know What I Mean 12" (Reaquired)
Oasis — Be Here Now 12"
Pearl Jam — Vs
Elastica — Elastica LP
Elastica — Connection 7"
Elastica — Waking Up 7" (Reaquired)
Elastica — Waking Up 12"
Elastica — Vaseline 7"
Elastica — Stutter 7"
Elastica — Mad Dog w/ Connection 7"
Belly — King LP
Bjork — Debut LP
Beastie Boys — Ill Communication
David Bowie — Let’s Dance LP
Bush — Sixteen Stone LP
Sex Pistols — Never Mind The Bollocks
Erasure — The Innocents
The Go-Go’s- Beauty and the Beat
Billy Idol — To Be A Lover 12"
Primus — Frizzle Fry
Sarah McLachlan — Vox 12"
No Doubt — Tragic Kingdom
Live — Throwing Copper
Michael Jackson — Thriller
Sting — The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
Lush — Split LP
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion LP
Throwing Muses — University
Led Zeppelin IV — (Signed by John Paul Jones)
Huey Lewis & The News — Sports
Stone Temple Pilots — Purple
Lenny Kravitz — Circus 7" Box Set
The Cranberries — Dreams 7"
Luscious Jackson — Natural Ingredients
Hole — Miss World 7"
David Bowie — Changes
Erasure — Who Needs Love?
Cranberries — No Need To Argue
Afghan Whigs — Gentlemen
Beastie Boys — Check Your Head
Fugees — The Score LP
J. Geils Band — Freeze Frame
INXS — The Swing
Erasure — Wild 12"
Superchunk — On The Mouth 12"
k.d. lang — All You Can Eat
Earth, Wind & Fire — Greatest Hits 12"
Elvis Costello — Man Out Of Time 12"
Go-Go’s — Vacation
Bettie Serveert — Crutches 10"
Duran Duran — The Reflex 7"
Meat Loaf — Bat Out Of Hell
Siouxsie & The Banshees — Cities In Dust
Van Halen — OU812
Rod Stewart — Blondes Have More Fun
David Bowie — Never Let Me Down
Blur — Leisure
Love & Rockets — Ball of Confusion 12"
Blondie — Eat to the Beat 12"
The Police — Zenyatta Mondatta
