staywild23
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... and story time, because it wouldn't be a post from me if it didn't involve a whole ass narrative.
So a couple of days ago I was shopping and overspending -- all to avoid grading (a theme) -- and I did my usual pop into the big chain bookstore (which shall remain nameless) to check on the Michael Jackson content and make sure it was front and center where it belonged. This has become a habit of mine in the last year anytime I go to literally any store with a music section. Typically I will check to see if there are any MJ books (there are never any since they sold their one copy of Moonwalk in May of 2022...yes, I am a freak, no I don't care to focus on this in therapy), then I will go to the vinyl, organize it, make sure at least one is visible in front of all the other J artists (
), then I will do the same with the CDs (the organization part, not the de-alphabetizing). Usually I will move anything that is not Thriller to the front to remind the general public that albums aside from Thriller exist, and this is my service to the universe for the day. I will also visit the magazine rack and scour to see if there are any MJ-related magazine covers or features. Typically there are zero (while there are always at least 5,000 Beatles covers and at least 50 Prince covers, but I digress...). All of this only takes about 3 minutes total, don't worry.
Nevertheless, I ventured to the store and was happy to see that since the last time I was there a couple weeks ago only ONE vinyl album remained. Last time there were several copies of Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall, along with a few Jackson 5 albums. There were also only a handful of CDs left. Last time there was a huge selection of CDs, including all of his adult solo albums and several other compilations. No books, of course, because God forbid the biggest artist in history have more books than Jamie Lynn Spears. Oh well. I'm always happy to see MJ's albums are being sold in spite of the total lack of promotion. It frustrates me to go into any music store, or section in the entirety of America and see countless Beatles, Rolling Stones, Prince, Pink Floyd, hell, even Frank Zappa posters, and no MJ. Nothing against any of them, obviously. But you know. It's a trend.
All of this, of course, had me feeling driven to go to a real record store and see what I might find in the deep crevices of a dusty shelf. So I traveled to a record store a few towns away I've only visited once almost a year ago. The last time I went, I was shocked to see MJ was not categorized with pop rock, but with soul. I'm not complaining about him being categorized as a soul artist, but was very confused because of how difficult it made it to find his albums. Rather than being in main stacks and at standing level, his collection was on the bottom shelf (along with the entire soul section) in a dark, shadowy area and frankly, I just do not appreciate it. But that aside, the inventory at this entire store is amazing, so it is worth spending time there. So this time, rather than even pretending I was looking for any other artist (I wasn't) I marched in wearing my MJ t-shirt (I am such a fan girl, it is nauseating) and went straight to the dark dusty corner and sat on the floor and looked through all of the vinyl.
Some reflections:
Multiple copies of every adult solo album, minus HIStory, which I realize is the unicorn of the MJ vinyl world, but still. Multiple pictures discs (why), multiple compilations from the motown/early Jacksons days, and some Jackson 5 albums. Also, SO MANY JERMAINE JACKSON ALBUMS. Sorry, Jermaine. I didn't even look at them. But I'm happy for you. I had no idea, man. Since I own most of these already, of these LPs I ended up buying J5 Third Album and Jacksons Victory. In truth, the main reason I went to this record store is I was looking for Triumph or Destiny, but these are coveted so I didn't really expect it, plus I'll take what is available!
But then I recalled that there is a room of 45s that no one ever goes in. The last time I went I was with my husband who, God love him, is supportive as hell of the perpetual affair I am having with MJ in my deluded little head 24/7, but could not survive an hour of me thumbing through cardboard boxes of disorganized 45s. So, you know, this was my shot.
So I started with the "organized" boxes, sorting through hundreds of "Jacksons" 45s (there are a lot of artists with that last name, y'know?) and finding quite a bit, including a few you'll see pictured below. This was exciting enough for me. I was born in 1988. I am not exactly of the generation of 45s, or of the generation of TRUE Michael Mania, so anything that gets me in touch with that time in a more authentic way sends me into a bit of a frenzy. Finding a 45 of The Girl is Mine with "November 1982" scrawled on it made me lose my mind with excitement. How else can I explain it than this? I wasn't there for it, so touching something that was makes me feel just a tiny bit closer to it. Does that make any kind of sense?
I felt the same way when I found the "Get on the Floor" 45 -- my favorite song from Off the Wall...
and the "Lovely One" 45, which immediately made me think of Michael's 1987 hips, which immediately made me pass out, but when I came too, I was determined to purchase it.
I was happy enough with all of this, but then as I was getting ready to leave this room I saw from the corner of my eye BAD MICHAEL and his Bad (good...perfect...godly?) face on the cover of a 45 in the "unorganized" section, which led me to another hour of my life, sorting through an entire shelf and finding FOUR of these beautiful 45s with the "cover and everything" (Michael Jackson, Ebony Jet, 1987) and my entire life felt complete.
So needless to say, I went home and immediately spent hours (and hours, and hours) trying out all of these. Let me be clear. I am no collector and I am no audiophile. I just want a piece of everything in this life that I cannot have. I cannot have Michael and I cannot have the 1980s, but I can have 40 year old 45s if I pay $3 for each one of them, so this is where I am at. My great dream in life, upon buying these, but especially with purchasing "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", was that I would be able to own the original release of something, anything. I especially wanted a version that contained the spoken intro of the song. Six months ago I bought 2 used copies of the Bad CD because I somehow convinced myself at least one of them would have to have the spoken intro (I had a whole theory about why, but it is too heartbreakingly naive and wrong to recount to you now). I just wasn't sure if this would happen...
But guess what?
So, after hours of exploration of this new addition to my collection, I finally put this one on. I prepared myself emotionally, physically, pubescently. I've said this before and I will say it again now, I am absolutely certain that if I were an adolescent when IJCSLY was released instead of a yet-to-be-formed fetus, I would have been catapulted through puberty at record speed (ha!) upon hearing this intro. It tears me apart with a gentle fury. Nevertheless, owning the original release containing this intro did not disappoint. I am disgusting with happiness. That's all I will say about this.
So in all, this is the total purchase:
It was a great trip, not just for the purchases I made, but because it was genuinely just so much fun to experience the joy of discovering these little gems in the dusty corners. I enjoyed the hell out of myself and I appreciate you indulging me
So a couple of days ago I was shopping and overspending -- all to avoid grading (a theme) -- and I did my usual pop into the big chain bookstore (which shall remain nameless) to check on the Michael Jackson content and make sure it was front and center where it belonged. This has become a habit of mine in the last year anytime I go to literally any store with a music section. Typically I will check to see if there are any MJ books (there are never any since they sold their one copy of Moonwalk in May of 2022...yes, I am a freak, no I don't care to focus on this in therapy), then I will go to the vinyl, organize it, make sure at least one is visible in front of all the other J artists (
), then I will do the same with the CDs (the organization part, not the de-alphabetizing). Usually I will move anything that is not Thriller to the front to remind the general public that albums aside from Thriller exist, and this is my service to the universe for the day. I will also visit the magazine rack and scour to see if there are any MJ-related magazine covers or features. Typically there are zero (while there are always at least 5,000 Beatles covers and at least 50 Prince covers, but I digress...). All of this only takes about 3 minutes total, don't worry. Nevertheless, I ventured to the store and was happy to see that since the last time I was there a couple weeks ago only ONE vinyl album remained. Last time there were several copies of Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall, along with a few Jackson 5 albums. There were also only a handful of CDs left. Last time there was a huge selection of CDs, including all of his adult solo albums and several other compilations. No books, of course, because God forbid the biggest artist in history have more books than Jamie Lynn Spears. Oh well. I'm always happy to see MJ's albums are being sold in spite of the total lack of promotion. It frustrates me to go into any music store, or section in the entirety of America and see countless Beatles, Rolling Stones, Prince, Pink Floyd, hell, even Frank Zappa posters, and no MJ. Nothing against any of them, obviously. But you know. It's a trend.
All of this, of course, had me feeling driven to go to a real record store and see what I might find in the deep crevices of a dusty shelf. So I traveled to a record store a few towns away I've only visited once almost a year ago. The last time I went, I was shocked to see MJ was not categorized with pop rock, but with soul. I'm not complaining about him being categorized as a soul artist, but was very confused because of how difficult it made it to find his albums. Rather than being in main stacks and at standing level, his collection was on the bottom shelf (along with the entire soul section) in a dark, shadowy area and frankly, I just do not appreciate it. But that aside, the inventory at this entire store is amazing, so it is worth spending time there. So this time, rather than even pretending I was looking for any other artist (I wasn't) I marched in wearing my MJ t-shirt (I am such a fan girl, it is nauseating) and went straight to the dark dusty corner and sat on the floor and looked through all of the vinyl.
Some reflections:
Multiple copies of every adult solo album, minus HIStory, which I realize is the unicorn of the MJ vinyl world, but still. Multiple pictures discs (why), multiple compilations from the motown/early Jacksons days, and some Jackson 5 albums. Also, SO MANY JERMAINE JACKSON ALBUMS. Sorry, Jermaine. I didn't even look at them. But I'm happy for you. I had no idea, man. Since I own most of these already, of these LPs I ended up buying J5 Third Album and Jacksons Victory. In truth, the main reason I went to this record store is I was looking for Triumph or Destiny, but these are coveted so I didn't really expect it, plus I'll take what is available!
But then I recalled that there is a room of 45s that no one ever goes in. The last time I went I was with my husband who, God love him, is supportive as hell of the perpetual affair I am having with MJ in my deluded little head 24/7, but could not survive an hour of me thumbing through cardboard boxes of disorganized 45s. So, you know, this was my shot.
So I started with the "organized" boxes, sorting through hundreds of "Jacksons" 45s (there are a lot of artists with that last name, y'know?) and finding quite a bit, including a few you'll see pictured below. This was exciting enough for me. I was born in 1988. I am not exactly of the generation of 45s, or of the generation of TRUE Michael Mania, so anything that gets me in touch with that time in a more authentic way sends me into a bit of a frenzy. Finding a 45 of The Girl is Mine with "November 1982" scrawled on it made me lose my mind with excitement. How else can I explain it than this? I wasn't there for it, so touching something that was makes me feel just a tiny bit closer to it. Does that make any kind of sense?
I felt the same way when I found the "Get on the Floor" 45 -- my favorite song from Off the Wall...
and the "Lovely One" 45, which immediately made me think of Michael's 1987 hips, which immediately made me pass out, but when I came too, I was determined to purchase it.
I was happy enough with all of this, but then as I was getting ready to leave this room I saw from the corner of my eye BAD MICHAEL and his Bad (good...perfect...godly?) face on the cover of a 45 in the "unorganized" section, which led me to another hour of my life, sorting through an entire shelf and finding FOUR of these beautiful 45s with the "cover and everything" (Michael Jackson, Ebony Jet, 1987) and my entire life felt complete.
So needless to say, I went home and immediately spent hours (and hours, and hours) trying out all of these. Let me be clear. I am no collector and I am no audiophile. I just want a piece of everything in this life that I cannot have. I cannot have Michael and I cannot have the 1980s, but I can have 40 year old 45s if I pay $3 for each one of them, so this is where I am at. My great dream in life, upon buying these, but especially with purchasing "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", was that I would be able to own the original release of something, anything. I especially wanted a version that contained the spoken intro of the song. Six months ago I bought 2 used copies of the Bad CD because I somehow convinced myself at least one of them would have to have the spoken intro (I had a whole theory about why, but it is too heartbreakingly naive and wrong to recount to you now). I just wasn't sure if this would happen...
But guess what?
So, after hours of exploration of this new addition to my collection, I finally put this one on. I prepared myself emotionally, physically, pubescently. I've said this before and I will say it again now, I am absolutely certain that if I were an adolescent when IJCSLY was released instead of a yet-to-be-formed fetus, I would have been catapulted through puberty at record speed (ha!) upon hearing this intro. It tears me apart with a gentle fury. Nevertheless, owning the original release containing this intro did not disappoint. I am disgusting with happiness. That's all I will say about this.
So in all, this is the total purchase:
It was a great trip, not just for the purchases I made, but because it was genuinely just so much fun to experience the joy of discovering these little gems in the dusty corners. I enjoyed the hell out of myself and I appreciate you indulging me
Yes, I am a horrible heretic... It's just that I usually listen to music on Spotify so sometimes, stuff like this just escapes my mind completely. I do sometimes check YouTube for songs that aren't on Spotify, but sometimes I forget. I really should check it out real soon!! I feel like I'm missing out, haha. ("I was in the bed when I was doing that"... No, this is not the thread... But ahhhh!!!!!)
But then I thought about MJ being cold in the studio and thought maybe he appreciated wearing a sweatshirt in the winter time... 