Yeah, you read that right.  This weekend I scratched one more thing off of my list of “things I must do” and finally went to a record fair.  In previous years this was a benefit for WLUW, a community station that I volunteered at for six quick months in 2004.  Due to Loyola University taking WLUW back, this year the record fair was done to benefit CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project), a new organization that is attempting to start up a low power FM station to serve the needs of the community that WLUW is leaving behind.  I walked in the doors of the Pulaski Park Field House with just over $40 in my pocket and instantly realized what a fool I was.  Less than an hour later I had to walk down the street to a K-Mart to get $50 back on a purchase of a bottle of pop.  All told I spent $77 on Sunday, which might not seem like too much to some hardcore collectors, but to a college student who’s about to graduate that’s about eighteen really bitchin’ burritos from Susupuato.  So without further delay, it’s time for you to check out all the cool shit I bought!

The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash LP.  $25.  This is now the most expensive single record I own, at a whopping $25.  The second I heard the opening chords of “Taking A Ride” I knew it was worth it.  I don’t really have a “want” list but I definitely had The Replacements on my mind for yesterday and finding this gem made my day.

TSOL - Dance With Me.  $10.  Same exact thing as above.  I’ve listened to this record more than you can probably imagine and scoring an original pressing of it for ten bucks I just about shat my pants in excitement.

Really Red - Teaching You The Fear (reissue).  $7.  If you want to talk about underrated punk rock bands Really Red is a good place to start.  They came from the same scene as the Big Boys and The Dicks and shared the same sense experimentation in their song writing.  The only stuff I previously “owned” from them were MP3s from a blog post so it’s great to finally own something physical.

Descendents - Enjoy!  $4.  New Alliance pressing.  Even though I love the Descendents I’ve never owned this album in any format.  The fact that it’s not the SST reissue is a huge coup, because SST really fucked up their mastering of the ‘dents back catalogue when they reissued them.  It’s not my favorite album but it’s a good addition to my collection.

MC5 - ‘66 Breakout!.  $10.  Were you aware that the MC5 were around for a good five or six years before Kick Out The Jams was released?  Were you aware that they began as the one of the most standard sounding, post British Invasion garage bands around?  This late 90s LP is all the proof you need.  There are a couple covers, discarded songs, goofs, and early versions of future classics.  If you’re a fan ‘66 Breakout! is a definite eye opener.  Motherfucker.

Charged GBH -  Leather, Bristles, No Survivors and Sick Boys.  $9.  Combat pressing.  Back in high school I had a burned copy of one of the Nth generation “Clay Years” rip off compilations.  At some point I lost that CD and haven’t re-bought it because of the insane amount of repeated and unnecessary additions to the G.B.H. catalog.  I don’t know all the details behind this version (it’s from before they dropped “Charged” from their name obviously) but I do know it’s the US pressing, it’s old, and I get to hear all the ‘lost’ classics that I haven’t heard in years in their original form.  Nostalgia rules the day.

Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick.  $5.  No matter where you go you’re bound to find an extremely beat up copy of this LP for probably between $0.75 and $2.  I was more than happy to pay a little bit more for a pristine copy.  “Hot Love” has been stuck in my head for hours now.

Die Kreuzen - Pink Flag/Land of Treason.  $4.  Die Kreuzen covering two punk rock classics before they turned into complete shit?  Sign me up!

Boris The Sprinkler/Moral Crux - split 7″.  $3.  As you’ve probably figured out, I’m a huge pop punk nerd so this was a pretty good score on my part.  I’m pretty sure at this point that I have about six or seven Boris The Sprinkler 7″s but no actual LPs or CDs.  We’ll see how long that keeps up.