Ultimately I got 4 bucks from Arbitron in all the mailings they sent enticing me to do the radio survey and in the package with the diary.

I dutifully filled out my survey and the demographic questions at the end and mailed it on the prescribed day. My 4 bucks was guilt free.

I decided that I would turn that 4 bucks into vinyl. I have been on a self-imposed vinyl buying hiatus until after the wedding and have only slipped once (buying 2 albums). Otherwise I have been clean.

So, the day of the Psychedelic Furs show, with Cindy and I out on errands, I made one of my stops Half Price Books. I made myself comfortable on the floor in front of the discount records and started digging. I immediately found 4 albums, and considered stopping there, but I was only halfway through the rack. I figured I could check the rest and then do my rating the pile and choose the top 4 as my selections of the day. Thank goodness I did, because record 5 was “The Psychedelic Furs – Forever Now” which I took with me to The Psychedelic Furs show that night and got all members of the band except for Richard Butler to sign.

Other gems that day:

“Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey”

Van Morrison is a good selection for playing at home on Sunday mornings. His vocals are strong and though the music changes from album to album his voice shines through it no matter what. I tried getting into Van Morrison in high school, but could only afford his cut-outs, like “Wavelength” and the couple the library had. It wasn’t until I came across “Into The Music” one day that Van Morrison final made sense to me. The song “And The Healing Has Begun” blew my mind and I started checking out more and more. I had “Van Morrison – Moondance” on CD and his live album “Van Morrison – It’s Too Late To Stop Now” on tape. You can almost not go wrong with any Van Morrison.

“The Fixx – Reach The Beach”

This album was college. EVERYONE had this. It was amazing. I had a tape with the best songs from their first album and the best songs from this album that I played over and over and over. During that time you could not NOT hear “One Thing Leads To Another” on the radio. Sort of like how you can’t listen to 101.5 WIBA without hearing “Hold On Loosely” if you are listening to a classic rock station these days. This album is jangly and new wave and dark and catchy. This is a great cover too. How could you not love it!?!

“Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Damn The Torpedoes”

This album has a very specific memories for me. The first time I remember hearing the song “Refugee” was the day Jeff and I and Russell and maybe Baun were at Russell’s house clowning around in his room (this was the same day we walked down the street with a boombox on someone’s shoulders singing to someone’s Simon and Garfunkel’s song Cecilia) and this came on the radio. Jeff hammed up the lines as he sang…

Somebody must have kicked you around some.
Who knows? Maybe you were kidnapped,
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom.

I will never forget it. I listened to the rest of the song and asked who it was afterwards, making a mental note to buy it later.

“The Alarm – Strength”

I know nothing about this one, but I love “The Alarm – Declaration”. If it is anything like that one, it couldn’t be too bad. This was a big hair band from North Wales. I was surprised to see this one in the discount bin because they have some Alarm albums in the full price bins. Good score.

Then came someone’s Duran Duran collection.

I was glad to see their first album, because the one I previously bought has 2 skips that I can’t get out. A first for me. This was the stash.

“Duran Duran – Duran Duran”

“Duran Duran – Seven And The Ragged Tiger”

“Duran Duran – Arena”

In high school I was bred by the crowds to hate Duran Duran, but at home secretly I was turning up the TV volume when “Rio” came on the video channel. For all the posturing and makeup and hair and pretty boy crap, the music is actually good.

If Duran Duran came to the Majestic, I would probably have to go.

I did my radio rating duty, got paid, and turned it into records (plus a couple more).

Booyah!