Sunday, September 09, 2007

Now Hear This - Every Filthy, Stinking Minute of It!

It never ceases to amuse me when people write me with comments on the order of “Do you really steal junk?” or “Are you endorsing crime?”

Oh, of course not. Anyone who knows Junk Thief even slightly can confirm that he is a brown-nosing Mamma’s boy straight-arrow law abiding citizen with nary a minor traffic violation, at least in the past 25-26 years. Just ask my State Farm agent or the S.F.P.D. if you don’t believe me.

But now and again I come across junk at such incredible prices that I feel like an absolute thief. A good example was nabbing the above album by the Hi Lo’s today at the Community Thrift Store on Valencia, a virtual cultural intersection where bohos, bobos, bums and burgeoning bourgeois all converge over vintage shirts, prime vinyl, and a book section better organized and better stocked than most of the for-profit stores in the same neighborhood. I’ve been working hard to keep my vinyl intake and exodus at least at a net balance. For every disc bought I discipline myself to transfer and say goodbye to at least one of the real McCoys, none of the upper register gems, mind you.

An album like this is a great example of the mysteries that abound at such a place as I wonder about the paths that each item took to end up there. This album has a little return address label neatly affixed to the back to announce that it is property of Miss. Mary Jean Herter of Rocky River, Ohio. I’ve actually been on Miss Herter’s street a couple of times. I wonder if she migrated west or just her LPs. I bought the album mainly for the cover for future inspiration since it sort of made me imagine what I’d imagine the Junkettes would look like.

The Hi-Los, along with the Crew Cuts, Four Freshmen and a few others were the original boy band. In all their annoying four part harmonies, they’re a lot cooler than those whining, “rapping” boy band of the past couple of decades. And those poses. Oh, my!

I’m particularly fond of their name itself which is shared with one of my favorite mid-century bars in Oklahoma of the same name.

In the meantime, I’m actually giving some thought to laying down some actual MP3 tracks soon to share the golden voice of Junk Thief. No promises of if or when it will happen. But it really seemed only right as the Junk Thief empire grows.

Somewhat off topic, I wanted to mention the touching reviews from complete strangers that continue to come in for the new season of Junk Thief TV. A particular favorite was posted a couple of days ago:

“Junk Thief is truly demented-I loved it, every filthy, stinking minute. The clips of movie stars disfigured by plastic surgery were especially heartwarming.”

-- Hurricane Rhonda

Oh, Rhonda, surely you weren’t talking about my movie star photos!

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11 Comments:

At 5:32 AM, Blogger Dave said...

Hey, I've been to that bar!

/Yeah, that's all I got today.

 
At 7:09 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Dave - The Hi-Lo is one of the three reason it is worth visiting Oklahoma City. The other two escape me.

 
At 8:18 AM, Blogger Dave said...

But have you ever been to Edna's? She's got the best box in town!

 
At 8:20 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Edna's? I'm a native but have never heard of it. Granted, it's been a LONG time since I lived there. Hmm, Dave, didn't realize you were into women's boxes.

 
At 8:31 AM, Blogger Dave said...

It's near the Hi-Lo. They make a drink called the "Lunchbox," which is an ice-cold mug of Coors with a shot glass of Amaretto dropped into it and a splash of orange juice.

It's much better than it sounds.

 
At 8:51 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Thanks for the heads up on Edna's, Dave. Next time I'm headed for OKC, I should invite you up and we can do a pub crawl. I find that city really requires a few drinks in order to keep your sanity. At least around my relatives.

 
At 2:02 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Faaaaaboo post. You made me feel as though it really isn't a shameful thing to collect dusty vinyl. It's not irrelevant! I'm saved! Thank you kind Junk Thief. What a wonderful name for an antique shop or ebay shop.

xxxooo

I'm going to go find me some hilos.

 
At 2:18 PM, Blogger Salty Miss Jill said...

Is this where the Melt sisters, Patty and Tuna, used to perform?

 
At 2:35 PM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Lauren - Sometimes I fear I'll end up at a flea market with an acordian and a kazoo selling my wares. Honestly, I clean up very nicely. There's a shop in my neighborhood called Gypsy Honeymoon, which I think is a pretty cool name for either a shop or a band.

Jill - Ew, my Gawd. You sound like you grew up there. The Melts performed anywhere they damned well pleased, including VFW lodges and Sizzler. But I think I did see them at the Hi-Lo once. Why don't you, Tugboat Dave and me charter a bus and do an Okie-City pub crawl. There was also Diddly Parton and Rotunda back then. I think it was Tuna that mimed to Yma Sumac while dancing with rubber snakes. Loved that girl.

 
At 4:40 PM, Blogger Bryce Digdug said...

I miss my vinyl. It included some cha-cha-cha thatI will NEVER be able to replace.

 
At 5:03 PM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Bryce - Well, at least I hope you held onto your cha cha heels. Otherwise, I'll never invite you to the Hi-Lo Club.

 

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