Vinyl vultures who share

Do vultures share? Seems doubtful, right? They just tear away at the carcasses, grabbing whatever they can as fast as they can. This is how it's always looked to me when I see those guys (it's always a guy) sitting cross-legged on the floor of a charity shop as they rifle through a box of records, phone in hand speed-checking the values on Discogs. Yeah, they've got their meal and they ain't gonna share it with no-one. They sit hunched protectively around their stash, very obviously immovable and sending out clear "don't interfere with me" vibes. Yeah man, it's a competitive business buying "collectible" vinyl. And so today, when I casually popped into a charity shop in Hackney and had a cursory browse of their books and CDs, the sight of a guy on a little stool very determinedly going through four massive laundry bags worth of LPs seemed like another straightforward situation. One best ... avoided. Only I couldn't help noticing a copy of UB40's Signing Off in its excellent dole card cover (very authentic, soft almost textured cardboard) at the front of one of the stacks he was creating on the floor. Was it his "keep" or "discard" pile? Fuck it, he can have it either way, I thought. But no, weirdly I went ahead and asked, and - even more weirdly - he was extremely nice (even gracious): "No lad, that's yours if you want it. I've already got it. It's got the extra 12" as well. It's a cracker" etc etc. And so it went on. Although he didn't for one second stop his systematic rifling, he was also throwing out all sorts of generous comments - eg "Yeah, there's some great stuff here. They're all £2. Brilliant. Here, do you want the stool, I've been sitting on it for ages." It was bewildering. What had happened to the ravenous vinyl vulture I'd expected? In the end he bought 27 LPs (he was quite clear about the number) and it included a Pogues LP ("I couldn't leave that here"), a Cult LP (gulp), an LP by a pop-metal band like Poison (double-gulp) and one or two reggae LPs. In my turn I bought these: 

No, I couldn't match my generous new charity shop friend's record-buying largesse but it's also true I got them very largely because of him. Yeah, the Pogues fan with an Irish accent was a top bloke - no doubt about it. As he was leaving he looked over at the records I was going through and shouted "David Bowie! You've got to get that!" "No, I don't like him", I said (spoiling the atmosphere immediately). "Well, get it anyway. There's bound to be someone in your friendship group who likes David Bowie". "Let them come and buy it then." And off he went. No doubt thinking, "That's the last time I let anyone have the stool if that's their attitude ..."

PS: It wasn't just him who already had a copy of UB40's Signing Off, it turns out I do too. Yeah, I had a creeping suspicion that I did, but was a bit confused because the copy I bought about ten years ago had no sleeves (inner or outer). Better news: the inadvertant double-ups are in better condition, plus there are the excellent cover and inner-sleeves. Back in 1980, post-school and having been initiated into the whole signing on culture ("you need to fill this in here, sign it, then come back in two weeks ..."), I saw someone walking around my home town with a brand new copy of Signing Off and was strangely struck by it. Dub on the dole. 

 

  

.