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Prince “Sign o’ the Times” — previous owner Mr. Robuca(?)

Acquired in Portland, Oregon, at some point in the early 2000s. The previous owner — who may be Mr. Robuca or possibly Mr. Roberts. We're not sure, his handwriting is a little messy — was clearly not a casual Prince fan. Notice how he used used "2" instead of "two." Nobody does that if they only like [...]

Soundgarden “Superunknown” — previous owner Mark Miner

This story is kind of amazing. A few weeks ago, Justin Peterson of Spokane, Washington, bought a used copy of Soundgarden's 1994 classic "Superunknown" on blue vinyl and found this note inside. It was written by the previous owner's mom, Sabine Miner, whose son died from a heart attack at 39. She wrote: "I would ask [...]

Charles Mingus “Passions of a Man” — previous owner Abie Little

Bought at Omega Music in Dayton, Ohio in 2002. The guy behind the counter looked at me like I had stolen from them when I got a triple LP Mingus collection for five bucks. I am guessing Abie Little valued the album more than the record store, as she carefully taped every edge with that [...]

Johnny Gill — previous owner unknown

Bought at Everyday Music in Portland, OR. 50-cent bin. Mid-2000s. I like to imagine a guy with an incredible New Jack Swing haircut like Johnny Gill owned this record. Guessing by the care he put into measuring the beats per minute and labeling which tunes were good jams and love songs, I am guessing he [...]

The Temptations “Wish It Could Rain” — previous owner Liz McGrath

Found in an alley near Payne Street. Louisville, KY. Clearly, Liz McGrath was off her medication while listening to some of the biggest names in Motown. I would hate to see what happened to Chris Darrall. (Contributed by Patrick Wensink)

Richie Delamore “This Is Richie Delamore” — previous owner Carolyn

Purchased for $1 at Everyday Music in Portland, Oregon. Probably around 2003. Calypso music was kind of the rap music of its day. Singers embedded stories about sex and violence and political unrest in those hypnotic island rhythms. Delamore would have been the Flavor Flav to Harry Belafonte's Chuck D. Apparently, this unsung hero of [...]

Prince “Purple Rain” — previous owner unknown

Purchased for $5 at the "Chicagoland Record Collectors Show" at the Best Western in Hillside, Illinois, in November of 2013. An index card with "Christmas Organ & Chimes" is taped to the front. But the music inside doesn't contain anything of the kind. I wonder, was this some sort of crude camouflage? A spouse's way [...]

Devo “Dury Now For the Future” — previous owner unknown

One of Devo's less-appreciated records, it was clearly the property of some college record station at some point, since it reads KUG(?). It is dated 5/6/79 in black sharpie. Also, if you hold it to the light you can see someone used this LP as a clipboard, because there are the indents of dozens of [...]

Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” — previous owner Dave

Discovered in Portland, Oregon in 2003. A collector placed an ad in the Willamette Week newspaper offering to give away his LP collection to anybody who came over to haul them away. He had converted them all to digital and had no use for records anymore. There are a lot of mysteries on the record [...]

Lionel Richie — previous owner Amy and Brian

Is your name Amy and/or Brian? Are you missing a well-worn copy of the Lionel Richie solo record, Lionel, which at one point was the soundtrack to your relationship? On the album cover's back, the song "My Love" is underlined, and an arrow points to it with the declaration "Amy + Brian." I have your [...]

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