The rain held out today thankfully, and I was able to actually get out of bed early, get on the road, and get to the Flea Market earlier than usual. My digging cohort Jack the Ripper had a late night last night, so unfortunately I went solo. There was a dealer at the spot who came up from Baltimore, MD that I had gotten a few good records from previously. It looks like he frequents the same spots as Vince from FuFu Stew. We spoke briefly about the Fire Hall Vince always talks about, and he told me about a Flea Market that has been around for the last 40 years, but recently was shut down for good. He’s kind of a hippie type, but always has some great stuff. He came yesterday, and apologized for not calling me, but has promised me that he’ll be up again soon with another load of 45s. This trip he brought his reformed feral cat that “he got out of a National Forest”, and has been to over 500 Flea Markets with him. The cat seemed sweet enough, although he did have it on a long nylon leash attached to the inside of his van. I love animals, but I’ll pass on the cat on the leash. I think the cloudy weather scared a bunch of people away, although the usual suspects were wandering about, and I thought I might have to give the elbow to Egg Beard. I mean it wasn’t enough that he got a Jimmy McGriff “Fly Dude” (I have it so I wasn’t that pissed, I do need a good cover though), and something else, but he had to peer over my shoulder like a dog waiting to get fed. I pissed him off by slowing down my digging. Now this is a cat who gets there at like 4am with a flashlight and stops guys coming in to see if they have records. He’s absolutely insane. Step off Eggy, can’t you see I’m digging here?
There were for sure some interesting characters today. A Spanish guy who was offered to sell me a BMX bike so I “could ride it back to Asbury Park”, a man spray painting his van white (see photo below), and a To Catch A Predator looking guy who was very interested in my portable. Here’s how it went:
Me: “How much for the records?”
To Catch a Predator Guy: “Dollar a piece.”
To Catch a Predator Guy: “What is that thing?”
Me: “A portable record player”
To Catch a Predator Guy: “What do you do with it?”
Me: “I listen to record with it.”
To Catch a Predator Guy: “Why?”
Me: “Because I like records.”
Now he’s lit a cigarette and come on my side of the table.
To Catch a Predator Guy: “Fisher Price eh?”
Me: “Mmm Hmm”, hardly paying attention, just digging, then listening to a record.
To Catch a Predator Guy: “What is that, who are they?”
Me: “World Famous Supreme Team. Some 80’s band.”
To Catch a Predator Guy: “Any good, I mean are their records good, worth any money?”
Me: “Just a dollar.”
Dude totally creeped me out. No Saggy Red today, no Mario Brothers (Meatball), no Johnny No Change, definitely no Stinky Steve. There was a good SS story from a few months ago though. Some of the guys get there really early, and they see Steve’s car, but no Steve. They do see a plastic bag on a table (or what they think is a plastic bag). Then the thing starts moving. It’s Steve underneath a garbage bag sleeping on a vendor’s table like it’s a bed. He doesn’t wake (and they don’t wake him), so while he’s off dreaming about his next life (He’s going to be a ballerina, a jazz ballerina in the Modern sense. I swear this was an actual conversation he had with someone.), all the record guys go get records before he gets up and starts pulling his shady shit. Always a good story with that joker. I am going to try and work on another mix this weekend, so we’ll see where that takes me.
Digs this Saturday:
45s
James Brown – Ain’t That A Groove/ King
James Brown – ( Can You ) Feel It / King
Roy Head – Get Back/ Scepeter
Lee Dorsey – Go Go Girl/ Amy
Lee Dorsey – Working In A Coalmine/ Amy
Deon Jackson – You Said You Loved Me/ Carla
James Carr – Stronger Than Love/ Goldwax
James Carr – A Losing Game/ Gold Wax
Lloyd Price – Stagegr Lee/ ABC-Paramount
Lloyd price – Take All/ Jad
Otis Redding – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag/ ATCO
Brenda & the Tabulations – Hey Boy/ Dionn
Inez Fox – Jaybirds/ Symbol
Sam & Bill – Beautiful Baby/ Joda
Baby Washington & Don Gardner – Baby Let Me Get Close to You/ Master 5
The Sandpebbles – Love Power/ Calla
Whisper – The True Reflection/ ATCO
Bunker Hill – Hide & Go Seek/ Mala
Howard Roberts – Color Him Funky/ Capitol
Lou Courtney – What Do You Want Me To Do/ Rags
Sunny – Talk to Me/ Tear Drop
Sleepy King – The King Steps Out/ Joy
Lps
Black Caesar Soundtrack
De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising/ Tommy Boy
The Word Famous Supreme Team – Hey DJ/ 4th and Broadway
Keep Diggin’!
Flea Market Funk 
yo….. i was diggin in that same dudes crates when he says to me..”i just had the freakiest experience of my life…some guy was just here with a fisher price record player, takin pictures of my shit…if he thinks he’s gonna remember where he bought his record and take it back to me because it’s scrathched, he’s got another thin coming!!!” i told him i dont think he has anything to worry about, but didn’t explain what you were doing cause i found him equally as creepy. werent his recs only a dollar?..what a wackjob. peace
good stuff
I really enjoy your digging stories. I have not had luck finding any suitable flea markets here in the Chicago area, but I hope I do soon. These stories are addictive.
Keep it going.
RB
the flea market is addicting. more stories to come my friend. more mixes too, i’m just getting started.
Nice haul!
What kind of condition was that Bunker Hill in? I have it but it’s a super-hashed styrene nightmare. Great, wild record though.
L
Step off Eggy, can’t you see I’m digging here?
beautiful man, just beautiful……
i aint missing the spot at all… although the soul finds were mighty tough in Maine (founds a few) I did manage a bunch of way cool psych & prog digs and a few hillbilly 45’s…
and i have that 45 with yer name on it…
the bunker hill is in really good shape. it’s a wild one all right. any good digs on sat for you??
DD…..yeah man, he came close to getting the elbow. weird day, but got some cool stuff.
only the one dude (the spaz) that aint around anymore got the elbow and a few words about “personal space”…
having known stinky steve for about 15+ years, i have some great stories regarding his weirdness.a long time ago, at a record show, he got into an argument with a dealer(i know, hard to imagine!). steve suggested they settle this with a fight.the other dealer agreed.we could all see steve outside waiting for this guy(who had no intention of touching the stinkster). he was pacing back and forth and practicing karate kicks and chops.good times….good times.
yeah, i think at times the guy can be a lunatic. sometimes he’s ok. i just took a break from him because i’m growing tired of the “i’m an insane genius record dealer” schtick. bottom line: the guy is a shyster. he does turn up some great records, and if you catch him on a good day you make out. all the other days you have a friggin headache. case in point: he sold me a willie and the might magnificents – “funky 8 corners” on all platinum for $15. i bought the same record, same condition from another one of my guys, $5. plus it took my guy about 30 seconds to give me a price. it took steve about 40 minutes. i could swap these stories all day. share some more if you have them.
about 4-5 years ago he had “an assistant” that would help him with set ups.the guy really seemed to loath stinky and would make great caustic comments whenever he was out of ear range. he also seemed to have the same bathing habits! another of steve’s odd habits would be stacking piles of lps and wiping the top seams with a shirt and yelling at any customers who would be offensive enough to flip through them in a box as most normal people would. he’d insist on customers picking up and placing down each lp individually to look at.i sold him a bunch of lps with almost nude women on the covers as he said this was his “specialty”!!??! at numerous sales he would act as his own barker saying “all lps are $2” then we you had a batch picked out he would say this one is $5, this one i have $10 in already etc,etc. i mentioned before seeing his legitimate wanted poster for over 80 violations dealing with cars and abandoning them. the wanted poster was from a penna. sheriffs assoc. he has told me that in high school he was a track & field star and competed in state matches. for a while he only used a piece of rope for a belt and reminded me of jethro bodine.anyway i could go on and on but i do kind of miss dealing with him as he always had great records. i think the wanted poster put him on the run from dealing in penna. and he has moved on.i do enjoy your spotings and dealings with him.
i need a copy of that wanted poster. i’d like to dedicate a mix to him, with that as a cover.
i do miss the dealings, but the last blow up was a prelude to him being on the lamb.
e-mail me your address. send to hipster006@yahoo.com. i’ll see the guy on sat with the poster and get a copy to mail to you. should me a neat cd cover!!
some record collectors choose hitting tag sales rather than flea markets. whatever their bag is, i rarely bother with tag sales anymore..flea markets I’m guaranteed bringing home a nice stack of nuggets. some buyers do make you want to choke them from time to time. buyers n sellers are a odd bunch anyway, but also fascinating.