in the first video i posted it shows how to tell the difference between a ch version and a store-bought version
While in college, I heard a story of a group of guys who had a competition going about who could come up with the most outrageous fake names and still get the CD’s delivered to the house. Hundreds were dropped off, and not a single one was ever paid for.
Funny thing was it was started as a ‘protest’ over the thousands of the stupid little cards that you would send in. There were 2-3 in every book, notebook and you name it in the bookstore. They were stuck in the mirrors of the bathrooms, window frames of every building on campus. Hundreds laying around on sidewalks. Piles of them where you would pick up the daily newspaper.
I was 13 and I wouldn’t get into the Who and the Stones for a couple more years, but as I mentioned upthread, I thought some of my first 12 from Columbia House were the Beatles’ “Red” and “Blue” compilation albums. Maybe Columbia carried just those and none of the regular Beatles albums. Or maybe my memory’s faulty, that’s just as likely.
I do remember as I got a bit older the Columbia House selection did get very limiting, so I canceled it after buying the minimum to fill the contract. Then I moved onto hanging out at Harmony House at the mall, flipping through the albums, checking out the new releases, buying the Who, Stones, Zep, etc. But getting that first 12 album bonanza in the mail at age 13 was freakin’ sweet.
I lived in a rented house with several other rotating roommates for awhile in college, and I never personally participated in the mail fraud, but I saw mail drops with fake names-- Harry Peters, Phil McCracken, etc.
This, the one adulting lesson I learned from Columbia House was to fulfill you contractual obligation as soon as possible or you would end up getting screwed. Or at least then you could sign up again. Wash rinse repeat.
I also remember in college someone stealing my Beatles Red and Blue albums and thought WTF, you can get them for a penny.
It’s funny, I don’t remember belonging to both CH and BMG, but it appears I have CDs from both. The “Joshua Tree” CD I mentioned above says “Manufactured by Columbia House under license” and the Wilburys CD says “Mfg for BMG Direct Marketing under license”. So now I need to examine my entire CD collection and see if I can figure out what I bought from where.
So Columbia House did have the Red and Blue Beatles albums? I wasn’t sure if that was where I got mine from or if I was remembering it wrong.
I had a similar experience in college when I lived in a big rented house with many rotating roommates. Several of my albums disappeared one day. A couple weeks later I was going through the album collection of one of my roommates (I don’t remember if I had a suspicion or if I was just hanging out, checking out his collection) when I noticed, man he has a lot of the albums that got stolen from me. So I remembered that I had scotch-taped a rip on one of the inner sleeves, and sure enough, there it was. Busted.
When I confronted him at first he looked sheepish, then he burst into anger and started yelling WHY ARE YOU SNOOPING THROUGH MY RECORDS. I took back what was mine. Even though he was 6’ 7" and towered over me, he wasn’t violent, just a thief who was embarrassed to get caught.
I did both Columbia House and BMG. My memory is hazy, but I do remember getting a Chicago album (Chicago VIII, that would have been 1975). I also recall getting stuck with Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” because I did not return the card in time.
CDs, too. First ones were Talking Heads “Naked”, Elton John’s “Too Low For Zero”, and Fine Young Cannibals “The Raw and the Cooked”.
mmm
I’m trying to remember the unwanted albums that were shipped to me. I want to say Chicago, Boston, or Kansas - but now I’m just naming places (weird how the brain works…)
Well, gotta have a couple makeout albums in the mix. My go-to was Roxy Music’s Avalon. Despite the claims of the kid in “Fast Times at Ridgement High” side one of Led Zeppelin IV didn’t really work in that capacity, as good as it was.
Alabama? America? Asia? Berlin? Nazareth?
The darkness in the far reaches of my mind are recalling Grease, Saturday Night Fever and (god have mercy on my pitiful soul) the Bee Gees version of Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Played in my bedroom with my poster of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on the wall and wearing my Farah Fawcett shirt. Having a memory can be a curse I tell you. I pray to God to have this blotted from my mind!
As a card-carrying member of D.R.E.A.D. back in the day, those are indeed pretty shameful albums to have owned. Especially the last two. But I give you points for having the courage to own up to it now.
There was a Farrah Fawcett shirt? Was it the same image as the famous poster, just on a t-shirt?
Yes, and I had both.
And a white belt, wore white gym socks and had a perm. I definitely need to go out tonight and target those memory cells with some Mezcal until I swallow the worm.
Hey, your clothing choices (if not your music choices) were much cooler than mine back in the day. I saw Star Wars at 13 or 14 and loved it, so I went to the mall and bought a T-shirt with a Star Wars poster decal (I still remember the exact chemical smell from them hot-pressing the decal on the shirt).
The next day I proudly wore my new Star Wars shirt and walked by a couple cute girls, one of whom says “nice t-shirt”, voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. I suddenly realized I might as well have been wearing a shirt that said “I’M A NERD”. I never wore the shirt again.
Ahhh, the days of D.R.E.A.D.
How I miss George Swell.
And the Moron Fishing Tackle Choir.
mmm
wow did you see that:“hit list” from 88? I can remember almost everything on it
I never did the Columbia House thing, but I remember my first album purchase was a K-Tel album (“Believe in Music”, 1972) that I bought at Woolworth’s. I could have done worse than start with that album, some truly great songs on it: Brandy (Looking Glass), Long Cool Woman (Hollies), Back Stabbers (O’Jays), Go All the Way (Raspberries), Maggie May (Rod Stewart), Sylvia’s Mother (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show), Hold Your Head Up (Argent). Let it Rain (Clapton).
Of course there were throwaways like the two Donny Osmond songs…
here ya go … did you know k-tel even made atari 2600 games? neither did I until someone told me those weird double sided cartridges were made by a k-tel company
Probably a lot of early 90s grunge, alt-rock, and dance music.
Back in college it was quite common to order the 12 Columbia House / BMG albums for a penny to the fraternity house under a made up name and then never bother ordering more albums. Someone would just be like “hey my friend Brad Fakely is having a package sent here so just leave it in my mailbox.” It’s not like the CD police would ever show up to investigate.
I suppose it all became moot a few years later when Napster went live.
I think I had that album too! I remember owning a compilation album at some point with Brandy and Long Cool Woman on it at least, not so sure of the other songs.
Fun side effect of those infomercials:
As soon as you could start downloading individual songs (iTunes, Napster, Limewire), I remember my friend-of-a-friend Anthony tracking down all the songs on the “Monsters of Rock!” commercial and then burning a CD, in the order they were in the ad.
If you were really somebody, he’d trade you his disk for your homemade “SOUNDS of the 70s” compilation… (that was re-created by my friend Chucko, and had his faves: Because the Night, My Sharona, a couple by Cheap Trick, Peg by Steely Dan…).
I can’t imagine life being simple enough that those were our biggest concerns… this thread is some powerful nostalgia, maaaan…