# What's your rarest or most obscure music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493 "2005-10-10T03:03:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/21 "2005-10-10T15:19:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 1. [Lol Coxhill – Ear of Beholder.](http://tinyurl.com/dac9z) Coxhill is an avant garde jazz saxophonist. Well regarded, but a bit of a flop. I heard a KILLER Lol Coxhill song on WFMU a while back, but didn’t catch the name. Everything I’ve since bought or downloaded by the guy has been complete GARBAGE, though. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/22 "2005-10-10T15:58:03Z")
Living up to my stage name, I have a copy of the ridiculously obscure “I Never Kissed an Ugly Woman: Twelve Stories in Song.” The songs are stories sung by Groucho Marx from his movies and elsewhere, “collected by Quincey Wagstaff and Otis Drfitwood/Edited by Hugo Z./Thanks to Gordon Miller, J. Cheever Loophole, S. Quale and Wolf Flywheel/Cavett courtesy Sam Grunion/Cover by R. Hornblow/Dedicated to Rufus T. Firefly with love from Doc!” And I just stumbled upon it in a used record bin one day. “Chance favors the prepared mind!” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/23 "2005-10-10T16:19:32Z")
I have a 45 of Michael Parks singing “Long Lonesome Highway” with “River Deep, Mountain High” on the B side. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/24 "2005-10-10T16:21:19Z")
My rarest and most obscure CDs are probably all Alan Parsons Project related (specifically Eric Woolfson-musical related): 1. The rare German-language, black-covered cast recording of “Freudiana” (the white English one is easy to find). 2. Both the Aachen and Alsdorf cast versions of “Gaudi” (one is rarer than the other, but I can’t remember which…they’re both quite hard to come by). 3. The cast recording of “Gambler,” which was AFAIK only sold in the theatre shop in Germany (I had to call Germany to order it–they didn’t have web ordering). Nearly impossible to find in its original form these days, at least in the US. 4. The cast recording of Poe: Tales of Mystery and Imagination (the musical, not the original APP album) which is probably the easiest of the bunch to get hold of now, but it’s getting more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/25 "2005-10-10T17:14:28Z")
I have some remixes that I’ve made but have never let anyone hear, how’s that for rare? 😃 I do have some stuff that would sound like it’s rare, but isn’t really, like the pre-recorded backing tracks for Depeche Mode’s World Violation tour 1990 (you’d be surprised at how much was actually played live in some of those songs). Other than that, I’d say the rarest items I have are a 3" cd single of Depeche Mode’s “Strangelove” and a French cassette single for “Somebody/Blasphemous Rumours”. Also, sources close to a couple of my favorite bands have provided me with some demos that never made albums, so very few people even know they exist. ---
**Author:** ![Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erinaceus_europaeus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/26 "2005-10-10T18:20:17Z")
I have a bunch of early Richard D. James (a.k.a. aphex twin, caustic window etc.) records (most of the first releases of the Rephlex label). I think the most rare of those that I have is [the Joyrex J9i picture disc](http://www.discogs.com/release/19315) - apparently, there are only 300 of those. There’s probably a lot more of rare stuff in my collection, but finding out would take way too much time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/27 "2005-10-10T18:47:49Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > I rip music from video games that people otherwise wouldn’t give a second or even first thought towards. Does that count? How many tracks you got? 🙂 (I eschew most RPGs and the done-to-death faux classical soundtracks they have; I gravitate more towards racers and action titles, so I end up with a lot of speed techno, rap, and hard rock instead.) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/28 "2005-10-10T18:52:59Z")
And to answer the OP, my most obscure music would easily be [“20th Anniversary A Tribute to Game -Sounds for Music”](http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/aycm610.html). I’ve only got one track from that CD, and have been unable to find any of the others, either by hook or by crook. I suspect I’ll be disappointed if I do, but dang it, it’s a geas… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/29 "2005-10-10T19:03:40Z")
Do semi-local bands count? I have a CD of a live recording of D++/The Dan Landberg Musical Community, a abnd a friend of mine started in college then dropped out to pursue more full-timeish. It started on Troy, NY and is now based in southern Maine. Come to think of it, I’m not too sure how many gigs he has, I haven’t spoken with him in a while. But if he ever goes famous, THEN I’ll have something to brag about. 😛 Other then that, the only even remotely obscuere music I own are various live reocrding and/or covers, but only in MP3 format, so that takes away from the coolness aspect. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/30 "2005-10-10T19:29:43Z")
How about printed music? Right now I have, checked out from the UCLA Music Library, an East German edition (1953) of Lodovico Roncalli’s Nine Suites for guitar. Roncalli’s music does turn up in classical guitar method books, but complete copies of all the suites are very rare. AFAIK there are only two or three others in California. It’ll have to go back soon, but at least I was able to make my own copy. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/31 "2005-10-11T01:12:10Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > How many tracks you got? 🙂 > > (I eschew most RPGs and the done-to-death faux classical soundtracks they have; I gravitate more towards racers and action titles, so I end up with a lot of speed techno, rap, and hard rock instead.) I tend to focus on Nintendo stuff, so unless by “racers” you mean “Mario Kart” I probably won’t have what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/32 "2005-10-11T02:02:45Z")
PowerMan 5000: red, the color, the lines the road… demo tape. Got it back in 95? after a White Zombie concert. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/33 "2005-10-11T03:23:43Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > I tend to focus on Nintendo stuff, so unless by “racers” you mean “Mario Kart” I probably won’t have what you’re looking for. Populated - Extreme G Space Station 3 - Extreme G Welcome to the Extreme - Extreme G Big Blue - F-Zero Fire Field - F-Zero Red Canyon - F-Zero Gunn Runner - Ridge Racer 64 Motion Blur - Ridge Racer 64 Revolver - Ridge Racer 64 Sunset Valley - Stunt Race FX Super Mario 64 - Credits Roll - Super Mario 64 Super Mario 64 - Theme - Super Mario 64 I don’t discriminate by platform. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/34 "2005-10-11T03:50:23Z")
A cd by a band called the Mind Reels given to me by one of the members, a guy named Randy, about ten years ago. I’m fairly sure they’re not together anymore, and I know I’m the only one in my circle who’s ever heard of them. But I love to listen to it every now and then. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/35 "2005-10-11T05:18:19Z")
I love Meat Beat Manifesto. They’ve been around since the early 80’s - you can hear some of their music in the first _Matrix_ and the new video game _Destroy All Humans_. They’re kinda electronic/industrial/house/trance - they definitely have a unique flavor. Many songs have a healthy serving of obscure, weird and funny samples. I saw them at Lee’s Palace in Toronto a few months ago and you could tell only longtime fans were there - they haven’t been in Canada for at least 15 years and there were probably only about a hundred people in the place. But the show was awesome. If you wanna check them out, _Subliminal Sandwich_ should be a fairly easy album to get. Most of the other ones I’ve had to order from the UK (where they’re from). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/36 "2005-10-11T05:45:49Z")
I have a vinyl of The 1979 Amnesty International Comedy Gala _The Secret Policeman’s Ball_ It has Pete Townshend, Tom Robinson Neil Innes and others ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/37 "2005-10-11T05:43:47Z")
I have a vinyl of The 1979 Amnesty International Comedy Gala It has Pete Townshend, Tom Robinson Neil Innes and others. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493/38 "2005-10-11T06:53:06Z")
Don’t know how rare it is-Bo Diddley’s 16 All-Time Greatest Hits Mono/LP Knuckles O’Toole and the Honky Tonk Piano-3 different albums Mono/LP Bernstein plays Brubeck plays Bernstein - stereo RtR [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-rarest-or-most-obscure-music/325493.md?page=1)