Seven years ago, when I was young(er) and eager (also, dumber), I thought it would be a good idea to keep up with two blogs – this one and something I called Circa 45, a site dedicated solely to digital transfers of my 45/7-inch collection.
My ambition didn’t last long and, well, I eventually let the circa45.com domain name lapse, and now it’s spam city over there. But the good news is I still have this site, and I still have my records. So why not revive the idea as a weekly (or so) feature?
The bulk of my 45 collection is made up of pop/rock from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, thanks to an old Wurlitzer jukebox I took over from my dad. I’ve modernized it a bit with records I previously owned – and ones I continue to buy – and I swear one day I’ll finish cataloging all of them into one glorious spreadsheet.
As it stands, they’re mostly cleaned up, alphabetized and stored in boxes. I’ve been picking through a few loose ends and recent purchases, like this 7-inch for “Divorce” (purchased at The Record Room) from post-hardcore faves Quicksand.
“Divorce” appears on 1995’s Manic Compression, Quicksand’s second (and, sadly, final) album. This 7-inch was a 1994 promo – pressed on a strangely thin record, as noted here, only slightly sturdier than one of those flexi-discs – with the unreleased B-side “Voice Killer,” a song so good you have to wonder what other gems a band in its prime left on the cutting-room floor.