Vinyl Soundtracks

MITHRIDATES
So, yeah — I went vinyl six months ago and bought a turntable for the first time since, well, ever. And yes, of course the first record played was Thriller. My collection's growing pretty quickly with used record stores still going strong in the Windy City. And I tell you, after all those years in overly bright and sterile Virgin and Tower "Record" stores, a genuine used record store is a thing of beauty.

Last night I walked into Reckless Records and stopped briefly at the Soundtracks section, just for kicks. Forty five minutes and $72 (including tax) later I walked out with:

• A Clockwork Orange, condition: very good, $12 — Alex et al beat up Billy Boy's crew to "The Thieving Magpie"
  
• Music from the Man with no Name trilogy, very good, $4 — The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly — best soundtrack ever?
• Thirteen James Bond Themes, very good, $6
• Blues Brothers, very good, $3 — The Cook County Assessor's Office is on the 3rd floor
• Television's Greatest Hits, near mint, $7 — includes Captain Kangaroo, Magilla Gorilla, Get Smart, Superman, and even a test of the emergency broadcast system
• This is Spinal Tap, very good, $8 — This record could be none more black. See right.

• Miami Vice, very good, $2
• Pretty in Pink, very good, $5 — Don't laugh, it's got OMD, INXS, Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joe Jackson, New Order, and yes, Phutatorius, it's got the Smiths
• Life of Brian, near mint, $3 — Not so bad once you're up
• Amadeus, near mint, $5
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service, very good, $5
• Saturday Night Fever, very good, $3
• The Big Chill, very good, $1
• An Officer and a Gentlemen, near mint, $1 — Toe the line, you slimy worms!
  
• Smokey and the Bandit, good, $1
  

OK, so I overpaid for Smokey and the Bandit, but watching the checkout dude try to suppress his laughter was worth at least 75 cents, so I figure I'm only out about fifteen cents or so.

PHUTATORIUS
"I wanna marry a lighthouse keeper and keep him company . . ."

I loved that Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Had it on cassette: "Do Wot You Do," "Shell Shock," "Please Please Please" by THE SMITHS (contrast Ferris Bueller's Day Off, with the Dream Academy cover), "Wouldn't It Be Good" — this was great stuff. The Psych Furs re-recorded "Pretty in Pink" for the movie: the original is better. Still, though . . .