Good Album Hunting, September 19, 2026: Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library Book Sale

Ah, gentle reader, I would not have gone to the autumn book sale for a very good reason: I am running out of space to store records (again) as well as books, and it’s kind of hard to find records that I would like to listen to because all libraries of Nogglestead are not actually organized.

But: My beautiful wife and I went to a show on Friday night and stayed downtown, and that’s half way to the book sale already on Saturday morning. Couple that with the fact that we had the oldest boy ferry us and he rather is coming to enjoy spending time with us and our twee traditions, and he was happy to join us for a little browsing and then lunch at Five Guys.

I really, really, didn’t need to go nuts with the records, but they were just fifty cents, and I was in trouble when I picked up a platter or two in the first box.

I spent a little over $20 on records, and for that, I got:

Hang On Ramsey by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Probably the score of the show; glad I know to look for Ramsey Lewis in the wild these days.
“Mercy Mercy Me”, a 12″ single for the Robert Palmer hit.
Sit On It! by Jimmy Smith. Jazz/funk from 1979.
Afrodisiac by The Main Ingredient.
I Just Want To Sing With My Friends by The Persuasions.
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again by Dionne Warwick. I don’t think I have this one. Perhaps I’ve heard the title cut in heavy rotation on WSIE?/li>
Mehta Conducts Mahler. I actually had a boxed set of Mahler which I inadvertently left somewhere, probably because I do not buy boxed sets normally.
“It’s Much Deeper” by Ashford and Simpson. I actually pulled and listened to an Ashford and Simpson album earlier in the week. Sad to see this is just a 12″ single as I did not recognize the cover and thought I’d gotten a new album.
I Wanna Be Loved By You by Claudja Barry.
Lionel Hampton at the Vibes.
Meanwhile Back at the Whiskey A Go Go by Johnny Rivers.
Personal by George Howard.
The Elgart Touch by Les Elgart and His Orchestra. I might already have it, but for fifty cents, I cannot take that chance.
Your Place or Mine The Hues Corporation.
Burchfield Nines by Michael Franks.
In Action! by Johnny Rivers.
Slipping Out by The Trammps.
Diamonds and Chills by Margo Smith. The sticker indicates the record contains three hit songs at least. I need to be convinced this is true.
The Dynamic Superiors by The Dynamic Superiors. 1975 Motown release.
Brass Construction II by Brass Construction. Maybe the album is just II.
Mancini ’67 by Henry Mancini and His Orchestra. Maybe I have it? I listen to Mancini sometimes, but there’s a lot of Mancini to not listen to a lot.
Dean Martin Sings Songs From “The Silencers” by Dean Martin. Who also played Matt Helm in The Silencers and the other, what, three? Matt Helm movies.
Doctor Zhivago: The Original Soundtrack Album. They had two different copies of this record with different covers. This one, which is a whiter white, is just a fold-out cover. The other was a fold-out but with a book bound into it. This latter’s cover was yellowed a bit, but I went with the whiter-looking one. BECAUSE I AM A RACIST as this list has so far indicated (many of the records to this point are funk/soul/R&B and others below are as well). If I bitten by sudden Doctor Zhivago completeism–holy cats, exactly how big was that film in 1967? I would have gotten both, and I would have gotten The Poems of Doctor Zhivago in the poetry section. It was a larger format edition than the one I just read. And, to return to the records, I’m pretty sure I already have a copy of the album–or two–via inheritances and hand-me-downs. So I might already have both covers. Or perhaps not.
Reverie by the Norman Luboff Choir. I don’t have many Norman Luboff records–maybe just one now–but a pretty woman on the cover will ensure that I dabble from time to time for fifty cents.
Timi Yuro by, well, Timi Yuro. Discogs says some people call her the first blue-eyed soul singer, but the cover indicates her eyes are not blue.
Love Theme from “The Godfather” by Ray Coniff and the Singers (see also “pretty woman on the cover”).
Continental Hors d’Ouevres by Mischa Novy and His Orchestra. Who? You get a lot of Who? in the Nogglestead record library.
Voices in Love by the Four Freshman. You know, when I got my first Four Freshman album, I played it a bunch. Now, they’re just lost in the library. At least this one will get a spin sometime.
Perry at His Best by Perry Como. I might already have it, but I paid fifty cents insurance.
The Incomparable Lena Horne by, well, Lena Horne. Pretty sure I already have it, but fifty cents insurance and all that.
I Believe by Perry Como. I am pretty sure I have it, but with a different cover (the sale had another copy which looked more familiar).
The Young Rascals by the Young Rascals, the record with “Good Lovin'”. I don’t normally pick up oldies records, but here it is (Johnny Rivers notwithstanding).
Learn to Hustle which apparently has instructions not only for The Hustle but also several other dances which we did not cover in elementary school gym class in the 1970s. I am more likely to try this out than to learn how to belly dance.
Fresh Aire IV by Mannheim Steamroller. I was afraid I might have it, but I might be thinking about Fresh Aire II which I bought on audio cassette when it was far fresher.
The Tip of the Weisberg by Tim Weisberg, the flutist. Might have played another record of his recently, but it might have been that other guy whose name escapes me right now.
Time To Make Love by Bret Lover. The second 1990 release I’ve added here today (George Howard’s Personal was also released in 1990).
Mirror by Evie. I don’t know why I feel compelled to pick up Evie records now, but apparently I’m only driven to buy one per trip as I left behind one or two more releases that I don’t think I already have.
Cry by John Klemmer.
Music for Trumpet & Orchestra Volume 2, the “honey, I got it for you” record if my beautiful wife balked at the purchases. Given that we separated when we hit the book sale, she never saw the total stack until we were leaving, and I have not gotten into any trouble. Probably not until I start having to put other furniture on record shelves.
Villa-Lobos: Music for the Spanish Guitar by Laurindo Almeida. Given how much George Benson, Earl Klugh, and Al di Meola I’ve acquired in recent years, I guess I am broadening my taste into Spanish guitar, too. Unless this album sucks.

So that’s forty more records to find places to shelve. I probably have to order more poly covers for the sleeves, although the fifty cent ones are generally well-played and worn by previous owners.

What did I miss? Well, I left behind the Mahler boxed set by mistake. I also did not get a shot at a Dave Brubeck record–I was moving right to left, and I came to the third-from-the-left box which had someone in front of it, so I went to another table to make sure the records I had matched the covers, and then I went to the last box and started working from left to right. But someone else had gotten to that third box and pulled a Dave Brubeck, looked to be a hits album, from it. AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE. This sale was heavy on Hawaiian music, including several records from Alfred Apaka together–when I see this kind of thing, I think they came from a single owner. But I’m not on big on the South Islands sound, so I passed up a fair selection of them. Also, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique was very heavily represented–the Better Books Section’s four crates of records had three or four versions. Perhaps the college radio station cleaned house again.

So: $20 for what will be several weeks (or months) of listening before I shelve them. Not bad, and I will likely listen to them more than once, eventually.