Tír Na HiFi

I'm sure many of you will agree that, when it comes to the (much-maligned) CD format, there are some incredible bargains to be had out there. From charity shops to markets, car boot sales, second-hand record shops and school fetes etc, I've never seen so many shiny discs for sale at give-away prices - some for as little as 50c each!

There was a guy at the record fair in Temple Bar yesterday selling hundreds of great rock, pop, soul and country titles for 2.50 a pop (five for a tenner.) I got there quite late and they were shutting up shop, so I didn't have much time to peruse. But I picked up a few gems including Clapton's 'Unplugged', Bonnie Raitt's 'Nick Of Time' , Talking Heads 'Stop Making Sense' and a Seven Worlds Collide live album (Neil Finn & Friends) all for the cost of a pint. Twenty-five years ago when I started buying CDs the same haul would have (and often did) cost me at least forty quid.

Another stall had a few boxes of classical, soundtracks and jazz titles - all for a euro each. I know little to nothing about classical but it looked like a serious collection (Deutche Gramophonne, Naxos etc.) while the soundtracks included The Mission, The Piano, a few Mancini titles and tons more...

I don't know how long this Golden Age will last but as long as it does - I'm up for it!

(Perhaps here might be a good place to share your recent bargains?)

Picked up a mint copy of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' on vinyl at a car boot sale in France last week. €2!

Terry wrote:Picked up a mint copy of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' on vinyl at a car boot sale in France last week. €2!

There was a period when the pressings of this were less than great but I'm guessing by "mint" you got a good one! A fantastic album that, easily stood the test of time.

Alltheyoungdudes wrote:I'm sure many of you will agree that, when it comes to the (much-maligned) CD format, there are some incredible bargains to be had out there. From charity shops to markets, car boot sales, second-hand record shops and school fetes etc, I've never seen so many shiny discs for sale at give-away prices - some for as little as 50c each!....

Yeah, very true. And CD doesn't run the same risk of damage as vinyl. My preference is still vinyl but I will happily browse CD racks too. Often of an evening I'll relax into listening to music with a remote handy to skip the occasional track!

I don't know how long this Golden Age will last but as long as it does - I'm up for it!

:-)

Fortunately for us, CDs are seen as pretty much disposable nowadays. Picked up mint cd copies of Wilco(The Album) and No more shall we part by Nick Cave in a local charity shop for €1each recently. They often do 3 for €5.
Always worth looking in the likes of these shops. Generally I am more wary of vinyl from these sources though - often overpriced or underloved.James Last was extremely popular here about 30yrs ago going by the s/h stock locally anyway.

I was really just talking about CDs and the fantastic value to be had out there. (Vinyl is a whole other story and bargains are few and far between these days - unless you get very lucky! And as someone has pointed out - it's more hit and miss in terms of quality.)

Off the top of my head - I've picked up the following CDs recently for a Euro or two (no more.)

Gordon Lightfoot - Gord's Gold
Camel - The Snow Goose
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (early Austrian pressing)
Sade - Diamond Life
REM - Eponymous (great sounding early compilation - much better SQ and better DR than another later collection I have)
Joe Jackson - Night & Day
Squeeze - Singles Collection
Randy Newman - Land of Dreams
Barclay James Harvest - Gone To Earth
Dire Straits - Communique (really fantastic sounding early German Vertigo "swirl" pressing
The Jam - Compact Snap (Greatest Hits collection)

In addition, I've picked up a bunch of those '60's '70s and '80s compilations - you know the type with titles like 'Drive Time', 'Soul Man' and New Romantic collections like 'Together In Electric Dreams' etc - purely for the car - fantastic stuff for near to nothing!

I'm a long time vinyl fan too - but now seriously thinking about investing in a new DAC rather than the planned cartridge upgrade!