One Dollar Record Review - Paul McCartney's "Tug Of War"

[blueguitar]

Hi everyone

As someone with small kids who doesn't get out much, I've spent a lot of time at home listening to my stereo over the last few years. Maybe too much time. For my own enjoyment I have started going through all the cheap records I have bought over the years that I never got around to listening to. I decided to start a blog to review them, just to keep my brain active. I am always interested in reading about the actual sound of a vinyl record, so if anyone is interested here is what I wrote about "Tug Of War" by Paul McCartney.

One dollar albums will test the resolve of any record collector trying to restrain the boundaries of his or her ever expanding vinyl mountain. My collection is littered with them, audio artifacts that I have never listened to, had no true interest in, but acquired because it seemed such a shame to not buy it for less than a small coffee at Dunkin Donuts. It amazes me the records that you can buy for a buck at many used record stores, thrift stores and yard sales. Walk into Stereo Jacks in Cambridge with 20 dollars and you can get 17 (you have to pay tax!) classic rock/pop albums - Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Eddie Money, Carly Simon - the records that were produced and bought by the millions, only to be cast aside or sold for pennies when their feckless owners downsized to compact discs, or, even worse, decided that they had no need to actually own music anymore.


I pulled one of these sad little time capsules from the shelves last night when perusing my collection, an activity I equate to an archeological dig. “Tug Of War” by Paul McCartney. The sticker on the beat up cover proudly proclaims 1$, In Your Ear. I can’t remember buying it and certainly have never listened to it. It came out when I was in eighth grade with “Ebony And Ivory” littering the airwaves like pollen for months. I’m sure I bought it sometime between the ages of 35 and 45, both for nostalgia and the belief that anything Paul McCartney does has to be worth at least a dollar. I have all the Beatle albums and much of their solo work. This particular album I have always associated with the beginning of the end of Sir Paul’s commercial and artistic dominance. His last really big album, I think the last one to make it to number one on the US charts.

What does a dollar get you in terms of sound? It is common these days for reissued, remastered from the original analog tapes, pressed at the best presses, stamped on the purest, heaviest vinyl, marketed to the audiophile listener records to go for 30-60 dollars. I have quite a few of those. Let’s put this one dollar album on the table, this mass produced, thrown to the curb, anonymous pressing of unknown origin, kind of scuffed and unashamedly pop record, let loose from it’s inner sleeve to spin once again beneath the needle.  Moe here if you are interested! http://carl-cacho.com/blog/vinylave/c/7