Michael Jackson — Limited Edition 9 Singles Pack (red vinyl)

Nine singles, 18 songs on 18 sides, did I play them all? Damn straight. See the complete track listings below.

I won’t comment on Michael Jackson himself other to say that the song titles visible in this picture pretty much sum up his life. Everyone has their own definition of “enough.”

This package came out in 1983. I was working at a small chain record store a few years later when I saw a couple copies collecting dust in our seven inch singles bin and decided I must have it. How could I resist such a fantastic package, of songs that I like, printed on glorious red vinyl, with an employee discount? Well, I couldn’t.

Each sleeve and record was produced just for this set, “MJ1,” and they are numbered and labeled accordingly. Most songs are from the mega hit albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.”

MJ1-1:
1. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
2. I Can’t Help It

MJ1-2:
1. Off The Wall
2. Working Day And Night

MJ1-3:
1. Rock With You
2. Get On The Floor

MJ1-4:
1. She’s Out Of My Life
2. Push Me Away

MJ1-5:
1. The Girl Is Mine
2. Can’t Get Outta The Rain

MJ1-6:
1. Billie Jean
2. It’s The Falling In Love

MJ1-7:
1. Beat It
2. Burn This Disco Out

MJ1-8:
1. Wanna Be Startin’ Something’
2. The Jacksons – Rock With You – Live

MJ1-9:
1. Thriller
2. The Jacksons – Things I Do For You – Live

Naked Raygun — Vanilla Blue

• Artist: Naked Raygun
• Title: Vanilla Blue
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 7 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987? — Maybe when I was working at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA
• Keeper: Maybe

Christmas has made me so slack. We’re on the road now, but I played a buncha records and loaded up the pics right before we left. This one is Naked Raygun’s “Vanilla Blue.” For no particular reason I never really got into this band, but I like this song. I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say it’s interesting. The flipside is called “Slim” and it’s not so interesting. I think it’s just some samples of Slim Pickens from some old movies with some silly music backing it up. That’s three somes in one sentence y’all. Check out that sweet colored vinyl!

Various Artists — Alive and Kicking

Various Artists -- Alive and Kicking

• Artist: Various Artists
• Title: Alive and Kicking
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 7 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1985 – “Probably at a show…”
• Keeper: Yes

OK, that was a pathetically long lay off. Work gets in the way. We’re back with some more DC hardcore. Alive and Kicking is a six song, six artist 7 inch in cool milky clear vinyl. The bands are United Mutation, Gray Matter, Beefeater, Mission Impossible, Cereal Killer, and Marginal Man. I like pretty much all of it. Some of it is straight-up hardcore and some songs, like Beefeater’s “Wars in Space” with someone playing “out” on sax, are more art-edge punk.

And, no, this wasn’t put out by Dischord. It was released by WGNS Recordings and Metrozine. Mary thinks she got it at a show, but says she knew so many of the people in the bands that she may have bought it from one of the guys.