The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter: FOUND!

I'm not sure if this topic belongs in the Collecting Tiki forum or here, but since it's mostly about music and not the awesome Witco or vintage mug I recently found, I decided to post the tale of my good fortune here.

I was rummaging through the stacks of music at PREX (The Princeton Record Exchange) today and, after almost walking out with nothing, I stumbled upon a used copy of Les Baxter's "The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter." Knowing the comp was out of print and pretty rare, I immediately took it to the sales counter and asked if I could inspect the discs, since the fatboy case was boxed in an oversized plastic security carton. Well, not only were the discs, and enclosed booklet, in mint condition, but the CD labels themselves sported a disclaimer that read:

"Licensed for promotional use. Not a sale. This CD cannot be transferred without consent of record company. Use or retention of this CD signifies acceptance of this license."

I guess that explains why everything was is such fantastic shape. It might as well have been fresh out of its shrink wrapping! Anyway, I paid the $11.99 sticker price, such small change for Exotica gold, and walked out of PREX an extremely satisfied customer.

I was so happy, in fact, that I returned to PREX a few hours later to snag the used copy of "The Exotic Sounds Of Martin Denny" for $9.99! I didn't initially pick it up because I already own quite a few of Martin Denny's Exotica LPs, not to mention the somewhat recently released comp "The Best Of Martin Denny's Exotica." However, I didn't know if/when I'd ever come across it again and besides, finding BOTH out of print comps on the same day, in identical mint condition, for so little money, is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I just couldn't let them slip through my fingers!

Did I hit the jackpot or what? :)

Congrats, but I hate to tell you this, it might be out-of-print in physical format but it's been available for download on iTunes for a while.

On 2010-04-03 21:32, JOHN-O wrote:
Congrats, but I hate to tell you this, it might be out-of-print in physical format but it's been available for download on iTunes for a while.

Thanks. :) Yeah, I knew it was available on iTunes and Amazon MP3, but I'm still a sucker for CDs and like to pick them up whenever I can. And besides, for a few bucks more than the digital download version of the comp, I got the actual product to hold in my hands. That's important to some collectors, and not so much to others. To each his own, right? :)

Congrats,
always nice to have the cd or LP of a release.
mp3s are just crappy compressed files, and they sound like it.
plus if your computer or Ipod dies, then you lost it.

The Martin Denny 2cd may be out of print,
But I still see new and used copies of it in cd stores.

Jeff(btd)

I agree with you, I like this album and the Denny's one. It's always nice to have the artwork and booklet than just the MP3s.

That's quite a score Deja!
That Lex Baxter comp is my all time fave exotica recording bar none. The Mark Ryden cover art is a real hoot (don't get that on i-Tunes). He also did the sister covers for the Denny and Gleason comps. IMO Capitol Records did a really great job on all of these compilations - too bad they're out of print now.

On 2010-04-05 00:22, virani wrote:
I agree with you, I like this album and the Denny's one. It's always nice to have the artwork and booklet than just the MP3s.

Not only that but online downloads tend to be highly compressed for faster downloads. . . which means distortion in the high range and drop-out in the low range.

So, better sounding music AND professionally printed artwork/booklets/tray liners ? CDs are the way to go for me as well.

-The Baron

[ Edited by: Baron von Tiki 2010-04-22 21:58 ]