The vinyl collecting thread...

Probably not a band most people care about here, but I've always been a fan of this band. This was the album they released independently just before signing with Atlantic Records/Sony and releasing their successful "Cool from the Wire" album in 1988. They were basically a local band from PA/NY before that. They relocated to Rochester, NY where I was attending college in the 80's, so were really into them and were psyched when they signed a major label contract.

syrus wrote:

Haven't seen one of those KILLEN (top left corner) albums in a while. I saw them live several times when I was attending college in Staten Island, NY, during the late 80s. Decent band. My friend bought that record @ one of their shows, and I dubbed a tape of it off of him, so I never had my own copy of it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

syrus wrote:

Haven't seen one of those KILLEN (top left corner) albums in a while. I saw them live once or twice when i was attending college in Staten Island, NY, during the late 80s. Decent band. My friend bought that record @ one of the shows, and I dubbed a tape of it off of him, so I never had my own copy of it.

man, one of my dreams is to talk to some of them. but they just seem disappeared( like tasmanian thylacines, guitarist's nickname,hahaha). years and years of endless research but no luck at all. and they had and t-shirts back then. i saw a chick with an original killen t-shirt in one of the KIT shows and i went berserk. do you have live stuff from them? any cuttings from magazines etc?any live photos, anything? did they produce some demos? i must have phoned to every phone i found in their neighbourhood. and never got a reply to my letters sent to p.o.box 606, staten island. just look their logo and understand the resemblance...."stricken by darkness, live by the night, stricken by darkness, taking the night..."

syrus wrote:

man, one of my dreams is to talk to some of them. but they just seem disappeared( like tasmanian thylacines, guitarist's nickname,hahaha). years and years of endless research but no luck at all. and they had and t-shirts back then. i saw a chick with an original killen t-shirt in one of the KIT shows and i went berserk. do you have live stuff from them? any cuttings from magazines etc?any live photos, anything? did they produce some demos? i must have phoned to every phone i found in their neighbourhood. and never got a reply to my letters sent to p.o.box 606, staten island. "

Haha, nah, I got nuthin of theirs anymore, not even the tape I dubbed off of my friend's LP! Sorry, no live stuff or T-shirts or clippings or anything ... no idea if they released any demos or other stuff besides that LP (which was actually a mini-LP if I'm not mistaken wasn't it? If memory serves it only had 5 or 6 songs on it, so it was more of an EP than a full album)...

I vaguely remember having an issue of a local music 'zine called "Staten Island ROCKS" or something stupid like that, which had an interview with Killen in it (probably picked it up at one of those shows) but that's long gone now...

Although I do still have a 2-song demo tape by a band called Supremacy, who opened for Killen at one of those shows, now that I think about it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

syrus wrote:

man, one of my dreams is to talk to some of them. but they just seem disappeared( like tasmanian thylacines, guitarist's nickname,hahaha). years and years of endless research but no luck at all. and they had and t-shirts back then. i saw a chick with an original killen t-shirt in one of the KIT shows and i went berserk. do you have live stuff from them? any cuttings from magazines etc?any live photos, anything? did they produce some demos? i must have phoned to every phone i found in their neighbourhood. and never got a reply to my letters sent to p.o.box 606, staten island. "

Haha, nah, I got nuthin of theirs anymore, not even the tape I dubbed off of my friend's LP! Sorry, no live stuff or T-shirts or clippings or anything ... no idea if they released anything other than that LP (which was actually a mini-LP if I'm not mistaken wasn't it? If memory serves it only had 5 or 6 songs on it, so it was more of an EP than a full album)...

I vaguely remember having an issue of a local music 'zine called "Staten Island ROCKS" or something stupid like that, which had an interview with Killen in it (probably picked it up at one of those shows) but that's long gone now...

nope it was a full length lp. 9 tracks. and only one ,rather mediocre, track compared to the other 8 monsters of steele. thanx for the info. you gave me a little hope for a moment but i'm used to the failure... i just wonder which pizza/macdonalds/ petrol station/etc gave them job after they disbanded,hehehe.....

syrus wrote:

nope it was a full length lp. 9 tracks. and only one ,rather mediocre, track compared to the other 8 monsters of steele. thanx for the info. you gave me a little hope for a moment but i'm used to the failure... i just wonder which pizza/macdonalds/ petrol station/etc gave them job after they disbanded,hehehe.....

I stand corrected, could've sworn it was just an EP, but then we're talking about a record I haven't seen a copy of in almost 20 years, haha.

Just for giggles I tried Googling the band and came up empty except for one listing at Encyclopedia Metallum and then some other band out of Los Angeles who are using the same name!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Just for giggles I tried Googling the band and came up empty except for one listing at Encyclopedia Metallum and then some other band out of Los Angeles who are using the same name!

Cmon Fred, I guarantee he already did the Google thing. You don't get into the Guild with only moderate searching techniques. Jeez!

yes, when i first saw it was listed for $150 back in 95-96 hahaha. but then i found a fool(from finland,hahaha) and i gave him a crappy death ss 7" and he gave me this. and from that era till now i'm searching for them. other generation i guess.o tempora o mores.... i bet ya that no one of them knows what is the internet "boom" hahaha.

spectrefate wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Just for giggles I tried Googling the band and came up empty except for one listing at Encyclopedia Metallum and then some other band out of Los Angeles who are using the same name!

Cmon Fred, I guarantee he already did the Google thing. You don't get into the Guild with only moderate searching techniques. Jeez!

man, you're underestimating me...jesus! i only got into internet stuff in 2004( and only the last 6 months i have that dsl connection, this happens when you live in a small village of 300 inhabitans in the arze of geography, although still traceable with gps)....how do you thing i used to find bands before? you can't imagine how many phones, adresses etc i have....many are still valid...and as for that killen lp, the only one i found was the guy who did the cover, 4-5 years ago, but he lost contacts with them...and the studio they did the recordings for the lp is long gone now...it's just a neverending passion...let me write you in free adaption(yes, my english is very poor) a saying from henkel(great romantic theoritician): he who loses his passion loses more than the one who is lost in his passion.....

take another one from arcane US steel vinyl...the guild provides for your amusement more later when i'm bored...

Don't take anything I say to heart, syrus. I admire your dedication. Keep it up!

Just curious Syrus...when's the last time you actually listened to that Killen LP? Cuz after our little chat about'em yesterday I got curious to hear'em again after all this time... went digging around the Net and found a download of the album (I don't consider that stealing cuz this album is long out of print and even the bootleg CDs of it that are circulating are going for $35 or $40 depending on where ya look, apparently), listened to it last night, and wow... it was pretty bad. Time has not been kind to that band/recording at all!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Just curious Syrus...when's the last time you actually listened to that Killen LP? Cuz after our little chat about'em yesterday I got curious to hear'em again after all this time... went digging around the Net and found a download of the album (I don't consider that stealing cuz this album is long out of print and even the bootleg CDs of it that are circulating are going for $35 or $40 depending on where ya look, apparently), listened to it last night, and wow... it was pretty bad. Time has not been kind to that band/recording at all!!

i listen to it every week. last time was yesterday. you were unlucky though. yesterday i sent that crappy bootleg( with well hidden cash in it of course) to a guy in italy for a record he got for me. don't get me wrong. i never paid for it. it came with one of the issues of the hellenic metal magazine "true metal"(this issue had 5 more bootleg cds-all 6+ the magazine 5 or 6 euros). the sound of it was so so crappy(it came from a tape that was made out from the original vinyl back then. mp3's came later,hehehe)...also you needed a magnifying glass to read the lyrics and everything was so blurred....better mp3s than that crap. if ya need the lyrics send me a pm and i'll provide a copy from the insert. there are 2 facts i know for sure. they needed a singer, they didn't find and thus the bassist did the vox( this info i got it from a greek friend who used to study in new york in mid 90's). i love his singing but it's not for everyone's taste. and if you consider the bad production(something that again leaves me stone cold if the tracks are killer) you can understand the fate of this lp. one of these lps that, you know, all the "metal gurus" from major "metal" magazines, record labels etc love to hate,hehehe....just look at their logo....so manowarish,hehehe....
the other fact or "mystery" if you like is that there's a sticker of their label put in the back cover..."victora" records...i never removed it to see what's under it...i'll do it if and when i'll score another copy....

syrus wrote:

for sure. they needed a singer, they didn't find and thus the bassist did the vox

You ain't kidding they needed a singer. The guy on the album sounds like John Gallagher (Raven) and Geddy Lee (Rush) had a love child, whose nuts were being nibbled on by rabid weasels during the recording process.

Screaming For a Love Child

UNCLE SAM - Heaven or Hollywood
The white sticker was originally placed on the shrinkwrap outside the cover. When I first purchased this record in '88 in NY, my copy had the sticker, which I carefully removed and placed on the front of a clear record sleeve. The copy I have now, doesn't have the sticker as seen here but I placed the sticker there anyhow in Photoshop so that I could display the cover here without offending too many people. The original vinyl pressing of Heaven or Hollywood on Skellar Records has the girl completely nude.

I'm still searching for a CD version of this album. The CD has the same girl, only with purple panties on.

Nice cover, ult! Shave that beaver, baby!

Recent acquisitions:

BLACK SABBATH - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (US version with lyric sheet)
FRIJID PINK - Frijid Pink
DEF LEPPARD - The Def Leppard EP (7 inch single - reissue w/ white label)
DEF LEPPARD - Wasted/Hello America (7 inch single w/ pic sleeve)

TrogDawn wrote:

Nice cover, ult! Shave that beaver, baby!

Recent acquisitions:

BLACK SABBATH - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (US version with lyric sheet)
FRIJID PINK - Frijid Pink
DEF LEPPARD - The Def Leppard EP (7 inch single - reissue w/ white label)
DEF LEPPARD - Wasted/Hello America (7 inch single w/ pic sleeve)

I hear the original cover was to have the naked girl on all fours sniffing a glove being shoved in her face by the band members. The record company wouldn't go for it, so this was the compromise.

There's a fine line between stupid and clever.

Here's some NJ metal for ya syrus!

Trog's Goodies:

BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid/Rat Salad (7")
BLACK SABBATH - We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll (NEMS)
PENTAGRAM - A Keg Full of Dynamite
TWISTED SISTER - I Am (I'm Me) (12" EP)
TWISTED SISTER - The Kids Are Back (12" EP)

and, one of my personal "holy grails"...

QUIET RIOT - Quiet Riot
(yep, the 1978 album with Randy Rhoads! I've wanted to own this one on vinyl since I was 15 years old. Now I have this one and Quiet Riot II both on vinyl. )

TrogDawn wrote:

DEF LEPPARD - The Def Leppard EP (7 inch single - reissue w/ white label)

Schweet!

New vinyl:
Speed 'n Spikes Vol II (Rumplestiltskin Grinder & ABSU/red vinyl)
DEF LEPPARD - The Def Leppard E.P. (Silver Vertigo label)
FOGHAT - Boogie Motel
URIAH HEEP - s/t
UFO - No Heavy Petting
UFO - No Place to Run
JUDAS PRIEST - Point of Entry (US Cover)
KISS - Asylum (w. better cover to replace my cutout copy)
TED NUGENT - Free-For-All (original pressing w/ photo insert)
DAMN YANKEES - s/t

In the mail today:

THIN LIZZY - New Day (reissue of 1971 EP on 7" vinyl)

TrogDawn wrote:

In the mail today:

THIN LIZZY - New Day (reissue of 1971 EP on 7" vinyl)

That's awesome!!!