"WORLD RECORD CATALOG" #1 (A/K/A list #97, FOR 2023) Frank Merrill/Saturday Night Records 848 Dodge Avenue, #PMB-112 Evanston IL 60202 (ALL mail goes here) fmerrilljr444@444gmail444.com [JUST REMOVE THE THREE "444"s and you will have my email. I do this to restrict "spambots" which may otherwise harvest this address. Supposedly it helps!] IMPORTANT NOTE: *THERE WILL BE NO RECORD LIST IN 2024!* I AM EXPECTING TO ISSUE MY NEXT LIST IN EARLY JANUARY 2025 (in the middle of winter, when it BELONGS), though that date is not set in stone. It could be as late as early February, which should still be early enough for me to plan the kind of spring travel that I REALLY like to do. This perpetual lateness IS NOT VIABLE, and this is coming out after the most-horrible-possible due date. (The 2022 Triple Whammy of an insanely deep record list, my email hacking in August, and the terrible learning curve for SELF-PRINTING my list, were not recoverable.) I realize that next year's list would be even worse-too-late, which cannot be done, and skipping the list should keep me from fighting these bad deadlines year after year. I also realized that I’ll be 77 in 2024. I’d better keep the year "clearer" so I can, God (and continued good health, and other factors) willing, TRAVEL WHILE I STILL CAN. If I did a 2024 list, 2025 would be yet another time-restricted hectic year, and indeed I’d likely become VERY sorry that I didn't keep 2024 wide-open. I don’t rule out unfathomable things happening in 2025 in the USA, even possibly to so much of a degree that "real traveling" becomes onerous, dangerous, or even impossible. Even in the case of, say, civil war, I should still be able to do a record list, but it may not be possible to travel recreationally. I do not want to take these chances, not to mention my age! I want to have a good burst of fun! IS THERE A POSSIBLE WAY YOU CAN ORDER *WITHOUT* MY PAPER LIST (in the future)? I JUST FOUND OUT that the guy who used to print my paper lists, every paper list that has ever existed since 1981, **HAS DIED** Therefore I have lost my formerly-easy method of having my list printed The labor of SELF-PRINTING my lists (which would cost me at least $15 PER LIST if professionally printed – NOT VIABLE!), which I NOW MUST DO, is major, and still costly (about $7 per list).It also requires a lot of work. I was hoping that my inability to reach him last year was a TEMPORARY issue – he called me much later and I told him his wife was refusing to let me talk to him, like he was on his death bed or something – maybe there was a LOT more than I knew. Having my paper list printed by somebody else may not HAPPEN AGAIN – so it appears I must forever print them myself. (There is a chance a place elsewhere in Illinois will quote me a good enough price for THIS LIST – I DID just find out they can do printing quickly without delaying me much. The preparation (to get the master sheets to print from) is harder than previously just printing out master sheets to send to my printing guy. I CAN use the same people who made the proofs in 2022, but I need to email however many PDF’s are needed (156 last year) and that all takes time! I am asking more for later than for 2023, but if you’re able to forgo a paper list, PLEASE consider doing so. Are you able to print out, at home, the sections you need, from my website documents? I’d be so thankful. The fewer lists I need to print out, with an already-super-overloaded work schedule, the better. (If I do get lucky, as mentioned, this may still get printed professionally, saving me a ton of time.) Thank you for what you’re able to do, to help me on this! 11:46PM, Monday night, 27 August 2023 - At last, the typing begins! As you can probably guess, this is far too late in the year for me to be doing this, and I can only hope that I can "rescue" some resemblance of an East Coast trip later this fall. It will be too late to go to Maine, dammit, but I hope I can at least get to southern New England in addition to the PA-NJ-southern NY area. I have FINALLY vacated my property in Macomb (on 06 APRIL), though there is still stuff in storage there. That's four hours southwest of Chicago, where I now live full time (in the city, despite a suburban address above). I use a remote address because my place has the tiniest of all possible mailboxes, something like 3" by 4" which fills up very easily, especially with those oversized postcards that political candidates and card dealerships, etc. like to send. Also, my Zip Code loses mail! Micro-mailboxes are very common in high-rise buildings like where I am, and four or five of those postcards can mess it up. A number of things caused delays which [AGAIN] made it more than a year between lists, but this time no last-minute emergency, for the first time since 2019. 2020 and 2021 had mailing address woes and complications, and 2022 was when my email got hacked just before my list and two weeks swirled down the drain to deal with the thousands of extra emails I had to send, and the time spent needing to self-print my list for 100+ people. Also, just living in Chicago, causes a lot of unaccustomed delays. There are almost endless things here than I want to do so I ration them extremely strictly and they still take time. Some kind of cool festival nearly every weekend in "the warm months" (though so far I haven't found a good site to know about these, without them throwing a tsunami of 1,700 events for me to wade through, or such). There are a number of social things that beckon, including Scrabble nearly every Sunday being available - I'm a rather formidable player averaging around 350 per two-person game. There are also events for men, and I'm in a very easy location to reach which means that friends, connections, etc. are often coming through town and they look me up, there are great restaurants to try (which always takes longer than cooking)...in July I found a marvelous Venezuelan restaurant in the Wrigleyville neighborhood (near the Cubs), for example. Another time-sink is ALL ON ME and nobody else: rather than wait for sedentary-related old age issues start, I've taken up walking, done on most days. I am averaging more than two miles per day. 30 June was my first day doing this, and I have now charted about 161 miles of walking - yes, I'm keeping a walking diary. (This total is a “late insert” as of 11 September.) I can go out and walk, and actually FEEL GOOD about where I am. There's such a variety of "new streets to explore" and all. It breaks down to 3/4 in Chicago, and nearly all else in Evanston. It's cool I can walk two miles west, stand on the corner, and hear numerous conversations drift by - ALMOST NEVER in English. That area is mostly south Asian and Middle Eastern, in the West Ridge neighborhood which is considered the most diverse area of the City. I'm definitely in love with Chicago, and in all my years it's the first place I've ever been happy with, in all obvious respects, with the exception of living in Ann Arbor going to college in the 60s! There are few times in my life I’ve been AS active as I tend to be nowadays, and I’m old. LIST PREVIEW, and reorganizing. Yes, it's another busy year since my 2022 list. I’m relieved this list won't be as insane as my last one - UNLESS you buy PUNK! I went through a few thousand of those since last list, and those may be the most difficult genre to process because sometimes the "presentation" is so confusing that even just figuring out who the artists are, can be challenging - let alone label, song titles, etc. Being punk, the artist name can sound more like a song title than the song titles do. Collectors of course know and accept these challenges, lol. Seriously - my punk section will be full of $20 and $100, etc. records almost like the Nonchart was loaded with similarly-cool girl groups (including northern soul stuff) in 2022. The punk section is likely to be larger than the previously-existing punk list, so be prepared! (In the end, I will merge anything remaining into the classic Punk document.) The Nonchart section this year, though one of the best out there, is more like what you have come to expect from me over the years...but, in one respect, very different than anything before. You will see an unprecedented quantity of IMPORTS and other records with picture sleeves! I am sure that this list will complete SHATTER any previous record I’ve ever had for both IMPORTS, and for RECORDS WITH PICTURE SLEEVES. This list will ABSOLUTELY shatter any previous tally for the number of DIFFERENT LABELS listed – no other list has even been close to this one! My list won't quite look like records from a dealer table in Utrecht, though there ARE a lot of non-USA records. Those interested in the exotic will find an entire one-time-only section of records from "EVERYWHERE" (leading to the title of this list) - I decided to give up my collection of records from "every country that I could possibly find 45s from". So, yes, a lot of African and Asian stuff, as well as the Americas and Europe. Some countries I had were "beaters" and aren't listed in here. I also threw in large amounts of both ANSWER RECORDS and BASEBALL RECORDS, in the Answer and Sports subsections in Novelty. I've added about one thousand titles to the 4i (Hot 100, Bubbling Under, Soul - 40% discount) document, which will appear just enough on my list to "round out" list space, but in full A to Z on the website version. The new Charted section is always worth looking at! As usual, good amounts of soul, Fifties and later, doowop, etc. will appear; this section should not be ignored! Readers will note that, other than the Nonchart section still being listed first, I've realigned the alphanumeric designations of the documents, though the "4i" document is so well-known that it will retain that name. Now, “i” belongs to NOVELTY, which is "7i" this year. Lastly, I have changed the "Part Two" documents which host records I'm keeping (at 40% discount) from Lists 93, 94, 95, 96. Formerly documents for each list were separate ones. Now, there is (for example) ONE document for Nonchart, which has subsections for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 records. This has removed a lot of clutter from my webpage (though it doesn't affect the paper list, because the paper list doesn't include any Part Two documents, except for some part of 4i). RECORDS SOURCED FOR THIS LIST. Most of what appears this year comes from records I've had for decades. The largest amount of records from "outside" are about 700 which originated from a customer who died, and I bought from his widow. She is also severely in mourning which is unlikely to end any time soon, though he died in 2020 (not from COVID, but cancer). I had to make sure the process was finished before this list, because carrying it over would have gotten really complicated. I am visiting her as often as I can, a few times a year, and my visits are almost the only times she's laughed since late 2017, and her relatives are almost nowhere to be found. I was there on 18 August and we did manage to coordinate with her son and his wife, and after years of trying, this time we finally found "the perfect fish fry" with lake perch (my favorite fish). The records from her included a LOT of imports. Other records came from one of my two huge West Coast trips. What have I been up to in the past year? OK...HEALTH. No new issues have come up, other than spraining a thumb when I tripped on a raised sidewalk and fell. (The hazards of hiking at night...) Oh, it could've been worse. MUCH worse. I'm 76 years old, after all. Nothing else has changed, and having become more active the past eight weeks should be a good thing. The thumb has entirely returned to what it was prior. MOVING IS [90%] DONE. Interesting that, now that I have finally moved away from Macomb IL full time, I am actually visiting my friends there more often than I was when I was living there! It sounds strange, but I knew that was very likely, because now when I go there I'm not busy with anything involving records or other home stuff. Some of the records in storage will eventually come up, but it's not anything that I won't be able to handle. What I've done already is much more rigorous. I got rid of my property there on 06 April, which was a huge relief. The buyer is tearing the house down because it's beyond repair, as I knew the amount of effort to deal with hundreds (or worse) of hours of contractors to fix almost everything, would have taken so much time that I may have never been able to finish removing myself from the property. What’s left to be moved, there is NO deadline, because it’s offsite in storage, though the sooner I no longer have storage in Macomb, the more money I save. TRAVELS - FALL SOUTHWESTERN TRIP. More than 6,000 miles in only 22 days, which was pretty hectic, but my being accustomed to driving huge distances is still intact and I can do so without much stress or such. West of the Rockies, I was north of Interstate 40 only to go to Las Vegas. Though the trip had a Los Angeles to San Diego component, there was NO duplication or overlap between anything on this trip (other than some routes) and my 2023 trip which also included that part of California. I visited my friend Rhett in Oklahoma City, who is a butcher as an occupation, owning the most-respected shop in the city, selling strictly upscale meats. This was only for an evening, and I was there (nearly 900 miles away) less than 24 hours after leaving Chicago, and including a stop in Macomb! We actually spent Thanksgiving together as planned, and I slept there, hanging out at the meat shop with him all day until dinner at a great place for chicken-fried steak. Not much later I was in Flagstaff visiting a friend - after, in Albuquerque, not finding a friend (for whom I fear the worst, as she would be about 88 years old). Flagstaff is a well-kept secret as a good "foodie oasis" along I-40. Further down the road in Las Vegas, I visited a customer in the evening (had never met before), after a rather wild afternoon at Omega Mart, which is a strange supermarket-themed interactive art installation in "Area 15" because it's next to the Interstate. If I may say so, it's a funhouse-on-crack for adults, and must be seen if you like the...well, BIZARRE. Secret passages, light shows, arcane mechanical stuff, fake grocery products (such as Tooth Slime and Goat Pus), outsider art...and proof that I don't have any nasty tendencies from flashing lights, because I certainly got a mega-dose of them. There are other installations (from Meow Wolf) in Santa Fe and Denver that I want to see. I visited a number of friends in southern California, as far out as Santa Barbara. Another very fascinating stop was Slab City, near Niland, which is near the Salton Sea, in far southeast California. I was only there for about two hours, because being around some coughing people scared me off. Though my COVID bout in May 2022 was trivial, I don't want it again. Slab City is an off-the-grid settlement of free spirits, nonconformists, squatters, and people who simply want to hide. Hardcore desert people are definitely an interesting breed. A very big surprise is that, while I was there, I felt accepted. People there are living in battered trailers, vehicles, old schoolbuses, plywood shacks...any electricity there is from generators only. The "slabs" are left over from some sort of military base from the War, and officially everybody there is a squatter, but the government and the state are fine with it because nobody there is in anybody else's way. It's basically a homeless community with "better accommodations". I felt comfortable there, and I was received well by those I talked to. It blew my mind, though, that when I decided to eat at what is surely the most obscure restaurant in the United States, only offering several sandwich choices (and not even fries), I had what I actually believe are the best hot dogs I ever had when "out"! Just as I like them, griddled with some genuine charring and crispiness, yum!! I was on the way back home then, and this stop was on 07 December. I saw friends (a family) in Scottsdale, on the way to Texas before returning home. I saw my friend there first when I joined a Dallas tour group he took around on a bus - his job and he loves it! That evening I followed him home to Hillsboro and Monday he showed me another great chicken fried steak (now the best one I personally know about in Texas). (I wish I had had time to continue to Houston...) This trip was originally supposed to run 42 to 47 days in ONE huge sweep, but the lateness of my 2022 list killed that. 2023 WESTERN TRIP a/k/a the "I LOST MY SHIRT IN WATERTOWN, SOUTH DAKOTA" TRIP. (You'll see...) This trip was wonderful, even with inclusion of one day (28 April) which was insanely overcommitted, and I aced it. The trip started with me holed up in San Diego for five nights, with a guy in Bonita bringing over his huge collection of radio station charts, allowing me to go through and buy anything that I needed. I think 318 was the count of what I entirely "needed" which is legendary and nearly unique. (Consider that if I get ten needed ones in a year, that’s a REALLY BIG DEAL.) He also had some cool records and stuff, including the rare sleeves listed in Nonchart ("Dandelion" and such). Then came the 28th: craziness!!! A Friday, no less, which tends to make traffic worse. Because I had stayed in National City, first I drove through the length of metropolitan San Diego, then the length of metropolitan Orange County and Los Angeles to Santa Clarita, to go to Magic Mountain and ride roller coasters! I was clearly the oldest person I could spot - not even sure if I saw anybody else who was even 60. This involved a couple miles of walking, including a faraway parking space, all with 87 degrees and sun (YECCH). Ninety minutes after the last roller coaster, I was nude-cuddling for two hours with somebody really cool, ENTIRELY platonic because I'm post-gay, which is the ULTIMATE contrast to roller coasters 90 minutes earlier. I ended the night in Riverside at a motel...so, I drove all the way through urban/suburban San Diego through Los Angeles, then again through all of Los Angeles, and some grueling walking at Magic Mountain. Wow. I visited several friends in the Inland Empire (HI GREGG! - with whom I took a good hike with maybe 600 feet elevation gain). From there to Porterville, staying the night that segued into May...so here's 01 May. A surreal happening. My plan was to head to the Sierra Nevada and look for a trail with true elevation gain (800 feet or so?). But up in the foothills I noticed my gas mileage went all-to-hell (with the climbing and the curves), putting me in danger of running out of gas. I realized I'd better ask somebody if I was close to gas anywhere. (I'll jump ahead and say that I did successfully gas up, and it wasn't even a nosebleed price, but I don't want to know how close to empty I was!) I was at about 4000 feet, and I pulled off the side of the road. I saw what I thought was a driveway, and I started walking...then I noticed a house. And a pickup truck parked. I knocked on the door, and a booming voice said "Come on in!". I'll say that California doesn't have front license plates, so some vehicles put alternative plates on the front. I looked at the front of his truck, as I was walking in, and indeed he had some kind of plate there. Stop RIGHT HERE, and see if you can GUESS correctly! (I actually did have a friend get it on his first guess.) What was it? A...Confederate...flag...plate. Yikes! My thoughts: "I KNOW that I'm walking in, using my feet. Will I be walking out on my feet? Or is he gonna feed me to the bears?" And...WE HAD THE MOST INCREDIBLE AND DELIGHTFUL 90-MINUTE CONVERSATION ABOUT EVERYTHING! OK, everything but politics - that wasn't going to go anywhere good, lol. This guy didn't seem angry about anything at all, contrasting the common wisdom about people who support Trump, etc. He climbed Mt. Whitney years ago, he still hikes, he still hunts, he still chops his own wood. Consider all this, and here's the kicker: this guy is 87 years old!!! When I left, I mentioned something like our politics probably being polar opposites, but I couldn't overstate how much I enjoyed the conversation, and he chose to give his contact information to me *AFTER* I'd outed myself as a liberal. I'm not going to forget this any time soon. I spent the evening and stayed at a friend's in Fresno that evening/night, and the next day I was headed to San Francisco to visit and stay with Jello Biafra for a few days, one of the most fun people there is (along with his girlfriend who came across the Bay to hang when she could). We spent a couple of the evenings at punk concerts - my personal highlight of them all was Freak Accident, with Supersucker a close second. (We had some quality hangtime with Supersucker afterward.) There were some audio issues the second night, basically killing the guitars from the mix, but the sincerity of the performances reigned. Near the end of my visit was a Giants game on Saturday (the 6th - beating The Brewers 4-1), followed by a great meal at an Indonesian restaurant. (I think I liked the food a little more than they did, lol...) This was punctuated by hopping into Marin County to visit Josh in Mill Valley (a customer), and we tried to go to the top of Mount Tam for a view, but fog and rain didn't cooperate. I visited Warren and Sally in the Berkeley hills (a former customer and long-time friend), and at last I managed to get a picture of the "coolest" door in the world, lol. I visited Christine in Concord on the way north, just after leaving Warren’s – I met her years ago when she worked at a restaurant in Berkeley and she lived in Oakland. The next night I made it all the way to Seaside, Oregon - with a stop at Cedar Creek Falls in Dunsmuir CA on the way. Incredible trail that drops perhaps 200 feet to the Sacramento River, with a walk-behind-the-falls on the way, nature at its best. Tuesday I was going through records in Seaside. This is a friend-for-decades, not in the "record loop" at all, but stuff left over from his partner's death about twenty years ago. I needed to "resolve" what was there BEFORE doing my stuff around Medford, so the 700+ miles of backtracking was required, so I could be there and already KNOW whether I was spending $500 of $40,000 on records. It was way on the low end of that range, because (what I didn't realize) my friend's musical preferences are Big Band and easy listening, so it was barren, though enough "accidental stuff" to make it a good stop. Besides buying some records around Medford to spice up this list, I made sure I could attend a PLATTER PARTY, which is something I always plan my trips through southern Oregon for. I forgot to bring "guess the mystery artist" records (such as "Sweeter Than Sugar" by Ronnie Dove), which I've gained strong notoriety for among this group, so Lloyd Davis was able to supply enough good mysteries to stump people there, and I tossed in a couple non-mystery records from earlier in the trip. This has long been one of my favorite stops in the West, and these parties have gone on since the 1990s, though they're now once every two weeks instead of weekly. A lot of very fun guys there and, I've said it before, but the Ashland-Medford-Grants Pass area is absolute FANTASY for having such a major cluster of pretty-hardcore record people. Of course I'm including John Tefteller (who is the world's top source of truly-rare records of all speeds), but this group is amazing, and some of the walls-of-picture-sleeves some of these guys have...amazing. It's also amazing that, by and large, the wives are supportive of the hobby. I don't know anywhere else that's like this, though John Ritchie in Milwaukie comes from the same cloth. I later visited the Ritchies, preceded by the Clarks in Redmond OR, and I even had time to return to the Coast afterward to visit a friend in Tillamook. By the time I left Oregon, my time-schedule was running short, because I wanted to be in Salt Lake City on the 21st. I saw a cousin in Seattle (well, in Renton, at a track-and-field meet that he was a coach at), and Ken a customer in Everett for a good amount of time, and as for my Seattle friends one was in London and the other I couldn't find (I fear his health). So, strangely, EVERYTHING that I did "in Seattle" was in the suburbs. Leaving the area, I started "exploring" towns and cities along the way. First was Toppenish, which is on the Yakama (not misspelled) Indian Reservation, where I bought a couple fun things, including a metalwork horse ridden by a forlorn and exhausted Indian (after a battle) - very powerful imagery. Next destination was The Dalles, back into Oregon, to have a splendid time going through the National Neon Sign Museum (recommended!), and down the road a stop in Walla Walla that turned into almost 24 hours. THAT place...hands-down, was the "gorgeous town" winner of my entire trip. It's not very cosmopolitan (even Asian food is scarce), but extremely attractive, tons of sidewalk dining, good amounts of trees downtown, and ULTRA-heavy winery country. There are like 20 wineries in that town! I did my first-ever wine "flight" (tasting menu) there, which was preceded by my first-ever beer "flight" in Grants Pass (Weekend Beer Company, with Brad and Adrienne)...two utterly delightful places! Some great fun conversations in Walla Walla...I ate in Lewiston, Idaho on Friday night (another interesting town). I stayed there and started heading to Salt Lake City, like 750 miles away. (Those not accustomed to the West, distances can be truly deceptive.) Saturday night was a good meal in McCall, and stayed in Mountain Home, and I got to SLC by 2PM as intended, which was to go to a male-and-female platonic cuddling event. Next day was a morning walk in Idaho Falls, which is a city I always found to be hopelessly meh, but some good changes are in the air! Probably due to Californians, etc. moving to Idaho - I mean, though it's not my thing AT ALL, can a town that has an ESCAPE ROOM be all that bad? I got into Butte (OK, get your mind out of the gutter, lol) late in the afternoon, and did some aggressive hiking there, later afternoon - from the lower part of town, to the crest of downtown. Anybody who knows Butte, knows that it's SERIOUSLY hilly, with substantial elevation gain. I settled in for a meal at Sparky's Garage, getting a truly fabulous chicken-fried steak (a favorite comfort food to me, now, for nearly half a century). Theirs was seriously good, probably the best I've ever had outside of Texas, and indeed on a par with, probably, the Hillsboro TX one five months earlier. In general I've found food in Montana to be GREAT, including what I thought of as the best ribs ever in Billings in 2014, and in many ways Montana is probably my favorite "red state". I made it to Red Lodge that night. (There were a LOT of 400 and 500 mile driving days on this trip.) I walked the entire town the following day, and drove to Redfield SD (another long one). Then, I got to Watertown SD, the namesake for this trip. After a lot of walking around, heading back to my car, I saw a storefront with a sandwich board in front saying something like "Come in and feel and share the good energy". So, I did...walked around a few minutes...walked to the cash register and I told her I was doing what the sign said. HER: "Would you take $50 for your shirt?" Um - wow, THAT'S random...after I could catch my breath (we were both laughing), I agreed...so, yes, I lost my shirt in Watertown, South Dakota. This is a place with tarot cards, psychic readings, astrology, herbs, reiki...just a very fun place in all respects. She even bought my lunch. She friended me on Facebook. I seriously need to go back to visit, not to mention that Watertown is a nice town. ALL of these towns that I explored at some length (eight, including Lewiston ID but I didn't explore McCall) were pretty cool, despite some hints of decline in Butte. That evening I was in Minneapolis, staying over with a transgendered friend who I last saw years ago before the conversion from male to female. The next day I was in Wisconsin visiting the same widow that I've gotten records from, and she always appreciates how much I care and give her real emotional support. After that, ended perhaps the most-active (judged by amount of activity-per-day) megatrip that I've ever taken, this one covering 37 days and 9,444 miles. OTHER THAN THESE TRAVELS, I've continued to go to Scrabble games on most weekends (I'm a formidable player, averaging about 360), and various cuddling and touch events (which are all platonic and not arousing for me, “seNSual and eXotic”, even the sexually-tinged ones), a few friends passing through Chicago and visiting, seeing a couple friends here in Chicago and in Evanston, occasional trips to Macomb IL where now I'm seeing my friends there much more often than when I lived there! That's strange, but I'm not at all surprised. That tendency has been true most of my life. And, yes, THE WALKING! I am continuing that, even as I’ve “blacked out” almost everything else while in this typing-and-soon-printing phase. That's so out-of-character for me, but something I needed to start. I last walked regularly in *1969* in Ann Arbor, Michigan! I plan to go to storytelling events again, now that the "worst" of moving is entirely past. What remains is trivial in comparison. Being in Chicago in the summertime is glorious in this lake micro-climate. I've missed too many festivals this year due to the lateness of this list, but with NO 2024 LIST I'm hoping to take full advantage of such things, and 2024 may become my heaviest-traveled year since at least 2010 (the year with three mega-trips), or even 1986 (the year of the Alaska trip, equivalent to three mega-trips). Outside of mega-trips, the farthest I’ve traveled since last year’s list was southeastern Illinois, Macomb, Indianapolis. I don't discuss politics much on here anymore, because it's gotten so incredibly divisive, but my thoughts have generally been in stasis for decades now, no matter how much of the media (or even "which side") I devour. My last major changes were during 1989-1990, and I still feel that an "America" (not a geographic designation, but a “way of life”) that offers equal opportunities to all, an overhaul of the healthcare system (which isn't going to happen), voting hurdles and Gerrymandering falling, a truly free press, some real energy/climate goals (electric cars aren’t an end-all and be-all), and the death of political intimidation, is what we really need. The USA is the only “western” country in the world with a falling life expectancy, or at least has recently been. I hope, and I say this to everybody who sees this part of the list, that I'm reaching you in a better state of affairs and life and health, than whatever your status was exactly one year ago today. That is my wish, and my hopes that you are now even closer to achieving your loftiest dreams and goals. Yes - this is love. FRIENDS, FAMILY, ETC. - As mentioned, I’ve still had no time at all to meet a number of people locally, who I want to meet – which even includes a customer or two within WALKING DISTANCE from here. Over the past year I notice more friends and acquaintances dying that before – including my 79 year old SISTER on 24 June this year. There was no service, so I didn’t go to Florida for this. A handful of friends have passed through Chicago and visited, and I’ve had a couple “locals” come by as well . I believe I've reached the end of my ramblings - OUT OF NECESSITY - I really need to get to work now, and TYPE THE LIST! TABLE OF CONTENTS, ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS , TIPS, SUGGESTIONS for this list: MINIMUM ORDER $10, PLEASE. TABLE OF CONTENTS This list is LOADED!!! **This duplicates the Part One website list of documents.** HUGE NONCHART SECTION! – Rock and roll, girl groups, northern soul, funk, gospel, and more Picture-Sleeved and Import records than I have ever listed. This will be a FULL-SIZED Nonchart list! I put far more work into these lists than in the past. Nowadays I play most items, other than some self-evident stuff (if I see enough consistent Popsike pricing and descriptions that I feel I can rely on them). I can guarantee that you’ll have fun in this section! AMAZING NEW PUNK LIST! – This should more than double all punk records I currently have listed. I’ve put some amazing stuff together! Whatever remains at the end, will be merged with the “main” PUNK document, which DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE PAPER LIST, and which is shown near the bottom of PART ONE on the website list. MISCELLANEOUS, SPOKEN WORD, ADVERTISING, ANNOUNCEMENTS, LOCAL/REGIONAL “PRIDE” SONGS! You’ll see stuff like movie commercials, sports narrations, songs praising small towns or large cities (or regions), promotions and advertising, interviews, and some various and sundry stuff. THIS MAY NOT APPEAR ON THIS LIST. UNUSUAL FOREIGN ITEMS! [NEW SECTION] – This section will appear ONLY ONCE, EVER. This will include two parts: items from, mostly, “UNUSUAL” countries – then, FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS of major Billboard hits (mostly USA pressings). I finally decided to abandon collecting “one record from every possible country” so you will see some rather unusual stuff from the Caribbean, Africa, etc. in here. This is even more than the “sprinkling” of this material that I listed in 2020 or 2021. There are a number of countries I had, that aren’t listed here, because I kept a country even if unplayable. COUNTRY AND WESTERN—You will see a LOT of Fifties, and definitely you’ll have a good time here. This section is around the ordinary size. Those who use the website instead of the paper list will have access to MANY MORE than I have here. HORROR, MONSTERS, HALLOWEEN – HAVE FUN!! This section includes both newly-acquired stuff, and ones carried forward. I do this same thing with all other sections. WAR, MILITARY, TROOPS (VIET NAM etc., COLD WAR, VARIOUS CIVIL WARS, WATERGATE, PATRIOTIC FOR U.S.A. AND OTHER COUNTRIES, ETC. – There has been enough proven interest in these, that I’ll keep doing this section. Also NOTE that I’ve added PATRIOTIC records to this section, because of strong crossover interest with WAR topics.. EMPTY PICTURE SLEEVES – There’s some GREAT STUFF this year. This is part of the deluge that I’ve promised during nearly this entire millennium now. Beatles and Elvis Presley sections are sizable again. MOVIES, TV, SHOWS AND PERSONALITIES--Not a very big section this time, though there’s more than last year. I still haven’t concentrated on this genre recently. RADIO COMMERECIALS FOR MOVIES are now listed in MISCELLANEOUS! POP, EASY LISTENING JAZZ, NON-ROCK - Most of these, now, are prior items, reduced in price, and some added items. NOVELTY AND TOPICAL (ALL TYPES)—HUGE SECTION This is a large section, though not at all as large as some in the past.. Collectors of this genre should have fun, as usual. CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAYS—This section is somewhat larger than usual. I continue to add items that were formerly part of my personal collection. BILLBOARD CHARTED HITS *HOT 100, SOUL/R&B, BUBBLING UNDER* - You should ALL look! This is A GREAT ASSORTMENT, with some surprising rare records that actually charted, especially with the SOUL/R&B and BUBBLING UNDER Charts. I don’t have AS MUCH Bubbling Under as in the past, but enough for you to still have a lot of fun. BILLBOARD CHARTED HITS (Hot 100, R&B. Bubbling Under) AT 40% DISCOUNT. SURELY look! You read that right. The section will BEGIN WHERE I stopped with the alphabet in 2022, and it will end when I finish a sheet. These aren’t really items I generally list, but It certainly “beats” leaving part of the last page blank. You should consider that whatever alphabet I’ve presented here, it goes FROM A TO Z on my website, so those who use my website will see THOUSANDS of items that will not appear on PAPER, now or in the future. If you order from this section, ADD UP what you order here, and deduct 40%. Please note that WEBSITE and PAPER LIST customers have exactly the same advantages and disadvantages, other than the WEBSITE having access to thousands of additional titles. I strive for fairness, and EQUAL chances for non-computer buyers. The website is a GREAT substitute for the small print on the paper list! Also note that the website can show last-minute corrections and such. If I don’t have an email address for you, you should send it to me (if you have one), so that I can contact you quickly if necessary. QUESTIONS? Email me to the link shown at the top and, also, it will HELP all of us if I get the overseas orders sooner. Using email if at all possible, is ESSENTIAL for OVERSEAS orders! Though mail slowdowns are no longer as catastrophic as they were during 2020, letters can still be slowed down and received TOO LATE to consider. *ORDERING TIMETABLES* PLEASE PLEASE, send your order as early as possible. Here are latest timetable estimates: PRIORITY REQUESTS: I may be UNABLE to help as easily after 12 OCTOBER. Records get VERY buried, this late! OVERBIDDING (soul and popcorn only, please!): After 12 OCTOBER, please DO NOT SEND new overbids please. HOPING TO HAVE PREPAID USA ORDERS UP TO DATE: I’m estimating 21 to 26 OCTOBER at this point. CHARGE AND SHIP OVERSEAS CREDIT CARD ORDERS: hopefully finishing by 30 OCTOBER. NOTIFYING “PART-PAID” USA ORDERS **AND** NON-CREDIT-CARD OVERSEAS: Hoping for end of OCTOBER. PLEASE try to do what you can so that all of my work doesn’t “PILE UP” at the last moment. Mistakes and other such things become far more possible on later orders as well. TARDY ORDERS will be accepted, but logistics could delay them for many weeks, and priorities/overbids may become entirely useless. Please try to order early. Thank you so very much! NO PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FROM USA - all funds need to be sent by POSTAL MAIL. U. S. A. orders MUST be prepaid (ALL OR PARTIALLY), I prefer check or M.O. rather than cash Anything deviation from these methods, makes mistakes FAR too easy for me to make. PayPal and Credit Card in USA are “insanely messy” for me, not to mention the fees, but checks are FREE. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ABBREVIATIONS BEING USED ON THIS LIST: SAMPLE LISTING: MEL OTT: dracula 666dj [m- PS] – don’t steal my bat! mono/stereo vg sol-b WARP (2 Gram) BID//MIN:10 midt Northern Instr. FORMAT: ARTIST; release info/#; PIC. SLEEVE (IF ANY); titles; grades-and-blemishes; PRICE (no $ sign); descriptions/notes WHAT THE ABOVE EXAMPLE SAYS: Flip is the same title. (Old “carryover” listings might instead show it as “steal my bat!”/same. I now try to be more specific.) Record is graded VG [Very Good], sticker on label. Warp should play OK with 2 grams of tracking; BID at least $10 on this. It’s a midtempo Northern soul Instrumental. This Bubbled Under in Billboard. GG – Girl Group: A VERY common abbreviation on List #96, and probably for a year or more into the future as unsold records carry over to subsequent lists. I have acquired one of the largest accumulation of Girl Group records in the history of the world. PS – record has a PICTURE SLEEVE, graded as shown. If it’s a TITLE SLEEVE (or SLV), that will be fully spelled out. WARP (Play OK) -or- WARP(x grams) Record is warped. “Play OK” it means that it did not “jump” at 1½ grams tracking that I use. If a weight is shown, THAT’S THE WEIGHT AS WHICH THE SKIPPING OR STICKING STOPPED for me. wol = Writing On the Label sol = Sticker On label tol = Tape On label xol = “X” or “XX” on... #ol = Number On Label NOTE: BEGINNING IN 2021 and carried over, I show which side is defaced…so “sol-b” means sticker on the flip side label. coh = “CUT OUT HOLE” or bb hole in label (if the PS also has a coh, that will also be shown separately) dj = Disc Jockey or “Promotional” copy. (THERE ARE ALWAYS *MANY* OF THESE ON MY LISTS…) BID//MIN: xx --These are BID, not set sale items. Please send a bid at the minimum or higher, if you want any of these. IMPORTANT NOTE: “BID” IS A MAJOR LABOR-SAVING DEVICE FOR ME AND YOU, these are items which I think have the potential to “go crazy,” or which I don’t feel I can price very well. Many of these “BID” items won’t show up on my lists again, so it’s usually now or never. “BID” is for hard-to-price stuff, and also to avoid big “PRIORITY” battles. THESE BID ITEMS DO NOT DELAY ANYBODY’S ORDER IN ANY WAY, as BIDS “resolve” at the very same time that I can resolve other ordering complexities. . METHODS OF LISTING TITLES: don’t steal my bat!/same (OR, SINCE 2020: mono/stereo, or…) SAME TITLE ON BOTH SIDES don’t steal my bat!/going going gone THIS IS A RECORD WITH A DIFFERENT FLIP SIDE TITLE (which is most typical) don’t steal my bat!/you stink/pop my zits +2 RECORD WITH 3 OR MORE TITLES (this example has 5 titles.) don’t steal my bat!///TY COBB wonderland by night (TRIPLE SLASH MARKS) Different artist on flip; see artist names! don’t steal my bat!// m- wol 5 sometimes I won’t list the flip title, if I need to save space or it’s not “worth” listing.. MUSIC DESCRIPTIONS – R&R = rock and roll R&B = rhythm and blues c&w = country and western RAB = rockabilly [words in single brackets] = I consider input from Popsike or prior seller for this description in the brackets. No time to play so many! Inst, Instr, Instru = Instrumental N., Nor. = Northern Soul (usually I’ll spell it out) sl, ms, midt, mf, = TEMPO/SPEED of the music (slow, midslow, midtempo, midfast, fast) (sl is RARE, and “fa” now phased out) NOTE: For ergonomic reasons, I’m typing on a computer that won’t alert me on “midt”: so, rarely, midt shows as “mid” instead! TIMETABLE FOR THIS LIST: The above dates are approximate, but I can keep people waiting ONLY “so” long, until the waiting becomes discouraging for everybody. I also consider my customers WHO DO NOT HAVE COMPUTERS , and I have utmost respect for giving them good results as well. Nearly every other seller in the world ONLY has an online list, and no paper. Please try to order as soon as possible. Some smaller orders, without “complicated” requests, may go out earlier in October. MY SEQUENCE: After finishing the PREPAID order mail-outs, I write to Overseas people, and the U. S. customers who ordered with PARTIAL PAYMENTS (deposits). This could segue into the first several days of November if I get a lot of late orders. (Of course it takes a lot of effort to go through this huge list.) All of this work will finish as quickly as humanly possible! (Again, estimating dates is difficult, and if a lot of orders“JUST PILE IN” toward the deadline, that can delay estimated dates.) USA, please don’t even ask to use Credit Cards or PayPal – I have enough going on overseas and, anyway, YOU WILL INCUR FEES around or above 4% which are entirely preventable by using a check. I also won’t be able to accept overseas PayPal using FRIENDS, FAMILY, GIFT – because they don’t “like” the highly anomalous activity which is almost all concentrated in a few weeks of the YEAR. Most recent years have seen my PayPal account FROZEN because they keep being suspicious. My activity IS very much an anomaly. ORDERING…IF YOU ARE IN U. S. A. 1. U.S. BUYERS PLEASE USE POSTAL MAIL, NOT EMAIL, to order (though if you’re running late and your order includes stuff like bids or competitive priorities, a “heads-up email” CAN help a lot). Such email needs to include a POSTAL copy, also some payment amount.. HOWEVER, feel free to use email for questions, comments, etc. - and for those who do my lists online only, a note letting me know that you’re AWARE of my list is INCREDIBLY important. I’ll try to answer questions quickly. Knowing you are aware of my list is helpful, because some emails may not go through! 2. PAYMENT (FULL OR PARTIAL) MUST BE INCLUDED with your order. This entirely avoids separation of your order and payment, which can be an utter nightmare. It also saves me from having to send hundreds of notifying letters and emails! Saving work helps me a ton, so I can ship LIKELY TWO WEEKS earlier than would otherwise happen. It also SAVES MY MIND (if it isn’t “shot” already). This can saves me 100 hours of work on these EXTREME-high-volume lists. With as many as 400 extra emails, and filing hundreds of orders in a massive alphabet so that I can retrieve them when I get payment, which would be needed If I had to write and notify all United States customers, I can save SO MUCH WORK and you benefit by having your records MUCH earlier! 3. If YOU SEND PARTIAL PAYMENT, your postage will be charged at actual, but NOT LESS than $6.90 or $4.15 and could easily be CONSIDERABLY MORE, so full payment should save you $$. It might be “worth it” not having full $$ sitting here for as much as 40 days, though. Choosing the “deposit” method WILL NOT HARM YOUR RESULTS in any way, but it may delay your getting your records by as much as two or three weeks, because I can’t give final results until all paid orders are “caught up” and shipped. 4. PLEASE SHOW YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS, ALWAYS, on your order. 5. Please include postage: $6.90 INSURED, $4.15 NOT INSURED. This is “FLAT” postage, no matter how much you order. (THIS IS BASED ON A ONE-POUND-OR-LESS MEDIA MAIL PACKAGE, WITH MINIMUM INSURANCE.) However, “deposit orders” (requires extra correspondence) will be assessed ACTUAL estimated –handling-insured, which can easily exceed these amounts, so many will save some postage by paying in full. A new policy, out of necessity, is that I now “self-insure” your packages, because the last two times I’ve had an insurance claim, the on-line USPS insurance claims process is so utterly “byzantine” and BROKEN that it wouldn’t even let me submit the claims, which “screwed” me out of close to $1,000. Claims can be done via internet ONLY. Also, packages now have GREAT tracking! Despite CRAZY-WORK during and after shipping. I’ll TRY HARD to send tracking numbers, but I CANNOT guarantee that ability. Postal insurance via USPS seems to be a permanent, forever-unsolvable problem now. ORDERING …IF YOU’RE OVERSEAS/NOT IN U. S. A.: 1. ORDERING BY EMAIL IS **ALWAYS BETTER**. I know a few of you CANNOT (no computer access/usage). Postal orders are equally valid, but they aren’t as reliable– they MAY NOT ARRIVE IN TIME because the USPS isn’t as good as it used to be. SOME CUSTOMERS do not have computers at all, and I accept that, but if you have any way to access email, it will help BOTH OF US! Not only will I hear from you earlier, but that earlier response may help “rescue” your most-wanted items if received ahead of deadlines. 2. IF YOU DO ORDER BY EMAIL, *PLEASE* ASSURE THAT I TELL YOU, WITHIN 72 HOURS, THAT I RECEIVED YOUR ORDER. IF YOU DON’T HEAR FROM ME, the email is probably LOST. **EMAIL DEFINITELY CAN GET LOST** -- please order and ASSURE that I’ve replied. PLEASE DO NOT JUST ASSUME I GOT YOUR ORDER IF I DON’T REPLY! 3. PLEASE ADD your SHIPPING ADDRESS with your order. This is EXTREMELY vital! Not doing so probably delay your order. In 2020 I had a postal order, with no name or mailing address anywhere, which I couldn’t ever fill, because I HAD NO WAY TO KNOW WHO IT WAS, and thus I couldn’t notify him,. I only knew it was somebody in UK who had never written me before. He ordered more than $1,000 of records. This person never contacted me again to ask why I didn’t respond. This happens nearly every year at least once. (THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN ALMOST ONLY WITH U. K., sometimes no addresses anywhere.) This is also VERY IMPORTANT because a wrong-addressed paper order OR package may just disappear forever, which has happened as well. SAVE ME SOME EXTRA WORK AND POSSIBLE MISTAKES AND/OR MAJOR DELAYS BY INCLUDING YOUR ADDRESS, ALWAYS. PLEASE do this. 4. (EMAIL-ONLY customers who I NOTIFY about the new list) WHEN my email says MY NEW LIST IS READY, PLEASE EMAIL me a response, even if you have no plans to order – so that I can KNOW that you’re aware of the list – WITHIN 72 HOURS. I want to avoid emailing you multiple times because I cannot know if you even know I have a list. PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR EMAILS or account usages all the time (as I did in 2022!). AN ORDER IS NOT NECESSARY - no, I just need to know that you received my email. If you DO NOT plan to order from the list, please tell me, and if you don’t plan to order in the future, I can remove your name. NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE IT IS, it will save me additional work, and I thank you for that. OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER, AND TIPS: WHEN ARE PREPAID U.S. ORDERS SENT?: Again, I hope to have these finished well before the end of October. Please consider the huge work volume on this huge list (while considering that I AWARD RECORDS carefully so that everybody “wins”). [see TUTORIAL] “DEPOSIT” U.S. ORDERS, AND OVERSEAS, ARE NOTIFIED (or, overseas orders with Credit Card numbers are shipped and notified) as soon as I finish sending the U. S. prepaid orders and get caught-up and current. I hope I’m able to get this done before November. Again, I can’t remind you too many times, *PLEASE TRY TO ORDER EASTY IF YOU CAN*. I hope to FINISH by 30 October, regardless. IF YOU RECEIVE A “BAD” RECORD: – PLEASE DO **NOT** RETURN A BAD RECORD, UNLESS I ASK YOU TO, because I may not need to have it returned at all. It’s useless to pay $3 or $14 postage (USA versus overseas) to return a bad $5 record. YOUR SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED for grading mistakes, defects, wrong titles, etc., though the method of satisfaction will vary. Consider that chances are good you won’t be asked to return anything. HOW I GIVE REFUND(s): If you’re in the U.S. or Canada, I use check or small-cash. OVERSEAS, I can do a CREDIT toward another order, but I’d RATHER refund via the same way you paid, so I don’t have to carry it forward, because my lists are now a year apart. DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ONE COPY? In some cases I’ll have more than one copy of a record (more so with punk). If you can use more than one copy, ALWAYS TELL ME SO – IT MAY HELP. It’s in my best interest to sell multiple copies, if available! Please ask. ORDERING IN “LIST SEQUENCE” It helps greatly if you order records in the sequence as shown on the list. And, if you’re ordering from more than one place (such as Nonchart and List #80), PLEASE tell me which section or Document the other records are in. This helps your results and helps prevent mistakes here. You may include records from anywhere on my website. However, please always tell me where the items are listed, especially in Archives or PART TWO. This will make it much easier for me to find what you asked for. PRICING (SET SALE AND/OR BID): I have entirely and unconditionally GIVEN UP on ALL printed price guides that have ever existed, and I now rely almost entirely on POPSIKE.COM which lists ACTUAL compiled all ebay sales results for records, generally when sold for $20 or more, sometimes also DISCOGS.COM. I guess on most that aren’t on Popsike (under $20}. I try to price everything to SELL. If a record shows up only twice on Popsike for a $38 sale (in 2011) and $22 (in 2017) I’ll probably price it around $10 or $18 or something… AFTER-THE-FACT AUCTIONS [RARE NOWADAYS!!]—Thankfully I rarely need to do this, only if a listed item surprisingly “goes crazy on me” AND there are too many people (two or more) who I absolutely MUST award the item to! The result is a runoff auction only between the people who I MUST award the record to. With more-sophisticated research nowadays, I can avoid most of this, and more than three items per list RARELY occur, though what’s on THIS list makes it likely! I only use this method when absolutely necessary. Even on the totally insane 2022 list, I think I had only FOUR of these, as I aggressively try to avoid it entirely. **PRIORITY REQUESTS**--This is one thing which makes my lists so special and unusual. It may be the single most important thing you can include in an order TELL ME, PLEASE, WHICH ITEMS YOU WANT THE MOST, AND I’ll TRY TO GET THEM FOR YOU. No guarantees, because a “hot” record may get multiple requests (with ONLY ONE COPY). Almost always an item will go to somebody who has a “priority” request on it. RARELY I’ll “shift” it to a non-Priority order, perhaps because of horrible fill otherwise. Please be specific: ranking priorities #1, #2, #3 if you can, is better than showing all priorities as equal. Please limit your priority requests, unless you rank them; FEWER high priority = “stronger” priorities! I’ll try hard to help you get these. Again note that after early October, “PRIORITY” assignments may be near-impossible. OVERBIDDING **AND** UNDERBIDDING—BOTH of these have their purposes and reasons for being. OVERBIDDING SHOULD BE LIMITED TO CATEGORIES LIKE NORTHERN SOUL, POPCORN, MOD, TITTYSHAKERS. PLEASE DO NOT OVERBID ON GARAGE, ROCKABILLY, PUNK, NOVELTY. Unless it’s obvious that I COMPLETELY “blew it” and it’s obvious that other people will probably also overbid, please don’t overbid on the other categories. Also, please note: OVERBIDDING IS * unmanageable* AFTER around 12 October (prefer by 04 Oct.). Late overbids can cause me FAR TOO MUCH added work, and overbid reductions may be less-favorable. OVERBIDS should PLEASE be received by 12 OCTOBER (BASED ON estimated PAPER LIST MAILING DATE OF 15 SEPTEMBER). If ordering by Post, consider the delivery time for mail from you to Chicago, and if you’re ordering in October, I strongly suggest you send me an email copy ALSO. Note that I resolve overbids and regular bidding at the SAME TIME that I resolve everything else; they won’t delay anything. UNDERBIDS CAN BE USEFUL! BUT: avoid underbids on important records that you don’t want to lose. OF COURSE, IF SOMEBODY ELSE ORDERS AT FULL PRICE, YOU LOSE IT, but if I have a record for BID//MIN: 100 and nobody bids on it, I’ll happily sell it for $78 rather than carry it over for another year, if you send such an Underbid. Also, when the list is expired, you can do what three or four people do every year, and send a long underbids list, and I CAN OFTEN award whatever remains. (NOTE that the higher % of listed price your underbid is, the more likely you’ll win the item. Underbid at 80-85% of the price nearly assures you take everything otherwise left over, but underbids at 45% are RARELY AWARDED.) This can be a wonderful tool for building “inventory”, and underbidding may be even more relevant on the PUNK stuff. A serious and smart underbidding effort is usually very well rewarded for those who try! If I can get rid of records and not carry them over, it also benefits YOU, because I can offer you more new titles in 2025. A TUTORIAL ON HOW I FILL ORDERS, and a warning about slow service: This is NOT a “fast-food” list!!! I’m not sure if anybody else, ANYWHERE in the entire universe of anything collectible, does what I do! It’s a task that’s LITERALLY impossible! (And…I don’t even KNOW how I manage this impossibility, but somehow, I DO.) This method and “quick/fast service” CANNOT CO-EXIST, because that IS physically impossible, but it also means that anybody who sends me a TIMELY order should get a favorable result. I try as hard as possible to assure this, WHILE awarding as many Priority (most-wanted) requests as I can. I am “SIMULTANEOUSLY” awarding+ THOUSANDS of records as if EVERY TIMELY ORDER got here at the same split second (in reality covering a time period around a month long), which makes it impossible to determine who ordered first. Also, if I get 26 USA postal orders in the mail on the same day, which of THOSE came first? Postmark dates are not often not readable, either. Very few of you will get your stuff quickly, but many people still say they’re much happier with the results, because: EVERYBODY has a chance!