Fab Finds

In true can't-love-it-unless-it's-older-than-my-parents style, I indulged in one of my favorite pasttimes earlier this week: record foraging. There is nothing quite like flicking through stacks of discarded LPs, searching for gems that have been too long confined to basements or garages and discovering remnants of a bygone pop culture that few care to reminisce about (you and I are of those few, it seems).

This was a particularly lucky search effort that yielded three classic-film-related finds for just 99 cents a piece:

• The campy, burlesque-themed soundtrack to 1962's Gypsy, starring Natalie Wood and Rosalind Russell, is in perfect condition;
• The endlessly romantic musical accompaniment to the ultimate street-gang love story, West Side Story, with vocals by Marni Nixon, Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno, in addition to the supporting cast;
• and the double LP offering of That's Entertainment, a hand-picked collection of MGM's best and brightest musical moments, featuring everyone from Agnes Moorhead to Yvonne de Carlo and every star in between (Gene-o, Junie, Mick and Joots - they're all there).
  

CD wha-?! Of course I know these are available in, well, a more accessible format, but I can't wait to give these a spin. And though the aforementioned compact disc and mp3 have long rendered vinyl obsolete as a means of making music, I find records to hold endless charm, to bring a certain authenticity to their sound, those delicate artifacts of yesteryear. And hey, they look fabulous framed in the foyer!