Singing While Dancing The Cha Cha - Norman Leyden

What Is This Thing Called Love

Singing While Dancing The Cha Cha
Chorus and Orchestra under the direction of Norman Leyden
RCA Camden CAL-559
1960

There is an interesting story (maybe just to me)... behind this album. There is a charity store located next to a record store that I visit frequently. On several occasions I've found some good stuff in the charity shop even though picks have been few and far between. I assumed the reason was because the charity shop was located next to a record store so collectors were picking the place clean.

I found this record at the charity shop. It's not a super record, but still the album is fun space age and worth collecting. The point to the story is, that I took the record in with me while I went to the record store next door. I was surprised when the owner saw it, laughed and noted that he just "donated" the album to the charity shop.

So I was bought an album that had been donated to the charity shop because the record store owner thought that he couldn't sell the LP. To extend the story, whenever I take a stack of records to a record shop to trade or sell I almost always hear something like "All I buy is classic rock, because that is what sells." Another shop in town stop taking my gospel cast-offs because "We can't sell them."

Curiously, they can sell them... to me, but maybe not at the turn over rate they sell classic rock. Plus, they have trouble distinguishing from "good" or "interesting" gospel and "space age" and the more run-of-the-mill stuff.

One shop owner even told me that he had thrown out some "cruise ship" records because they were "so bad".  I specifically look for cruise ship records...

I guess what this all boils down to is that many recordings that I find "collectible" are still being thrown away... probably by folks off the street after being rejected by the shop owner, or at best... making their way back through the food chain via a charity shop. Strange thing... collecting and what type of music is valued.