Steamrock OBI Fever

While Coronavirus was really heating up across the world at the end of February, the US was still relatively relaxed and feeling invincible. We could see that things were escalating in other countries, but it was tough to envision how fucked up everything would get here at home. Well, back in those carefree days when I was still going into the office and dinning out whenever the urge hit me, I could still see the impact COVID-19 was making in other countries. It felt like things were on the verge of spiraling out of control, so before it all went insane, I figured that I'd quickly do some last minute record shopping from Japan.

Each year I set up a list of ten records that I'd like to pick up over the following twelve months. It is more of a reminder to pick up some heavy hitters, and not really something that I work to complete before the years end...just something fun to chase. Well, last year I did a shitty job of staying focused on that list, and I only crossed off three of them in 2019. When I wanted to make a big purchase prior to the world pandemic shutting everything down, I consulted my list for 2020 and set my sights on the Japanese pressing of Taken By Force by Scorpions.

I've still got a number of holes in my Scorpions collection, but after picking up the German boob pressing of In Trance last year, I wanted to grab another crucial pressing from the band, so I added Taken By Force to the list for 2020. The original cover shows a couple of kids playing guns in a graveyard, and for some reason, that offended people, so soon after its release the record company changed it over to a much more generic cover showing the band. I needed that original "graveyard" cover, and the OBI looked cool as well, so I set my sights on the Japanese pressing. Now that I have this record though, I wish that all my Scorpions records were Japanese pressings. Shit just looks cool with that OBI. I've got a few other Scorpions records to pick up, and it is obvious which pressing I'm going to need to buy going forward.

As a bonus, the seller sent me a packet of Japanese tea and a little kitty note. Positive feedback is guaranteed!