Full Speed Ahead

This post is gonna make you feel like we have traveled back in time. Welcome to 2012, when this blog was popping off with almost 200 posts for the year and it was loaded with records like this Rain On The Parade 7 inch. In fact, I picked up seven ROTP records that year, so it feels funny to think that we are here 14 years later and I'm like "yeah, it's time to finish that Full Speed Ahead collection".

I remember at the time having a bit of a difficult time tracking down Full Speed Ahead with the yellow cover. Fast foward to last summer and when I was picking up the Lights Out 7 inch on yellow, I noticed that the seller had this ROTP record available as well, and I didn't hesitate to add it to the cart.

When I was bouncing around on the internet looking at Rain On The Parade historical pricing, I found that this exact record sold on eBay back in 2016 for $21. Cool to see that some prices have stayed relatively flat over the years as I picked this up for only a few dollars more.

Grabbed a picture of the full set with this cover variation... although thinking about it now, it feels like I should have just pulled out all ten different versions that I have of this, and included them all in a family photo.

Just One More

I recently received a message from Marcus about a post that It's Alive Records had made on Instagram about a new pressing for the first Rain On The Parade 7 inch. It's Alive has their IG settings set to private, so the only way that I could get the lowdown on this new pressing was to start following them and then drop them a private message for payment info. Kind of a pain in the ass process, but since I've got a pretty decent ROTP collection, there wasn't any way that I was going to let this pass me by. The record was kind of expensive for a 7 inch, but once you see all the work that went into it, I find it was worth it.

First off, the record comes packaged in an oversized envelope. The front of it is printed with a nice looking live shot, and is stamped and numbered out of 100. The envelope is sealed, so I had very carefully peel back the flap to get to the record inside.

Once you have the envelope open, you face your next hurdle. The record itself is in a plastic sleeve, and someone thought that it would be a good idea to also seal this with a plain white sticker. Good luck trying to get through Level 2 of this security system without mutilating or tearing it open.

Once you are finally inside, all that hard work pays off. Green colored vinyl, lyric sheet insert, printed dust sleeve, a few stickers...such a great looking package.

The inside of the record sleeve has a bunch of old fliers printed, and is stamped and numbered...again. I'm not sure what prompted It's Alive to press the Body Bag record almost 25 years after it's release, but I'm happy to add it to the collection.

Fired Up And In The Red

The last few months of 2012 were eye opening in regards to how much money I'd spent on records. When I saw the impact of my spending sprees, I quickly hit the brakes. Still...I figured that I could spring for one more Rain On The Parade record to close out the year.

2012 was a strong year for my ROTP collection, and I was able to pick up a few heavy hitters. While not on the same scale as some of those purchases, I was still pretty happy to find a copy of the Fired Up 7 inch on colored vinyl.

320 pressed on red vinyl.

Fired Up Over ROTP

Sometimes, I look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking. I remember when Youngblood released the Fired Up 7 inch from Rain On The Parade, and I also remember not caring. Why? Because two of the songs were already released on the LP. Yeah, this is the reason why I passed on this record originally. Crazy, I know, but what would you expect from someone who was buying Limp Bizkit and Brian Setzer records at the time.

Building my Rain On The Parade collection this was a hole that I was looking forward to filling. 2012, and I'm hearing three of these songs for the very first time. It is like unearthing some long lost treasure...except this treasure only cost me 99 cents. Great stuff.

700 pressed on black vinyl.

More Rain, More Parades

Gotta keep chipping away at that Rain On The Parade collection.

I've seen the red vinyl pressing for Body Bag occasionally on eBay over the past few years, but I've just never pulled the trigger. As I'm getting closer to completing this collection, I figured that it was time to finally bag one of these...sorry for the bad pun.

After picking up the blue cover for the third pressing of Full Speed Ahead, I went to work on collecting the other colors. The green cover has the yellow vinyl with the My War stamp.

I believe that the red cover is the most limited one from this series...black vinyl and hand numbered out of 100. Then again, I've never seen the yellow cover for this one, so maybe that one is more limited.

I think that the only thing I'm missing now is the Redcheeks Pressing, the Rain Crew cover, and the yellow cover for Full Speed Ahead. Finding these will be no small feat. Oh yeah, I don't own a single copy of the Fired Up 7 inch.

Full Speed Ahead DC

I was outbid at the last second for the Brotherhood LP on pink. I got distracted and forgot to bid on the Fire & Ice Grim 7 inch on gold. Two big losses. I was feeling defeated, and I needed a good win to boost my spirits. Then I spotted an auction for the Rain On The Parade 7 inch with the DC cover, and I was a man on a mission. A desperate need to win, combined with rare records, are a dangerous combination. Thankfully, it appears as though the price of Rain On The Parade records have come down a bit over the past few years, and I was able to walk away from this one with out doing too much damage to my bank account.

For Rain On The Parade, there are a couple of records that you need if you want to make a run at a serious collection...one is the Redcheeks pressing of the Body Bag 7 inch, and the other is the pressing of Full Speed Ahead with the DC cover. One down, one to go.

I'm not sure what the occasion was for this special cover. The green vinyl is considered the record release version for their show on August 24, 1997, but the DC cover is dated August 3rd. A pre-record release sleeve?

Number 39 of 44...although I guess there are actually 45 of these things, as there was an extra one made up for number 88.

Still Raining

Another Rain On The Parade record...another tip from Marcus. This time around it is for my first vinyl copy of the When It Rains It Pours LP. Of course when this album was released back in 2000, I was stuck in CD Hell and never bought this on vinyl. To this day, I'm still making up for this mistake. Marcus sent me a message about this piece of vinyl on eBay, so I had no choice but to win it.

This copy was the pre-press/winter tour version with a special cover.

Even the record labels are unique to this pressing, as they identify it as the winter tour pressing, and state that it is limited to 300.

The back cover is a nice tribute to the early Dischord stuff.

Number 78 out of 300.

The back cover states that the record was sold for $8.00. "Why pay more"? I won't. My copy cost only $5.50.

Keeping Up With The Parade

Two years ago, I started working on my Rain On The Parade collection. Twelve years after it's initial release, I picked up my second copy of the Full Speed Ahead 7 inch from Marcus, and the chase had begun.

Now I've never been able to really focus on collecting one band. There are so many records that I want, that I can't help but get distracted. Marcus has worked to keep me locked in on Rain On The Parade. I'm pretty sure that for every ROTP record that I've bought since I started collecting the band, I've been tipped off by Marcus to the ebay auction. This latest record is no exception.

This is the third press of Full Speed Ahead from My War Records. Blue cover and yellow vinyl, which I'm pretty sure is limited to 400. Thanks for keeping me focused, Marcus!

If It Keeps On Raining, The Levee's Gonna Break

The parade continues. Usually when I get set on collecting vinyl for a band, it typically lasts for one or two records and then I get distracted and move on to something else. With Rain On The Parade, Marcus has kept me on task, and recently let me know about this clear vinyl pressing of the Body Bag EP. Once again, I found myself in a position where I'd spent too much money on vinyl recently, but I figured that if I could pick up this record for a steal, I'd grab it. Unbelievably, the bidding topped out at $10. Nice. I'll take it.

The pressing on clear vinyl comes with a different cover than the regular press, although I'm not sure what the occasion was. Was it a record release cover? Was it a pre-order cover? I don't know. Either way, I may like it more than the regular cover.


Number 41 out of 100.

My copy came with a note to the kid that bought it from Matt Smith of Contention Records(?). Apparently, Robert was upset about losing some money, and Matt felt the need to apologize. I don't know why, but I'll end up keeping this.

When It Rains, It Pours

Sure I've got other records that I've received prior to these latest Rain On The Parade 7 inches, but I figured that I'd keep things rolling with this band. Once again, credit goes to Marcus for the tip on this eBay auction. The seller had a bunch of records that I had my eye on...they ended late at night so I threw a bunch of maximum bids on a handful, and in addition to 5 other wins, I added two more ROTP records to the collection.

First press on blue colored vinyl for mailorder. Hand numbered out of 200.

100 pressed on white vinyl.

I'm a nerd over pressing variations. While the first press includes the lyrics on a separate insert, the second press has the lyrics on the inside of the record sleeve.

First press with the blue cover, and red for the second press.

My War also used different photos on the back cover, and a slightly altered layout between pressings.

I love pictures of record collections. While my Rain On The Parade collection is far from complete, this is what I have so far.

Positive Peer Pressure

At the end of April, I received a message from Marcus. He knew that I was interested in expanding my Rain On The Parade record collection, and there was a record release pressing of the second 7 inch, Full Speed Ahead, on eBay. Plus, it looked like it might go for cheap. I had already spent way too much money on records, and I had just dropped $180 on Record Store Day, so I was really not looking to throw any more cash at records for the month. Still, there was one day left on the auction and the bidding was still at only 99 cents. I figured that I'd try to see if I could pick it up for a steal.

The day of the auction, Marcus and I had traded a few more emails about this record. I told him that I threw a $20.00 max bid on it, but that I was going to be stuck in meetings at work when the auction closed. I really didn't have the $20 to spend, but I figured that I'd be outbid anyway. I got back to my desk after the meeting and found that I had the winning bid...$8.50. Right on.

The record release pressing for Full Speed Ahead was pressed on green marble colored vinyl, and limited to 97...which I think is very cool since it was released in '97. The inside sleeve also has the date of the record release show, and is hand numbered.

Trade Winds

I'm always uncomfortable when it comes to making an offer to buy a record off another collector. The situation doesn't present itself very often, but when it does, I'm paranoid that I'm going to make an offer that ends up being too low and insulting...therefore, I feel that I overcompensate and end up offering more than I need to. I've done it in the past when making offers to Aram. When I was buying some SSS records from Foxy, I did the same thing. After making a couple of purchases from Foxy and offering more than fair prices, I was presented with the opportunity to buy the Walton's package of the first SSS LP. This time I decided to make an offer on the conservative side. I can only assume that Foxy took it as a joke, since he never even bothered to reply. So it was with great trepidation that I approached a trade idea from Marcus. In the end it all worked out, and I was able to add a couple of incredible records to my collection.

I don't really collect Rain on the Parade records, but I'm thinking that I'd like to start at some point. Marcus, you may have just lit the fuse. The band's Full Speed Ahead 7 inch is amazing. Prior to this red vinyl copy, I only had the black vinyl pressing with the blue cover. I picked up that copy at the one and only time I caught the band live.

Other than the tracks on the Where The Wild Things Are comp LP, I've never really heard Outburst before. Marcus was offering a blue vinyl pressing of their Miles To Go 7 inch, so I figured that I'd check 'em out. Meh, they are okay I guess, but nothing too exciting.

One of the gems that Marcus had up for the trade was a copy of the Chorus of Disapproval 7 inch on purple vinyl. Released on Nemesis Records, I only had this on black vinyl, and ever since I saw Lins post some Chorus colored vinyl on his blog, I really wanted some myself.


Another band that I don't really collect is Absolution. I bought the black vinyl pressing of their 7 inch years and years ago from this mail order distro that sold some rare records. It was where I bought my Side by Side, Wide Awake and some Chain of Strength vinyl back in the early 90's. The guy that ran the distro assured me that the black vinyl was the rare pressing for Absolution. I can't remember how much I paid for it, but since I wasn't really collecting records at the time, I can't imagine that it was much more than $15. Cool record, and I figured that I'd add the red vinyl pressing to my collection as well.

Back in the day, I worshipped New Age Records, but somehow I managed to never check out Walk Proud. This record was not part of the trade deal with Marcus, but he threw it in for me anyway. Lyrically this can be a little painful, but overall it is some decent generic hardcore. I'm glad that I now have a copy of this, especially since this was the starting point of New Age.

Another bonus 7 inch that Marcus threw into the trade was the Search and Destroy 7 inch that he released on Endless Quest Records. The packaging on this is excellent. The front and back cover feature some very cool and original artwork. There was only 100 red vinyl with the yellow dust sleeve, but Marcus went and hand numbered all 483 records that he pressed. Mine is number 60. Awesome job....total quality.

I don't think that anyone really cares about Face Value anymore...did anyone really care about them back when they were putting out records? I remember seeing them at some point in the mid-90's...maybe opening up for Econochrist and Rorschach, in the basement of some church in Cambridge. The whole PC scene was really coming to a head, and Face Value certainly didn't fit in with the crowd at this show, and watching from the crowd I wasn't impressed at the time either. I'm older, wiser and less sensitive than I used to be, and can now appreciate Face Value for the hardcore band that they were. Plus the colored vinyl on this thing looks amazing.

In addition to the Chorus 7 inch, the other record that I was really excited for was Undertow's At Both Ends LP on blue vinyl. This album destroys most everything else from that time in Hardcore's history, and even though I've never actively searched it out, I'm happy to finally have copy of this on vinyl. Extremely powerful and passionate.

Thanks again, Marcus...for everything.