I am posting this just for Jon B.:

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9"? Is that a typo, or an actual format?

Isn't it 9" singles? Or is it 7"? Actually, since I have 10" eps, they must be 7".

45s in any case.

Is a first edition paperback of the Greil Marcus-edited Stranded book of essays about critic's dester island disks worth anything? I got it practically free at my church book sale.

Mostly, it's just fun to read rock criticism from a time when punk was happening, Bruce Springsteen was a new artist, and people still took Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles seriously.

(And my desert island disk is and probably will always be Achtung Baby.)

DX's song is by the Hoodoo Gurus.

Great Photo Sue! It would've been funnier had I ever read any Margaret Atwood, but still -- thanks!

It's a typo, Jim. Frank is thinking of 7"ers. Although I do own some 8" records...

I was wondering if it was some crazy sock hop thing I didn't know about

I was wondering if it was some crazy sock hop thing I didn't know about

I can't even call it a typo, because I put 7 down first and it looked and sounded wrong.

I googled "9-inch singles" (verrrrry reluctantly) and it actually returned stuff that was music related, so I went with it.

Then Jim posted and I remembered that everyone called them "45s". D'Oh!!

And my desert island disk is and probably will always be Achtung Baby

Excellent call. Mine is probably Joshua Tree, but Achtung Baby is close. Unless I go with London Calling or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or ... (Yeah, I know. Fortunately, my chances of ending up on a desert island without my iPod are pretty minimal now.)

Is a first edition paperback of the Greil Marcus-edited Stranded book of essays about critic's dester island disks worth anything?

I don't think it has a high resale value, but as a book it's worth a lot. The Nick Tosches piece is really funny and the Marcus discography gave me a good excuse to spend countless hours in used record stores in the 80s and 90s. I love Lester Bangs, and Astral Weeks is among my favorite albums, but I've always been underwhelmed by that essay; that could be unreasonably high expectations on my part, though, as I know some people who love it. The best writing in the book is Ed Ward's piece on the 5 Royales (when Greil Marcus was on Table Talk he seconded that opinion.) Read it even if you loathe fifties R&B and gospel. And if you feel moved to pick up their music I think you'll like it, too. Look for a compilation with "The Slummer The Slum". Lowman Pauling's guitar is just killer, years ahead of its time.

I can't choose a desert-island disc, even if my only choices were allowed to be from the U2 or REM catalogue. I just can't do it.