It has been a while since I have been to a record store. Today was a beautiful 70-degree day in Madison, so what else can I do but go out record shopping?

Today I went to Half Price Books on Whitney Way. I came away with six 45 rpm records:

1. Chubby Checker: The Twist / Toot, on Parkway

2. Steve Martin: King Tut / Sally Gooden/Hoedown At Alice’s, on Warner Bros.

3. Les Paul & Mary Ford: Jungle Bells / White Christmas, on Capitol

4. Simon & Garfunkel: Old Friends/Bookends / Mrs. Robinson, on Columbia

5. The Beatles: Lady Madonnna / The Inner Light, on Apple

6. The Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, on Apple

Not a bad haul.

The Simon & Garfunkel is notable because those singles are from the album Bookends, my favorite S&G album. Bookends originally came out in stereo and mono, but the mono is exceedingly rare and expensive. I found it only once, in a record store in Minneapolis called Twin City Smitty’s. It was in really bad condition, probably unplayable, yet they still priced it at $60. I didn’t buy it. I’m still holding out for one in good condition at a record store where they don’t know what they have. I already have an original Columbia 2-eye stereo copy, though, in great condition. Anyway, this 45 single is, like most singles of the time, in mono. So I get 3 of the best songs off the album in mono. Beautiful.

The two Beatles singles are likewise in mono, and Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane is probably one of the greatest singles ever released by the band (and therefore by anyone). They are not originals, though; they are 70s reissues on Apple. The originals would be on Capitol in the US. But they were both mastered from the same original mono tapes, so sonically they are nearly the same. However, this copy of Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, it turns out, was pressed off-center, so it plays noticably wobbly. Not unlistenable, but I’ll still be looking out for another copy, hopefully on Capitol.

Steve Martin’s King Tut is hilarious. Checker’s Twist is a classic tune I first learned as part of a cheesy medley we sang in high school chorus my senior year. The B-side I’ve never heard before: Toot, a song about the singer’s girlfriend’s scooter with a rubber horn, full of double entendre for sure. And I cannot ever pass up a 45 by Les Paul. We have a strict rule against playing Christmas songs out of season in our house, so I haven’t listened to it yet. I’m sure it’s full of amazing double-tracking.