As a kid, you are often subject to a lot of things you would rather not be doing. Things like, going to make groceries, riding along as your parent go pay bills, or even having to visit some cousins you don’t particularly like. But none is greater than having to do the all-day garage sale thing. Most family’s are looking to find a deal, and mine was no exception.
Now, don’t me wrong, there are plenty of good things to be had on the cheap from others whom have lost usefulness for them, but the proverbial grind of some Saturday mornings would leave even the most hopeful child tired and ready to go home.
But then again, there is that one glimmer of light to be had on the off chance that you will find a diamond among the ruff. That one item that you can’t believe that someone was trying to get rid of. Well, one day I found such in the form of a vinyl record of all things, a Spider-Man record.
Of course like any male child between the ages of six to ten, I loved Spider-Man. And I was gleaming from ear to ear to have found my gem in a haystack. Yes, this truly made all the agonizing hours of waiting and going from sale to sale that morning truly worth it.
To be more specific, the record I found was Power Records: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol II, a dramatization of about five Spider-Man stories. Unbeknownst to me, the record actually was release in 1974, much earlier then when I found it in the late-80’s. The front cover featured some artwork of the featured story, Invasion of the Dragon Men, while the back included very short panels of each of the stories.
- Invasion of the Dragon Men
- Return of the Conquistador
- Mad Hatter of Manhattan
- The Abominable Showman
- The Bells of Doom
To say this is the only record I’ve ever owned feels kind of weird though. When I was getting to the age that I’d actually want to own music, records were fading out of popularity, cassette tapes where just easier and everywhere, and compact discs where just becoming popular. Even so, I played the crap out of this record, even eventually getting it put on a tape somehow.
In hindsight, the story dramatizations are not great at all, but for an aspiring superhero, that was pretty much all I needed.
As the years has passed, I no longer have that record. Hopefully I passed it on to someone else to spark their imagination. Fast-forward to today, my three year old son is a huge fan of Spider-Man. I’ve been able to track down mp3 recordings of this record online and think I’ll surprise him the next time we take a ride in my truck. I’m sure he will enjoy them as much as I did twenty something years ago.