What happened to Columbia House music club? And were their record pressings really that bad?

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Before music streaming… Before file sharing… We had the Columbia House Music Club. But whatever happened to the company? And were their record pressings really that bad?
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28 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 1,7 тыс.

@corey8821 3 года назад

I remember the circle on the form saying “tape penny here”

@Rj-yr1br 3 года назад

dam i rember that too

@frankgrisdale4513 3 года назад

Yep!!

@douglasbrittain7018 3 года назад

I remember that also. I’m sure if you just mailed it in without the penny they would still bill you for it. I totally forgot about that but i remember now.

@russellmurray3964 3 года назад

It did have the advantage of being highly unlikely to be stolen while coursing its way through the U.S. postal system. Makes you wonder what they did with all those pennies, they must have had millions of them coming in every year. They most likely wore out the local banks with their constant "piles of pennies" transactions (Bank Teller: "Oh, no, not the Columbia House guy again!").

@douglasbrittain7018 3 года назад

@@russellmurray3964 Do you think they did that just as a gimmick or because someone spent something it psychological created a contract between them and the customer. I was watching a video about how when people get things free as compared to either getting paid or buying something that it created a different attitude towards what was being done.

@stlydan 3 года назад

My mom was a member of Columbia House back in the 1970s. She failed to send in the cancellation for the selection of the month in 1975 and got KISS "Destroyer"....changed my young teen life!!!! Still have the same LP.

@jeffbecker8716 3 года назад

HA! I had signed up my sister to get the bonus records. Her bedroom was right across from mine and one afternoon I heard the most blood-curdling scream "J ...E...F...F.FFFFF!@!@!!!" Yep, she had forgotten to return the card and got a record with a bill. Mom made my pay for it. KISS Double Platinum. Still have it and got to see them in '96 at the Palace in Detroit. Best concert I've ever been to.

@ThriftyAV 3 года назад

I have almost the exact same story, but it was "Rock and Roll Over"....on 8-track!

@jondubb35 3 года назад

@@jeffbecker8716 and you got to see one of the original lineup of Alice In Chains final shows.

@deebedwell580 3 года назад

‘76?

@JOECANDELA22 3 года назад

Same thing happened to me, but it worked out ok. I got stuck with Steve Miller Band album (you know the one with the horse on the cover) and I've been a huge fan ever since.

@JimPerdue14 3 года назад

Columbia House: How we all learned about collection agencies.

@tonecot8932 3 года назад

I was just about to post about my first time with a collection agency was through BMG and the Wyclef The Carnival CD I got in college. At the end that CD was over 100 dollars, lol.

@flynow5614 3 года назад

@@tonecot8932 Yes but the had the wrong name

@scottp1001 3 года назад

And how to charge 5 times the going rate for "shipping and handling" costs. Yes you can buy that CD for $0.99, it will cost $8.99 with shipping and handling. Buying two at a time, to save on on shipping...haha you wish...it's $16.99.

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

That's right, I'd forgotten about their "accounts receivable" department. Strong-arming mothers.....

@aznluvr7 3 года назад

Haha, you too?

@Blimpus 3 года назад

I will never forget that feeling of coming home from school and finding that beautiful box of 8tracks waiting on the porch! I still have them!

@CanadianCharlie64 3 года назад

I still owe them money

@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom 3 года назад

Who doesn't? Lol

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

@@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom Oh well

@SirVicc 3 года назад

Did anyone ever fulfill the terms of the deal? I don't know how many of the monthly cd's I sent back.

@Love_Street 3 года назад

Mee too

@WhatIsKevinUpTo 3 года назад

I just spit out my drink from laughing.

@brianmason8965 3 года назад

I grew up a mile from Columbia House in Terre Haute, IN. It was the largest employer in the county for many years at times with over 3,000 employees. Everyone in Terre Haute knows someone who worked there at some point. They not only pressed general albums but picture discs also. They had an employee-only store where employees could purchase overruns and returns for little to nothing. My dad worked for a local trucking company and he told me that they would go in there with dump trucks and CH would fill them with records that weren't selling. They would haul them to a secret dumpsite where they were covered with fill. the drivers were allowed to keep any records they wanted. We had an enormous record collection.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Great info. Thanks Brian! Frank

@zerorez4960 3 года назад

OMG that is so Creepy 😱

@sugarjoe50 3 года назад

Brian that's a cool story. It would be interesting to know which albums were 'hits' at the landfill.

@MrKrinkly 3 года назад

I also was born and raised in Terre Haute, and my Mom worked for Columbia for several years in the early to mid 60s. I began my record collection at the ripe old age of three, and still collect to this day. 60+ years of record collecting, and it all started with my mother bringing home freebies from work! The plant facility is still out on Fruitridge Avenue, but Columbia Record Club is a fond memory...

@lunarmodule6419 3 года назад

Good stuff thx

@flyingjeff1956 3 года назад

My employer delivered master tapes to the Terre Haute plant back in the late 80s. I personally delivered a Michael Jackson master.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Very cool!

@lukewarmwater6412 3 года назад

and you couldnt have just thrown it in a river or something??? thanks alot!

@analoguecity3454 3 года назад

@@lukewarmwater6412 they should throw you in the river! You have No respect for music!

@erikolsen148 3 года назад

Late ‘80s... Bad?

@brantisonfire 3 года назад

@@analoguecity3454 I think he was saying intentionally “lose it” and keep it for safe keeping.

@eph2vv89only1way 3 года назад

They weren’t just in music magazines. They were in EVERY magazine!

@JENDALL714 3 года назад

They were in the TV guide nearly every week.

@eph2vv89only1way 3 года назад

@@JENDALL714 yup

@moosejawmax2607 3 года назад

And in the flyers section in every Sunday newspapers

@alecairpaag 3 года назад

If I'm not mistaken I was seeing them in my mom's Readers Diggest too.

@eph2vv89only1way 3 года назад

@@alecairpaag yup. All the time

@johncale814 3 года назад

“Id never want to be part of a club that would accept me as a member, unless it was Columbia House” - Groucho Marx

@josephcote6120 3 года назад

We were talking about Columbia House in one of my Facebook groups. Young person: "Columbia House? Was that like a frat?" Me: "It was an anti-frat. The initiation ceremony was actually pretty nice, but the hazing went on for years."

@josephcote6120 3 года назад

@redlightflash An anecdote I'd call it.

@md_vandenberg 3 года назад

@redlightflash Did it have to be a joke?

@erickort1987 3 года назад

i always got to the mail box first before parents so they wouldnt see the delinquent pay now notices

@Pluralofvinylisvinyls 3 года назад

Lol same.

@danielgouge4639 3 года назад

Eric when I was 12 I called those 900 wrestling hotlines. My mom got the phone bill and I was in trouble. I didn't know it costed the connection fee per call.

@erickort1987 3 года назад

@@danielgouge4639 i called that number a few times from wcw...i was around 40 years old,i think

@Cartier_specialist 3 года назад

I was a member of Columbia House for many years and I would speculate that about 75% of my vinyl collection is from their. I was also a victim of not mailing my postcard back in time. I never scammed them with a fake name however. Yes I did think about it but I guess I'm just too honest for the world we live in.

@TheMusicRoom1973 3 года назад

When I bought my last house I was really concerned that not paying for that Quiet Riot album back in 86 was finally going to catch up with me.

@danieldaniels7571 3 года назад

I never worried about that as I usually would deliberately misspell my name when I signed up.

@jsivco3sivco785 3 года назад

@@danieldaniels7571 ... Oh, so you're a scam artist!!

@BlackieNuff 3 года назад

LOL! "I'm sorry, sir, but your application for a loan has been DENIED... does a little rock album called "Condition Critical" ring any bells for you?"

@arthurshagnasty5068 3 года назад

It would be sad not to get the loan for that house for a $7 record

@droneview8351 3 года назад

"This is going to wind up on your permanent record."

@OceanSoul1969 3 года назад

I never cheated but I rejoined Columbia and BMG over and over again. I never had to use a different name. Always same address

@Jimbo700 3 года назад

Paul Brown-> As long as you fulfilled your agreement you could rejoin as many times as you wanted. If you stiffed them and used the same name & address all the time they wouldn't let you rejoin.

@jeffthrow6892 3 года назад

Same here.....

@Jimbo700 3 года назад

@Brian Javitz They most assuredly did press many of their own records and tapes... and later they manufactured their own CD's. They did it in Terre Haute Indiana.

@ericthuemmel5275 3 года назад

I did the same multiple times. I'd use the bonuses, special deals, etc. I built a huge collection of first cassettes, then CDs, paying on average $5-$7 per CD when all was said and done, or less than half what I could get in stores.

@SoulforSale 3 года назад

It was actually a good deal if you took advantage of the bonus selections.

@RBRShift2CivV 3 года назад

My friend signed up under his middle name, which is what everybody called him and when Columbia house called, he said, "Nope, no one here by that name." I signed up in 1979 and my dad sent them back with a nasty note telling them I was only ten. I did it again when I was older and managed to fulfill it then. Thanks for the memories!

@hulksmash8159 2 года назад

Why would it be their problem that you were ten? Sounds like your dad needed to beat you.

@beaumontmichaels3575 3 года назад

My Parents would be like "who's this Mr.Mo Joe Risen that keeps getting these packages here"? Apt 3c? This is a residential House!

@claudiamiller7730 3 года назад

Love that!

@beaumontmichaels3575 3 года назад

@@claudiamiller7730 are you related to Robt. Miller? He lived there too!😆

@Jimbo700 3 года назад

@@beaumontmichaels3575 I lived in Apt 6a and I remember Mo Joe Risen and Robt. Miller. Mo, Bob and I went to the same school... reform :-)

@beaumontmichaels3575 3 года назад

@@Jimbo700 😆 it got to be known as the " Columbia" House!

@beaumontmichaels3575 3 года назад

@@Jimbo700 😆 it got to be known as the " Columbia" House!

@Large23collectibles 3 года назад

8 cds for a penny. What could go wrong? I miss those monthly brochures.

@davidward9487 3 года назад

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

@ScarecrowzTube 3 года назад

They were on the expensive side. I think it was BMG music club was a better deal. I bought a ton from them in the 90s. O average I paid like $5-8 for an album. Was an awesome time to buy past catalogues!

@SCVIndy 3 года назад

Bought a lot of CDs from them

@davidkastin4240 3 года назад

@@ScarecrowzTube Next video: What happened to BMG 😆 I bought a ton of CDs from them.

@StabbinJoeScarborough 3 года назад

It was 12 LP's for a penny

@jasonrose3620 3 года назад

I remember my mom was a member of Columbia House in the 80's. She bought "She's having a baby" soundtrack and the actual tape inside the cassette was Night Ranger "Midnight madness". She was so pissed.

@douglasbrittain7018 3 года назад

Looks like they did her a favor

@stevenmandl4920 3 года назад

i actually had midnight madness on cassette at one time.back then, i didnt find the tape all that bad ,i wore it out.but now when i look back on it,its likw why did i dig night ranger ?

@yankees29 3 года назад

@@stevenmandl4920 motoring....

@tuffteddy1446 3 года назад

I signed my dog up for Columbia House. A few times. That pooch had good taste in music.

@richardcorbin5655 3 года назад

I would sign up getting my free stuff, fulfill the commitment and then cancel an resign up a couple of months later.

@jazzyboy7784 3 года назад

Me too...I learned to like different bands because it got to the point where you struggled to chose albums because you had already got every one you knew...even with all the choices...kinda like cable tv...200 channels and nothing good on...lol.

@TheRanugad 3 года назад

I did that with both Columbia house and BMG. Started in 1979 with a few records but mostly 8 Track and cassettes. Switched over to CD's in 86. I liquidated my cd collection in 2004 of just over 1,000.

@crazypiratesquirrel3038 3 года назад

Yup. I did that a few times too.

@SC-gp7kt 3 года назад

Sane😆😂

@Mickcotton 3 года назад

I did the same thing ❤️

@seandwyerauthor 3 года назад

One of my few goofups was when the Selection of the Month was a Christmas CD by the Empire Brass. I was mad at myself at first, but it's now a staple of my Christmas music. Every time "Joy to the World" by the Empire Brass comes on, I think of Columbia House. Really great post!

@codyjohnson9752 3 года назад

I had like six or seven fake names with these guys. They kept just sending me free CDs. I was never sure how they were actually making money.

@dmgerbino 3 года назад

They were very profitable. Music streaming ended that.

@andrewdomonic6603 3 года назад

low overhead and could rely on the small sample size of honest people. really, to press wax or code a cd is incredibly cheap. it's just plastic. we put value on the art.

@wmtarrant573 3 года назад

The father of one of my friends was the production superintendent of the facility. They stamped all of Columbia's records, as well as many more for other music companies on contract. We were fortunate as kids as Mr. F would bring home new talent for us to listen to as a sample. Examples of that were comedy albums by Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Flip Wilson a year of two before they became popular. Others were rock groups, especially from England in the mid 1960s. Changing technology led to their demise and the facility is now the largest production facility for blank CDs and other media in the US.

@Tazzman225 3 года назад

My sister belonged to Columbia House and if she forgot to send in that card to refuse the selection of the month she would take the unopened package back to the post office and they would return it. As long as the package was not opened, she did not have to pay return postage. When I got older I belonged to the BMG Video Club. They had great selections in both music and videos!

@ScootinThePeg 3 года назад

The question should be, were you a "members" of Columbia House

@willisevans6559 3 года назад

I was many "family" members....

@oldskoolpautz 3 года назад

I was but it was Vinyl!! ✌️🤠

@droneview8351 3 года назад

About 13 between columbia and bmg...

@Rj-yr1br 3 года назад

yes i was

@TitoTimTravels 3 года назад

Yep! Me and 'sister', 'cousin'... who knows... lots of imaginary friends signed up as well. But all accounts paid and fulfilled the contract. I loved Columbia House 😎

@big_burly_bro 3 года назад

Remember the "stamps"?

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Yes!!!!

@danieldaniels7571 3 года назад

I used to use those to decorate the J-cards of the cassettes I recorded from those albums and CDs.

@scooterdogg7580 3 года назад

yup

@Scotty_in_Ohio 3 года назад

Remember them - I can still taste that adhesive....

@fnjesusfreak 3 года назад

Oh geez, yes...

@davidsigalow7349 3 года назад

Reminds me of an Uncle Floyd joke: "Hey, I just signed a new record contract. Columbia sent me eight records for a penny and I only have to buy four more!"

@monk1965 3 года назад

When my Mom found out I signed up back in the mid '70's...she wrote them a letter to tell them to cancel my subscription because I was under age..12 free albums!!

@dennisalexander5580 3 года назад

I was a member of both, wish they would come back since I don’t download any music. Physical media only

@arthurshagnasty5068 3 года назад

There was a time I had a massive collection of cassettes and vinyl &c D however between a divorce and 2 house fires And people borrowing things and not returning them There isn't much left so I had to resort to downloading some of it and no it isn't the same

@TheWitchofWhiteTailHollow 3 года назад

Me too

@kja9881 3 года назад

I buy new CDs still on eBay great price.

@dvschultz 3 года назад

@@kja9881 .

@Slammy555 3 года назад

I still buy the CDs and albums but rip them to my HDD and never really touch the physical media.

@calvinwazoo 3 года назад

It's how I started my collection as a teen back in the 1970s.

@AlmostReady504 3 года назад

I got turned onto bands I never would have dreamed of. Thank you Columbia House. After the initial $0.01 Plus Postage and handling I never paid another dime

@JObergfell 3 года назад

The “8 albums for a penny” was too suspicious for me, and I was young. I wondered “how the hell can they make a profit off that?!

@dungeonfrek 3 года назад

I realized, I can make a profit off of that.

@honolulublues5548 3 года назад

Now you know.

@stphinkle 2 года назад

Well, Watch! It was a complex answer of Columbia House producing their own albums cheaply under license, not paying artists full royalty rates, requiring members to buy a few albums at an inflated price, high shipping costs, and other factors. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jP0lq8XcRMo.html Also see the movie "The Target Shoots First"

@luacreskid 3 года назад

I talked my mother into my subscription when I was 15 in...1956. I kept it up until I went into the Navy in 1962. We sold all my vinyls when we move to a smaller house in 1997. Gone. Oh how I wish I would have kept them.

@timallen2336 3 года назад

Some of the US pressings only have a tiny CRC (Columbia Record Club) printed on the back cover someplace, and that's about it. Ironically, in 1976 when George Harrison's 33 1/3 came out, most US copies had a skip in It's What You Value. The Record Club copies didn't. Great Topic. Take care...

@raaawkstaaar 3 года назад

wrong most have different matrix info and old plates were sent to CRC after other plants were done with them. That's why you often see other matrix info scribbled out and CRC adding their own. If you don't understand or know what matrix info is I would suggest you google it and educate yourself! Quite interesting not to mention this information is quite important to sound quality and value!

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

I remember that. I got the LP back then and, sure enough, It's What You Value became It's What You Can't Play.

@jeffbecker8716 3 года назад

CRC was on the spine. I have several ELO albums like that.

@jeffbecker8716 3 года назад

@@raaawkstaaar AHA!! Hey, I had always wondered about that. Now I will be looking at my LPS with greater scrutiny. Thanks.

@TemujinScott80 3 года назад

@@raaawkstaaar 🙄🙄🙄🙄

@fiercefeline5096 3 года назад

There was one week in the 1960's when every Columbia Record Club member "forgot" to send their card back on time. This resulted in over 100 million "Whipped Cream And Other Delights" LPs being sent out. They are still clogging up Goodwills from coast to coast.

@TitoTimTravels 3 года назад

Still one of my all time favorite albums. It has a permanent home in my music rotation. 😎

@durden2480 3 года назад

😂😂😂

@kurt2152 3 года назад

When I was in the Navy in the late 70s, I joined under at LEAST 15 aliases. I worked in the personnel office and I would get the vinyl and let the membership lapse. Since I was in charge of the mail for our squadron I would inform the club that Richard Hertz or whomever had been discharged and had no address for them. My current album collection numbers about 850 vinyl records, many that were courtesy of Columbia house music club.

@19brittani 3 года назад

Duck hurts, Very funny lol

@ispoilers9535 3 года назад

Love a good grift.

@tashalynn29 3 года назад

Lol

@SteveDeHaven 2 года назад

Are you proud of your dishonesty now? Sounds like you are. Too bad. It's people like you, with your myriad methods of petty thievery, that slowly drag down every society.

@adamantman3200 3 года назад

COLUMBIA HOUSE....'11 RECORDS FOR ONE CENT' (plus shipping)' is what got me. I was 14 at the time. The form even asked my age, but they didn't turn me down. What they DIDN'T say in the ad was that 'shipping' was $14.99! When the records arrived, my Mom had an entire herd of cows. The records suddenly felt like they weighed 500 pounds!

@chrisjp69 3 года назад

oh man, so many great memories! I used to spend hours going through that newspaper ad, painstakingly selecting the albums i wanted. I finally convinced my mom to let me join in 1983 when i was 12. CH started my record collection. still have 4 or 5 of the albums I originally got that year.

@ericutsler4592 3 года назад

I was a member of the Columbia Record Club, as was my sister before me. I remember she ended up with a few albums she didn't want, but were very influential in my music upbringing, such as Steely Dan's "Aja," and Jethro Tull's "Minstrel in the Gallery." Another fun aspect I had with Columbia was that I grew up in Terre Haute, IN, where Columbia's pressing plant was located. Every year they'd have a open to the public (or, first, by invitation) sale where one could go through stacks and stacks of records and purchase at cut-rate prices. IIRC the Columbia Pressing Plant in Terre Haute eventually became one of the first CD manufacturing plants in the USA.

@Thomas23-tu8gj 9 дней назад

When I was going to college in Terre Haute (1968-71), they had those sales (on a warehouse loading dock) every other week!

@marymcquillan695 3 года назад

My sister who was confined to a wheelchair her whole life would always anticipate the next catalog each month. I so enjoyed helping pick out which albums to add to her collection. I wonder where those albums are now?

@aliwantizu 3 года назад

The ONLY good thing that came from them was that I got Nirvana's Nevermind with the hidden bonus track thru them when that version of the album was not available in stores.

@nodrogdivad 3 года назад

wait so.... the long pause and then "endless nameless" the smashy noise jam... was NOT avail on store bought CDs?? That's weird.

@aliwantizu 3 года назад

@@nodrogdivad It was SO weird. It depended on the pressing, and maybe even what location produced it? I don't think it was on the original pressings, then it was added, then it was taken off, then maybe only certain record chains had it. I was one of only 3 of mygroup of friends who had a print with the bonus song.

@aliwantizu 3 года назад

@@pashadyne I remember at the time that there were some people who would buy the cd or cassette and then bring it back to exchange if it for a different copy to try to get one with the bonus song. There was a couple of times where there were nearly fights between customers and employees when they got mad when we would tell them we couldn't open every copy to play it and try to figure out if it had it or not. There were discussions about if there was a printing number on the outside or the UPC code, or something to show where it was printed and maybe that made a difference. I could understand why they wanted the bonus song version, but sometimes it was a pain dealing with the hardcore fans who knew about it. Luckily it didn't happen too often.

@phototristan 3 года назад

If there was someone you hated, you could sign them up and then they would have to pay something or at least receive bills and collections, etc.

@Sassyglbeauty 3 года назад

Lol. Yes!

@SteveDeHaven 2 года назад

You're the type of person psychologists describe as "sociopathic."

@hulksmash8159 2 года назад

@@SteveDeHaven Who isn't one of those these days?

@cameronzywina906 3 года назад

Hi Frank, I was a member in the 2000s at the very end of the service. Because of the cheap price they offered, I tried out many genres and new artists' CDs I would never have known any other way. So, in general it was a good expiernce. I felt sorry when the service ended.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

2000s! Very cool Cameron. Many had jumped ship by then.

@cameronzywina906 3 года назад

@@Channel33RPM Hi Frank, I just looked at my files of the albums I bougth through Columbia House. The last CDs I got from them was at the end of 2008, and they were mostly jazz albums. I was exporing jazz at the time since it was a genre I was unfamiliar with so Columbia was a great way to try out such unknown artists in a cheap way. I do remember getting a letter from Columbia shortly after that saying they had shut down so that must have been early 2009.

@plumerjr 3 года назад

I joined a few times, usually getting cassettes which I've donated away long ago. I still occasionally find used CDs which are marked either BMG or Columbia House. It certainly was a great way to boost your music collection quick.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

For sure. I miss the days.

@ericjanssen394 3 года назад

The Columbia House VHS Club actually came in handy, back in the day, since CH worked as an overstock merchant, and would sell $100 "rental-priced" VHS titles three months later at $29 overstock prices. (With "Buy 1, get 1/2 off" promotions.) A good way to get your hands on rare titles that were destined only for the Blockbuster rentals, but can't imagine how that would have worked for audio.

@bossfan49 3 года назад

You paid $30 for a movie?

@ericjanssen394 3 года назад

@@bossfan49 I paid $29 (and $14.50, just for the deal) for a movie you couldn't own ANYWHERE ELSE. And then I paid $29 again once everything went to DVD, and you could get them.

@bossfan49 3 года назад

@@ericjanssen394 I can't think of any movie I want that bad.

@chrisblackburn1872 3 года назад

Was a member still have albums cassettes and even some 8 tracks. Cool video keep up the Great work. 🤘

@BewareofDarkness44 3 года назад

I got a quick start on my CD collection being in BMG and Columbia House back in the day. I think I used both services multiple times. I just remember my mom getting really ticked when they'd send the CD of the month when I didn't send in the post card. She told both they entered in to a contract with a minor, canceled my subscriptions, and refused to pay. lol

@MRPERFECT_79 3 года назад

Same here lol

@toynazi 3 года назад

I had so many different names when I was 15 that my mom kept wondering who all these people were we got mail for. Sometimes boxes of cd's would appear for Rod Hammerstein, Tom toons, Alex mon nalen Etc Etc.

@imansfield 3 года назад

I used Mike Oxlong, or Getta Nardon 🤣

@MrPhins 3 года назад

My mom: "Why is the dog getting a package of cassettes?"

@autonomouscollective2599 3 года назад

My brother was a member back in the 60’s. Got to admit, we had a bunch of really good music in the house. Rock, country, classical, standards, ragtime, musicals. You name it, we had it. Good times.

@JimmyV1530 3 года назад

I actually used Columbia House to buy pre recorded Reels for my Reel to Reel player back in the day, I still have them & play them. It was the only place to buy them at the time.

@briannewell6064 3 года назад

I found it was the only place I could easily buy open reel tapes. Sorry to say I got rid of them all years ago.

@terrydouglas5008 3 года назад

I could buy prerecorded reel to reel in the AF BX in the 60's and 70's.

@cesarnarro6013 3 года назад

Reel to Reel were great especially at parties. Didn't have to worry about ppl scratching my Lp's .

@JimmyV1530 3 года назад

@@cesarnarro6013 so funny you say that, that is exactly what we did at parties, put on reels & just let it play....

@Clay3613 3 года назад

So you're saying you have tens of thousands of dollars in music?

@StartToContinue 3 года назад

I never remembered to send the postcard back, they always sent the monthly selection, I'd always write 'refused' on it and sent it back. After a while they just stopped sending me the monthly selection.

@MisterGrooves 3 года назад

My sister's friend personally bankrupted them by pretending her home address was a ten story apartment building and enrolled dozens of fake neighbors, wiping out their entire stockpile of cd's. now you know.

@jeallen10x 3 года назад

God I hope this is true. Epic. I had multiple accounts but nothing on this scale.

@MisterGrooves 3 года назад

They pressed charges on her for mail fraud

@jeallen10x 3 года назад

Holy shit!! Lmfao! My God that's even more epic. Thank you for sharing

@Forensource 3 года назад

At the San Diego swap meet, someone did the same scam but with thousands of these phony addresses. They only got busted when someone saw a dumpster full of unopened mail-the Postal service thought the mailman was goofing off. They made thousands of bucks.

@SC-gp7kt 3 года назад

Genius! Wish I had thought of that!

@Moshavnik7272 3 года назад

Earlier than this was Record Club of America out of York, PA. For me it was a lifesaver as I was living abroad and couldn’t get most albums where I lived. They didn’t send albums abroad but my father was working in NY so I would order and have them shipped to him. RCoA didn’t have negative shipping and I’m glad they were around at the time.

@JeffsVariousVinyl 3 года назад

I went through Columbia House many times in the 80's and early 90's. The fact that they would send you music if you did not return the card on time helped me discover different types of music. I worked for BMG music for a short time in the early 2000's as they were still calling current and old customers trying to sell them more music. I was a little surprised they were still in business.

@000rockie000 3 года назад

Former member here! Got in to Fleetwood Mac and Sarah McLachlan due to not returning them in time. Now a huge fan of both and own several of their albums. Thanks, Columbia House! 😆

@bananapilaf 3 года назад

My parents made sure I completed my obligation with Columbia House. Working at Tower Records was just as good, got paid to listen to music, took advantage of the employee discounts and could even request hard to find albums. Good times!

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

That would have been a great job!

@dondieu3154 3 года назад

Yep, I was a member. Was also a member of Readers' Digest and one or two more. Kinda miss them.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

There have been a few questions/concerns about the clip at the 4:45 mark of this week's video, which shows a hand dropping a needle onto a spinning record, rather fast. For the record (no pun intended), no, that is not me. That short clip is a generic b-roll video, shot by a third-party. I sometimes use third-party clips and images to spruce up my vids, and to save time. No needles or records were harmed during the making of this video. :) Thanks for asking! Frank

@jeffbecker8716 3 года назад

The label is WORD which is for evangelical recordings. Nothing against Christians, but it is likely just a 25-cent thrift store disc. I come across them all the time during my crate digs, so no worries.

@7JANEWAY 3 года назад

Not necessarily. Albums like that one were originally sold in Christian bookstores. So, if whoever owns that record could have bought it from one of those stores. It all depends on where and when they bought the record. I for one have several of those albums, and not one of them were bought at a thrift store.

@DarylSawatzky 3 года назад

It even looked like the needle wasn’t properly attached to the cartridge. I couldn’t believe that you would be using a suitcase turntable.

@scottyo64 3 года назад

@@DarylSawatzky What? There's something wrong with a suitcase turntable?

@jeffschwerdtfeger6728 3 года назад

During the 70's growing up as a teenager Columbia House was how I grew or filled in gaps in my collection. I think the quality was/is great. The worst part was the 6 plus weeks wait to receive the lps. AWESOME segment.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

The waiting was always the hardest part... but when you saw that bundle of new music arrive... that was awesome.

@ChiselMouse 3 года назад

Haha I can't count the number of times I'd watch out for the mailman then go down our long driveway out in the country just to be let down that my tapes hadn't come yet

@jmikew417 3 года назад

My mom used to work at Columbia Records in the 60's when it was located in Terre Haute Indiana. I also had a lot of friends that worked there. They packed up everything in the 70's and moved to Georgia.

@sambolino44 3 года назад

The very first LP I ever owned was a gift from my sister when she forgot to return the postcard and got a duplicate of one she had already bought: Let Zeppelin III. I was thrilled! I couldn't wait to rock out to Immigrant Song, but, not knowing the song title I just put Side One on, and figured I'd get to it eventually. What a disaster it was when my dad came in wanting to watch the news and said, "That's enough of that. You can listen to the other side tomorrow night." I was devastated.

@qualorii 3 года назад

I was a member of both BMG and Columbia House in the 90's. During my time wit them, BMG never did offer vinyl records and Coumbia House cleared all of theirs out shortly after I signed up. At that point I was just looking for CD's, and the clubs were a great way to get them cheap. I never did the thing you mentioned for "gaming the system", but for the most part just made my minimum required purchase. I'd also sign other people up and get free albums for the referral. Once I was done, I'd cancel. After a couple of months, they'd send me another offer which was basically the same as the first, so I'd start the cycle again. As long as you'd keep on top of returning the monthly postcard and only paid full price for the required purchases, it was a great deal.

@bmboldt 3 года назад

I joined RCA in the late 70s and chose 8 tracks. Joined again later and got albums. Also was in Columbia and BMG a couple times. I recently bought a friends vinyl collection and got a ton of CRC records in NM condition. Quite a bit of 80s metal, Led Zep, best ofs and more. Sold the best ofs and kept the rest. Paid about 1.50 an album.

@recycology5468 3 года назад

bought my first 12 albums from them. Dave Clark 5 greatest hits was one fo them and i still owe them too from 1965. Imagine if they were around now!

@norton750commando 3 года назад

I was a fully legal member, and followed the rules. The trick was to join, get your 12 albums, and in the first month buy the 4 you needed to fulfill your obligation and quit so you don't spend a lot on shipping costs. Total outlay was about 35 bucks which included shipping. So you ended up with 16 albums for about $2.20 each. I probably joined and quit about a dozen times. I found the pressings to be fine for my purposes, just listening to the music. It was a different time, people weren't caught up in first press, plant presses, etc. and we were playing albums on $100 Pioneer/Technics/Sanyo decks with $15 cartridges. The only real drawback, was sometimes the packaging was terrible. I replaced my first press of London Calling, as somebody "borrowed" it and never returned it, and the copy I got from Columbia House wasn't even a gatefold.

@timdouglass9831 3 года назад

I pretty much played the same game. Generally if you were patient you could catch sales that meant your total outlay would only be around $10. Almost all of my vinyl was immediately copied to cassette to play in the car, where they would get totally thrashed in a few months and I would then make a new one off the vinyl. Tried a few of their cassettes at various times, but they just weren't very good - but then no commercial cassettes seemed to be very good. They certainly weren't very good after you left them on the dash of your car in August!

@honolulublues5548 3 года назад

I managed the same way. I think I joined and quit probably 5 times in a ten year period. I started with CDs as I was one of the first kids in my neighborhood to have one. Bought a pioneer CD changer in it's prime, but hooked it up to a Sanyo rack system. Sounded decent to me at the time. It wasn't until I upgraded to individual pieces with power and decent speakers that I ran a CH pressed disk and a retail copy through the same system that I could tell some differences. It seemed the CH pressings had the highs and lows cut down, almost like an AM Radio will do. But, if you equalized the CH CD, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

@tedtimmis8135 3 года назад

It’s funny that I was just thinking about what happened to Columbia House and BMG.

@forcewielder2000 3 года назад

I used to be a member of Columbia House many years ago, and I also recently wondered whatever had happened to them.

@warrentranquada7062 3 года назад

I was having trouble figuring out the 8th album and chose Joni Mitchell’s Blue without really knowing much about her. It blew my mind!

@innov8tive1 3 года назад

Oh man, that was a trip! Just looking at those old advertisements gave me that same excited feeling I got years ago when making my selections. I started with CDs and it sure was a quick way to build a collection. Still have all of them. Thanks for this!

@clmn6712 3 года назад

My sister played them big time. Probably had 20 account. She sponsored herself in the new account to get more free on both accounts. When an account was closed they sent a re-signup offer for more free. When she moved cases of records & CD's took more room in the truck than her bedroom furniture.

@maryelms5948 3 года назад

Good episode...nostalgic. The other tell tale sign it's a Columbia House release are the initials CRC. You see that a lot on the spine of cassettes.

@bellhopwalrus2517 3 года назад

One word: Dynaflex You could use these albums to blow your nose.

@BakedRBeans 3 года назад

Dynaflex was an RCA product, not Columbia. Those things were terrible quality! Not much better than the flexi-discs included in magazines back in the day.

@barkingstarz4730 3 года назад

Never joined the club in the late 70’s or 80’s. Had friends who did. I finally joined Columbia House in 2005 to get my 8 CD’s, bought a few more, then canceled. Then digital downloads came in & changed the game. Now I am buying vinyl again (always my favorite, glad it’s back!). There are new vinyl clubs to join- I see ads on Facebook all the time!

@looseele 3 года назад

I miss ripping them off. As a minor, they couldn’t legally collect. My first deal was for the “Ghostbusters Soundtrack”, the “Back to the Future Soundtrack”, Van Halen “1984” & the “Best of the Chipmunks” on cassette.

@MrFreightdawg747 3 года назад

I was member of Columbia house and BMG using my first name and later after I fulfilled the purchase commitments my middle name joined up as well... the collection agency is still looking for Linck Murphy.

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

I'm obsessed with anything Columbia House. They should bring it back because of the dearth of record stores.

@lenwennerberg1631 3 года назад

If they brought it back I would re-up in a heartbeat.

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

@@lenwennerberg1631 Me too

@honolulublues5548 3 года назад

The dearth, eh? That's a word I haven't heard in a long time... Hey, how ironic!😆

@LRogersPhoto Год назад

Love your videos! I only let myself watch them on Fridays after work, look forward to your shows, great stuff. Your wife is cool too, hope we see more of her, maybe she could do a show.

@Channel33RPM Год назад

Awesome! Thank you!

@mikeherbst1825 3 года назад

I joined in the early '70's & it was the building block for my music collection. I picked up everything from Blood, Sweat & Tears, Doors, CCR, Steppenwolf, compilations & on & on! Back in the days of vinyl. Hell yeah!

@the80sretroguy 3 года назад

I was a member back in the 1970’s when it was three 8-track tapes for a $1. Then, you had to buy three more at regular price. It got better in the 1980’s.

@hektorlinko 3 года назад

I used to beef up my collection and I still owe them money to this day when I was in high school. Always looked first in the mail. lol

@caddyjoint96 3 года назад

This brings back fond memories of my youth. I joined Columbia House around 1970 when I was sixteen years old. I started out with the minimum first-time order of twelve albums. I still remember what some of the ones from that initial purchase were: "Stand" -- Sly and The Family Stone, Sergio Mendez & Brazil 66, West Side Story, The Fifth Dimension and Grand Funk Railroad. It was a wonderful time for me.

@darthcerebrus5074 3 года назад

My favorite part was every time I told them to cancel my membership they would send me special offers where you could get 2-5 tapes or CDs for the price of one.by the time I graduated high school I had the largest music collection in school.

@SWog617 3 года назад

They sent me a Lynyrd Skynyrd CD I didn't want... and billed me because I forgot to send it back. So I listened to it, and they became one of my favorite bands. On the other hand, I voluntarily bought a Dishwalla CD. You win some, you lose some. :-)

@andrewfaucett6915 3 года назад

I worked at a record store in the early 90s. The first thing we’d look for when someone came in with a return was that little Columbia House logo. If it was there, we’d decline the return. Some people would get mad, some would laugh it off and say, “I thought I’d try!”

@eLeMeNOhPeaQ 3 года назад

It would be easy to spot the "CRC" (Columbia Record Club) printed near the bar code on the cassettes and CDs. The UPC/Bar Code would also be different with the Columbia House releases.

@andrewfaucett6915 3 года назад

@@eLeMeNOhPeaQ Yes indeed! I had some giant man come in and throw a Metallica live box set at me. The box was mangled and torn. He demanded I take it give him the money. They weren’t cheap. Then I looked on the back and it came from BMG or CD Now and I told him I wasn’t going to accept it. I honestly thought he was going to kill me. Turned out to be a secret shopper from our corporate headquarters.

@eLeMeNOhPeaQ 3 года назад

@@andrewfaucett6915 OMG...those secret shoppers. LOL! Was this The Musicland Group by chance?

@andrewfaucett6915 3 года назад

@@eLeMeNOhPeaQ no it was Recordtown.

@Hasmanian 3 года назад

I signed up with my first credit card while at university. Other than that, the card was for "emergencies," but those monthly CD purchases helped build up my credit rating when I couldn't afford much else.

@farrellmcnulty909 3 года назад

The only snag with record club membership was that the Beatles never licensed their albums to either Columbia House or RCA Music Service (BMG).

@danielgouge4639 3 года назад

My mom made sure I paid for my music club selections. I remember the $1.99, $3.99 etc sales. Mom also made me give a $10 bill back to her ex husband who at one time depleted her of $ for Papst Blue Ribbon. He thought he gave me $1 bc he was drunk. I appreciate it that she taught me to be honest and responsible.

@williambruce9207 3 года назад

Was in RCA/BMG, went through albums, cassettes and cds.

@michael5089 Год назад

What a great channel! Just had the review of the IKEA record player pop up. And just watched this as well. We had very similar mail order record schemes here in UK. And I loved your K Tel history. I still have K Tel and Ronco records!! Subbed 💙👍👊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@f.d.english5080 3 года назад

Like a year ago I was looking trough an old guitar mag I had. Came across the the ad. Tapped a penny and put it in the mailbox. I happened to be outside when the mailman came by. He looked at and had a confused look. It was priceless. Never received anything.

@DJShihTzuman 3 года назад

I signed up just to get all the KISS albums....unfortunately either my mentally unstable grandmother sent them all back or relatives with green eyes seen them and they walked out the front door tucked inside their jackets or book bags.

@Toogoodtobetrue458 3 года назад

I used to work with a company affiliated with BMG Music Club - we used have 5 dollar CDs available to us. I remember the penny deal from Columbia house.

@mkaylor121 3 года назад

My mom was super into ordering CDs and building up her collection that when I made my CD Rack in my high school shop class mine was ten times bigger than everyone else's. Most people had about a foot long with two shelves, I made mine about two and a half feet long with 8 shelves. My mom still has it to this day

@stevespencer1570 3 года назад

Wow so co glad I found this channel!! Subscribed and shared

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Thanks Steve. Welcome aboard!

@alm5693 3 года назад

I was a Record Club of America (RCA) guy in the early 70's. It didn't have any purchase requirements but it did have good incentives. I was a fan of the club at the time and a lot of vinyl from the club is still in my collection. I don't think that RCA club versions were any worse than regular copies. When shopping for used CDs now, it's hard to not end up with some record club versions. They're ubiquitous.

@nick_vee 3 года назад

Record Club of America were RCOA and their story is far more interesting. They made shady deals with various record companies who said they could sell them cheaper than the other clubs as long as they didn’t return unsold and defective merch back to the labels. You would usually see their ads in comic books and their stuff was dirt cheap because they got stuck with their own defective pressings. An interesting side note, their building is still there in York, PA and in 2010 someone took pics through a window showing boxes and boxes of dusty old stock.

@nick_vee 3 года назад

RCA was the club of the record label. I don’t have many LPs from them but their 8-tracks sounded incredible. The quality of the recordings had the best dynamic range, even better than 8-tracks by Columbia Record Club and some of the releases by the labels themselves. Many 8-track collectors seek these versions out and they (and the other clubs) were releasing 8’s up until 1988, six years after the labels themselves stopped selling them in 1982.

@davidsigalow7349 3 года назад

@@nick_vee i joined RCOA and got some good stuff, but they got into legal trouble and must have used the $4 I sent them for a Genesis cassette I never received to pay their legal bills. Lousy RCOA!

@transformertalksandcollect2903 3 года назад

Not sure if my mom did it but my dad did and he says he regrets not getting the choice of the month when it was a Savatage tape.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

That would have been a good one

@Thomas23-tu8gj 9 дней назад

Back in the day (late 60s/early 70s in my case), Columbia ran its record club operation out of Terre Haute, Indiana, where it also had a large record manufacturing plant. I attended college in Terre Haute in that time frame. Every other week, they would have a "loading dock sale" at which boxes of excess albums and tapes from the club operations would literally be stacked out on a warehouse loading dock and sold for one dollar each. Those sales always attracted huge swarms of college students (the primary record-buying demographic!).

@petej.8676 3 года назад

Damn! Brings back memories of anticipation waiting for my cassettes! I still have many of my purchases....just recently found a little Columbia House post card insert from a 1980 Circus Magazine! Thanks for jolting my memory back to my youth!

@sameoldeh 3 года назад

I can't get off Columbia House,tried to cancel,called,wrote into Buffalo. Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass latest release just arrived in my mailbox. Help.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Haha!

@jeffbecker8716 3 года назад

Awesome. Baja Marimba Band is good too. Herb is one of my favorites. In case you didn't know, A&M records are the initials of founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss.

@TKRVideoCentral 3 года назад

ROTFL! I wish, dude...

@sameoldeh 3 года назад

@@jeffbecker8716 Yes, Herb & Jerry did well with A&M Records.

@williedegee1 3 года назад

I'll trade you my Chris Montez album..

@dldave1978 3 года назад

It was so exciting to join and get all those CDs (multiple times). My mom would get so pissed when the selection of the month showed up with a bill.....that never got paid. Like many, my 14 year old self owes them and BMG money. Most of my 200 CDs on hand are thanks to them.

@Garysmusic1964 3 года назад

Finding your channel has inspired me to go through all my lp's and 45's this morning.. I pulled out around 25 or so, for a listen.. I just have to hook my record player back into the system, but it will be worth it (as long as everything still works, and it doesn't blow up) :-) I haven't had a dedicated Stereo system in a long time, but need to find a way to get back to one. I just need a good set of old school speakers to make things work again (and hopefully not have a bunch of blown caps on these old systems), they are all from the 70's and 80's.

@Channel33RPM 3 года назад

Awesome. Have fun!

@mikeminden1090 3 года назад

It was a long bike ride to Tower Records -- record club was a short walk to the post office. Then there was the Musical Heritage Society when I wanted to grow my classical collection.