Almost Whatever It Takes to Possess Care 12"

I love vinyl, but I don't really consider myself a record collector. Some of us obsess about a wrinkle in the corner of a cover (and how it will alter the album's grade)... and some of us have no problem with a few pops and some surface noise (and maybe even prefer it... adds character!).

Still, there are a few pieces of vinyl I would really like to own. One of them is, from 1984, the 12" of Care's third single, "Whatever Possessed You." I have never seen it in a record store. Never. Believe me, I look every time. I watch eBay with regularity, and it does show up there from time to time, but it always seems ridiculously expensive. There is one copy for sale there now for $72.50. It has been there for weeks... taunting me. Truth is, I have wanted it for so long that acquiring it in this fashion and at this price seems defeatist. I really want to pick it up in a brick-and-mortar store. Better yet, I want to find it at a shop where the person who priced it had no idea of the treasure he briefly possessed. OK, maybe I am a collector.

For now, I have to settle for "Whatever Possessed You," along with the flip side, "Besides 1 & 2," from the out-of-print Care CD compilation 'Diamonds and Emeralds' that came out on the Camden label in 1997. Incidentally, I found that a second-hand book shop for $5. That was a smile. If you have an absent album that haunts you, feel free to share.

Care - Whatever Possessed You (mp3)
Care - Besides 1 & 2 (mp3)