Disorder (1986)
At this point in my record collecting career, there aren't too many grail items left on my want list. Yes, I am still searching high and low for that first Love As Laughter cassette and I have started to become resigned to the fact that I will never find that one, but I have tracked down the vast majority of records that once seemed elusive. This red vinyl version of the first Mr. T Experience album is one of those records that was practically a myth for a long time.
When I first started listening to MTX, their current record was ...And The Women Who Love Them. I then began the process of picking up as many of their records as I could find. Their first three records were out of print at that point and I actually bought Night Shift and Big Black Bugs on cassette at first as that is all I could find. One day I was speaking to my buddy Alan about these records and record collecting in general and he spun a story of a friend of his that got into record collecting a few years prior.
The story went that he sat in his room and just started writing letters to people listed in zines and acquired a ton of very difficult to find records. Sometimes I think we all forget how much easier things are these days with eBay and Discogs. Getting records on your want list in the 90s required actually going to places. I had to go to England to get the Leatherface and Mega City Four records I was looking for. Anyway, back to the letter writer. The big reveal in Alan's story was that as part of this deluge of communication, said writer found a copy of Everybody's Entitled To Their Own Opinion on vinyl. But not only that, he found a copy on RED VINYL.
That was the first time I had ever heard of this variant and it was years until I actual saw reference to it existing on the internet. I have seen this version for sale a few times over the years. Typically when I have seen it for sale on discogs it was in the $150-$200 range, though a quick perusal of their past sales indicate it has gone for lower. Over $100 was a bit more than I felt comfortable paying. I already have the black vinyl pressing and that much money seemed a bit extravagant just for a different color. But I've kept my eye out over the years and it finally paid off as this copy showed up, also on Discogs, for $50. A more than reasonable amount and I'm thrilled to finally have a copy of my own.
Now the record itself, is it my favorite Mr. T Experience record? No it's not. This is their first record from 1986 and the band improved with leaps and bounds in the following years. But there's a handful of fun songs and there's the youthful exuberance of a band finding their way that is charming in its own way. For me, the most notable thing about this record is that it was the first. The foundation that helped build a band that would become one of my all time favorites. When I remember that, I also remember that more than a record, it's a piece of history and one I'm happy to have.
It probably makes no sense, but it makes my life feel just a little more complete to have this record on red vinyl. Even if it will mostly end up sitting on my shelf next to the black vinyl copy that I hardly ever play, there's something very comforting about it being there.
The Mr. T Experience - Everybody's Entitled To Their Own Opinion (YouTube Music full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kvBtfSbTFmV69PVUI4fxTAE8ND8TGUiao
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