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.
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.
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.
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.
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!").
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
@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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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 😎
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!
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!
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!
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
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.
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.
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...
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!
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!
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.
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 ?
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.
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. ua-cam.com/video/jP0lq8XcRMo/v-deo.html Also see the movie "The Target Shoots First"
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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?
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!
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 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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!"
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.
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.
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.
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. :-)
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
I'll bet i joined CH at least a dozen times over the years, often twice at a time (once for me, once for my wife). Never had a problem, always cancelled after my required purchases, then I'd re-join. I'd do it again in a heartbeat as i Still have most of the LPs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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!
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.
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.
I noticed that also. What i would do to avoid that is that on Columbia House i would only select and later buy were ones that were Columbia or Sony labeled. On BMG i would only select BMG label or RCA. That way i knew i was buying the originals and never saw a lapse of quality.
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.
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.
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!
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.
When you're on the CDs from the record clubs pressing matters little. In some instances the club editions are superior in that they may not have a barcode or club tag. Just a simple line of text like D177865 against the color backdrop. That's a nice touch if a barcode or tag would interfere with artwork. Also of note is that no one has been able to join BMG since 2009. If BMG is still releasing BMG club edition albums that would make those CD editions exceptionally rare. Sonically there's zero difference between US retail releases and US club releases on CD. I probably own 350+ club CDs and they're fine.
Had a neighbor fill a card out and put his name on it and my address on it. He kept an eye out for the mailman and stole the CDs out of my mail box. He also never got into trouble for that. When I was in high school people would fill the the cards out and put someone else's name on it just for shits and giggles. They would send a teacher they didn't like a whole new collection of heavy metal albums.
that would be such a good prank. If only you could send 20 copies a month of the same album. I'd be confused as hell having 20 copies of Chicago X. Then just start shipping different formats you know they do not own. Maniacal
@@mroof03 Do understand I didn't do any of that stuff back in the day. I actually had someone send a box from Columbia House to my house. My parents were very angry because they didn't want me to join the club. When I told them what happened they took the CDs or cassettes back to the post office unopened. I had just turned 16. I had just got my drivers license and mom said if they find out I did this or had anything to do with it that I would not drive a car again until I was 18. I think I know who did it and I just let it go. We got a letter from Columbia House thanking me for sending the items back. They said they are working on ways to prevent this from happening.
I joined Columbia House Music Club and BMG funny thing is after I bought the CD's I needed to complete my membership requirements and canceled my membership, they would send me mailings to rejoin with the same offer.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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!”
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.
@@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.
Three memories:. 1. I coaxed my dad into joining with me in 1979 and after our obligation was met, we dropped them....then rejoined later. 2. I worked in our mail room in college from time to time and learned what gaming the system really could look like once a young man or woman had their own address. 3. I did my grad work at Indiana State U in Terre Haute. CH was a huge employer and it was a big deal for undergrads to intern there. I graduated in 1993 and with the dawn of MP3s and Napster I knew CH would die on the vine. RIP. I'm sure all those jobs in Vigo County were not easily replaced.
I worked in my college mailroom, too. Most people had an account at school and another at home. Then re-enroll each year as they changed dorms. We were constantly returning the rejected auto-shipments.
I remember wondering about joining, until I saw a "Leave it to Beaver" episode where Beaver joined a music club, disregarded the postcards to decline further deliveries and got into trouble. I didn't like music that much, and watching the fictional experience convinced me that music clubs were not worth the trouble.
Yeah, music clubs are like drug dealers. Your first one is free (or in this case a penny), but you'll end up paying for it if you're not careful. So, the Beave was doing the first campaign against addiction and they didn't even know it. 🤣
I joined Columbia House in 1990 and was a member for over a decade. I used them when I was in the military to get CD's. I was very good at mailing back the little card. Most of the time I actually ordered stuff, especially during specials, BOGO for example. Once in a while I didn't mail the card in time, but usually kept the CD of the month anyhow.
A close friend was their marketing consultant - they realized their business model was outdated, and seen as a scam or trap by consumers. They asked her for a new business model, she offered it, and they completely rejected it.
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.
my Grandma let me join Columbia House when i was 10 ONLY when we read through ALL the fine print and did the math on what kind of savings would be on signing up. if you didn't buy the selection of the month and found deals that still qualified for your fulfillment, you could save a fair amount. So I was probably one of the few who actually used the member ship legitimately. LOL Once I made it to college, I discovered the wonderful world of garage sales, flea markets and pawn shops. Goodbye to Columbia House LOL. Of course once digtial download became a thing, buying any new CDs were a thing of the past. Plus by then I was in the mid 30s and my music tastes didn't connect as well as the new artists. My only issue now is how am I going to get my collection of about 1000 CDs to the Philippines when I move there this year.
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.
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.
I have almost the exact same story, but it was "Rock and Roll Over"....on 8-track!
@@jeffbecker8716 and you got to see one of the original lineup of Alice In Chains final shows.
‘76?
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.
I remember the circle on the form saying “tape penny here”
dam i rember that too
Yep!!
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.
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!").
@@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.
I still owe them money
Who doesn't? Lol
@@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom Oh well
Did anyone ever fulfill the terms of the deal? I don't know how many of the monthly cd's I sent back.
Mee too
I just spit out my drink from laughing.
Columbia House: How we all learned about collection agencies.
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.
@@tonecot8932 Yes but the had the wrong name
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.
That's right, I'd forgotten about their "accounts receivable" department. Strong-arming mothers.....
Haha, you too?
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.
Great info. Thanks Brian!
Frank
OMG that is so Creepy 😱
Brian that's a cool story. It would be interesting to know which albums were 'hits' at the landfill.
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...
Good stuff thx
My employer delivered master tapes to the Terre Haute plant back in the late 80s. I personally delivered a Michael Jackson master.
Very cool!
and you couldnt have just thrown it in a river or something??? thanks alot!
@@lukewarmwater6412 they should throw you in the river! You have No respect for music!
Late ‘80s... Bad?
@@analoguecity3454 I think he was saying intentionally “lose it” and keep it for safe keeping.
“Id never want to be part of a club that would accept me as a member, unless it was Columbia House” - Groucho Marx
They weren’t just in music magazines. They were in EVERY magazine!
They were in the TV guide nearly every week.
@@JENDALL714 yup
And in the flyers section in every Sunday newspapers
If I'm not mistaken I was seeing them in my mom's Readers Diggest too.
@@alecairpaag yup. All the time
I never cheated but I rejoined Columbia and BMG over and over again. I never had to use a different name. Always same address
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.
Same here.....
@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.
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.
It was actually a good deal if you took advantage of the bonus selections.
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."
@redlightflash An anecdote I'd call it.
@redlightflash Did it have to be a joke?
I signed my dog up for Columbia House. A few times. That pooch had good taste in music.
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!
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.
I would sign up getting my free stuff, fulfill the commitment and then cancel an resign up a couple of months later.
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.
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.
Yup. I did that a few times too.
Sane😆😂
I did the same thing ❤️
The question should be, were you a "members" of Columbia House
I was many "family" members....
I was but it was Vinyl!! ✌️🤠
About 13 between columbia and bmg...
yes i was
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 😎
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!
Why would it be their problem that you were ten? Sounds like your dad needed to beat you.
8 cds for a penny. What could go wrong? I miss those monthly brochures.
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
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!
Bought a lot of CDs from them
@@ScarecrowzTube Next video: What happened to BMG 😆 I bought a ton of CDs from them.
It was 12 LP's for a penny
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!
Love that!
@@claudiamiller7730 are you related to Robt. Miller? He lived there too!😆
@@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 :-)
@@Jimbo700 😆 it got to be known as the " Columbia" House!
@@Jimbo700 😆 it got to be known as the " Columbia" House!
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.
I never worried about that as I usually would deliberately misspell my name when I signed up.
@@danieldaniels7571 ... Oh, so you're a scam artist!!
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?"
It would be sad not to get the loan for that house for a $7 record
"This is going to wind up on your permanent record."
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!
I was a member of both, wish they would come back since I don’t download any music. Physical media only
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
Me too
I buy new CDs still on eBay great price.
@@kja9881 .
I still buy the CDs and albums but rip them to my HDD and never really touch the physical media.
i always got to the mail box first before parents so they wouldnt see the delinquent pay now notices
Lol same.
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.
@@danielgouge4639 i called that number a few times from wcw...i was around 40 years old,i think
Remember the "stamps"?
Yes!!!!
I used to use those to decorate the J-cards of the cassettes I recorded from those albums and CDs.
yup
Remember them - I can still taste that adhesive....
Oh geez, yes...
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.
They were very profitable. Music streaming ended that.
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.
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...
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!
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.
CRC was on the spine. I have several ELO albums like that.
@@raaawkstaaar AHA!! Hey, I had always wondered about that. Now I will be looking at my LPS with greater scrutiny. Thanks.
@@raaawkstaaar 🙄🙄🙄🙄
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!
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.
Looks like they did her a favor
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 ?
@@stevenmandl4920 motoring....
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.
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?!
I realized, I can make a profit off of that.
Now you know.
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. ua-cam.com/video/jP0lq8XcRMo/v-deo.html
Also see the movie "The Target Shoots First"
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!!
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.
Duck hurts, Very funny lol
Love a good grift.
Lol
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.
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.
Still one of my all time favorite albums. It has a permanent home in my music rotation. 😎
😂😂😂
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.
2000s! Very cool Cameron. Many had jumped ship by then.
@@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.
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?
Was a member still have albums cassettes and even some 8 tracks. Cool video keep up the Great work. 🤘
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!
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.
wait so.... the long pause and then "endless nameless" the smashy noise jam... was NOT avail on store bought CDs?? That's weird.
@@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.
@@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.
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.
When I was going to college in Terre Haute (1968-71), they had those sales (on a warehouse loading dock) every other week!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!"
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.
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.
I could buy prerecorded reel to reel in the AF BX in the 60's and 70's.
Reel to Reel were great especially at parties. Didn't have to worry about ppl scratching my Lp's .
@@cesarnarro6013 so funny you say that, that is exactly what we did at parties, put on reels & just let it play....
So you're saying you have tens of thousands of dollars in music?
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.
For sure. I miss the days.
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.
Yep, I was a member. Was also a member of Readers' Digest and one or two more. Kinda miss them.
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.
Lol. Yes!
You're the type of person psychologists describe as "sociopathic."
@@SteveDeHaven Who isn't one of those these days?
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. :-)
It's how I started my collection as a teen back in the 1970s.
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
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.
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.
The waiting was always the hardest part... but when you saw that bundle of new music arrive... that was awesome.
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
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.
God I hope this is true. Epic. I had multiple accounts but nothing on this scale.
They pressed charges on her for mail fraud
Holy shit!! Lmfao! My God that's even more epic. Thank you for sharing
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.
Genius! Wish I had thought of that!
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.
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!
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.
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!
That would have been a great job!
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
Same here lol
The only snag with record club membership was that the Beatles never licensed their albums to either Columbia House or RCA Music Service (BMG).
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.
I used Mike Oxlong, or Getta Nardon 🤣
My mom: "Why is the dog getting a package of cassettes?"
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.
You paid $30 for a movie?
@@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.
@@ericjanssen394 I can't think of any movie I want that bad.
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.
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.
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.
I'll bet i joined CH at least a dozen times over the years, often twice at a time (once for me, once for my wife). Never had a problem, always cancelled after my required purchases, then I'd re-join. I'd do it again in a heartbeat as i Still have most of the LPs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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!
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.
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.
I swear those cassettes were printed on masking tape, the sound quality was utterly abysmal. Buy the LP and record to TDK on my Teac. That or nothing.
I noticed that also. What i would do to avoid that is that on Columbia House i would only select and later buy were ones that were Columbia or Sony labeled. On BMG i would only select BMG label or RCA. That way i knew i was buying the originals and never saw a lapse of quality.
TDK? lol, MAXELL or nothing.
I'm obsessed with anything Columbia House. They should bring it back because of the dearth of record stores.
If they brought it back I would re-up in a heartbeat.
@@lenwennerberg1631 Me too
The dearth, eh? That's a word I haven't heard in a long time... Hey, how ironic!😆
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.
One word: Dynaflex
You could use these albums to blow your nose.
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.
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!
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!
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!
It’s funny that I was just thinking about what happened to Columbia House and BMG.
I used to be a member of Columbia House many years ago, and I also recently wondered whatever had happened to them.
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.
When you're on the CDs from the record clubs pressing matters little. In some instances the club editions are superior in that they may not have a barcode or club tag. Just a simple line of text like D177865 against the color backdrop. That's a nice touch if a barcode or tag would interfere with artwork.
Also of note is that no one has been able to join BMG since 2009. If BMG is still releasing BMG club edition albums that would make those CD editions exceptionally rare. Sonically there's zero difference between US retail releases and US club releases on CD. I probably own 350+ club CDs and they're fine.
For sure. From all accounts the CDs were the same... it seems it just some of the vinyl pressing some people take issue with.
Cheers,
Frank
Some of the CDs were even exclusive, I have a DEVO Greatest Hits album that's an edited from Now It Can Be Told along with newer live tracks.
I was a member of Columbia House, BMG, and Record Club of America.
Had a neighbor fill a card out and put his name on it and my address on it. He kept an eye out for the mailman and stole the CDs out of my mail box. He also never got into trouble for that. When I was in high school people would fill the the cards out and put someone else's name on it just for shits and giggles. They would send a teacher they didn't like a whole new collection of heavy metal albums.
My friends and I did that to the school bully. He couldn't figure what happened.
that would be such a good prank. If only you could send 20 copies a month of the same album. I'd be confused as hell having 20 copies of Chicago X. Then just start shipping different formats you know they do not own. Maniacal
@@mroof03 Do understand I didn't do any of that stuff back in the day. I actually had someone send a box from Columbia House to my house. My parents were very angry because they didn't want me to join the club. When I told them what happened they took the CDs or cassettes back to the post office unopened. I had just turned 16. I had just got my drivers license and mom said if they find out I did this or had anything to do with it that I would not drive a car again until I was 18. I think I know who did it and I just let it go. We got a letter from Columbia House thanking me for sending the items back. They said they are working on ways to prevent this from happening.
I joined Columbia House Music Club and BMG funny thing is after I bought the CD's I needed to complete my membership requirements and canceled my membership, they would send me mailings to rejoin with the same offer.
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.
Haha!
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.
ROTFL! I wish, dude...
@@jeffbecker8716
Yes, Herb & Jerry did well with A&M Records.
I'll trade you my Chris Montez album..
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
@@DarylSawatzky What? There's something wrong with a suitcase turntable?
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.
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!”
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.
@@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.
@@andrewfaucett6915 OMG...those secret shoppers. LOL! Was this The Musicland Group by chance?
@@eLeMeNOhPeaQ no it was Recordtown.
Three memories:. 1. I coaxed my dad into joining with me in 1979 and after our obligation was met, we dropped them....then rejoined later. 2. I worked in our mail room in college from time to time and learned what gaming the system really could look like once a young man or woman had their own address. 3. I did my grad work at Indiana State U in Terre Haute. CH was a huge employer and it was a big deal for undergrads to intern there. I graduated in 1993 and with the dawn of MP3s and Napster I knew CH would die on the vine. RIP. I'm sure all those jobs in Vigo County were not easily replaced.
I worked in my college mailroom, too. Most people had an account at school and another at home. Then re-enroll each year as they changed dorms. We were constantly returning the rejected auto-shipments.
I remember wondering about joining, until I saw a "Leave it to Beaver" episode where Beaver joined a music club, disregarded the postcards to decline further deliveries and got into trouble. I didn't like music that much, and watching the fictional experience convinced me that music clubs were not worth the trouble.
But that episode inspired me to think I could buck that system.
That was a good episode!
@@georgedoughly8682 It would be wild if someone posted it on You Tube. I'll start searching (LOL)
Yeah, music clubs are like drug dealers. Your first one is free (or in this case a penny), but you'll end up paying for it if you're not careful. So, the Beave was doing the first campaign against addiction and they didn't even know it. 🤣
I joined Columbia House in 1990 and was a member for over a decade. I used them when I was in the military to get CD's. I was very good at mailing back the little card. Most of the time I actually ordered stuff, especially during specials, BOGO for example. Once in a while I didn't mail the card in time, but usually kept the CD of the month anyhow.
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
A close friend was their marketing consultant - they realized their business model was outdated, and seen as a scam or trap by consumers. They asked her for a new business model, she offered it, and they completely rejected it.
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.
That would have been a good one
I was a member. It is what started my record collection. It was great for filling out back catalog.
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.
my Grandma let me join Columbia House when i was 10 ONLY when we read through ALL the fine print and did the math on what kind of savings would be on signing up. if you didn't buy the selection of the month and found deals that still qualified for your fulfillment, you could save a fair amount. So I was probably one of the few who actually used the member ship legitimately. LOL Once I made it to college, I discovered the wonderful world of garage sales, flea markets and pawn shops. Goodbye to Columbia House LOL. Of course once digtial download became a thing, buying any new CDs were a thing of the past. Plus by then I was in the mid 30s and my music tastes didn't connect as well as the new artists. My only issue now is how am I going to get my collection of about 1000 CDs to the Philippines when I move there this year.
I wish they were still around. I'm still a CD guy
yeah me to love the cds
I was a Columbia House member and enjoyed the service. My things change.