Why It Matters

I was a teenager working in a record store when I first saw this picture disc.

I loved picture discs, still do.  Back then I was certain that they were rare investments that would someday pay for my retirement. Today? Well, I still like them.

But I didn’t like this one. It was the early ’80s, the era of new wave, post punk, and MTV. Who cared about the lame ass Turtles? Every time I ran across it in the bins, “but it’s an investment” and “you don’t want it” battled for dominance. “You don’t want it” always won.

Eventually I dropped my teenaged snobbery and learned to love the Turtles. Flo and Eddie’s work with Zappa had a lot to do with that, but the Turtles were a great band. You can’t deny those songs. Check out the dreamy, psych pop of “To See the Sun,” for example:

I also grew into a huge fan of Rhino Records, the greatest reissue label in record industry history, and the label behind this picture disc. I cursed myself for passing up 1968 all those years ago, so when I finally came across one in the bins decades later I snatched it up. It’s still not much of an investment — you can pick up your own copy for five bucks–but my record collection is somewhat autobiographical, and having this one in my stacks completes a chapter. Or at least a paragraph.

Want your own copy of 1968? You can pick one up for–oh wait, I already told you that. Happy hunting.