One of the best things about music is that you've always got a chance to go back and find old records that you may have missed upon their release. (Thanks for the whole recorded music thing, Mr. Edison!)
Maybe you were going through a phase and simply missed out on a great record from a genre you had neglected, or maybe it just flew right under your radar and you never even knew it existed in the first place. Maybe you weren't yet born when it came out. (Born in 1844, Dave Park can't use this excuse.)
Either way, you can always dig through the ol' crates and find a gem buried where you hadn't thought to look before.
In the past couple months, we've been especially grateful for introductions to a few older records that squeaked by us on their release date. For the hip-hop heads, Blahzay Blahzay's Blah Blah Blah somehow eluded us back in 1996. We've been playing the hell out of it lately to make up for lost time -- highly recommended. In the soul category, the Staple Singers' 1968 record, Soul Folk in Action, has been soundtracking the unseasonably warm weather we've had out here in the San Francisco office.
What great older records have you discovered lately? Tell us below, and remember: Be nice. Just because you had such and such record ten years ago doesn't make it any less awesome to those who just copped it. Be thankful you got ten more years of enjoyment out of it.
[Edit: Blahzay Blahzay - "Blah Blah Blah" (from Blah Blah Blah, 1996)]