More holiday gifts for super music fans only: Michael Jackson statue, Elvis cookie jar, and more

The seasons are here again, and there’s not enough time in the day to do all the things that you have to accomplish, and in the back of your mind, there’s someone special that deserves something that’s always so difficult to find. Tread lightly and glimpse into a sordid strange landscape where the only purchasers would constitute fanaticism of the highest degree.

Tom Waits 78rpm LP and Record Player

On November 19, Preservation Hall Recordings released 504 limited edition, hand-numbered, 78rpm format vinyl records featuring two tracks by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with very special guest Tom Waits. The cost was a $200 donation to the Preservation Hall Junior Jazz & Heritage Brass Band, but the first 100 donors also received, inexplicably, a “custom designed Preservation Hall 78rpm record player.” (I’m pretty sure this donation bonus is long gone by now, but you might find it on eBay.)

This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2010.