Towards the end of the 1990s, I became obsessed with a certain kind of record that I was finding in op-shops and record shop bargain bins around Sydney.

Broadly speaking i'd describe them in the following way:

• Released between the late '60s and early 1970s;
• Almost totally instrumental (with an occasional wordless vocal or two);
• Mostly consisting of cover versions of the hits of the day;
• By artists I'd never heard of;
• On obscure, 'budget' labels that appeared to have been sold primarily at supermarkets.

They would usually have one (or maybe two) original compositions on them, often with intriguing names like “Trouble Spot” or "Shake 26”. Upon listening, they might initially appear like dull, easy-listening style background music, but crucially there would be one (or again, maybe two, if you're lucky!) tracks that sounded like the music used in a party scene from some obscure movie.

Fuzz guitar, Hammond organ, heavy drums, maybe a bit of Moog; Funky but not funk.

At the time I was discovering them, I knew virtually nothing about these mysterious releases. The covers usually didn't have much info beyond the song titles and composer credits, and any artists or musicians listed had names that were completely unfamiliar to me - usually something like "The Something Somebody Orchestra", or "The Someone Something Brass".

Who were these even aimed at? Why would anyone have bought them at the time?

I remember thinking: Who were these even aimed at? Why would anyone have bought them at the time? Were they the kinds of things well meaning relatives would buy a teenager who was 'into music', or were people buying these 'cause that's what they were actually into? Unlike the similar, but very different, 'sound-alike' records, such as the "Top of the pops" and "Hot hits" series of albums, these made no attempt to sound even remotely like the artists they were covering.

Anyway, it felt like I was the only person in the world who knew about them, as if they were left in various op-shops just for me to discover.

Discovering VV

By the early 2000s the internet, and more importantly Google, was becoming ubiquitous, and in an attempt to discover more about these records I eventually came across a UK based site called "Vinyl Vulture" (which from here on I'll refer to as VV).

It was there I discovered pages and pages of these kinds of records, all with short reviews. There were so many, and most of which I'd never seen before! My heart raced as I realised I had barely scratched the surface of this world, not least because many of them were only ever released in the UK or Europe. I had so far only been exposed to those few that had, for whatever reason, gotten a release in Australia.

You could almost hear the collective gasp as each new discovery was unearthed and shared with the group.

Crucially they also had a forum, and it was full of like-minded people all sharing their latest discoveries (often found via 'Car Boot Sales' and 'Charity Shops' - VV being a very UK dominated site). You could almost hear the collective gasp as each new discovery was unearthed and shared with the group.

Unlike what seems to be the norm for such a male-dominated domain of collectors, there seemed to be only a mild sense of competition and a refreshing lack of ego. It was mostly pure enthusiasm and the love of sharing new finds.

It was there I started to learn about Library Music (royalty free music produced for use in TV and film), and the various composers and session musicians who created it. Gradually I understood that these composers and musicians were often also releasing albums commercially. Sometimes these were repackaged 'library' tracks with a few cover versions, other times they were mostly cover versions with one or two originals. A veil was being lifted.

Of course, most of this music had been rediscovered years before. There were already compilations with titles like “Inflight Entertainment”, and “The Sound Gallery”, from throughout the 1990s, but regardless, the feeling of them being 'my thing' remained.

Once I had plucked up the courage to set up an account and participate in the discussions I eventually came to meet a few of the members in person. If they happened to be travelling to Sydney often they would want to meet up for a dig with a local when they were in town. I also got to know some of the few local vultures.

Eventually the tastes of those in the VV community seemed to drift away from these 'bargain bin' records, becoming more diverse, and possibly more mature, as we all started discovering more and more obscure releases across wider and wider genres. Different styles floated in and out of vogue in the group - folk funk, funky rock, psych. Things seemed to get a little more serious and a bit more competitive somehow.

At some point and for reasons I can't recall, the whole thing moved to a new site called "Very Good Plus" (a real record nerd in-joke there). Around the same time it seemed like the whole thing lost steam, as we all got older, had families, and had less time for banter about random record scores.

These days...

These days I still find myself getting a little thrill when I come across one of these Vinyl Vulture style records in an op-shop or bargain bin.

I love knowing that they are still out there for people to rediscover and possibly go down the same rabbit hole I (and many others) had gone down years before. While there are some 'big name' records in the genre that do attract high prices, for the most part they seem to have fallen out of favour and remain under the radar.

In the world of eBay and Discogs where almost no record is unknown and bargains are harder and harder to come by, there is something about the cheesy cover art, boring sounding artist name and uninspired track-list that seem to be anathema to dealers and flippers alike.

So while record dealers add another zero to the price of classic rock records there is still a beacon of hope for those of us whose interest is piqued by the promise of unheard delights hiding in plain sight.