Atlantic Auction Considered "A Success"

The winter was a brutal one, but the one glimpse of sunlight came when Matador Records put up their goods from the glitzy Matador/Atlantic era. The sale took place at the glamorous Lakeside Lounge (where else?). It was crowded, it was hot, but it was worth it. Millions of dollars were raised for the Lombardi/Cosloy Silver Pockets charity, and billions were made.

It was with hushed awe that the audience first viewed the prize possessions of the Matador/Atlantic era. Vinyl from Moonshake, stickers from Yo La Tengo, dented fenders from Mark Ohe... Bidding was supposed to start in the teens (thirteen cents, fifteen cents), but oh so quickly the money took a wild drunken turn for the worse. As soon as the Bettie Serveert bopping dog head was unveiled Alan Licht fainted and nurse Eklow had to be rushed in for some mouth-to-mouth.

Johan put in a silent bid for the Matador database, while a tall foreign stranger took home Bailter Space's tuner. Luke Wood from Geffen Records tried to simply buy Liz Phair and Spoon, but instead opted for opening an office in South Africa and calling it MataD'or. Oh those zany copyright laws...

Some of the other prizes:

  • Limited-edition Liz Phair Rolling Stone posters, personally designed for retail by Liz.

  • Helium balloon animals

  • Loincloth from Chavez's "Break Up Your Band" video

  • Rejected album covers for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Remixes EP

  • Secret video tapes from the boom-boom room

  • Explicit "material inside" stickers

  • 7-foot cardboard cutout of Chris Lombardi with goat

  • Joe Gaer's beard

  • Those boring books Danny Goldberg sent us for Xmas

  • All the funny jokes from The Kids In the Hall In Brain Candy

  • James McNew's complete Simpsons collection (don't tell him)

  • Remnants of former Matador employee Nick Stone

  • Gerard's golf clubs

  • 2,000 CDs of Toys Went Berserk's unreleased album (donated to an orphanage after no bids were received).

So was the auction worth it? People are already marking off a date eight years from now for the Interscope/ Matador trinkets. Who knows what the brain power behind breaking Helmet can do for Matador, but we are sure it will be expensive! -- Sam Flax