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My Grail: The Rodney Arias Story

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  • 08-03-2012 11:15pm
    #1
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭


    So, this 'grail' I was on about yes? Well, today marks the official end to a hunt that has been going on now some seven years.

    This is my grail. This, is the Rodney Arias story.

    I'll let my video explain the rest. :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk-KhWIOCT0


«1

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    #2
    johnny_ultimate
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 29,147 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    And there we have it.

    Officially the most off-topic thread ever started in the Arcade & Retro forum!

    The winnar is you!


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    #3
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    johnny_ultimate wrote: »
    And there we have it.

    Officially the most off-topic thread ever started in the Arcade & Retro forum!

    The winnar is you!

    Mr. U, I thank you. Thank you very much! Consider my bonnet tipped. :cool:

    N.B. I did say it was not gaming related but retro. :D


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    #4
    Jack burton
    Registered Users Posts: 5,773 ✭✭✭Jack burton


    I relaxed to the first minute...it was lovely

    And although I dont understand the gravity of the find for you I can appreciate the "amazeballs" cover art and the fact that its a grail for you! Well done for finding it and keeping the hunt alive!


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    #5
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    1exploitableiamdisappoi.jpg

    I'll be posting a video of my unboxing(or unopening really) of a can of classic cherry coke I got last night a little later(its 7.30am here).

    Ahh no, all joking aside I'm glad you got something you were looking for for so long. Even if it is the maddest off topic thing I ever seen here. Maybe repost it in the vinyl section of boards?

    .


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    #6
    Andrew76
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,154 Mod ✭✭✭✭Andrew76


    Fair play Pyongyang for sticking with the hunt for so long but I have to ask - is this a p1ss take?? How come it was so important to you, he's not your long lost dad or Elvis's secret brother or something? I'm more curious now than I was before, you first came across him/the album/song (?) on some website and had to have it? :confused:


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    #7
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Jack burton wrote: »
    I relaxed to the first minute...it was lovely

    And although I dont understand the gravity of the find for you I can appreciate the "amazeballs" cover art and the fact that its a grail for you! Well done for finding it and keeping the hunt alive!

    Cheers Jacqueline. :D

    I searched high and low for this record after I first saw the article on the web site. That was back in 2005/2006. I found nothing. I continued to search off and on over the time between then and Feb 2012. I never really gave it much though to search though and then I saw an ad from an elderly couple in Florida selling off their record collection.

    Finding a record this obscure that was recorded and pressed in Hawaii for some obscure two-bit cocktail lounge singer is a challenge in itself. But to get the copy I got I think is quite a result.

    I'm definitely going to investigate further. I was hoping to track down Mr. Arias and write to him to let him know this copy is now in Ireland. Hopefully he is still alive and I'll be able to contact him.

    To me, the obscurity and the challenge is reason why it's my personal grail. I shall never sell it! (And apparently it's worth quite a few quid for my first pressing with 'extras').

    I'll keep ye posted on how I get on contacting Mr. Arias. No idea where to start though. No idea if he is a) alive or b) still in Hawaii. :(


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    #8
    Jack burton
    Registered Users Posts: 5,773 ✭✭✭Jack burton


    Google him, this thread is the 5th result!

    truly an obscurity, not even a wikipedia page


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    #9
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Is this a p1ss take??

    Nope. Straight up genuine.

    How come it was so important to you?

    See above post. :)
    You first came across him/the album/song (?) on some website and had to have it?

    Yep pretty much. The links to the article are in the YouTube video.

    It's just one of those things. I read the article all those years ago, decided to try and find it and had no luck. Kept the hunt up though and about a week and a half ago found a copy in the Everglades in Florida that an elderly couple were selling in a clearance.

    Had to have it. I always wanted the record because I thought the challenge would be impossible. Then when this edition turned up, it was a no brainer. I would have flown to their house to collect it if it came to that.

    It's an awesome LP. :)


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    #10
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Jack burton wrote: »
    Google him, this thread is the 5th result!

    truly an obscurity, not even a wikipedia page

    Yep. Tracking Mr. Arias down is my next challenge as I want to write to him to explain how I got his record and find out if he knows where it was signed and when.

    Maybe the boards.ie community can help me track him down? :)


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    #11
    Jack burton
    Registered Users Posts: 5,773 ✭✭✭Jack burton


    I'd say this will be very hard. But I'm sure there's people here who know how to track people down. Really need to send off a game and get is signed myself now. Maybe try and contact a programmer for Death and Return of Superman.


    But if there's someone from Hawaii I need found theres only 2 men who can get that job done

    Magnumtomselleck.jpg

    dog-chapman.jpg


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    #12
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    Pyongyang wrote: »
    Yep. Tracking Mr. Arias down is my next challenge as I want to write to him to explain how I got his record and find out if he knows where it was signed and when.

    Maybe the boards.ie community can help me track him down? :)

    His son is all over twitter, flickr and other places. That was after a 30 second google search.
    Should be able to find him easy enough I'd say.

    .


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    #13
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Steve SI wrote: »
    His son is all over twitter, flickr and other places. That was after a 30 second google search.
    Should be able to find him easy enough I'd say.

    .

    Awesome, can you chuck in a few links? I'll try and contact his son. Last I read Rodney Arias Jr. was working in Waikiki Wal Mart, I think.

    Thanks for looking it up SteveSI. :)


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    #14
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    Pyongyang wrote: »
    Awesome, can you chuck in a few links? I'll try and contact his son. Last I read Rodney Arias Jr. was working in Waikiki Wal Mart, I think.

    Thanks for looking it up SteveSI. :)

    Yeah no bother.

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2096469/
    https://twitter.com/#!/rodneyariasjr
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/7957972@N06/4074404800/
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNTIoLYdeSk
    http://www.mele.com/music/artist/ekolu/praising+him+island+style+-+vol+3/

    http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/10/10/business/index.html

    http://bizarrerecords.com/wordpress/2007/rodney-arias-hawaiian-lounge-legend/

    .


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    #15
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    Was he actually on an episode of Hawaii Five-0?

    .


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    #16
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Legend, thanks SteveSI! I know his son was big in to the Christian music scene in Hawaii. Looks like that's still going for him. :)

    Sent him a message via Twitter. Hopefully I'll be able to contact the great man himself, assuming hopefully he's still with us.


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    #17
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Steve SI wrote: »
    Was he actually on an episode of Hawaii Five-0?

    .

    I read about that too, but I don't have the episode to confirm. Don't have any episodes actually. I will hunt it down though!


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    #18
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    Pyongyang wrote: »
    I read about that too, but I don't have the episode to confirm. Don't have any episodes actually. I will hunt it down though!

    I think I have all the old episodes on a drive at home, or on one of my online servers. I'll have a look after brekkie as I need to remote in for other stuff as well.

    .


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    #19
    Doge
    Registered Users Posts: 8,963 ✭✭✭Doge


    128808493605258266.jpg


    This thread needs to be renamed to "Son of I am disappoint discussion"


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    #20
    Doge
    Registered Users Posts: 8,963 ✭✭✭Doge


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IrjFljVLm4


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    #21
    Steve X2
    Registered Users Posts: 8,853 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    I do have those episodes. So if you know what ones he was in i can have a look(I think its season 9 he's in).

    But now Pyongyang I must go as I have to go to Pyongyang :rolleyes:
    I'll be offline for a few days unless my kindle 3G can find some way out to civilisation(I've set up a proxy to connect to my PC at home and get access from there, I'm using it now in Seoul and it works perfectly).
    So if you find what eps he was in I'll check them out when I get back to Seoul.


    .


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    #22
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,541 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    Hmm, some are calling for this thread to be moved, locked, burned, stoned (in a biblical not a hippy kinda way, burned again, buried, dug up, burned once more just in case and then deleted.

    I say, no.
    I say this guy, Pyongyang, has been living it up, importing all sorts of rare and wonderful gaming oddities over the last year or so, bringing in regular shipments, to his desk no less, of amazing Laser Discs, gaming paraphernalia, rare vintage games and consoles.

    Lets see him importing something with "naff" written all the way through like a stick of rock.
    Lets allow him to air this insanity to us all, with a childish enthusiasm, an so remind us all that he, too, has feet of clay.

    This could be Pyongyangs equivalent of one of these...
    state%2Bof%2Bme.jpg
    All be it with less fake boobs and more sideburns ;)


    Seriously though, it's nice to hunt down something particular to you, I had the same search back in '90, hunting for the Aliens soundtrack, it was out of print everywhere and this was before Amazon and Ebay, I eventually found the most gorgeous gatefolded Album and it was sweet, til I lent it to a guy in college after he begged me and he lost it on the Dart home, tosser, never paid me for it either!


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    #23
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,541 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    Oh, and it could have been worse,
    You could have been unboxing something with even less to do with great retro videogames....
    Like, say, a CDi! ;)


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    #24
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    I don't get why there's any flak? We entertain t-shirts, laserdiscs, dinosaurs & all manner of non game related stuff here. I tend to feel as if A&R is a small community, with games as the focal point, but the mods graciously allow us to diverge slightly, & indulge our other retro quests here.

    Pyong has treated us to many gaming related brilliant posts, art, games & videos. I think it's only fair that we indulge him now in whats clearly something of massive sentimental value, in the same way we would if Retr0 found that elusive school girl skirt he's looking for.

    I say fair play, & even though its not gaming related, it's still important to you so live & let live.


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    #25
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    Cheers lads. No harm meant here. I did mention it was retro and it probably is better suited to other forums on boards.ie, but I don't think it would be understood in quite the same tact.

    It is definitely a sentimental item to me. To reiterate it's more about presenting the challenge in the hunt to actually find such an obscure, specialist item that I honestly thought I would never find and after the best part of a decade of searching, I found not only a mint first edition but one that was signed by every single member of the group.

    Really don't think you could find something of that nature by just walking in to any old record shop and asking for a copy, signed or unsigned.

    Glad folks like the other stuff, again no harm meant, just sharing my pickups with like-minded folk. Besides, it's not just me that collects stuff, there's heaps of other amazing posts here with folk picking up some really first class items.

    Everyone contributes heaps which is why it's such a great community. :)


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    #26
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,541 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    EnterNow wrote: »
    I don't get why there's any flak?

    It's getting flak because...

    1- It's all goodnatured ribbing really

    and

    b- the guy sings those songs without the merest hint of irony, not a one.

    and

    z- he has sideburns that could stop a space shuttle in mid launch...

    And anyhow, what is this forum if not a place where we can take the piss out of each other, reduce our gaming mates to puddles of shameful tears then simply add a ;) to the end of the offensive statement and walk away, no harm done! ;)


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    #27
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    CiDeRmAn wrote: »
    It's getting flak because...

    1- It's all goodnatured ribbing really

    Ah that's a given, the only thing safe to post here is games. And only certain games at that. Putting up something off topic like say, having a pantry, leaves you wide open to an A&R onslaught :D

    When I said flak it was prob a bad choice of words, I suppose I meant why are people doubting it's for real? This is A&R goddamnit, quirky tastes & habits are a given :)


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    #28
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,541 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    Indeed, a love of Halo and dislike of Streets of Rage/Goldenaxe is a universal sign of good taste and civilisation, so say we all!

    jolly_good_show_by_jenop12-d328nne.gif


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    #29
    ondafly
    Registered Users Posts: 2,171 ✭✭✭ondafly


    For the love of Rodney - let us rejoice. I want to hear more than 45 seconds of this intro http://bizarrerecords.com/wordpress/2010/rodney-arias/

    AriasRodney.jpg


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    #30
    Pyongyang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭Pyongyang


    ondafly wrote: »
    I want to hear more than 45 seconds of this intro

    Careful now, that's the exact same way I got hooked on Rodney!

    Seven years later...

    Going to collect the rest of his discography if I can. He's a legend! :)


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    #31
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,541 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    Hmm, if America lost the war in the Pacific would he be singing a selection of songs like this?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7SdGmbcr9U


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