...and it only took 12 years to find it!

1986 - Girl In The Sweater / I Heard Her Call My Name 7"

Back in 1993 or 1994 I was a junior in high school and dating this girl whose mother was an exchange teacher from Australia. She had some mix-tapes that her friend back in Woolongong had made for her that we listened to together bunches of times. Apparently she had forgotten to pack one or something because she was always looking for a tape that had this elusive song called "Girl In The Sweater" which she wanted to play for me.The song was by a band called the Hard-Ons, who were a very popular old-school punk band back in Australia. Many times she frantically tried to find that cassette and many times she made me promise that I would continue to look for this song for the rest of my life or until I found it, whichever should come first.
I can honestly say that probably because of her manic insistence, or perhaps because of how much other great music she had turned me on to, I did in fact search for it. And search, and search, and search...
I had no problems finding material by the Hard-Ons. They are pretty well known in Australia, and the UK, and aren't completely unknown these days in the states among serious punk collectors and enthusiasts. This song though... God damnit. I could have sworn that she made that shit up!! No fucking trace of any such song, even after working for years in used record stores, where I got to see and listen to pretty much every weird, obscure record that ever existed.
Nothing.
Then, one day, about three years ago, I was just kind of wandering around the Clinton neighborhood, waiting to meet a friend at Dot's and decided to pop in to this really great little record store called Green Noise. I browsed around and found a great old record of early Roy Orbison recordings and was close to leaving when I thought, "Oh, I should look for Hard-Ons" (yeah, haha) I went to the "H" lps and there it was. Right in front. A yellow covered record by the Hard-Ons. Self-titled. I had never seen or even heard of such a thing. I flipped it to the back, and there it was, 'Girl In The Sweater'. I flipped it back over.
$80
*erkkkkkkkkkkk*
That wasn't going to happen. :( However, the owner of the store was nice enough to let me put the record on a turntable and listen to it in headphones. Finally.
A few months later somebody from London via the interweb traded me a copy of the 7" version for a 7" I had of green day.
Sucker.
Sarah and I still keep in touch. She's busy back in Sydney being a bad-ass teacher/art-curator/musician and though I talk to her relatively regularly, I don't think I ever told her that I found that goddamned song.
She is getting married in March or something and I won't be able to go, but in honor of her engagement I dedicate this post to her. Congratulations Sarah! May your marriage be even lovelier than chips!