‘I’m flabbergasted:’ Mystery record discovered at B.C. thrift store makes decades-old musical dream come true

Adam finds out how a mysterious record discovered in a B.C. thrift store led to the realization of a musical dream more than 50 years in the making.

This was not the first time that Marcus Pollard had found an old acetate record in a thrift store with no name on the label and lots of damage on the disc—and bought it anyway.

“Because every time I go, ‘There might be something cool on that,’” Marcus smiles. “And there never is.”

Never. Until now.

“It instantly hit me like a brick,” Marcus says of playing the record for the first time.

It was a “visceral rush” that compelled him to consult with music historians and scour the internet to find out who he was hearing.

“I asked, ‘Anybody know this?” Marcus recalls. “And it was, ‘No. No. No. No.”

Until, after two years’ worth of ‘no,’ on an obscure garage band blog, Marcus finally found a ‘yes’.

“This guy goes, ‘Hey! That’s my record.” Marcus smiles.

That guy was Norm Roth, now a warehouse manager, who never released the record and hadn’t heard the songs in more than 50 years.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Norm says. “I really am flabbergasted.”

While Marcus celebrated solving the mystery, Norm relished travelling back in time.

“I was 18 years old,” Norm laughs. “I’m 77 now!”

The band was called The Glass Cage, and during the late 60s their songs—which ranged from teenage angst to youthful exuberance—proved so popular they graduated from playing around their small town to getting gigs in the big city.

“What we were hoping to do was be rock stars,” Norm smiles.

Although The Glass Cage broke up before they could realize that dream, and this one recording of them playing live was misplaced along the way, Marcus met with all the living members of the band and proposed a plan to bring their music back to life.

“I feel like everyone has done something in their life that was dismissed,” Marcus says. “And I wanted them to feel like what they created was actually important.”

So, Marcus, who is a veteran music promoter, spent the next eight years teaming up with professionals to physically refurbish the damaged record and digitally remaster the original songs, before designing elaborate packaging that includes a book documenting the band’s role in the local music scene.

The Glass Cage record is set to debut at public release parties on Vancouver Island and Vancouver. You can find details on The Glass Cage Instagram.

“I’m not looking for accolades or super stardom. That’s long gone,” Norm smiles. “It’s just saying to the world, ‘I was here.’ And I hope they enjoy it.”

And that’s how a determined music fan helped an unreleased record be reborn and a grateful musician found overnight success after 58 years.