“Before I sat down to write this, I put on a record. (Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention One Size Fits All, if you were wondering.)”
“There is something soothing about “putting on a record.” You get to find it in your crate, pile, bag, or pull it off your wall, slide it out, place it on your turntable, use your brush to pull the dust off, then set your needle to the groove. It involves care, and preciseness.
Maybe it’s the musician in me (the one that spent countless hours in the studio creating music to be as good sounding as possible) that wants to also take the time to do all this. Maybe it’s because I love thrift stores and my whole system and many records were purchased at one, regardless, it’s something that I enjoy immensely.
Like most people, my parents had a huge record collection. I remember seeing the record cover to Roxy Music’s Country Life and King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King right in between a Midnight Oil and Poco record. How crazy!?
All these records, all this artwork, a shack in Australia, half naked ladies in the jungle, Script Poco and a gatefold with a weird molecular glob giving us the peace sign. Sometimes I purchase records twice just so I can have one to hang on my wall as art. (Flipped to side B…)
Yesterday was Record Store Day. We played the great Culture Clash Records in Toledo, Ohio. It was fantastic to see so many people young and old, purchasing vinyl. Purchasing both RSD official releases and stuff from 40 years ago.
I personally picked up the RSD Leonard Cohen Live in Fredericton EP (which I’ve now moved onto) and a Fred Neil record as per a suggestion made by a friendly staffer. What would we do without record stores! Fred Neil, a pioneer of folk music, released that record in 1965 and now, it’s new to me in 2012!
One of my favorite artists, Slim Whitman, which coincidently was the first record ever played on the first record player I ever owned, was part of a stash I acquired from an old man selling the goods out of his garage. When I discovered records, and buying crates at a time, I thought I had a goldmine. (I was totally right by the way!) All this music! For less then it costs to buy a compact disc! GEE WHIZ!
After moving 6 times in and after college, I am happy to say the records all made the cut. Not only did they make the cut, the collection grew! I may have left behind a refrigerator, couch, a bed or two, a set of timpani, and a light up Santa, but the records never got the cut.
Needless to say, we love records. Our band loves records and record stores just the same. It’s so nice, running around the country, stopping in, searching for that special record, hearing a “woah!” in the corner of the store, then seeing a radical find made by one of the guys, or finding the sought after record that you know your band-mate will just love, or simply (record complete, next record, Dave Van Ronk, Songs for Aging Children) just being in the company of numerous other people that share the same love.”
—Dean Anshutz, drums
Enter to win an autographed copy of Red Wanting Blue’s From the Vanishing Point by telling us in the comments below just what you’re listening to right now. (Like now—right now.) The coolest record wins this cool record. We’ll give you a week and choose one winner with a North American mailing address on Tuesday, 5/8.
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