“The first records I remember buying were quite a good bargain.”
“In those days there would be these offers to buy 10 records for a penny. I think the ad was in a magazine or something like that. Of course the catch was you had to sign up to be in this ‘record club’ and would eventually pay the money back with additional purchases.
My mom had to write a letter to them explaining that I was a minor and didn’t understand the terms of the agreement. I think I actually mailed out a penny in an envelope when I signed up for this thing—hilarious! Among the records were Fantastic Voyage by Lakeside and the 9 to 5 soundtrack (Dolly Parton).
The Lakeside record got a lot of spins and had a really theatrical pirate theme. At the time it was really dope—all of these cool looking bruthas dressed like pirates on some pirate ship. Nowadays they would have been laughed off the island!
My older brother also bought a lot of records and would listen to them from his room when he got home from school. At the time he was really into heavy metal. Being black and living in a black neighborhood, it kinda had to be our little secret. He would play the records and I would stare at the album artwork and crawl inside the music.
Ozzy Osborne would also always have really theatrical artwork and photos. It was really cool to connect with music that way because it forced you to use your imagination. I had to be careful not to scratch his records when I played them when he wasn’t around—I wasn’t too careful back then.
There is something visceral about vinyl. The sound of the needle crackle, the smell of the sleeves, the richness of the low end. And the ritual of pulling out a record and putting it on the phonograph.
These days I am definitely caught up in the ‘immediate gratification’ generation. I imagine in some years I’ll have a music room with a proper ‘hi fi’ system with a record player and some vintage albums—and maybe a few Sabbath records.”
—Stephen Bradley
The first solo album from No Doubt trumpeter/vocalist Stephen Bradley, Runaways is in stores now.
