Walnut Hills and UC grad wins Grammy for Voyager record project: CINCINNATI — Cincinnati native David Pescovitz was still stunned on Sunday afternoon, just a few hours after winning a Grammy Award for best boxed or special limited-edition package. “It’s astounding,” said Pescovitz, 47. He shared the award with his colleagues, graphic designer Lawrence Azzerad and Tim Daly, manager of the legendary Amoeba Music record store in San Francisco, for their work on “The Voyager Golden Record: 40th Anniversary Edition.” The Walnut Hills High School and University of Cincinnati graduate (and a longtime friend of this writer) called the award a capstone to a lifetime spent gazing at the stars, obsessively collecting books about the cosmos and listening to albums made by artists from every corner of the globe.
Vinyl swap Saturday brings back music: David Turner remembers pedaling his bicycle into downtown Gastonia as a young boy to spend time sorting through the bins of albums at Ja-Jo’s Records. “I would take the money I earned from cutting my grandparents’ grass and buy Elvis records,” said Turner. “This had to be in the early 70s. We no longer have any record stores in Gastonia and I wish we still did.” As a way to increase interest in vinyl collecting throughout Gaston County, Turner is hosting a vinyl swap and buy from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, at The Atrium at Olio’s, 245 W. Garrison Blvd., Gastonia. During the event, vendors will sell records and people will also have the opportunity to trade with other vinyl enthusiasts. “Vinyl is becoming popular again and more and more people are becoming interested in collecting them,” said Turner.
Record swap to be held Saturday in Elm Grove: Nail City Record in Elm Grove will hold its inaugural record swap on Saturday. All you have to do is bring in a crate of records. They could be old vinyls you’re ready to trade or classics any doubles you might have. Once there, you can trade with other people in the store who have brought in their own collection. Jonathan Napier, the store’s owner, wanted to start this monthly event to bring together vinyl lovers in the Wheeling area. Record Swap Saturday will take place the last Saturday of every month at Nail City Record.
Obit: Mack S. Luchey, owned and operated Doris Records, area’s oldest record store: BUFFALO—When Mack S. Luchey opened the first Doris Records store on Broadway in 1962, he always had a speaker outside. “He and Doris would drive to New York City and bring back something that hadn’t been heard here yet,” said his son, Derrick, who helps manage the Buffalo record store. “It was when ‘Green Onions’ was popular. When people passed by and heard the new stuff, it would attract them in.” Mr. Luchey remained active in Doris Records, now the oldest record store in Western New York, until he was injured in a fall in December 2016. He died in his Buffalo home last Friday. He was 82.
Amsterdam record shop Vintage Voudou launch reissue label with elusive Ghanaian synth-funk LP: Amsterdam record shop Vintage Voudou has announced the first release on its new reissues label – Homowo by Basa Basa – out this February. The album, which mixes traditional Ghanaian music with far out synths, disco, afrobeat, and soul, was originally released in 1979 via Nigerian label Take Your Choice Records under the name Together We Will Win by Basa Basa Experience. Vintage Voudou’s Homowo 2018 reissue features extended liner notes and a poster of the original sleeve album artwork.
CLASSIC VINYL: space oddity who found spiders on Mars and changed the face of music: Bowie wanted to call this album Metrobolis inspired by the Fritz Lang film Metropolis, but Mercury insisted that it should remain under the original title. Often referred to as Bowie’s dark, heavy metal album, it was first released in the United States in November 1970; it came out in the UK six months later. The picture of Bowie wearing a blue cream dress lounging seductively on a chaise-longue was certainly controversial. Bowie described it as a man-dress (it never caught on) wearing it on subsequent interviews to promote the album.
