Silver Spring, MD | Joe’s Record Paradise Stars on ‘Pawn Stars Do America’ Joe’s Record Paradise is featured on the latest episode of the History Channel show Pawn Stars Do America, according to an Instagram post from store owner Johnson Lee. “We are on the new episode of Pawn Stars Do America,” Lee wrote on Instagram. “We made a deal at the D.C. filming then Chumlee and crew came by the shop. Fun stuff.” In the episode, titled “National Treasures,” “Rick, Corey, and Chum are heading to our nation’s capital. The patriotic pals will call on some trusted experts to help lay down the law for good deals. In between the event, Chum and Corey get carried away in a massive mansion, and Rick considers a million-dollar memento from a pivotal piece of America’s past.” The episode premiered Wednesday night and can be viewed on the History Channel’s website. Joe’s Record Paradise is located at 8700 Georgia Ave. in downtown Silver Spring.
Melbourne, AU | ‘Sad news:’ Melbourne says goodbye to an iconic venue and record shop: After almost three decades of operation, Basement Discs will be closing down its brick and mortar store. Hidden away beneath the Block Arcade, Basement Discs was a place to get away from the chaos of the city, listen to intimate live performances and get your hand on an exciting new record. This week, Melbourne music lovers were sad to hear that the cherished venue will be closing its doors. Husband and wife duo of Suzanne Bennett and Rod Jacobs, who are co-owners of the shop, cite pandemic-related financial difficulty as the reason for shuttering the storefront. Although they say it was “never a money making venue” and “a labour of absolute love”, recent years were the final straw for the store. They hadn’t been able to make even half of their pre-pandemic profits. With a move-out date set for January 31, the couple says they hope that the final few weeks will be full of live music and customers coming to pay their respects.
Dallas, TX | Team Behind Spinster Records Opening Vinyl Listening Lounge: Ladylove Lounge and Sound is expected to open in Oak Cliff in spring of 2023. A vinyl record listening lounge featuring late-night bites and craft cocktails is coming next spring to the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff. Ladylove Lounge & Sound will focus on great music and a great sound experience. “It will be an awesome place to hang out, listen to music, and celebrate all that is music, vinyl, and performance,” said David Grover, owner. Grover and Ladylove co-owner and manager, Kate Siamro, both of Spinster Records, hope to open the lounge in the spring of 2023 in the former space of Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. at 310 W. 7th St. in Dallas. Jimmy Contreras of Taco Y Vino is developing the Ladylove menu of small, shared plates. “It will be craft cocktails, and we will have performances, live music from time to time with vinyl record deejays every night,” Grover said.
AU | Australian Record Industry Pioneer John McDonald Dies At Age 88: John McDonald, one of Australia’s great music industry pioneers, has died at age 88. McDonald was the owner of Melbourne record store Disc Shop in Bourke Street when he founded Sparmac Records with radio DJ Ken Sparks. John was the mac in Sparmac, Ken the Spar. One of his employees at the store was a very young Colin Hay, later of Men At Work. Sparmac had almost immediate success with a stable of artists including Robie Porter, Rick Springfield, Daddy Cool, Healing Force and Gerry & The Joy Band. The label’s first hit was Robie Porter’s ‘Gemini’ in August 1970. The big one came in 1971 with the eighth Sparmac Record ‘Eagle Rock’ by Daddy Cool. It is now considered one of the greatest Australian hits of all-time, so loved by Elton John that it became the inspiration for his song ‘Crocodile Rock.’
Missoula, MT | Old is new again in Missoula, vinyl for the holidays: My high school aged son asked me for a turntable and records for the holidays this year. That is all he wants. For me it was one of those “proud parent” moments. There has been a big resurgence in vinyl over the past decade, and even more recently with Covid. For an old “rocker” like me it gives me hope for a new generation. To see new musicians embracing vinyl is fantastic. Taylor Swift’s new release “Midnights” was a case in point about introducing vinyl to a new generation. I spoke with Scott Storer from Rockin’ Rudy’s Record Heaven about this particular album. He said, “There’s a big push for colored vinyl and color variants now…it lends itself to that, kind of limited edition color variant…the new Taylor Swift album came out it has at least 4 if not 5 or 6 different colors to it. There’s four different covers for it and the back covers if you put them all together it is a clock, so that as an interesting take on variations.”
A Flock of Seagulls announce 40th anniversary deluxe box set: Set available on 3 CD and LP. Initially released in April 1982, the eponymous debut album by A Flock Of Seagulls saw the band spearheading the Second British Invasion of the USA. Produced by Mike Howlett (Tears For Fears, OMD, Gang of Four) and Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe fame, the album enjoyed massive success across the world, hitting No. 10 in the US and No. 1 in Australia, propelled by the third single from the record, the New Wave classic “I Ran.” “I Ran,” while not a big hit in their home country, was a No. 9 smash on the Billboard Hot 100, and like the album, hit No. 1 in Australia, the track has continued to find new audiences through its use as an 80s classic in games such as Grand Theft Auto. The album also features the singles “Telecommunication” and “Space Age Love Song” as well as “DNA,” which earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1983.
Glasgow, UK | Mogwai go back to the start with vinyl album release: Independent record label Chemikal Underground will reissue special editions of Mogwai’s first two albums, the band’s 1997 debut Mogwai Young Team and its follow up, 1999’s Come On Die Young. Their first record was recorded in Glasgow, in what was soon to become Chemikal Underground’s own Chem19 studios, by label owner and The Delgados’ drummer Paul Savage. The sessions were, by the band’s own admission, “turbulent, disorganised and hastily mixed.” The band recorded the album in a chaotic whirl of creativity, shaven heads, adopted pseudonyms, gang tattoos and distortion pedals. It became their declaration of intent. Guitarist and songwriter Stuart Braithwaite says both records have been remastered but the band has resisted too much digital tinkering with the original recordings. “We’ve joked about doing a George Lucas and altering them but we will leave them as they are. I always think records belong to a certain time and you can’t change that. I was surprised how well they’ve stood up.
Storing your records: (Non-Ikea) solutions for housing vinyl via shelves, boxes and units: Makers across the country have expanded their shelving options. Another tactic? Buy your woodworking friend a bottle of Scotch. Let’s not belabor the point: Ikea’s KALLAX shelving unit, though a sensibly utilitarian storage solution marrying form and function and carrying a modest price-point, is hardly the most breathtaking way to store your records. The ALL-CAPS product is definitely unworthy of the inferred excitement of its name. After all, it only comes in two colors, white and black, and is made of particle board and easily scratchable plastic veneer. Save putting stickers on them, Kallax shelves are tough to personalize. That’s a problem, especially as the vinyl market has evolved from its boom phase into a way of life. As we settle down and settle in, more records require more space, which in turn demands a solution that will showcase our bounty as it protects it from sunlight, warpage, and disorder. It’s not rocket science. They’re shelves. Or units. Or modular boxes.
