Northwich, UK | Omega Records founder Steve Harrison excited for Northwich’s Dead Dead Good Weekend: As the town counts down to the Dead Dead Good Weekend, Gemma Sproston speaks to Steve Harrison, founder of Omega Records and the independent label from which this three-day festival takes its name. During its glory days, Omega Records was the lifeblood for music fans across the north west and beyond, playing a pivotal role in the indie and dance explosion of the late 80s and early 90s. Famous for launching The Charlatans’ career – amongst other bands – the store and label hold an affectionate place in people’s hearts and they’re responsible for so many first memories, whether its singles, albums, fanzines, gigs or festivals. Customers and friends included Morrissey, Doves, Johnny Marr, Ian Brown, John Squire, Billy Duffy, Bernard Sumner, Tim Burgess, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Tony Wilson, and former employees have gone on to work across the music, film design and TV industry.
Boise, ID | 11th-Annual VPS Boise Record Show and Swap at The Basque Center, Saturday, May 4: The annual Boise Record Show and Swap bills itself as “Boise’s first, oldest and only all-vinyl record convention”—and considering the traction that Boise’s own record headquarters, The Record Exchange, gets each time it throws an event or expands its collection, there’s no doubt it will bring in a crowd on Saturday, May 4. The Vinyl Preservation Society will open the doors to the old-school party at The Basque Center at 9 a.m. for VIP ticket holders ($10) and 10 a.m. for everyone else ($5). Along with vinyl sourced from four states, people can check out a raffle and other record-related merch like vintage audio equipment (turntables, anyone?), concert posters and collectibles. Don’t forget your records—or your wallet.
Hudson Valley, NY | Experts are Talkin’ Vinyl in New Series: Original Vinyl Records, the Hudson Valley’s newest record store, announces their new in-store live event series Talkin’ Vinyl. Beginning on Sun., May 5 from 4 to 5 p.m. Original Vinyl Records, located at 314 Rte. 94 South #7 in Warwick, is inviting vinyl experts to come and share their knowledge about artists and recordings and the back story for legendary albums. On May 5 historian Joe Conzo, Sr. will play never before heard recordings from his private collection from Tito Puente, Machito and Ray Barretto. Conzo, who is currently writing a book on the “Big Three” bandleaders Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodríguez, owns an unrivaled collection of Machito live recordings. He is the producer of many recordings by Latin artists on prestigious labels such as Sony Music and Pablo. He currently serves as the Director of the Tito Puente Legacy Project – an archive of Puente memorabilia based at the school.
Melbourne, AU | Review: Revolutions: Rebels and Records, Melbourne Museum: A retro exhibition brings the Sixties back but with detail you’ve never seen before. Revolutions come in many forms. Some spin at home in black vinyl while others take to the streets for riots and placards. For this exhibition based on the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) collections of costumes, posters and more, the revolution is a period of the late 1960s that made noises in London then echoed out across the world. You might think you’ve seen the Sixties before but Revolutions looks deeper. The scale of Revolutions is mind-bending with 500 objects telling the story of 1966-1970…Because the objects could only tell so much of the story, there’s an aural layer. The accompanying headphones play through a Sixties playlist complete with vinyl crackles between tracks.
Kingston, ON | When it comes to vinyl, what’s old is new again: Out with the new and back in with the old. Vinyl records, once having been a thing of the past, have in recent years been brought back out into the limelight. It hasn’t just been 15 minutes of fame for these classic beauties. Record stores have also become reborn again and are a lot more common nowadays. With that in mind, Zap Records presented the Kingston Record Show and Sale on Saturday, a one-day event held at Princess Street United Church. Vendors lined up with table upon table of records inside the church. You could find any type of music your heart desired, from jazz to metal to blues and everything in between. The doors to the event opened at 11 a.m. and the event carried on until 4 p.m. Zap Records has been doing this at least once a year. If this one proves to be successful, they will continue with the huge sale again in the fall.
