San Antonio, TX | Local record shop thriving despite streaming music: Vinyl record sales humming at Janie’s Record Shop. Despite the popularity of streaming music, there is at least one record shop in San Antonio that is still thriving with vinyl record sales. KSAT 12 News reporter Max Massey paid a visit to Janie’s Record Shop, where he talked with Janie Esparza, owner of the record shop, and her son, Robert Esparza, who manages the business. In her 50s, she went back and got her GED (General Educational Development diploma), and she worked for another record shop, but she knew so much about the music. It was more like a hobby for them, but for my mom, it was a passion,” Robert Esparza said. Janie Esparza started her business in 1985. “Music is life,” she said.
Sydney, AU | The man who saved Blue Note records: When legendary record producer and musician Don Was landed his “dream gig” as president of Blue Note records, it was a mixed blessing. “My goal in life was always not to have a job,” says Was, whose producing credits include Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and the Rolling Stones. “I never thought of playing music, making records or being in the studio as work. I was just happy not to do something where I had a boss and had to show up.” But as well as getting used to showing up at an office, Was was presented with a far more urgent issue when he took over the top job at the legendary jazz label in 2011. “There was some thought that it should be closed down and they were going to make it a website that sold back catalogue and blue T-shirts, basically,” says Was, who is visiting Australia for the first time as part of a tour celebrating Blue Note’s 80th anniversary. “They weren’t sure how to go forward.”
U2 Announce The Unforgettable Fire and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Colored Vinyl Reissues: Their 1984 and 2004 albums have been remastered. U2 have announced new vinyl reissues of The Unforgettable Fire (1984) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004). The newly remastered editions will be pressed on wine red and red 180g vinyl respectively, and will include corresponding lyric booklets as well. The reissues are available beginning today. Last year saw U2 reissue their Wide Awake In America EP (1985), Pop (1997), and All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000). The band’s most recent record, Songs of Experience, was released in 2017. The band are set to continue their tour performing The Joshua Tree in full later this year.
Stone Temple Pilots Announce ‘Purple’ Super Deluxe Edition: When Stone Temple Pilots returned to the studio in 1994 to record the band’s second album, the quartet was facing the high expectations set by its debut “Core” (1992), which sold more than eight million copies and earned a Grammy Award. The release of “Purple” on June 7, 1994 would cement their place as one of the definitive bands of their generation as the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than six million copies. Today — on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the album’s debut — Rhino announces the upcoming release of a newly remastered version of “Purple” that is expanded with rare and unreleased studio and live recordings. “Purple: Super Deluxe Edition” will be available on September 13 for $64.98. The 3-CD/1-LP set includes a newly remastered version of the original studio album on both CD and vinyl, plus unreleased versions of album tracks and rarities, along with an unreleased full concert recording from 1994.
