“The first vinyl LP I sat down with and really listened to was Lou Reed’s Berlin. I was around 16 years old.”
“Like most kids who grew up in the ’80s cassettes and then CDs were what we devoured, records were something our parents had. I had found two Lou Reed albums amongst my father’s record collection and just couldn’t believe he owned Lou Reed records.
Had he listened to The Velvet Underground when he was younger? “No” he said. “Death cult shit. Heroin shit.” I immediately took what rightfully belonged to me. (I still have them, sorry Dad.)
“Oh Jim.” I loved how the song changed shape and then came out the other side. It sounded like Buddy Holly but was so dark. How could a man sing about loving another man? And making love to only one of us? When you’re looking through the eyes of hate? It was so dark and so complex…and catchy!
Records are like a whole movie. There was no skip button. If a song was not your favourite, you kind of let it off the hook because it was too much of a pain in the ass to go over, lift the lid, and mess with the needle. It was part of the deal. As a result, I ended up loving “Men of Good Fortune.”
—Sed Pepper
Big Spirit’s full-length release, Get This! is in stores now—on 160gram banana yellow vinyl.
