IMY2, The TVD First Date

“My family had this tall and narrow 3 story brick house built in the early 1900s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the third floor loft, there was a small door, about 2 feet tall, that you could crawl through. I thought to myself, ‘perfect, let’s do it in there.’ It led to a long, hidden, and strangely comfortable attic space. It ended up being the perfect spot for me and my high school friends to try something new. Don’t get me wrong, discovering marijuana for the first time on that lazy evening was quite the trip. However, I don’t think it was the most important discovery I made that night.”

“On the way out of the ‘secret room,’ my friends and I noticed about twenty white cardboard boxes stacked against the wall. We decided to check them out. They were all jam packed full of records. I squeezed my fingers between the edge of the cardboard box and the sleeve of a dusty album and pulled it out. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Hard Promises. WHOA. This was about the coolest thing that could happen to a few stoned teenagers who loved classic rock.

There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of records to choose from. Some of them we were quite familiar with, like Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town, or The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, or Led Zeppelin I. Others were completely new like The Damned (what the heck is on their faces!?), Fleetwood Mac’s Then Play On, and Santana’s Abraxas. At this point, we were just sitting there mesmerized by the cover art and liner notes, and we hadn’t even listened to the music yet! The hours drifted on and sifting through those records entertained us all night. By the time my friends left, I knew I had to get a record player set up.

I told my Dad that I found his collection in the attic. He didn’t ask me how or what I was doing up there, thankfully. I asked him if he could help me set up one of his old record players and he was happy to help. He was always supportive of me and my music, and was my main influence in discovering new music. After we got it set up, I vividly remember the first album I chose to play: The Beatles 1967-1970 (“The Blue Album”). I was a HUGE Beatles fan and had every one of their CDs to this point, except this one.

There was a song on there that I didn’t know: “Old Brown Shoe.” What is this???, I thought. I was a self proclaimed Beatles expert and there I was listening to a Beatles song I had never heard before, enjoying every moment of George Harrison striking quarter notes on the piano. I thought if there was a Beatles song I didn’t know about there must be SO MUCH music I am unfamiliar with.

This started a journey for me. I chose one record each day that summer, sometimes from a band I knew, sometimes from a band I didn’t. I found that even while listening to a band I was already a fan of, I would still always discover something new. That was the thing about vinyl. I couldn’t skip anything. I had to listen to the record the whole way through, the way it was supposed to be heard. I remember listening to “Mountain Jam” on Eat A Peach in its entirety for the first time. It had two whole sides of a record dedicated to it because it was that long!

Discovering those deep cuts was really my favorite part about vinyl. In an era where I previously found most of the older bands I listened to on Limewire, I was beginning to discover hidden gems that were otherwise impossible to find if you didn’t own the CD. Songs like “Soul Kitchen” on The Doors, “Wait Until Tomorrow” on Axis: Bold As Love, or “Communication Breakdown” on Led Zeppelin I seem like staples to me now, but were unheard of to me as a 15 year old. Vinyl was the reason I discovered all of those songs and so many more.

Listening to those records really helped build the framework for the musician I’ve become today. They probably have more of an influence on me than I even realize. I remember listening to those Doors records and then going downstairs to the grand piano and trying to emulate Ray Manzarek’s sound and voicings. His style became ingrained in my musical DNA over time. The artists and bands I would pull out of my Dad’s collection became my heroes, my inspiration, and they undoubtedly are the reason I am part of a band today.

While our music isn’t currently being released on vinyl, there is no denying that the music I listened to on vinyl plays a role in the songs we write today. I can hear John Paul Jones’ powerful bass line in our productions, Robby Krieger’s unorthodox chord changes in our compositions, and The Damned’s fierce “screw you” lyrical style in our songs. Can you?”
—Cal Tucker