“Listening to vinyl took on new meaning when I started venturing out into various shops and record shows in NYC.”
“My best friend Ryan, had a little Callifone record player that had such an amazing sound. It was his second grade record player and by some miracle it still sounded really soulful. We would hang out in his tiny 8th street apartment and play records all day.
The most memorable place where we found the coolest records in the best condition was the record show in the conference room of the Holliday Inn on 57th st. At this time, I was on the hunt for the grooviest soul and jazz records I could find. One dude played us a track by Mandrill called “Mango Meat.” I loved it – such a fat and funky groove. I scooped it up right away.
One of the best parts of searching for vinyl is looking at all the beautiful and sometimes sexy album covers…. Ohio Players, Funkadelic, James Brown. I would think, how can I hang these on my wall?
Perhaps the wildest character I met on the Holliday Inn floor was Howie. The first thing he asked me was “How much ZZ Hill do you have?” I had never heard of ZZ Hill, but was ready to listen. Howie played me James Carr for the first time; it was the song “At the Dark end of the Street,” I was blown away.
Howie introduced me to so much jazz and soul music—his records were always in pristine condition. I fell in love with Stax records… Hearing Otis Redding’s voice on vinyl is a beautiful experience. I feel the records I’ve collected over the years are like old friends. I love hanging out with them.”
—Pete Francis
Pete Francis, frontman for the acclaimed band Dispatch, returns with his eighth solo record, Immodal Implozego on store shelves right now.
