“As a teenager, on every Tuesday (new release day), I would visit Westwood or Sunset Tower Records in L.A.”
“It was a serious weekly ritual for me. I recall getting tons of new releases—Nirvana, Korn, Ice Cube, Nine Inch Nails—you name it, I devoured it. Sometimes I would just go there alone and walk around for hours just to check out all the amazing album cover artwork. L.A.’s just not the same without Tower—it’s an experience I still really miss and wish kids today could enjoy that feeling.
One last thing about the new vinyl releases—I hope they can make vinyl more affordable in the coming years. It seems like it’s currently pretty expensive and should be easier to obtain for anyone existing on a budget…$35 or $40 for a record album just seems out of reach for most people.”
—Navarone Garibaldi, Frontman & Guitar
“One of my earliest and strongest vinyl memories takes me back to when my parents had the soundtrack album to The Jungle Book. That album was so killer on all levels. The cover art was amazing, that illustration was mesmerizing.”
“As a kid, I was blown away by hearing Louis Prima sing “I Wanna Be Like You”…I was digging that performance like crazy! Later, I learned that Prima’s duet was with Phil Harris, who was the voice of Baloo the bear in the film and on the album. They swing like crazy on that track.
Speaking of swing, I recently nabbed a killer Benny Goodman box set collection on vinyl, at Amoeba Music here in L.A. It has all the greats that you would expect, “Sing Sing Sing” etc., but I’m also digging deep on the other tracks that I wasn’t familiar with. There’s something magical about the vinyl format—the presentation, artwork, sound, it all makes it really special.”
—Chuck Holiday, Bass & Vocals
“One of my greatest musical memories happens to be a vinyl one.”
“I grew up listening to ‘Breakfast With The Beatles’ radio show every Sunday and around the house we were always playing Beatles albums on vinyl. Way back in the day, when my mom was a kid, she bought an original Beatles Yesterday And Today album with the cover photo of the band and the trunk, etc. She was smart enough to know to iron and steam off the cover decal, which then revealed the original, authentic Beatles ‘Butcher Cover’ underneath! This is the one with the group dressed in white smocks, holding decapitated dolls with bloody meat strewn across their laps and shoulders. It’s pretty amazing. Collectors and Beatles fans know all about it.
She still has that album to this day—I think it’s awesome that she knew all about it (and the mystery of that cover), not to mention teaching me a lesson early on about censorship in art and music.
I also did an interview for metroactive.com when I lived in Santa Cruz that promoted this amazing local vinyl-only shop called Metamusic Records. It’s still there (now known as MetaVinyl). Wonderful record shops like that keep the spirit and community of music alive, and they’re just a pretty cool place to hang out.”
—Kyle Hamood, Keyboards & Vocoder
“Not too much vinyl experience in my personal past, but my roommate and pal Robin has amazing musical taste.”
“He’s been playing the vinyl version of Father John Misty’s Fear Fun album, pretty much non-stop! It has this warm, welcoming sound that’s undeniable, brilliant stuff.”
—Chris Hudson, Drums & Electronics
