Record Store Day: What's your story?

Yep, you've heard me nag about it these past few days, and today is the day--support your local independent record store by stopping by and giving them your hard-earned money on stuff you don't need but really want!

So now I'm curious--what, in your memory, was the first record/tape/cd you ever bought, and when? Do you have any interesting/memorable stories about record stores? Meet anyone famous, or go to a signing or a free show? Admit it--what's the largest amount of money you dropped on the counter in one visit to a store, and what did you buy? What's your favorite store (links always welcome)? Do tell!! Either comment here or post your own! :)

I shall offer my story/stories later on, as I am about to head to Amoeba Records up in the Haight for a few hours...and yes, I am doing my duty by wearing this shirt from Diesel Sweeties while I'm there.

More soon!!

Edit: the RSD logo is not popping up, and I think it's because there's some pretty heavy traffic to the RSD site, so I took it down. The above link works, though :)

[Music] All Hail Record Store Day -- Post-Shopping Post

Hey all, back from Amoeba with about $70 worth of stuff. I really should have bought more cds, but there was a deal with some Trigun dvds that I just couldn't pass up. So let's see:

CD's:
REM, Accelerate
The B-52's, Funplex
Jill Cunniff (ex-Luscious Jackson), City Beach*
Soundtrack, Strange Days*
Died Pretty, Caressing Swine (...and Some History) (promo greatest hits)*
Delerium, Karma*
Indigo Girls, Strange Fire*

* = found for $1.99 or less in the clearance bins

DVD's
Stand By Me (2000 edition) (hey, it's one of my Top 10 favorite movies!)
Trigun Vol. 1 - The $$60,000,000,000 Man
Trigun Vol. 2 - Lost Past
Trigun Vol. 4 - Gung-Ho Guns
Trigun Vol. 5 - Angel Arms
Trigun Vol. 6 - Project Seeds
Trigun Vol. 7 - Puppet Master
Trigun Vol. 8 - High Noon

(the Trigun titles were all $4.99 each, and SBM was $7.99)


....so yeah, all in all a good day at the record store, spending nearly three hours there, just like the old days, taking my time routing through all sorts of stuff, enjoying the music and the atmosphere. Just like the old days. I can just as easily go to one of many download sites like eMusic or Amazon or what have you, but there's something to be said about going to a record store and seeing the actual physical copies of stuff. ;)

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So let's see...yeah. About a month ago I realized that it's been a whopping THIRTY YEARS I've been officially collecting music. I say "officially" because I decided not to count the times my family bought albums as a collective--I always thought of it as someone buying the singles or albums at the local department store for the entire family. It wasn't until after the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie and soundtrack (which I see as a family purchase, even though I was the only one who ended up listening to it) that I realized my love for the Beatles, and so my mom bought my The Beatles 1967-1970 for Christmas back in 1978. To this day I consider that particular album the "official" start of my music collecting. From there on in, the titles I bought were pretty much for my own enjoyment rather than for the whole family.

A funny thing is that, on Christmas 1993, I was given that same album on cd by my Mom. EXACTLY fifteen years later.

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So, onto the next questions: Do you have any interesting/memorable stories about record stores?
Well, I think everyone's heard my oft-told story of meeting ex-Beatle George Harrison while working at HMV in 2000. ;)

Meet anyone famous, or go to a signing or a free show?
My first signing I ever went to was for The Winter Hours at the old Strawberries in Kenmore Square in Boston. The funny thing is that I don't even remember what they sound like now...

I went to a meet and greet in 1993 when I was the music director for Emerson's AM station (WECB), and met Robyn Hitchcock, the Gin Blossoms, and Therapy? A very fun afternoon indeed.

When I worked at HMV, however, I met a LOT of famous musicians at meet-and-greets or at the store itself. The Radar Bros., Thin Lizard Dawn, The Verve Pipe, Travis, George Harrison (yes, THE George Harrison, but most of you have heard that story), Insane Clown Posse...and a lot more free shows and cds because of that store.

I have a lot of stories about working about HMV...some of them good, some of them not so good, but regardless that was still one of my most favorite jobs I've ever held. And since it still pops up in my dreams every now and again, I'd say it's left its mark on me. ;)


Admit it--what's the largest amount of money you dropped on the counter in one visit to a store, and what did you buy?

Gods...I don't know...but I can say that for awhile, from about 2001 to 2004, I spent a LOT of money at Newbury Comics, mostly at the Amherst store (but occasionally at the Leominster or Harvard Square stores), on average between $50-$70--and this was weekly, mind you. Five or six cds a week. It was a fun, though expensive, habit of heading down to Amherst right after working at Yankee Candle (I'd get out about 2pm), stop at the comic book store in the mall (spending about $20 or so there), then up to the center of town to stop at Newbury. Even in bad weather. Yeah, fun times...

Offhand, I'd say the most I spent was a little over $100, but that was because I bought the dvd box set (the original one) of the Monty Python episode collection, along with some extra cds. I don't think I've ever spent more than that, and if I did, it was a rarity. I've been tempted to buy some Beatles rarities, but I could never quite justify it, and I think that shows that I'm in it for the music, not for the money.

What's your favorite store (links always welcome)?
Over the years...

The Most Formative for Me:
Main Street Records, Northampton MA**
That's Entertainment, Worcester MA
Al-Bum's, Worcester/Fitchburg/Amherst MA**
For the Record, Amherst MA**
Mystery Train, Boston**/Amherst MA

Favorite Hangouts, MA
Newbury Comics, Amherst/Leominster/Boston/Cambridge MA
In Your Ear!, Boston/Cambridge MA
Looney Tunes, Boston MA
HMV, Marlborough/Cambridge MA**
Tower Records, Boston MA**
Virgin Records, Boston MA**
Nuggets Records, Boston MA
Planet Records, Boston MA (the original)**

Favorite Hangouts, NJ (for the brief time I was there)
Scotty's Music, Morristown/Madison NJ
Border's, Hanover/Rockaway NJ
Barnes & Noble, Morris Plains NJ

Favorite Hangouts, CA
Amoeba Records, Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco CA
(as well as Telegraph Ave., Berkeley CA)
Streetlight Records, Castro/Noe Valley, San Francisco CA
Virgin Records, Market Street, San Francisco CA

**store has closed down/is online only


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Hope everyone enjoyed spending money on music today! :)

[Music] Having nothing to do with the last post...

Just heard this bit of silliness on Live 105...

I'm thinking one of the following:
--Eminem with a good sense of humor
--Weird Al Yankovic's "White & Nerdy" by way of Cake
--even nerdier brothers of Flight of the Conchords

Anyone?