...is on the air!

Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 Album covers # 32

2011-08-28T15:41:00.001-05:00

1969 - The Who, Tommy

Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 Album covers # 33

2011-08-28T15:39:00.003-05:00

1979 - Supertramp, Breakfast in America

Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 Album covers # 34

2011-08-28T15:38:00.003-05:00

1985 - Grace Jones, Slave to the Rhythm

Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 Album covers # 35

2011-08-28T15:37:00.001-05:00

1973 - Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

I think.... Therefore.... I am! I think....

2011-08-25T23:01:00.000-05:00

I maybe ready to start blogging again..... Been pretty lazy and depressed. We'll see what happens...

Pandora: Betting On Radio's Failure

2011-06-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

Another insight from Eric Rhoads of RADIO INK magazine.

Why radio shouldn't remain cocky

A message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads

The opening bell clanged as executives Tim Westergren and Joe Kennedy and investors stood high atop the stock market floor for the IPO launch of Pandora.

It's an exciting day. As one who was an early player in the Internet radio space (RadioCentral Networks), I exited the Internet radio game about the time Pandora was starting, 11 years ago. It's fun to see an Internet radio startup launch an IPO.

Though Pandora's stock (NYSE ticker symbol: P) debuted strong at a 40 percent increase (at this writing), the reporters at CNBC were pressing for answers: "How is Pandora going to make money?" CEO Joe Kennedy repeatedly responded that Pandora is building a long-term business and focusing on the listener experience. The reporters would not let up, asking the same question 20 different ways, trying to get an answer. Kennedy continued to talk about how Pandora has 3 percent of all radio listening and that its intent is to grow because radio listening is strong, making up 80 percent of all music listening. But the reporters kept asking Kennedy and other executives to show them the money. Not once did anyone say Pandora plans to make money. It was like a retro repeat of the dot-com boom days, when no one cared about making a profit.

As of today, Pandora investors have put $91 million into the company, and no profit has been made, even with a claimed 90 million registered users. Unlike the traditional radio model, which has 40-50 percent margins and is not penalized in royalties for every listener it adds, Pandora has to pay bandwidth fees for every minute of streaming and artist royalties for every listener to every song it plays. Pandora must find a way to make money without growing its listening base, which means more paid subscribers, like Sirius XM, or more ads. Of course, the relative lack of ads is a big consumer attraction to Pandora.

So where is the secret sauce? Why are serious investors putting big money into Pandora? Because they believe in the strength of the radio business and they believe the core premise of pushing radio programming via transmitters is flawed for the future. They are betting on consumers and advertisers falling out of love with terrestrial radio. They are betting that radio will cling to the world it has always known and won't make the digital shift required to please advertisers and consumers, and that, like newspapers, radio won't be able to survive without cannibalizing itself. These investors are expecting that radio, like so many other non-digital businesses, will experience a sea change in its business model once connectivity -- and Pandora -- become ubiquitous in homes, mobile devices, and cars. They expect terrestrial radio to go the way of travel agencies and film for cameras.

I once attended a function with a group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists where an investor in Facebook was asked about revenues. He responded, "We'll worry about that later. Our primary goal is to build a strong and loyal base of users." Though I wanted to snicker, I also knew there was some sense in what he was saying. After all, most of the radio industry snickered when XM and Sirius emerged. I cautioned radio to not be overconfident or flip about satellite radio while we were saying people wouldn't pay for the service, nor would satellite make any money on advertising. Yet Mel Karmazin has made the company profitable and had top-line revenues of $2.8 billion in 2010, just ahead of Clear Channel.

Though I recently made the point that Pandora is not radio, looking primarily at the differences terrestrial radio should be focused on since Pandora can do a better job at commercial-free music, I don't think our industry should write it off as a fad or a fluke. Pandora is about to ramp up, is opening local sales offices in your market (just like Google, Yahoo, Groupon, and LivingSocial have), and plans to capitalize on its popularity to bring advertisers on board. Though we can defend our position with statistics, we must not forget that all buying decisions have an element of emotion, especially at the local level.

A year ago my eyes were opened at a local community street fair when three bright green Groupon vans pulled up and about 20 college kids in Groupon shirts started handing out prizes. It was an eye-opener that an Internet company was penetrating locally and doing radio-like street promotions. We also must not forget that Pandora can make money on things other than audio commercials, like player ads and direct marketing to its user base. Why not compete with Groupon? What if Pandora starts doing radio-like promotions in local markets like Groupon is doing?

Though it's tempting to grunt about how radio is strong and will always be strong and how Pandora will be like so many other fad products that challenged radio, I'm also a realist. Pandora is funded by some of the smartest investors in Silicon Valley. These investors are used to hearing people laugh and ask how they plan to make money, yet they usually figure it out.

I may have been 10 years too early into the online radio business, but I still believe that radio must not ignore the challenge that online radio may someday become a real competitor. Jerry Lee may be right that he cannot monetize streaming radio today, and it may not be reasonable for terrestrial radio to expect to make money on streaming. But that's assuming nothing changes. Like all other industries impacted by the digital world, we may someday see a shift.

At the root of all of this is the fact that radio is strong and everyone wants to take a piece of our revenues. When everyone is targeting you, it's easy to get cocky and say, "They all want to be radio, but they'll never figure out how to steal it from us." Yet my belief is that when smart people are after you, there is a chance they will find your vulnerabilities and find a way to take away your golden goose.

A little paranoia is healthy. Being proactive is smart business, just like it's smart not to ignore a new competitor entering the market. Radio's new competitors are hoping you'll ignore them and remain confident that radio can't be touched. That's all the more reason radio needs to stick to its knitting and make sure we as an industry continue to serve our listeners with what they want. It's why we must continue to be entertaining, engaging, and locally involved. Those key factors built our loyal audiences, and it will be those factors that keep them loyal. But we also must continue to innovate and play hard so we can compete in a digital world. Being cocky and not paying attention is how we could allow others to take away our dominance. Others, like Pandora, are counting on it.

Eric Rhoads

Radio Ink

For the love of radio...

2011-04-19T21:46:00.001-05:00

Another great blog from a radio pioneer and watcher of the culture of broadcasting.

by Eric Rhoads

Spreading Radio Fires
What's Looming For Radio

As I sit behind my desk, I can smell and see the distant smoke of nearby wildfires. The fires are only about 10 miles away, yet I sit here smugly and safely, with a sense of confidence that someone will get those fires under control and they won't spread to my neighborhood. Instinctively, I know the fires could spread here in a matter of hours, but part of me is in denial: "It won't happen to me. It can't happen here."

Sadly, those fires have destroyed the homes of many people who didn't think it could happen to them. No, they couldn't have stopped the fires, but they could have been better prepared for the moment when they were given 10 minutes to grab whatever they could carry.

My complacency over the nearby fires makes me think about a fire spreading across the radio landscape, destroying our "normal" way of life. As we hear of spreading fires elsewhere, we hope things will remain stable and not affect us. It's human nature: Most of us are in denial about what we know will change our lives and the way we do business. So we remain unprepared even as we think, "I'll deal with it when I'm forced to deal with it."

We know instinctively that being prepared is the best thing, but life, business, time, and budget pressures get in the way.

The flames that are spreading across the media landscape are those of digital media. The statistics don't lie.

16.2% of all LOCAL ad dollars have shifted away from legacy media and are now online. That's expected to jump to 24% by 2015.

43.5% of every ad dollar spent online goes to Google.

In 2011, retail e-commerce will grow 13.7%, to reach $188 billion. More local retail is disappearing.

71% of Forbes 500 companies consider Facebook and Twitter CRITICAL to their media mix.

85% of companies consider Facebook to be a successful tool.

Facebook has now surpassed Google (66%) as the most widely used marketing method among local merchants.

Sources: Forbes, Wall St. Journal, American Business Journals, Ad Week, Ad Age

Begging Radio To Pay Attention

In 1999, I begged the radio industry to pay attention to trends that I believed would impact business. While most companies ignored my call for action, a few invested without evidence, based entirely on faith. Those companies today lead the Internet revolution in radio, and the others have never caught up.

It Won't Happen To MeThe digital revolution is upon us. Today most of my friends running radio stations think digital is something that will happen to someone else, think that there isn't enough money in it to invest the time, feel the returns are low, and believe digital is overly hyped. Most have the attitude that they will learn it they have to, and that they can always catch up.

But when the CEO of WPP Group, the largest agency in the world, says that virtually all advertisers are demanding digital options from traditional media and those who don't offer them will be left in the dust, you need to listen. Just because it hasn't hit your station yet does not mean it's not going happening.

Will these same women and men awaken one day with no cash flow because demand has shifted, and clients now require deep digital solutions before they'll buy radio? Will there be time to learn, get up to speed, and train your people? The wildfire of digital media demands from LOCAL and national business is about to engulf all media, and those who have not prepared themselves will find themselves badly burned.

A Well Kept SecretIn my consulting practice, I have seen under the tent at many companies that are quietly developing digital alternatives, which they package with radio campaigns. They're getting business others don't even know they're missing. I'm seeing a significant growth in revenues (approaching 20%) coming from digital strategies.

Meanwhile, other companies pretend digital doesn't exist and that radio as a standalone will always be strong enough. Which companies would you bet on? Will they hire you if you're not tuned in, with a deep understanding of digital media paired with radio?

This Is PersonalThe world is filled with uncertainty. Who would have predicted this year's radio acquisitions? Who can predict who will own your company next year, or what your company will be seeking once they realize how much they missed when the digital world caught fire? Are you confident? Do you have a deep understanding of digital? Are you willing to invest in yourself so you can remain employable when the flames hit at your station, or at your next employer?

The Two-Day TuneupYou can fly from anywhere in the United States on Wednesday, May 18, and be back in your office by Friday, May 20, having spent two days in what most consider the most informative, most cutting-edge, most intelligent, and most radical conference in radio. Convergence 11 is filled with visionary thinking and practical applications, and it's the most important step in being prepared for the digital fire that is sweeping over radio as we speak.

You'll learn what radio is doing successfully -- what works, what fails, and why. We will stretch your brain, make you squirm in your chair, and probably make you angry. Then suddenly, it will all come together at the end of day two, and you'll walk away with a deep understanding of concepts you probably didn't know existed. Our speakers are outsiders, not radio insiders. We've all heard the "insider stuff" for years. Our goal is to bring an exterior perspective.

Every attendee at every sold-out Convergence conference gives us high marks. We offer a money-back guarantee, and only once since 1999 have we had to refund a ticket (and that person didn't request a full refund). If this conference doesn't open your eyes and change you deeply, you have our money back guarantee.

With spring here and summer/fall budgets upon you, the call for digital will be loud. Some stations won't be ready for 2012. Will you?

Radio Ink Convergence 11May 18-19, 2011
Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus
Mountain View, CA

PS: Our hotel discount rates at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara expire on April 25, which means that if you wait, you'll have to pay a whole lot more for the host hotel. Plus, there is still time to grab great airline rates into San Jose, and our advance registration rate expires on April 29. Now is the time to save.

PS2: Lots of people have been asking if we have arranged for employee discount prices in the Microsoft Store at the Microsoft Campus. We have. As a registered attendee, you can buy software and other MS goodies, like Xbox and accessories, at the employee discount.

Phillip!

2011-03-14T16:53:00.002-05:00

1973 Rockola 452

2011-02-14T16:50:00.000-06:00

My 1973 Rockola 452 playing Steely Dan.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #36!

2011-02-12T13:50:00.000-06:00

1969 - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #37!

2011-02-12T13:48:00.002-06:00

1972 - T. Rex, The Slider

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #38!

2011-02-12T13:47:00.000-06:00

1980 - Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #39!

2011-01-23T16:11:00.000-06:00

1979 - The Clash. London Calling

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #40!

2011-01-23T16:09:00.000-06:00

1956 - Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album Covers #41!

2011-01-23T16:06:00.000-06:00

1975 - Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

Dig Music label spawns retail vinyl store Medium Rare Records and Collectibles

2011-01-04T19:45:00.001-06:00

Dig Music label spawns retail vinyl store Medium Rare Records and Collectibles
by Brandon Darnell - Sacramento Press

Marty DeAnda started a vinyl record store by accident with a little help from Louis Armstrong.

Medium Rare Records is in the offices of the Dig Music label, which DeAnda co-founded. The label represents local artists such as Jackie Greene, Chris Webster and Sal Valentino.

The business is located in The Urban Hive at 1931 H St. and was pretty typical of a recording label office, with couches and music-themed décor, before becoming a retail store.

The office, visible from the sidewalk, featured a mannequin of Louis Armstrong in the window, staring out at 20th Street, and passers-by routinely came in to ask about it.

“I’d have 30 people coming by each day,” DeAnda said. “I figured I might as well sell them something, so I brought some records from home. All of a sudden we had a store.”

The store officially opened in late November, but DeAnda said he has been bringing records in for the past year.

“We sell only quality vinyl records and collectibles,” DeAnda said, adding that he caters to buyers who are serious about music, but not looking to drop hundreds of dollars on an album.

“That’s how I came up with the Medium Rare name,” he said. “It’s about those people in the middle – those people who want a vinyl record of The Beach Boys or Jimi Hendrix but aren’t looking for something extra rare.”

DeAnda grades the condition of each record in his store, which he writes on a label and sticks on a plastic sleeve. Customers are asked not to remove the records so as to prevent damaging them.

“If they want to buy it, and they come to the counter, I’ll take it out for them to look at, but I just don’t want 30 people taking it out and handling it and taking away the quality,” DeAnda said.

The only CDs in the store are those put out by artists on the Dig Music label.

DeAnda said there has been something of a resurgence of interest in vinyl records despite the apparent dominance of digital music.

“The sound is just warmer on vinyl,” DeAnda said. “The new generation seems to have rediscovered it. In an era where you can sit under the covers in your Snuggie and listen to an entire album for free and then download the single you like, people miss the ceremony of buying music.”

Despite the recession, other music stores have opened in Sacramento in the past year as well, including Dimple Records, Phono Select Records and ZuhG Life.

DeAnda – a sixth-generation Sacramentan – said he knows the other local music store owners, and he added that they focus on different markets and don’t really compete against one another.

“Everybody’s got a different group of people they appeal to,” DeAnda said. “We’re where the 30-year-olds to the 70-year-olds come for good used vinyl.”

Nich Lujan, co-owner of Phono Select Records, agreed. He stopped by Medium Rare Records and Collectibles Tuesday afternoon to pick up some printing he’d had done.

“We’re absolutely not competitors,” he said. “We help each other out.”

Lujan said more record stores opening in the area is a good thing for the local industry, since many collectors will make a trip to multiple stores in search of the records they seek.

Brent Zane stopped by the store for the first time Tuesday afternoon to sell some records he’s picked up over the years as a musician.

“Right off the bat, it looks good,” he said. “There’s not a bunch of garbage – it looks like a quality used records store.”

Urban Hive owner Brandon Weber said having the store is a boon to his business.

“It’s great to have them,” he said. “It’s easy to walk in and find something good. You don’t have to dig for it. They do the digging for you.”

Kari Shipman works out of The Urban Hive, and she said DeAnda is “the perfect person” to operate the store because of his knowledge of music.

“He has a deep appreciation for the music,” she said, adding that she has shopped at his store to pick up music for her brother.

Medium Rare Records and Collectibles is open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment. Visit the store online by clicking HERE!

Fish and bird deaths in 2 southern states

2011-01-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

My guess is that there was a specific event, such as an electro-magnetic pulse (at a certain frequency) that took out these birds and fish.
This could be caused by an event such as a coming earthquake.

"...the birds had suffered internal trauma. That could have happened if a single flock had suddenly got caught in a violent and unusual storm. Or, it has been speculated, a local fireworks display could have startled the birds so badly that they were unable to prevent themselves from flying into trees, pylons and houses.

Bird experts stressed no one should be worried. "Mass bird die-offs can be caused by starvation, storms, disease, pesticide, collision with man-made structures or human disturbance ... Initial findings indicate that these are isolated incidents that were probably caused by disturbance and disorientation," Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation at the Audubon Society, said."

Of course, there are the folks who believe it's a sign from God, that He's had enough and he's coming down to kick everyone's ass.

YOU MAKE THE CALL!

My 1973 Rock Ola 452 Console Jukebox

2010-12-22T21:34:00.000-06:00

Turntable and arm with cartridge and needle. ^

This is the selector mechanism. ^

Back of selector mechanism, ^

Underside of glass showcase (where the selector buttons are and the title strips).^

A record just placed on turntable. ^ I hope to figure out how to get a video made of the whole thing working.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albim covers # 42!

2010-12-22T20:15:00.000-06:00

1983 - U2, War

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #43!

2010-12-22T20:13:00.000-06:00

1979 - Talking Heads, Fear of Music

Imagine

2010-12-08T10:27:00.001-06:00

Imagine what life would be like with John Lennon still in it.... Not that he's not surviving through his message of love and peace and through the genius of his music.... No, I mean, really alive and breathing the same oxygen as you and I.

The music he would be creating.... The love he'd be sharing with the world in interviews.... Two sons, knowing their father's love and growing up with him...

I hate this day.... Every year.

Here's a friend, Gary Landau, from 1981. He wrote and performed this. Gary is a Beatle fan and fellow Lennonite. He, as well, was/is heartbroken by the loss.
Goodbye, John - Gary Landau 1981

Throwback products we love: Vinyl Records

2010-12-04T23:22:00.001-06:00

Throwback Products We Love: Vinyl Records

By Diane Bullock Nov 30, 2010

The LP record. Those clunky, 12-inch discs of vinyl have inspired a god-like worship by audiophiles -- from John Cusak’s character in High Fidelity who organized his music collection not alphabetically, not chronologically, but autobiographically to Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock who shelled out $600 for a Beatles LP, rather than a $13 CD because they “sound better” to the characterization of Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, whose radio station studio and bedroom/home office were clogged, floor to ceiling, with the last ‘real’ records before the impending “death rattle, the last gasp, the last grope” of rock and roll music.

Four decades before Cameron Crowe had Bangs putting a nail in the coffin his record acquiring habit, RCA Victor was introducing the very first commercial vinyl record to the market. But the listening medium didn’t catch on until with the public until Columbia Records pioneered cost effective playback equipment and unveiled the 12-inch Long Play 33 1/3 RPM microgroove polyvinyl chloride record at a New York press conference in 1948.

The vinyl record would be the dominant mass market music medium for the next three-plus decades until the 1980s when cassette tapes started filling the shelves. But vinyl’s major popularity plunge came courtesy of Sony (SNE) and Philips’ (PHG) digitally recorded compact disc which proved far more portable, far less vulnerable to damage and, according to some, provided better fidelity. Vinyl records were officially ushered out of the marketplace by 1991 when the vast majority of copies of U2’s Achtung Baby were purchased on CD and Tower Records stores were holding final clearance sales on all vinyl merchandise, which comprised only 15 percent of total sales.

With the relatively recent advent of the Internet, the MP3 and the iPod (AAPL), the empire of the CD is experiencing a gradual overthrow. According to Billboard's senior chart manager and analyst Keith Caulfield, 44 million digital albums were purchased by July 2010, up four million from the previous year, while CD sales dropped by 33 million to 114 million. Online stores now predominate the retail music landscape with Apple’s iTunes store taking the biggest bite at 70% of the digital music market share. June 2009 saw an end of the brick and mortar record store era when the last Virgin Megastore chain in North America closed its doors.

Of course, not all of America’s music stores have turned their leases over to Pinkberry. And of the proud few that remain, an unexpected sales trend is in the works. Although common logic and practicality dictate that vinyl records should have gone the way of fellow technological dinosaurs the floppy disc, the beeper and its CD successor, the LP has managed to cement its place in the niche music consumer’s heart and stereo shelf.

While the vinyl record will never again be a heavyweight contender in the music retail industry, currently comprising only one percent of total album sales, it certainly deserves ‘comeback kid’ status. According to Nielsen SoundScan, sales of vinyl records actually increased by nearly one million units from 1.9 million in 2008 to 2.8 million in 2009 -- and those figures exclude independent shops and concert sales. (In 1980, at the height of vinyl's popularity, 322 million LPs were sold.) We’re seeing a resurgence of vinyl catalog reissues as well as a growing roster of artists firing up the vinyl presses for new releases. Some artists like Green Day are doing both. Last year the punk band re-released every record in their entire catalog on LP and then pressed their newest album, 21st Century Breakdown, on vinyl for its initial release. The Rolling Stones is also catering to the LP collector with a new all-vinyl limited edition box set of remastered recordings from 1964-1969, which will set fans back $265.

As long as there remains a market for vinyl records, a demand will coexist for the equipment on which to play them. Electronics companies like Sony and Pioneer hawk state-of-the-art automatic turntables while recreations of turn-of-the-century wood-accented cabinet models complete with modern digital conversion capability are the business of companies like Crosley. Even Pottery Barn (WSM) has gotten in on the vinyl action with a classic leather bound portable suitcase player that plays and digitizes 33, 45 and 78 rpm records into audio files.

The lasting appeal of the vinyl record extends beyond retro novelty item hipstertude into 100 percent uncompromising sound snobbery. There is a superior race of audio purists who insist that the most cleanly mastered compact disc could never rival the hiss, crackle and pop of its spiral-grooved counterpart. They’ll argue that there’s nothing like physically flipping through card jackets in record store bins, admiring the album art, removing the record from its paper sleeve and gingerly cradling its edges in their palms.

Besides, Stanley Goodspeed wouldn’t exactly get to hear "turn me on, dead man" on "Revolution 9" by hitting the rewind button on his iPod.
http://www.minyanville.com/special-features/articles/vinyl-records-turntable-record-player-gift/11/30/2010/id/31349

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #44!

2010-12-04T23:11:00.000-06:00

1973 - Bob Marley, Catch A Fire (original zippo cover above)

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #45!

2010-12-04T23:10:00.000-06:00

1979 - Public Image Ltd., Metal Box

Sorry...

2010-11-19T10:20:00.000-06:00

I've been busy, sick and uninspired lately... Bear with me and I'll find some good stuff to post!

Bond Girls: You Only Live Twice

2010-10-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

Kissi Suzuki - Mie Hama

Aki - Akiko Wakabayashi

Ling - Tsai Chin

Helga Brandt - Karin Dorr

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #46!

2010-10-29T20:00:00.001-05:00

1974 - Roxy Music, Country Life

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #47!

2010-10-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

1965 - Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #48!

2010-10-21T12:24:00.002-05:00

1973 - David Bowi, Aladdin Sane

Rolling Sstone's Top 100 Album covers #49!

2010-10-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

1980 - Captain Beefheart, Doc at the Radar Station

Airchecks 10/9/10

2010-10-10T16:21:00.002-05:00

Call ins for John Lennon birthday tributes I had on Saturday.

For John's 70th birthday...

2010-10-09T15:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, John....
We all love you and miss you here on Earth. Humanity needs you and your message of peace, now more than ever.
Ask God, that if he doesn't mind too much, to please send you back to do your work and see your family...
Happy Brithday, John....

Dana Delany

2010-10-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #50!

2010-10-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

1973 - Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (click for larger pic)

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album Covers #51!

2010-10-04T20:44:00.000-05:00

1968 - Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (original cover) click for larger pic

Front (variant cover)

Back (variant cover)

Nothing

2010-09-30T19:45:00.000-05:00

I'm at a loss...
Not sure what to put up here...
I'll have to get back to you....

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #52!

2010-09-13T02:14:00.000-05:00

1963 - with the beatles, The Beatles

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #53!

2010-09-13T02:13:00.000-05:00

1979 - Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants

Another, of the many way to deep clean your vinyl!

2010-09-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

I have not tried this method yetm but it makes sense.

Bond Girls: Thunderball

2010-09-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

Paula Caplan - Martine Beswick

Patricia Fearing - Molly Peters

Fiona Volpe - Luciana Paluzzi

Dominique Derval "Domino" - Claudine Auger

John Lennon: 'Gimme Some Truth'

2010-09-02T19:36:00.001-05:00

(courtesy of Robert Benson Collecting Vinyl Records )
FULL TRACKLISTS AND COVER ART UNVEILED FOR EIGHT ALBUMS REMASTERED FROM LENNON'S ORIGINAL MIXES AND SEVERAL NEW COLLECTIONS TO BE RELEASED ON 4TH OCTOBER

Sweeping Catalogue Initiative Overseen by Yoko Ono and EMI Music Commemorates Lennon's 70th Birthday

LONDON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- EMI Music unveils today the complete tracklists and cover art for a broad selection of remastered John Lennon albums and new collections to be released on CD and digitally on 4 October (5 October in North America). Announced last month, EMI Music's global John Lennon 'Gimme Some Truth' catalogue campaign is being overseen by Yoko Ono and commemorates the music legend's 70th birthday on 9 October, 2010. Featured in the sweeping initiative are eight remastered John Lennon solo albums and new titles including Double Fantasy Stripped Down, Power To The People: The Hits, Gimme Some Truth, and the John Lennon Signature Box.

For the first time, Lennon's classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes. Double Fantasy, 1980's GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year, will be presented with a newly remixed 'Stripped Down' version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, Lennon's original co-producers for the album. Some Time In New York City has been restored to include the six 'Live Jam' recordings featured on the original album.

The deluxe 11CD and digital John Lennon Signature Box includes 13 previously unreleased home recordings, and Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and Julian Lennon have each written personal essays for the lavish collection.

The cover art for the new titles includes original drawings by Sean Lennon for Double Fantasy Stripped Down, while the cover of 1974's Walls and Bridges is restored to its original artwork.

John Lennon's life and music will be specially feted this fall with a variety of commemorative releases and events around the world. Please visit www.johnlennon.com for official announcements and updates.

Click Here to view all of the John Lennon cover art images.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: THE HITS [CD; Digital]

1. Power To The People
2. Gimme Some Truth
3. Woman
4. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
5. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
6. Cold Turkey
7. Jealous Guy
8. #9 Dream
9. (Just Like) Starting Over
10. Mind Games
11. Watching The Wheels
12. Stand By Me
13. Imagine
14. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
15. Give Peace A Chance

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: THE HITS (EXPERIENCE EDITION) [CD/DVD]

CD (tracklist same as above)

DVD

1. Power To The People
2. Gimme Some Truth
3. Woman
4. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
5. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
6. Cold Turkey
7. Jealous Guy
8. #9 Dream
9. (Just Like) Starting Over
10. Mind Games
11. Watching The Wheels
12. Stand By Me
13. Imagine
14. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
15. Give Peace A Chance

GIMME SOME TRUTH [4CD; Digital]

Working Class Hero

1. Working Class Hero
2. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
3. Power To The People
4. God
5. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die
6. Gimme Some Truth
7. Sunday Bloody Sunday
8. Steel And Glass
9. Meat City
10. I Don't Wanna Face It
11. Remember
12. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
13. I Found out
14. Isolation
15. Imagine
16. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
17. Give Peace A Chance
18. Only People

Woman

1. Mother
2. Hold On
3. You Are Here
4. Well Well Well
5. Oh My Love
6. Oh Yoko!
7. Grow Old With Me
8. Love
9. Jealous Guy
10. Woman
11. Out The Blue
12. Bless You
13. Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out)
14. My Mummy's Dead
15. I'm Losing You
16. (Just Like) Starting Over
17. #9 Dream
18. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

Borrowed Time

1. Mind Games
2. Nobody Told Me
3. Cleanup Time
4. Crippled Inside
5. How Do You Sleep?
6. How?
7. Intuition
8. I'm Stepping Out
9. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
10. Old Dirt Road
11. Scared
12. What You Got
13. Cold Turkey
14. New York City
15. Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)
16. Borrowed Time
17. Look At Me
18. Watching The Wheels

Roots

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula
2. You Can't Catch Me
3. Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy
4. Tight A$
5. Ain't That a Shame
6. Sweet Little Sixteen
7. Do You Wanna Dance
8. Slippin' and Slidin'
9. Peggy Sue
10. Medley: Bring It On Home/Send Me Some Lovin'
11. Yer Blues (Live)
12. Just Because
13. Boney Moronie
14. Beef Jerky
15. Ya Ya
16. Hound Dog (Live)
17. Stand By Me
18. Here We Go Again

JOHN LENNON SIGNATURE BOX [11CD; Digital]

Original Albums [digitally remastered]

- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
- Imagine
- Some Time In New York City
- Mind Games
- Walls and Bridges
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Double Fantasy
- Milk and Honey

Home Tapes

1. Mother
2. Love
3. God
4. I Found Out
5. Nobody Told Me
6. Honey Don't
7. One Of The Boys
8. India, India
9. Serve Yourself
10. Isolation
11. Remember
12. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
13. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die

Singles

1. Power To The People
2. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
3. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
4. Cold Turkey
5. Move Over Ms. L
6. Give Peace a Chance

ORIGINAL ALBUMS (REMASTERED) [CD; Digital]

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

1. Mother
2. Hold On
3. I Found Out
4. Working Class Hero
5. Isolation
6. Remember
7. Love
8. Well Well Well
9. Look At Me
10. God
11. My Mummy's Dead

Imagine (1971)

1. Imagine
2. Crippled Inside
3. Jealous Guy
4. It's So Hard
5. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die
6. Gimme Some Truth
7. Oh My Love
8. How Do You Sleep?
9. How?
10. Oh Yoko!

Some Time In New York City (1972)
DISC ONE

1. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
2. Sisters, O Sisters
3. Attica State
4. Born In a Prison
5. New York City
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. The Luck Of The Irish
8. John Sinclair
9. Angela
10. We're All Water

DISC TWO

1. Cold Turkey (live)
2. Don't Worry Kyoko (live)
3. Well (Baby Please Don't Go) (live)
4. Jamrag (live)
5. Scumbag (live)
6. Au (live)

Mind Games (1973)

1. Mind Games
2. Tight A$
3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)
4. One Day (At A Time)
5. Bring On The Lucie (Freda Peeple)
6. Nutopian International Anthem
7. Intuition
8. Out The Blue
9. Only People
10. I Know (I Know)
11. You Are Here
12. Meat City

Walls and Bridges (1974)

1. Going Down On Love
2. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
3. Old Dirt Road
4. What You Got
5. Bless You
6. Scared
7. #9 Dream
8. Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)
9. Steel And Glass
10. Beef Jerky
11. Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out)
12. Ya Ya

Rock 'n' Roll (1975)

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula
2. Stand By Me
3. Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy
4. You Can't Catch Me
5. Ain't That A Shame
6. Do You Wanna Dance
7. Sweet Little Sixteen
8. Slippin' And Slidin'
9. Peggy Sue
10. Medley: Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some Lovin'
11. Bony Moronie
12. Ya Ya
13. Just Because

Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)

Stripped Down - Original Album, Remastered

1. (Just Like) Starting Over
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss
3. Cleanup Time
4. Give Me Something
5. I'm Losing You
6. I'm Moving On
7. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
8. Watching The Wheels
9. Yes, I'm Your Angel
10. Woman
11. Beautiful Boys
12. Dear Yoko
13. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
14. Hard Times Are Over

Milk and Honey (1984)

1. I'm Stepping Out
2. Sleepless Night
3. I Don't Wanna Face It
4. Don't Be Scared
5. Nobody Told Me
6. O'Sanity
7. Borrowed Time
8. Your Hands
9. (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess
10. Let Me Count The Ways
11. Grow Old With Me
12. You're The One

SOURCE EMI Music : http://www.johnlennon.com/

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #54!

2010-08-22T19:37:00.000-05:00

1978 - Jerry Garcia Band, Cats Under the Stars

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #55!

2010-08-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

1981 - Toto, Turn Back

Lovers of Covers

2010-08-20T19:23:00.000-05:00

Iconic Rock ’n' Roll Images

By Ann Taylor (Aug 19, 2010 )

Before MP3s, CDs, cassette tapes, and even 8-tracks, there was vinyl. And during the reign of vinyl, album covers were high art, often rivaling the very music they encased.

Annie Liebovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, H.R. Giger, even Andy Warhol have put their hand to the design of album covers, the large format providing a perfect canvas for some of the most well-known images in the world.

But one of the most lasting impressions has been left by Storm Thorgerson, the man behind Pink Floyd album covers since 1968 — including the iconic Dark Side of the Moon — as well as covers for Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Steve Miller Band, Black Sabbath, and the Cranberries, among others. Currently showing at the San Francisco Art Exchange’s Lovers of Covers show are more than sixty prints of his celebrated works and several originals.

While Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon cover is undoubtedly Thorgerson’s most famous work, and perhaps the most famous album cover of all time, it is not particularly representative of his typical visual style — Lovers of Covers allows viewers to see that work within the broader context of Thorgerson’s overall ouevre.

Typical of Thorgerson’s work is a surreal, dreamlike quality as well as odd juxtapositions of objects in expansive landscapes, creating quite dramatic compositions, such as the cover for Disco Biscuit’s Planet Anthem. Four women, carefully wrapped in brown butcher paper and tied with string, are ranged across a sandy beach. Like packages of meat at the supermarket, their wrapped forms are inert yet promising, set off dramatically against a cloudless sky as a white sheet floats gently in the breeze.

Along similar lines is the art for The Cranberry’s Bury the Hatchet album, in which a lone naked man cowers in the desert, tiny mesas visible in the far distance behind him, a giant eye staring at him from above. The flatness of the desert and the expansiveness of the clear sky emphasize his nakedness, his vulnerability to the all-seeing eye. These Magritte-esque images seem to tap into nightmare worlds, framing them in desolation and unexpected blue skies.

Even Thorgerson’s more simple images reflect an unexpected complexity and masterful composition. The cover for Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma, for instance, looks, on the surface, like a picture of the band members casually relaxing in a doorway — scruffy, barefoot rock ’n’ rollers sitting around on a warm summer day. Yet, a second look reveals that the frame to the left of guitarist David Gilmour, who is slumped on a stool in the foreground, is a repeat of the same scene, stretching on into infinity like a reflection of a reflection in a mirror.

An even closer examination discloses a subtle change in each subsequent reframing of the scene: the band members are switching positions. Roger Waters now sits slumped on Gilmour’s stool, Nick Mason has taken Waters’ old position on the floor with knees bent, Richard Wright assumes Mason’s former standing pose with arms akimbo, and Gilmour now scissors his legs in the air in the background, where Wright is in the larger frame. And so on. It is little surprises like these that make even the mundane remarkable in Thorgerson’s work.

However, his covers are not just interesting but empty images; they also tend to point to an idea, a story, or even a joke (see the Steve Miller Band’s Let Your Hair Down, Baby cover). Most, if not all, of Thorgerson’s breathtaking compositions are backed by thoughtful concepts, and depict visual representations of those concepts, such as the artwork for The Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute album or Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder — you can read about them for yourself at the show.

Forty years of rock ’n’ roll history is bound up in stunning visuals in Lovers of Covers, reminding us of the power of the image even in the world of music. This show is not to be missed.

San Francisco Art Exchange

Through September 15th

Free

Vinyl Revival: Record stores selling more vinyl albums

2010-08-18T21:22:00.003-05:00

By Jeremy Essig - Columbia Business Times Aug 6, 2010

What if vinyl records saved the music industry?

That joke, relayed by Streetside Records manager Nick Soha, has been going around the retail music industry for a few years now. As with any good joke, there lies a kernel of truth — a truth that might help an industry considered on its way to extinction.

With the rise in popularity of compact discs, vinyl records became an antiquated format. Then came the Internet music-sharing craze and online music sales, which further marginalized the old LP format at the beginning of the millennium. Through services such as Apple’s iTunes and Napster, customers could purchase music instantly from the comfort of their own homes. As a result, retail music stores saw a decline in both sales and profits.

However, rumors of the industry’s decline have been greatly exaggerated, said Soha and Slackers manager Kate Passis. Slackers was founded in Columbia in 1993 and has expanded to Jefferson City and the St. Louis area, where it has nine stores. Streetside, part of a national chain of music stores, has been in Columbia since 1980. Although both managers said sales are not as strong as they once were, they also expressed optimism for the present and future.

Streetside Records, located on Providence Road across from the MU power plant, has had one of its best summers in a long time, Soha said. Part of this success, he said, can be attributed to a revived interest in vinyl records.

Vinyl is “a big part of sales now,” Soha said.

Three years ago, Streetside only stocked about 20 to 30 records, Soha said. The medium was so marginalized that one employee, when registering a sale to a customer who brought a vinyl record to the counter, asked when the store began selling calendars.

Since that time, however, vinyl sales have made an epic comeback.

Vinyl album sales are still less than 1 percent of total album sales, but vinyl sales rose from 1.9 million in 2008 to 2.5 million in 2009, a 33 percent increase, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry’s data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales. (The data doesn’t account for the used vinyl market.)

Preparing for another migration of the younger generation, Passis said Slackers is planning to place a large order of new vinyl to coincide with the return of MU students for the fall semester.

Passis said the Slackers store on Broadway is also helped by a robust trade-in business. During the economic downturn, she said customers might be less likely to hold onto old CDs and DVDs and more willing to trade them in for store credit. Soha said used media is also a strong seller at Streetside, which allows customers to receive either cash or store credit for used items.

Both managers also said video games and an expanding selection of Blue Ray discs have contributed significantly to their stores’ sales totals. The ability to carry video games and Blue Ray next to more nostalgic media such as vinyl provides what Passis said is one of the best aspects of the modern retail music store.

“We don’t sell anything people need,” she said. “We sell what people want, which is great.”

The vinyl revival is also boosting sales of another retro product: the turntable. Sam Jones, an owner of Pure Audio, said national sales of turntables have increased about 70 percent during the past few years.

Jones attributes the increase to a number of factors. Some customers are rediscovering old vinyl that was never made available in digital format. Others have inherited the record collection of relatives and are looking to play songs they heard at family occasions. The younger generation, Jones said, has also become enamored with the nostalgia factor that vinyl provides.

Top Ten Vinyl Albums in 2009

Title Artist Units Sold

Abbey Road……………………………………………The Beatles…………………………34,800
Thriller………………………………………………….Michael Jackson…………………….29,800
Merriweather Post Pavilion …………………….............AnimalCollective…………………….14,000
Wilco…………………………………………………...Wilco……………………………….13,200
Fleet Foxes……………………………………………. Fleet Foxes…………………………12,700
Backspacer………………………………………….....Pearl Jam……………………………12,500
Veckatimest………………………………………....... Grizzly Bear…………………………11,600
Appetite For Destruction………………………….........Guns N’ Roses……………………...11,500
Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King……….............Dave Matthews Band……………....11,500
In Rainbows………………………………………........Radiohead………………………….11,400

Source: Nielsen SoundScan

New albums in my collection

2010-08-16T16:23:00.000-05:00

Ace Frehley - Second Sighting and Live + 1

David Bowie - Never Let Me Down and Tesla - The Great Radio Controversy

R.E.O. Speedwagon -Nine Lives and Self-titled

Genesis - Wind and the Wuthering and Trespass

Fleetwood Mac - Future Games and Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

Slade - Keep Your Hands Off Our Power Supply and The Firm - Mean Business

Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire and ...Sings Hank Williams

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison and The Buddy Holly Story

Nancy Sinatra - Boots and How Does That Grab You? (both mono)

Nancy Sinatra - ... in London and Country My Way (stereo)

Nancy Sinatra - Sugar (great cover!) and Movin' with Nancy (television special with "special" guests)

Zebra - Self-titled and No Tellin' Lies

Klatuu - 1st album and The Immortal Otis Redding

Sgt. Barry Sadler - ballad of the Green Berets and Soundtrack for "The Happening"

Ramsey Lewis - Dancing in the Street and Wade in the Water

Ramsey Lewis - Never On a Sunday and Up Pops Ramsey Lewis

Patsy Cline - Show Case and Ramsey Lewis - Another Voyage

Patsy Cline - Golden Hits and Here's Patsy Cline

Ravi Shankar - At the Woodstock Fest. and Six Ragas

Isaac Hayes - In the Beginning and Henry Mancini - Music from Peter Gunn

Peter, Paul and Mary - Album and Album 1700

Peter, Paul and Mary - Moving and 10 Years Together

Erroll Garner - Gems and Plays Misty

Dave Brubeck - Time Changes and Summit Sessions

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles and Prgressive Jazz Compilation

Here's Louis Armstong and Tony Bennet and Count Basie - Strike Up the Band

Oscar Peterson Trio - Stratford Shakespearean Fest. and Leon Redbone - On the Track

Sonny and Cher - Look at Us and In Case You're in Love

Herbie Mann - At the Village Gate and Monday Night at...

Portrait of Adlai Stevenson (talking record) and Jazz in the Space Age (with Bill Evans)

My son plays his first Bluesfest!

2010-08-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

I was in Cedar Rapids Saturday night for a Bluesfest known as Bluesmore (a non-profit fest) ! It's on the grounds of the National Registry's Landmark Museum known as Brucemore Mansion (also a non-profit organization).

Not a bad shindig at all! I'm a bug fan of the blues as is most of my family. I grew up hearing it played on teh stereo from my dad, but also hearing it performed by my father and mother as well.

I play some guitar, but my 12 year old, David, is quite good for his age. He was asked by Gary "Bubba" Gibson to play at the fest on the Brucemore porch stage with another young man named Ben Bollwitt, 14, from Monticello on drums!

(Ben, 14 yrs,on left, my son, David, 12 yrs, on right)

It was a blast to see these two young men, who'd only met at three o'clock that day, gig together for the first time and learn from each other. Both of them were paying special attention to each other, to keep the rhythm chugging along. very professional characteristics from these early teens. A back-up band helped them along and filled out the sound with keyboards, bass, horn and clarinet known as Krewe Osgood, a New Orleans style Jazz band.

(David with guitar and top hat)

(David and Ben discussing music before going onstage)

On main stage were acts from all over the blues world! The Avey Brothers, from the Quad Cities, are a blues trio that had some great blues covers such as Stevie Ray Vaughn's "WILLIE THE WIMP" (one of my all-time favorites).

(David with The Avey Bros.)

Next on the stage was a band out of Wisconsin with a rather large following called Reverened Raven and the Chain-smoking Altar Boys! Amazing band with a saxophonist that could make you shake it without worry of breaking it.... Did some covers of the late Albert Collins, like "TOO MANY DIRTY DISHES" and and some original tunes as well.

Headliner was Deana Bogart. A multi-talented blues-WOMAN that my parents have seen before... Great voice, amzing pianist, and sexy sax, or as some say SAXUALITY!

(David with headliner Deana Bogart)

All in all, had a blast Saturday night at Bluesmore and David.... You were awesome!

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #56!

2010-08-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

1973 - ELP, Brain Salad Surgery

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #57!

2010-08-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

1970 - Grateful Dead, American Beauty

Though it all, vinyl lives!

2010-08-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

Never-say-die format rebounds

By Laura McFarland
Rocky Mount Telegram
Wednesday, August 11, 2010

They were challenged by eight-tracks, eclipsed by tapes and compact discs and almost completely overshadowed by digital downloads.

Vinyl records have had a tough last four decades, said Eric Parson, manager of Gravity Records in Wilmington. Despite the hard times, vinyl has been experiencing a resurgence in popularity prompted by nostalgic baby boomers and teens “discovering” the old technology.

“There is a reason that, since it was introduced in the ’40s, it has never stopped being made. The sound is so good. Eight-tracks went away, cassettes went away, minidiscs went away. Vinyl is the only thing that has stuck around besides CDs, and they are definitely making less and less of those,” Parson said.

Records have been such an important part of audio history that fans nationwide will honor them today by celebrating Vinyl Record Day, said Gary Freiberg, who created the event in 2002 in California. The event was designed to honor the influence that vinyl records and their cover art have had on American culture, preserving everything from music to historic speeches to radio broadcasts.

Though buying a new or used record to enjoy would be a great way to mark Vinyl Record Day, the event is more about preservation than commerce, Freiberg said. His idea was for family and friends to gather to share the music they loved and that was important to them.

It not only would draw people closer but remind them of why records need to be preserved to be enjoyed now and by future generations, he said.

“People honor their old books, put them in a bookcase and take care of them but have their old records down in the garage getting musty,” Freiberg said.
Record sales continue to be only a small part of the music business’ overall profits, but the industry has taken notice, said Ric Culross, manager of Schoolkids Records in Raleigh. In August, music companies are publishing 403 12-inch records, either new or rereleases, compared to 3,214 CDs.

“We probably have close to $60,000 worth of new vinyl inside our store now. It ranges from Bob Dylan and Tom Waits to current groups like Sleigh Bells or M.I.A.,” Culross said.

In Rocky Mount, record fans are limited on choice. Many thrift stores offer a limited older selection to choose from.

For new music, Best Buy has been carrying about 10 to 12 albums at a time for more than a year, said Chris Combs, operations manager.

“I know that a lot of people like the feel of vinyl. Everything that was old is new again,” Combs said.

This is especially true for younger people were born during the CD and MP3 eras who have discovered vinyl and think it is cool, Freiberg said. Many became hooked by one or two records and now are finding music that is not available on any other format.

“Every record collection I believe is unique. ... Within every record collection are recordings that will never be put on a digital or downloadable format. It is just economically not feasible for companies to go back and do that,” Freiberg said.

The advent of CDs in the 1980s was a dark time for vinyl because everyone who grew up with record collections ditched them to buy CDs, which were revolutionary at the time, Freiberg said. Now, the different forms of technology can enhance each other.

Many new releases will include either a code so the buyer can download the album online or a CD copy of the album in the sleeve, Freiberg said. Some bands also offer a free 7-inch record containing extra songs with a CD purchase.

“With the new artists that are putting albums out on vinyl that appeal to younger people, potentially, younger people will be more apt to go to a record store and start discovering older releases. I think it bodes very well for the future for preservation,” he said.

Since the manufacturers had sold off or destroyed most of their vinyl presses when the medium started to wane in popularity, the only way they could have them manufactured was through custom firms, Culross said. So there is a huge amount of vinyl waiting to be pressed, he said.

“They are releasing a gauntlet of titles. The problem is, since there are so few presses now, if they don’t order enough initially for the first month’s sales, it might take weeks before you get a piece back in. There is a limited quantity of this stuff when it comes out on the street,” Culross said.

Vinyl Isn't The Only Retro Format Getting Love These Days

2010-08-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

By Cory Graves Thursday, Aug 5 2010 Dallas Observer

When retailers and critics began singing the praises of digital media—namely the newly en vogue compact discs in the mid-1980s—vinyl began its slow descent into the background, fading into virtual obscurity around 1991. Or so mainstream labels and retailers would have you believe.

Despite its dwindling availability, vinyl never stopped being manufactured. And it never completely vanished. Vinyl sales topped 1.9 million units nationwide in 2008, the most in any year since 1998, and rose another 33 percent in 2009 according to Nielsen SoundScan, the official source of sales records used by the music industry.

"Most days, we sell almost as much LPs, dollar-wise, as we do CDs—pretty shocking for 2010," says Chris Penn, part owner of Good Records on Lower Greenville. "My theory is that the exaggeration of the death of vinyl was a way for the music industry to push the two main formats they were hawking at the time: the compact disc and cassette."

The incipient resurgence that niche formats like vinyl, cassettes, and 8-track tapes are currently experiencing is not without merit. For vinyl, the revitalization makes sense. Its larger packaging better accommodates cover art, making them more aesthetically appealing to both consumers and collectors. And the sound quality is known for exhibiting a great deal more warmth than the format's digital counterparts. Plus, the very idea that records will have to be changed or flipped frequently leads to listening experiences that are more purposeful—more of something that's experienced, and appreciated on a higher level, and not as something simply relegated to the background.

"There is definitely a collector-nerd quality to it," Penn says. "But I don't think the resurgence would be sustained if people were not actually diving in and making listening to an album more of an 'event' type of situation—almost communal."

This is an idea that's catching on locally as well. In the past year, many local bands put out vinyl releases—most notable among those being the Teenage Cool Kids and their much-hyped Foreign Lands, an album that was made available exclusively on 180-gram vinyl.

And it's not just bands who are championing the once dying format; local labels are also partially responsible for vinyl's sudden chic. In March, the highly influential Dallas-based music blogs Gorilla vs Bear and Weekly Tape Deck combined forces to create Forest Family Records. The label has already released seven-inch singles by New York's Cults and Colorado's Gauntlet Hair. In each case, the releases received loads of national media attention, and the label subsequently sold out of their initial pressings very quickly. For the time being, Forest Family maintains the sentiment that all future releases by the label will come on vinyl, and perhaps an occasional cassette.

"It's the quality aspect of the vinyl format that we prefer over any other medium," says Forest Family co-founder Nathan Smith. "Even driving in my car, I'll plug in my iPod or a burned CD; it's rare that I even make a CD purchase anymore."

Although the reasons for vinyl's recent rebound seem reasonable enough, the rationale behind the growing demand for cassette tapes isn't quite as clear. While the superior artwork and sound quality of vinyl give plausibility to its increased popularity, those same elements are what makes the cassette's comeback equally perplexing. Album artwork suffers on the small sized, awkwardly shaped cassette tapes—and that's not even mentioning the diminished sound quality that comes with having to cram so many sounds onto such a small strip of magnetic tape, and one which only degrades with each listen.

"With cassettes, you have all these sounds compressed onto a piece of 1/8-inch magnetic tape, says Teenage Cool Kids guitarist Andrew Savage. "The more sound you try to jam on there, the more you have to compete with tape hiss."

While it might not be for their aesthetic, several reasons exist for the renewed interest in cassettes. For one thing, they represent a bit of nostalgia for children who grew up in the 1980s. Now aged in their late 20s and early 30s, for these listeners, it's about re-creating a sentimental experience, listening to the format that reminds them of some of their earliest exposure to music.

"The whole cassette thing coming back seems like pure novelty to me," says Good Records' Penn. "I know there are some great cassette-only labels popping up, [but] it's really not convenient, as most cars are not equipped with cassette decks anymore, nor are home stereo systems."

On a more social level, however, cassette's revitalization is based on cultural implications that, in some circles, are more important than how the end product looks or sounds. Tapes are the modern-day embodiment of the underground DIY ethic that was so prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s, and led to the success of bands like Sonic Youth.

Cassettes are one of the cheapest and easiest formats to create and reproduce, which enables artists with a wide variance in skill sets the ability to record. As such, sound qualities can vary from mediocre to downright excruciating. But very few artists see large profits from cassette-only releases, or even intend to for that matter.

Bond Girls: Goldfinger

2010-08-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

Pussy Galore - Honor Blackman

Dink - Margaret Nolan

Bonita - Nadja Regin

Jill Masterson - Shirley Eaton

Tilly Masterson - Tania Mallet

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #58!

2010-07-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

1976 - Ramones, Ramones

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #59!

2010-07-31T13:46:00.001-05:00

1959 - Elvis Presley, 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2

A new generation of fans are giving records a spin

2010-07-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

A new generation of fans are giving records a spin By Chris Serico • cserico@lohud.com • July 22, 2010

Tony Pradlik sells vinyl records from his home in White Plains and on the Internet (www.the-rockin-rex.com) in lieu of a traditional storefront. (Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

If the refrain that the Internet has killed the music industry sounds like a broken record, consider this: A whole generation has never even heard a record spinning unless a disc jockey's involved.

Yet, the same Internet that slashed so much of the music industry is enabling some local entrepreneurs to continue to profit from a product that might seem counterintuitive: vinyl.

It's not just boomers nostalgic for their youth, either. College kids, collectors, and yes, even those boomers looking for a vintage "Frampton Comes Alive," album are fueling a resurgent interest in LPs.

John Bastone, 49, who ran the Record Room on North Avenue in New Rochelle in the late '80s, and Exile on Main Street in Mount Kisco in the mid-'90s, is one of them.

Within three years of opening the latter store, a Sam Goody branch opened around the corner, and Borders opened directly across the street. Bastone closed the store's doors in about 2004.

However, he and his wife, Margaret, continue to sell CDs and vinyl from their White Plains home. Via their website, recordriots.com, and eBay, Amazon.com and regional record conventions — including one held in May at the New Rochelle Radisson — Exile CDs makes most of its revenue through digital music, but vinyl has helped keep the business afloat.

"It's still a portion of the market," he says. "Even though it's 10 times as popular as it was ... a year ago, it's still a fraction of what it was back in its heyday."

Tony Pradlik can relate. A fellow White Plains resident, Pradlik worked at several record stores — two in Yonkers and another in New York City — before shutting down Rockin' Rex in the '90s. In recent years, he's returned to selling music, but now he's doing it from his house, and on the Internet (www.the-rockin-rex.com), in lieu of a traditional storefront.

The venue has changed, but love for big, round records has not, he says.

"There's always been interest (in vinyl)," Pradlik says. "It's never died."

DJs and hard-core collectors comprise a niche demographic that has sustained the vinyl business for Bastone since the digital revolution. When he visits Purchase College, which he's done eight to 12 times per year for 18 years, students also pay for their penchant for vinyl records — or at least the large album covers that contain them.

"Vinyl outsells CDs when I'm there," he says. "College kids are driving the resurgence of vinyl. I have a theory that kids who live on college campuses (think) 'Why would I spend $5 to $10 on a poster when I can go to a flea market or a yard sale or a street fair and find records for a dollar and just hang up the cover?' ... For them, it wasn't retro. For them, it was something totally brand new."

There's also value in purchasing common vintage vinyl records.

"You can find a lot of $1, $2 and $3 records, and buy a lot more music for a much cheaper price," Bastone adds.

There's also consumer interest in rarities. Pradlik says some vinyl records never made the leap to digital formats due to legal disputes over music rights, musicians dying off, and other reasons.

For both record dealers, the steadiest and most popular vinyl sales are those featuring classic rock acts, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, iconic jazz artists, such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and soul legends.

"A lot of the DJs and new bands who use old soul records are looking for beats and samples," Bastone says.

Punk records from the '70s and '80s also generate interest among Pradlik's clients.

"That kind of stuff is through the roof now," he says.

The trend has prompted record labels to issue and reissue albums on vinyl, allowing for additional interest and sales.

Bastone has hopes for bringing a record convention to the Westchester County Center, provided the cost isn't prohibitive. He believes the vinyl trend is best buoyed by the experience of listening to a record when the needle hits the groove.

"If you have a brand new piece of vinyl and a brand new CD, the fact is a CD could never sound as good as a record," he says. "And I'm not an audiophile , but any audiophile can tell you that. You get that warm, fuzzy feeling that you're not going to get from ... your iPod or your CD."

Pradlik agrees: "It's about time travel. You can put yourself back in the time this thing was made, even if you weren't from that era."

2010-07-20T19:45:00.001-05:00

Here's a 2.5 lb about 15 in. bass David just caught on his own with a plastic worm with a spinner.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Chuck Mangione

2010-07-19T02:17:00.000-05:00

Some "new" used vinyl I just picked up (in GREAT condition)!

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #60!

2010-07-19T02:08:00.000-05:00

1984 - The Smiths, The Smiths

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #61!

2010-07-19T02:07:00.000-05:00

1980 - X, Los Angeles

Oops!

2010-07-19T01:58:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of new posts! Has beeen a busy July and took some time off to vacation with family as well...
Hmmmm....... Where to begin...

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #62!

2010-07-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

1969 - King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (front fold out)

(inner fold out)

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #63!

2010-07-09T20:03:00.000-05:00

1988 - Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation

Bond Girls: From Russia With Love

2010-07-05T19:15:00.000-05:00

Tatiana Romanova played by Daniela Bianchi

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #64!

2010-07-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

1978 - Graham Parker, Parkerilla

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #65!

2010-07-01T19:11:00.001-05:00

1987 - Tom Waits, Frank's Wild Years

The Fall Guy

2010-06-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

The Fall Guy TV show was a 60 minute action series on ABC about a movie stunt man who also worked as a bounty hunter to supplement his income. Sometimes he would also help people who were being abused by crooks.

Fall Guy Cast:

Lee Majors ............ Colt Seavers
Heather Thomas ........ Jody Banks
Douglas Barr .......... Howie Munson
Markie Post ........... Terri Michaels
Joann Pflug ........... Samantha "Big" Jack
Nedra Volz ............ Pearl Sperling
Robert Donner ......... Edmund Trench

Fall Guy Theme Song Lyrics

Title: The Unknown Stuntman

By: Glen A Larson, Gail Jensen, and David Sommerville

Well, I'm not the kind to kiss and tell,
But I've been seen with Farrah.
I've never been with anything less than a nine, so fine.

I've been on fire with Sally Field,
Gone fast with a girl named Bo,
But somehow they just don't end up as mine.

It's a death defyin' life I lead,
I take my chances.
I die for a livin' in the movies and Tv.
But the hardest thing I ever do,
Is watch my leadin' ladies,
Kiss some other guy while I'm bandagin' my knee.

I might fall from a tall buildin',
I might roll a brand new car.
'Cause I'm the unknown stuntman that made Redford such a star.

I've never spent much time in school,
But I taught ladies plenty.
It's true I hire my body out for pay, Hey Hey.

I've gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs,
Blown up for Raquel Welch.
But when I end up in the hay it's only hay, Hey Hey.

I might jump an open drawbridge,
Or Tarzan from a vine.
'Cause I'm the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine.

Fall Guy Opening Narrative:

Recited by: "Lee Majors"

"This is the story of one of America's great unsung heroes. I mean you've seen him but you never knew who he was. You've cheered for him and cried for him and women have wanted to die for him. But did he ever get any credit or the girl? No! He's what we call the "Stuntman" and the reason I'm talking so fondly about him is, well because it's me, Colt Seaver. Anyway, picture work isn't wall-to-wall employment so maybe you wonder how a guy keeps his head together? Well, one way is to wait by the phone and wait and wait. The other is to take an occasional job with the court system of the United States of America where a man is considered innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately sometimes a lot of these people get out of jail on what we call bail and they'd run like hell!...and that's where I come in. I sometimes pick up rent money trying to find them and bring them back to justice...and that reminds me of a very interesting case."

I even had the Fall Guy Lunchbox! And who didn't have this poster of Heather Thomas?

Bond Girls: Dr. No

2010-06-28T01:38:00.000-05:00

Honey Ryder - Ursulla Andress

Sylvia Trench - Eunice Grayson

Miss Taro - Zena Marshall

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #66!

2010-06-28T00:07:00.000-05:00

1970 - Bob Dylan, Self Portrait

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #67!

2010-06-28T00:06:00.000-05:00

1986 - Madonna, True Blue

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #68!

2010-06-28T00:02:00.001-05:00

1971 - Sly and the Family Stone, There's A Riot Goin' On

Guest post from a friend from "Down Under"

2010-06-25T19:09:00.000-05:00

Australian Music to the World

by Donald J. Kay

Australian music from the sixties technically wasn’t recorded by Australians. We had overseas interests, migrants, which Australia would take under her wing and embrace and call them AUSSIE. Artists such as the Bee Gees, (UK) AC/DC (UK/Scottish), Easybeats (English Dutch), Billy Thorpe (UK,) Ray Columbus and the Invaders (New Zealand), to name but a few.

The record buying public went crazy over these artists, buying their records, watching every pop show we could, just so we could get a glimpse of our idols. Their concerts were sell outs, filled with mass hysteria, girls fainting in the aisles, having to be carted out on stretchers. The music was raw and poppy, selling in the millions. Unknowns became known and ‘till this day some of these artists remain legends.

Stories have been tossed around as to how the Aussie artists got their recognition in America. Some say, they made personal appearances on TV shows etc., while other’s say they got records released possibly because ozzie labels did deals with major/minor labels. Artists like Johnny Young, Normie Rowe, Russell Morris, Bee Gees, Johnny O’Keefe, Lynne Randel, and Dinah Lee all went to the UK or US, to record, and had records released there. It wasn’t until the 70’s with the advent of the video, that many major artists gained recognition, band such as: AC/DC, Midnight Oil, The Church, Little River Band, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie, among others. During the ensuing years thousands of videos were made, cementing the Aussie icons onto the world stage of music.

One of the MEGA metal bands in the world today, AC/DC, had their foundation in Western Australia (as the Valentines). The band had great success playing to packed houses all over Perth. With a few singles under their belt, having recorded for the small Perth label called Clarion, the band decided to broaden their musical horizons and make the journey east. After establishing themselves in Melbourne, they scored a record deal with Philips, which would see them record two or three singles, plus an E.P., and then disband. Vince Lovegrove would go on to manage the ever popular Divinyls, while Bon Scott would join Adelaide outfit, Fraternity, who recorded in their own studios in the Adelaide hills. Again the total output would be 3 or 4 singles and 2 albums, which are highly sought after by collectors.

After Fraternity disbanded, another band was happening, waiting for Bon Scott to take hold of the reins and rock hard. Their first lead singer was Dave Evans, who lent his vocals to the track “Can I Sit next To You Girl.” Evans was soon replaced with the legendary Bon Scott, who would re-record the Dave Evans track, making it his own. Bon would go on to leave his mark in rock history with many great hits and albums under his belt, until his sad death on the Feb, 19, 1980. The band almost folded, but kept going for Bon’s sake, and recruited Brian Johnson, who remains as lead singer to this day.

Another great export to the world is the Sydney band, The Church, featuring lead singer, Steve Kilbey. They first came to prominence after recording a 4 track demo and scoring a record deal with EMI records, with such favourites as “The Unguarded Moment,” and their classic first album,” Of Skins And Heart.” They had great success with their singles and albums souring high in the world charts.

Furthermore, another legendary band, The Divinyls would cement themselves in the music world, when Chrysalis records signed them. Founding members Christina Amphlett, (cousin of Little Pattie), and Mark Mcentee, would recruit players Jeremy Paul (ex-Air Supply), Rick Grossman (Matt Finish) among others. They were very big on the US touring circuit, with their albums, “Desperate,” What a Life” and “Temperamental” and remain personal favourites to this day. Chrissie hasn’t been well lately; having being diagnosed with MS. Former guitarist Mark Mcentee has been living in Perth, W.A.managing a clothing shop with his girlfriend.

Speaking of bands that got their start in Perth, before moving to the big smoke (Melbourne), INXS started out as the Farris Brothers, playing around the pubs and clubs of Perth, before relocating to Melbourne and teaming up with a very young Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengily, and Gary Beers to become the explosive force known as INXS. Their first track, recorded for the small “Deluxe” label, was a cover version of Aussie band, the Loved Ones, track called “The Loved One.” Another 3 or 4 singles followed before they signed up to the giant WEA music group, which would launch them to the world stage with INXS becoming popular both with FM programmers and also a top billing stage act in their own right.

On the political fence sat one Peter Garrett, who would incorporate his political views in the music that was Midnight Oil. The group were playing pubs and clubs before signing up to Powder Works label, before moving to CBS records with such political motivated songs like “U.S. Forces” and “Blue Sky Mining.” At the present moment Garrett is heavily involved in the political arena, with his musical contributions firmly embedded in music history.

The ever popular Men at Work struck gold with their first self-titled album,” Men at Work.” The album would contain the now anathematic track “Down Under” which has become world famous because of its association with the “Americas Cup.” Enough said.

Nick Cave would leave his mark in music history, firstly with the Birthday Party, the Bad Seeds and a great duet with Kylie Minogue “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” a song reminiscent of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood duets of the sixties. His most memorable album is Murder Ballads.

In closing, there are many Australian bands making their mark, not only on Australian shores, but they’re being heard and appreciated by the music fans, Worldwide. Australia stand up and be counted.

For the love of.... VINYL!

2010-06-21T03:07:00.001-05:00

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

Pt. 5

And...this!

Facts about Meme..

2010-06-21T01:12:00.002-05:00

Via Electronic Cerebrectomy

1. You’re building your dream house. What’s the one thing that this house absolutely, positively MUST HAVE? (other than the obvious basics of course)

5 bedrooms (have 4 kids who all deserve privacy away from one another at some point) and a man-cave...

2. What is your dream car?

1965 Mustang hardtop

3. What is your favorite website that isn’t a blog?

http://beatlesnumber9.com/

4. iPhone 4 or Droid, which do you want?

Droid

5. When you’re feeling down or lonely or just generally out of sorts, what do you do to cheer yourself up?

Listen to music ususally on vinyl or now that I have a reel-reel deck, on tape!

6. Tell me about something or someone that you love that most people seem to hate.

Trivial Pursuit?

7. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Rock GOD!!!!

8. Would you go on a reality show if given the chance?

Um.... if it's not Gene Simmons Family Jewels, NO!!!!

9. Who was your favorite teacher when you were growing up. (Grade school, Middle School, Jr. High or High School only.)

Mr. Haan - High School Choral Director

10. You get one pass to do something illegal or immoral. What are you gonna do?

Rob a bank. I'm petty and materialistic. Then I'd have money to do with whatever I wish.

11. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Working at Sam Goody as Ass. Man. ;)

12. By this time next year, I ...

hope to have lost 50-60 lbs

13. Do you think the United States will elect a female President in your lifetime? Do you think this would be a good thing?

"Yes, I think so, and it depends on the person. If it's Sarah Palin, we're all totally fucked." Thanks Samurai Frog! Couldn't have said it ant better!

14. Which fictional TV show character you would shag anytime?

Audrey Bingham (Megyn Price) from Rules Of Engagement OR Claudia Finnerty (Megyn Price) from Grounded For Life - See the pattern here?

15. What is your greatest pet peeve?

People who say OFF-TEN instead of Offen for the worf often... T is silent according to Webster's. Learned it phonics in 1st grade. Why didn't anyone else?

16. Tell me about your most recent trip of more than 100 miles?

Would have been Thanksgiving to my in-laws, I believe...

17. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?

Probably dictionary...

18. Do you have a nickname? What is it?

Shawn Foxxy.... Someone got my son to start saying my air-name with a "y".... HATE IT!

19. What are you dreading at the moment?

2 upcoming surgeries... Septoplasty and Tonsilectomy

20. Do you worry that others will judge you from reading some of your answers?

I don't really care about it.

21. In two words, explain what ended your last relationship.

Emotional survival

22. What were you doing this morning at 8am?

Sleeping... Got up late.

23. Do you have any famous relatives?

Charlemagne and President James K. Polk

24. How many different beverages have you drank today?

3: Mtn Dew - White Out, Coffee, Nestea Lemon Iced Tea

25. What is something you are excited about?

The month of July!

26. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group?

Just about every other night...I'm an on-air personality on Cool 105.7 FM

27. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Need to get my head shaved again...

28. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Talking to one of my sons about lying and how the truth is AWAYS better than the lie. However, I think he WAS actually telling me the truth this time and one of my other sons was lying. I think I was snowed by the other, which is a flip from the norm.

29. What’s a word that you say a lot?

Goddamnit - because I probably really want Him (or Her) to....

30. Who is your worst enemy?

If you know me, you know. If not, why do you care? Wanna make a run at first place?

Chicago vinyl record stores survive digital music era.

2010-06-19T13:34:00.001-05:00

Written by Katie Schweiker, Jeremy Mikula, and Leah Hendrickson

Audio Slideshow: Chicago On The Record – A visit to three Chicago Record Stores

In a world of iPods, Zunes, .mp3s, .wavs, .flacs, .aifs, .rms, .snds and other digital audio formats, 33 1/3 revolutions per minute still counts to some.

Despite Apple’s announcement that the 10 billionth song was downloaded from iTunes in February, many Chicagoans still listen to vinyl Long Play (LP) records from both new and old artists.

“.mp3s were really cool, and they still are,” said Dave Hofer, a new products buyer at Reckless Records’ Wicker Park location. “You could fit so many of them into a little thing, you know. You don’t have to carry a book of CDs in your car anymore, for example. But there’s just something about vinyl that draws people in.”

Reckless is a music store with three Chicago locations that sells new and used vinyl – LPs, 45s, and 78s – and used DVDs and CDs. In spite of the era of readily available digital media and an economic downturn, they still do a pretty good business, Hofer said.

“We have people who come in and only look for used DVDs and CDs,” Hofer said. “However, if we didn’t have vinyl, we’d go out of business. People come in with their old records because they grow out of stuff and are amazed that people are interested in [their old records]. I have people who come up and ask when we put out new stuff and I always say, ‘All day, every day, dude.’”

“No CD’s. Never had ‘em. Never will.” This sign hangs on the door to Dave’s Records in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. For owner Dave Crain, there is no other alternative to the sound of vinyl records. Dave’s, “will always be a store where vinyl is king,” Crain said.

Dave’s Records is one of the few strictly vinyl shops in Chicago with 40,000 titles to choose from. When you walk in you are greeted with the sweet, musty aroma of vinyl. The floor tiles beckon you further into the store with their checkered pattern. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with vinyl. Each record in its spot is watched over by Crain as he sits at a raised counter.

These include new albums by new artists, used albums, imports, reissues and even albums that are out of print and difficult to find. Hand Crain a record and he will throw it on the store’s turntable for a spin to help shopper’s make an educated decision. Dave’s makes sure that if you can’t find what you are looking for in their store, they will send you to another local record store.

Crain said Dave’s is for “people who love records. They are part of the ever evolving and ever revolving world of record shoppers.”

Dusty Groove America is a hub for certain niche music lovers: jazz, soul and funk are what the store specializes in. Customers appreciate the specific target audience compared to other music providers.

“Best Buy is trying to cater to a broad audience,” said Phil Garrison of Chicago while he thumbed through a stack of records. “It’s going to be hard to find obscure items. That’s the main reason why I come to places like this.”

According to Nielsen SoundScan more than 2 million vinyl albums were sold in 2009. That is an increase of 35 percent from 2008.

While record sales are on the rise, CD sales continue to fall. Even though CDs cost nearly half as much as their vinyl counterpart, their sales have dropped 20 percent this year, according to Nielsen. However, vinyl record sales only account for about 1 percent of all album sales.

Statistics show that digital music formats aren’t going away, either.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the digital music industry grew internationally by about 25 percent in 2008, making $3.7 billion. Digital platforms now account for nearly 20 percent of all music sales, a five percent growth from 2007, IFPI said.

One reason for these figures is the ease and portability of things like the iPod, whose numerous models can store anywhere from 500 to 40,000 songs.

“iPods were a crazy new inventions when they came out, but I think the novelty of them is starting to wear off,” Hofer said. “.mp3s and digital music, even CDs, are functional but that’s about it. They’re like decorative buttons on a sport coat. Whereas something like an LP comes down to being able to hold it and having a thing, like buying a book that you really like instead of just reading it on the Kindle. If I were to sum it up in one word, I’d say ‘physicality’ plays a big part in it.”

But while the idea of having physical media is important to some, comparing things like audio quality and physicality is like comparing apples and oranges.

“Are [records] better? I don’t know,” said Stephen Sowley as he shopped in Reckless’ Wicker Park location. “For me they’re better, but for others .mp3s are better. ‘Better’ is a relevant term, you know? You can’t take a record player with you when you go jogging.”

Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg "California Gurls" Official Music Video HD

2010-06-18T11:47:00.001-05:00

She could have me....over and over again!

Ginger Rogers

2010-06-17T19:22:00.000-05:00

I seem to have stumbled upon the biggest DOUCHE-BAG in the USA - Rep. Joe Barton of (duh) Texas.... Go figure!

2010-06-17T18:39:00.001-05:00

I can't believe this guy. What's that I smell? Oh, the smell of his rotting BP shares!

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #69

2010-06-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

1974 - David Bowie, Diamond Dogs

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #70

2010-06-14T23:49:00.000-05:00

1973 - Funkadelic, Comic Slop

Remembering Frank.....

2010-06-14T02:38:00.000-05:00

This is not long before the world lost an unrepentant eccentric, possible genious, and loving father who would rather we didn't remember who he was...
GREAT INTERVIEW!

Zappa explaining the decline of the music business

2010-06-14T02:07:00.000-05:00

Man, we need this dude RIGHT NOW!!! I miss him.

Bobbie Gentry - HOT!!!

2010-06-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

Bobbie slinks her way through a steamy cajun number. Yowsa!!

Live performance from the Smothers Brothers show.

One of my all-time favorites..

2010-06-10T20:09:00.000-05:00

Bobbie Gentry was a prolific writer, that had only one huge hit.... And so beautiful!

"Dear Girls, Ladies, Women, Sisters, Wives, Mothers, Girlfriends, Daughters and all those of the Female Persuasion,

2010-06-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

You are beautiful. Really. Not just in the ‘inside-that-counts’ way. You are beautiful in pretty much all the ways. You perfectly complement our strengths and weaknesses with yours. Your ability to love and relate keeps the world going round, and none of us would be half the men we are without you.

We think you are totally unfathomable and mysterious – our lives are so much richer for the complicated dance it is to try and figure you out.

We cannot imagine why you need so many shoes, or why you voluntarily carry half a metric tonne around in your bags all day. We don’t know why Robert Pattinson appeals to you so much, or what it is that makes you cry during that bit in Titanic. We can’t figure out where you learned to cook so well (or what drove you to incorporate tofu in your meals), and how you find the time to do all your hair and makeup every day. We have no idea how you make ordinary pieces of fabric and cloth look so good when you wear them, or what it is about you that makes you so hard to say no to when you do.

And we REALLY don’t know why you haven’t been told all of this a million times before. Why you don’t deeply believe this all to be true about yourself already. We can’t understand why your father, brother, boss, husband, ex-husband, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, boy who is a friend, grandfather, stranger you talked to on the train that time, fiancé or uncle didn’t tell you how profoundly you’ve affected them, and how much they love you.

Well. Actually, that’s not entirely true. We can understand a little of why they didn’t do that. We men are almost universally lame at recognizing the value of a well-spoken word, and how important one is to you. We’re not as naturally gifted as you are in connecting to our own hearts, thoughts and feelings, and translating them for you. We might pretend to be cool, calm, collected and tough, but we can also be pretty scared of you too. Not that you’re scary, but it’s just that we can’t understand you, and fear is all about the things unknown.

But this is no excuse. And the point is that you should have been told and shown all of this, and much more, throughout your life, but you weren’t. Sometimes we just figure you already know and don’t want you to get a big head. Sometimes we fear the rejection that could come with being so candid and open-hearted. Sometimes we’re just not man enough to take the plunge.

And so we’re sorry. For the we have treated you – or, more probably, not treated you. You deserve better and are worth more. Some or us read your letters here, and our faux-macho hearts break a little bit inside, and want to correct this, if it’s still possible. If you haven’t lost faith in us completely.

You inspire and amaze us, you dazzle and intrigue us. You are worth the lifetime it takes to get to know you. You are the princess in the tower we are willing to climb to reach you. You are all the fairytale heroines you thought you weren’t allowed to think you were. You are God’s gift to men, and you don’t know how much we love you.

I would like to say that we will do better from now on, and always remind you of your value, but let’s be honest – you know how we are. If we forget in future, please give us a smack on the head or punch in the arm. We can take it. We just can’t take hints very well.

Yours sincerely,

Boys, Gentlemen, Men, Brothers, Husbands, Fathers, Boyfriends, Sons and all those of the Male Persuasion"

One of my all-time favorite YouTube vids.... Brings a tear to my eye though...

2010-06-07T01:53:00.002-05:00

Ah..... The '80s!

2010-06-07T01:36:00.000-05:00

A bunch of commercials that aired on NBC primetime on September 7th, 1986.

1. Hi-C (Featuring a young Alyssa Milano on the right)
2. Grape Nuts Cereal (THE Yuppie cereal of choice)
3. Hanes Underwear (They don't make commercials like this anymore!)
4. AT&T (With Cliff Robertson and Kristine Sutherland)
5. Red Lobster
6. Promo for "Smurf Quest" (I want to watch this now, damn it!)
7. Weight Watchers (Featuring Lynn Redgrave)
8. Sticklets Gum (Hilariously awful)
9. Promo for "Going Ape" (Starring Tony Danza, Danny DeVito and Jessica Walter! Arrested Development fans should love this)
10. Promo for "Amazing Stories"
11. Burger King Chicken Tenders (These look more like real chicken strips than the pieces of crap they sell today)
12. Generra Clothes (God please kill me now)
13. Promo for the weather on WBZ-TV Boston (Fighting the frizzies, at eleven)
14. Duracell Batteries (Cool puppets!)
15. Hillshire Farm Sausage (Hilarious!)
16. Extra Sugar Free Gum
17. Kool Aid Koolers (What a catchy jingle!)
18. Florida Frozen Orange Juice (The freeze is the reason!)
19. Nabisco Shredded Wheat Cereal (This used to scare me as a kid, don't ask why. Maybe it's the deadly amount of salt and sugar deposited on the cereal)
20. "Captain EO" (Awesome 3-D attraction at Disneyland and Epcot Center starring Michael Jackson)

The Dr. Who theme on guitar (with effects)...

2010-06-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ghost World

2010-06-02T19:38:00.002-05:00

YOU MUST SEE THIS!!!!! Why, you ask? BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

Scarlett Johansson

2010-06-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

Ever seen THE BLACK DAHLIA... Or THE PRESTIGE... Or how about GHOST WORLD (my personal favorite, and highly recommended)? Just a wonderful actress! Gottta love a girl who knows whats up ( I mean, she knows what photographers want, right?)...

Toy Matinee

2010-05-31T02:00:00.001-05:00

A week ago, I was asked by a fellow blogger, Curtis Linder , to offer a guest review on an album. I was more than happy to oblige, and awfully humbled. So, here is my "guest review", posted by... well, ME!

"I found this GEM (and I do mean GEM!) Back in '91 on cassette. I'm from the Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois, and was a frequent shopper at Co-op Records. The guys all knew me and knew I KNEW my music. I was looking for something different, something interesting, something not mainstream, that I could sink my teeth into AND be able to call my own (always loved finding great music and then turning others onto it, like a music guru). The Co-op dudes knew I was a Beatles collector and fan as well as a follower of Steely Dan. I had respect for Madonna's pop sensibilities, but much preferred intelligent lyrics and word play within an easily digestible, but intricate movements in a song. They showed me a cassette of Toy Matinee.

Toy Matinee was a short-lived American art-pop band, and also the title of their only album. Their sound was an array of mixed influences, including progressive rock, AOR and pop reminiscent of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys. I was ADDICTED the very first time I heard the very first chords on LAST PLANE OUT - the very first song on the album! I knew, immediately, that this should have been a much bigger record than it had been. Lots of pop hooks that, in no time at all, you'd be singing along with, not to mention bopping your head. This was classy, intelligent power pop from mostly unknown masters!

TOY MATINEE was formed by producer/composer/keyboardist Patrick Leonard in collaboration with singer/lyricist Kevin Gilbert. Backed by a group of session musicians (drummer Brian MacLeod, guitarist Tim Pierce, and bassist Guy Pratt), and with guest appearances from several other musicians including Julian Lennon, the duo recorded just one self-titled album which was released on Reprise Records in 1990.

The album was engineered and produced by Bill Bottrell. Thematically, it covered a rather broad ground; two tracks were dedicated to Czech poet and political figure Vaclav Havel and painter Salvador Dali, and "Queen of Misery" is about Madonna (Leonard was the singer's longtime songwriting and producing partner and Gilbert had recently worked with her as an engineer.) Two of the other songs on TOY MATINEE -- "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and "Last Plane Out" -- received wide play on album rock stations, both of them peaking at #23 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Despite that, the album's highest U.S. chart position was #129.

Kevin Gilbert was known well in the L.A. pop scene and around the Sunset Strip. He'd been in various bands, all of his own creation, NRG (No Reasons Given) and Giraffe. At this time he was also dating an unknown singer by the name of Sheryl Crow, who also sang back up and played some keyboards while TM was performing live. (Incidentally, most of Crow's TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB album was written by Kevin, during a songwriter's workshop Kevin created with Bill Bottrell and David Baerwald called, The Tuesday Night Music Club.)

Pat Leonard was, well..... PAT LEONARD! (See above credits). These two crafted a masterpiece of power pop that was not schlock, but well thought out. Hooks that were poppy but not annoying or cheesy! You were proud to repeat these lyrics as many time as it took to get others around you to say, "What is that? Who is it? Where can I get it?" (I did this many times, and wore out, at least 3, store bought cassettes of Toy Matinee, before I finally bought a CD player!)

My favorite track is....um...... damn. This is too hard! It's like asking a mother which one of her 9 children did she love most.... If I was asked what track stands out the most. I'd say.............. CRAP! Can't do that either! Every piece of this pie must be savored on it's own or as a whole. This may be the ONLY CD, that I've never "parted out" onto mix-discs of favorites that I make for car rides, because it's a favorite, thru and thru!! All in all, I doubt anyone that reads this review, would find anything they don't like about this album. Unfortunately, you WILL find it in a bargain bin in used CD and record stores. The original was on Reprise but Pat Leonard reissued it in 2001 on his own Unitone records with extra tracks! I'd advise, also, To check out Kevin Gilbert's solo efforts THUD and THE SHAMING OF THE TRUE. You WON'T be disappointed!"

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #71!

2010-05-31T01:41:00.002-05:00

1969 - Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #72!

2010-05-31T01:40:00.002-05:00

1977 - Iggy Pop, The Idiot

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #73!

2010-05-31T01:39:00.003-05:00

1984 - Van Halen, 1984

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #74!

2010-05-31T01:39:00.000-05:00

1970 - Miles Davis, Bitches Brew

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #75!

2010-05-20T19:47:00.002-05:00

1982 - Depeche Mode, A Broken Frame

Click for animated album cover! Thanks to Animated albums!

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #76!

2010-05-20T19:41:00.000-05:00

1971 - Traffic, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

Christina Hendricks

2010-05-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

Never seen the show she's on, but, WOW!!!!!!

Those.... I mean SHE'S awesome!

Ronnie James Dio July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010

2010-05-17T01:44:00.001-05:00

Wendy Dio said on Ronnie's official site:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."
Ronnie James Dio Wikipedia

R.I.P. Holy Diver..... You're never the Last in Line.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #77!

2010-05-12T20:09:00.000-05:00

1975 - Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Album covers #78!

2010-05-12T20:08:00.000-05:00

1987 - Prince, Sign o' the Times