April 16, 2011 marked the fourth annual Record Store Day, a celebration of music and the independent record store.
Fortunately for me, my local music shop, Monster Music and Movies located in Charleston, SC, was in full participation. The crew over at Monster provided live music, food, and great deals on new and used CD’s, LP’s and various other music related merchandise including posters and t-shirts.
After slugging down two glasses of Jim Beam on the rocks to get my morning started, I headed on over to the store to check out the action. As I walked through the doors, buzzed from my bourbon breakfast, I was stoked to see such a great turnout of music enthusiasts shuffling through the wall-to-wall selections of rock n’ roll, hip-hop, pop, and every other type of music imaginable.
It’s an event like this that has made me appreciate more and more my discovery of the turntable and vinyl record and all the joy that it has brought me over the past few months. In an era where any type of music is available through the simple stroke of the keyboard, it’s reenergizing and refreshing to know that people still want to take the time to head over to their local music shops and actually search for their favorite artists.
After about two hours of perusing through stacks of records and sharing musical tastes and experiences with fellow participants, I had made my selections and was ready to check out.
-Ray Charles: Ray Charles Greatest Hits (1962) Having spent most of my life growing up in Georgia, I knew that I had to have at least one Ray Charles’ record in my collection. After all, this album does feature the official state song, “Georgia On My Mind.”
-Barbra Streisand: Streisand Superman (1977) Not having a clue of any song on the record, I went with this one strictly for the album cover thanks to the disco house duo Duck Sauce and their club pumpin’ anthem “Barbra Streisand.” Hey, it was only a quarter!
-Kings of Dixieland: Volume One Big band sounds straight from the streets of New Orleans. Again, only a quarter!
-The Beach Boys: Beach Boys ’69 (May 1970) Recorded live in London, it features such Beach Boys classics as “California Girls”, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “Good Vibrations”, “God Only Knows”, and “Barbara Ann.”
-Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire (April 16, 1996) Exactly 15 years later to the date and this album still hits just as hard as anything around. Expect an in-depth review in the near future.
As I was checking out, the clerk looks and me says, “This is probably the first and only time I will ever ring up Rage Against the Machine and Barbra Streisand in the same purchase.”
Success! Now get out and support your local music stores!