While I'm not usually a fan of arbitrary holidays (Secretary Day, Fathers Day, Christmas), I'm always down with extolling the virtues of the local record store. The KEXP Blog is celebrating too, with an amazing feature: KEXP DJs and other contributors (including imaginary Liz, ChrisB, and Chris Estey from TIG!) have shared their favorite record store memories. I goofed and forgot to send mine in (damn flu has ruined everything for me this week), so I'm sharing mine here.
I was a musical lame-o living in Very Suburban Florida, with no access to music other than the Get the Led Out classic rock available on commercial radio at the time. Then I wandered into Q Records, the ONLY remotely independent and cool record store in town, and met the clerk with the long black hair and the piercings in the Gene Loves Jezebel t-shirt (swoon), who became my very cool first boyfriend and who sent me on the path of musical righteousness, catching me up on all the dark new/old wave bands (Bauhaus, Cure, Smiths, Love and Rockets, you get the idea).
My world was rocked, literally.
Gobs of great music later, after spending endless hours in Q Records trying to impress said boyfriend and his endlessly-cooler-than-I-was co-workers, who walks in? My Dad. He's very excited to show how hip and cool he is, so he wanders around, (loudly) announcing that's he's my father, and makes a very big deal about needing to buy that Michael Jackson record with "Dirty Diana" on it.
I think he even broke out and sang part of the refrain.
I heard about it again and again from the employees. Luckily, they were so endlessly cool that they were accepting, and thought my Dad was just funny. Not mortifying, as teenaged me found him.
The End.
Now: go read all the other record story memories over at KEXP!
1 Imaginary Kiku said on April 19, 2008
Haha thats such a cute story :]
2 Philip said on April 19, 2008
What holidays do you consider not arbitrary, and why?
3 Mike Mess said on April 19, 2008
Looks like I missed out on the contribution party as well. I can't think of one particular moment...although, i helped paint a store (Sea Level Records in Echo Park, LA) that a friend was opening several years ago. I can remember once when a dog came in the store and stayed about a month. We bathed it, fed it, named her (sadly no one is able to remember the name!) and everyone loved her and then one day she just left. Sadly enough, the same fate awaited the store as it only lasted a little more than five years. Even after moving to Seattle I used to send Todd money so he'd just send me local releases. I remember tearing up a bit when I found out they were closing because it was the end of an era for me and many others. I still have a Sea Level pin on my bag (the only pin in fact) that I proudly display every day. So, if you have a record store you feel this way about please do go support them today so you don't have to share in this bit of agony.
4 imaginary dana said on April 19, 2008
@kiku -- Awww, thanks!
@Philip -- Um, all of them? Except for my birthday, of course. ;)
I clicked through and read the two most recent posts on your blog... My Life With Thrill Kill Cult and Meat Beat Manifesto, zow! Those two bands take me back to right around the same era as the record store story above. Crazy coincidence.
@Mike Mess -- This is so true: "...if you have a record store you feel this way about please do go support them today so you don't have to share in this bit of agony."
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