In addition to all the pot jokes about today’s date, this Saturday is also the sixth annual Record Store Day. The record stores took a note from the successful Free Comic Book Day and found a way to celebrate another type of retailer being eliminated by the Digital Revolution. I know I’m in the Luddite camp here, maybe siding with the dreaded Hipsters, but I think the independent record store has a chance to flourish. Why? There’s the vinyl trend I often roll my eyes at; I still favor anything that keeps the lights on. The other is their competitors withdrawing from selling physical music: Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy (financial problems) and I can’t recall seeing a big chain like Sam Goody or FYE in the mall lately; Warehouse/Blockbuster, Musicland, Tower, Peaches, Camelot and JR died off. Digital material from iTunes, Amazon and etc. only goes so far. Again, I would refer to the comic book store which also sell D&D/Warhammer books/minis. Computer versions of sophisticated games may be easier to manage, play and organize yet there’s a tactile factor missing. A co-worker with a teenage son told me about how his son is really getting into a building a Tau army unit (it’s a faction in Warhammer 40K).
Time will tell.
I braved the long line this morning to get a 12″ of Paul McCartney’s re-issued hit for a friend. Waterloo Records was much more prepared too. Oh, I did score the vinyl and a re-mastered Cream set for another. The great and awesome Chip gave me the pictured pin as a thank-you gift. The ambassador pins are rare! Last year’s ambassador was Iggy Pop too. Anyway, I was thrilled to receive it. Jack White and Dave Grohl are contemporary rock/pop stars I respect. Even when they do something musically I may not like, I continue to applaud them because they use their fame to help others. Case in point for Jack: his work with Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, being a team-member in two bands, and running a record company in Nashville. He could’ve chosen to be a douche instead, like so many others (U2 readily comes to mind), line his pockets while being a fame whore. Dave Grohl loans his musical talent and elan to bring bands he loves to the spotlight: Queens of the Stone Age, Killing Joke; and the Studio City documentary demonstrates Dave’s love for the recording studio which gave him his career. If you watch the movie you’ll see how numerous classic albums were made there, namely Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.