Saturday, April 16, 2011

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Happy Record Store Day!

by the way, this year's 'special releases' are already up for sale on the mighty eBay! i guess if there is money to be made, then someone will do it!

check it out at eBay

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‘Marijuanaman’: Ziggy Marley looks for a hit in comic-book world

Look, up in the sky, it’s a bong, it’s plate of brownies — no, it’s … Marijuanaman. There are superheroes everywhere these days, so perhaps it’s no surprise that a cannabis-themed crusader is fighting the good fight on the cover of a (ahem) high-profile new project with musician Ziggy Marley as part of the creative team. But what’s intriguing is the hero on the cover is no bleary-eyed burnout looking for the Xbox controller in the couch. This pothead looks as intense as the Punisher, and Marley says there are meaningful messages rolled up within the tales’ action.

“It relates to the reality of why the plant is being criminalized and why it’s not being used in all of its facets,” said the five-time Grammy-winner and 42-year-old son of the late Bob Marley. “In the early days of American history, this plant was used much more widely, and then it became a demon and a devil.”

Read the rest at herocomplex.latimes.com

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lovely story about our beloved vinyl records!

Newcastle’s Beatdown Records, The First Record Store I Ever Loved

By Jordan Waller

From quirky regulars to wisened store clerks and part-time jobs paid in vinyl. How Beatdown Records started my love affair with records…

I first came across Beatdown Records (or Steel Wheels if you’re a little older) during my first year at university in Newcastle. I had caught the ‘record bug’ several weeks earlier when I was introduced to the geeky delights of vinyl by my friend Stuart whom I met on my first day in the city. Bonding over a shared love of Belle and Sebastian and slightly arty European looking girls that were always too good for us. From the off I was fascinated by the black discs scattered around his room, everything from their smell to their artwork and the static crackle they made on his tiny turntable. Before long I had stumped up some money and got my own record player and quickly threw myself into scouring charity shops for music to add to my collection.

Read the rest at sabotagetimes.com

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Older and Younger Generations Herald the Look and Sound of Records

By MYCAH PLEASANT
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

In an iPod-, iTunes-, MP3-obsessed world, there are those who reject the immediateness of modern music and gravitate to a classic source, one many people grew up with and new generations are learning to love.

Vinyl music, once the standard in the music world, has been making a slow comeback for several years now, a trend that doesn't surprise those who have appreciated it for years.

Aaron Conley, 33, of Lakeland began seriously collecting vinyl music 10 years ago, when he was working at the now-closed Woodpecker Records in Lakeland, but recalled times in high school where he dabbled in collecting.

Read more at theledger.com

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Rare Beach Boys Song to be Released to Benefit Japan

Al Jardine has enlisted the voices and support of former Beach Boys bandmates Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston to release a new vinyl single in support of Japan relief efforts.

The first side of the single contains Don't Fight the Sea, a song composed by Jardine and Terry Jacks and originally recorded for Jardine's album A Postcard From California.

Read more at vintagevinylnews.com

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could it be? i may have a place for the thousand or so cassette tapes i have!

Cassettes make an unlikely comeback in Baltimore

Years after being upstaged by CDs and digital music, the tapes have become kitsch, collectable and even cool

By Sam Sessa, The Baltimore Sun

Every morning for the past eight months, Nicole Mazarakis wakes up, rolls out of bed and puts on music.

Instead of turning on an iPod or playing a CD, Mazarakis pops a cassette into the old tape deck in her bedroom. She likes classical tapes from composers like Mozart and Haydn, but lately she's been listening to a new cassette by the enigmatic Baltimore singer/songwriter Daniel Higgs.

Read the rest at baltimoresun.com

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and in music history for the day:

Buddy Holly’s first single, “Blue Days, Black Nights” was released in 1956.

In 1965, the Hollies began their first US tour in New York. It wasn't until the following year that the group cracked the US Top Ten with "Bus Stop".

The Rolling Stones released "Brown Sugar"in the UK in 1971. It was the first record on their own label, Rolling Stones Records.

In 1972, the Electric Light Orchestra played its first live show, promoting their debut album, "No Answer". The concert didn't get very good reviews and founding member Roy Wood split several months later, leaving Jeff Lynne to write and produce most of the band's material.

Over 72,000 people gathered at London's Wembley Stadium in 1990 for an anti-apartheid concert honoring Nelson Mandela. Mandela had recently been released from prison.

In 1996, KISS appear in full make-up at the 38th Grammy Awards, where they use the opportunity to announce a reunion tour. It would mark the first time all four original members had appeared together in more than 15 years.

In 1999, Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and founding member of Moby Grape, died at age 52 of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism for more than 30 years.

born today: Dusty Springfield (1939) (died 2 March 2, 1999), Bobby Vinton (1935), 1964, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum (1964) and Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil (1963)