As I mentioned last week, Record Store Day (RSD)--my favourite holiday--was last month. For those not familiar with it, the day is a celebration of independent record stores. Big name artists like Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, and The Rolling Stones put out special editions of earlier albums or even new material that (ideally) can only be purchased exclusively on RSD at your local record stores. While a lot of people don't believe it, people form quite the line ahead of time in order to get titles that appeal to them. For at least the third year in a row, I showed up two hours before my favourite record store opened, and the line already stretched around the block. A few people even went to the trouble of showing up twelve hours early and camping outside the store's entrance--DURING SEVERE WEATHER THAT INCLUDED TORNADOES!!!!--in order to be first in line.
As
usual, someone has to drive by (for some reason, they always seem to be
in a pickup truck), to stop and ask why we're lined up before the break of
dawn. When we explain it to them, they typically drive away with looks
on their faces that indicate a sense of both incomprehension and
pity--and they probably stake out places like Target and Best Buy on
Black Friday for similar reasons. I've come to derisively refer to
these people as "streamers." Last year, I made a vow that this year I
would be prepared for them. When they drove by and asked why we were
there, I said, "We're here for the demonstration. The streaming
services are apparently lobbying Congress to outlaw all forms of
physical media. We are fundamentally opposed to that and here to
protest." Then I thrust my fist in the air and shouted, "Keep Spotify
out of our government!" I wish I had had the time to make a sign--maybe
next year. My fellow record shoppers seemed amused. Well... most of
them, anyway. Sorry/not sorry, Tara.
(For
the record, as far as I know, to the best of my knowledge, no such
lobbying is taking place. But I've always wanted to start my own
left-wing conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality and still,
somehow, eventually gets a demented group of followers--like my own
little "Pizza Gate," only less dangerous. Feel free to take it upon
yourselves to spread this rumour to the maximum extent possible. If
interested, I'm also happy to explain to you how the government wants
you to use 5G technology, even though they can't actually track you with
it.)
I
went into RSD this year with one title that I wanted more than
anything. I had gotten an email stating that Bruce Springsteen and The E
Street Band were going to release a 5-LP set of their homecoming
concert in Asbury Park, New Jersey, during the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in
2024. As is typical of their concerts, the running time is over three
hours. Once I found that--and I did--everything else was gravy. (If
you're a fan of Bruce and didin't get to participate in RSD, a 3-CD
version will be available on 29 May.) And even though I went quite a
bit over my budget--something I counted on and usually do anyway--I got
quite a bit of tasty gravy from the likes of Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers, The Doors, Marc Bolan & T. Rex. and George Harrison.
The store also had some sales on past RSD releases (I got 40% off of a
Stones release from 2022) as well as used vinyl and CDs, of which I
picked up quite a few. I still haven't had a chance to listen to all of
it. I do wish I had been able to afford to get more jazz, but that's
always a goal for next year.
I've
often said that pop culture, specifically music and film, is the
closest I get to any kind of "organized" religion--hence, these weekly
"sermons." Stepping into a record store is a spiritual experience for
me, like going to church. And Record Store Day is a high holy day for
people like me. It's such an uplifting experience, sometimes it takes
me at least a month to come down from it. It only occurs twice a year
(although I've never attended an RSD Black Friday event), so I always
try to make the most of it.
This
week's selection was originally released in 2000 but was re-issued in a
special vinyl edition for RSD Black Friday last November, I presume to
honour the artist who died last February. I was quite pleased that I
managed to snag a leftover copy. As I pointed out when I memorialized
him in this blog on 2 March of last year, I never realized until then
how much David Johansen's music has affected me over the years. I first
became aware of him in the guise of a lounge singer known as Buster
Poindexter. Research on my own eventually led me to an influential
glam-punk band called The New York Dolls that he fronted in the early
1970s--before terms like "glam" or "punk" really even existed.
Throughout the years, I even heard a few odd acoustic folk songs as
well. In 2022, Martin Scorsese directed a documentary/concert film titled Personality Crisis: One Night Only for Showtime. It chronicled a concert he gave in January of 2020 at New York's legendary Café
Carlyle. In both the concert and in personal interviews, Johansen
discusses his deep and eclectic love of music and how different styles
influenced his performances over the decades. That eclecticism was
driven home even more in the booklet that was included in the record I
bought. In it, former bandmates described his encyclopedic knowledge of
music in all forms and genres. Reading it made me admire him even more
than I already did.
In 1999, Johansen assembled a group of musicians for what was supposed to be a one-time only performance at The Bottom Line. They enjoyed working together so much, that in November and
December of that year, they gathered in St. Peter's Episcopal Church in
New York City and recorded an album of folk, blues, and country songs
from the 1920s and 1930s. Johansen named his band The Harry Smiths,
after musicologist Harry Smith who had curated many of those songs into
his Anthology of American Folk Music, a
three-record set released in 1952 that had had a tremendous impact on
Johansen's appreciation and love of music. This definitely, to my ears,
comes through in his singing. As the great Lucinda Williams pointed
out, "If Buster Poindexter was done for fun with a wink in his eye, then
the Harry Smiths was something that went far deeper. That is confirmed
by his song choices--they weren't the old common standards, they were
songs that only someone with a real passion for this music would know.
Just listen. The Harry Smiths were not just another persona done as a
lark.. It was as real as anything he did." From 2000, please enjoy David Johansen and the Harry Smiths.
SPECIAL
NOTE: Due to space constraints, two of the album's original
tracks--"On the Wall" and Mississippi John Hurt's "Richland Woman"--had
to be omitted from the vinyl release. I suppose you'll only notice if
you have the vinyl copy that was released last November. Eh... I was
going to buy the CD at some point anyway, just so I could listen to it
in my car.
Until
next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember
that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for
you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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