1) Where did you buy your first record? What was it?
My first LP was Starship Knee Deep In The Hoopla. I was 5, so I don't remember where it came from (I was obsessed with "We Built This City"). But when I started shopping for music on my own in earnest, I split my time between The Wherehouse (sorry, I was super into Personics tapes), and Boo Boo Records (San Luis Obispo, California). The latter was where I got into underground music at age thirteen, thanks to their awesome staff of college students (including such now-celebs as Matt "M." Ward), who always gave me the best recommendations.
2) What record have you wanted more than any other in your collecting career? Did you ever get it?
I have coveted three pieces of vinyl like no others, and I've acquired two of them.
1 - Pavement "Summer Babe" 7": I am a massive Pavement-head, but since I got into them at age 14 when Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain came out, I missed the Slanted & Enchanted era stuff. I had searched on eBay for this thing to no avail, and one day I went to Jackpot (in Portland, OR), and it was just there. Years later, I found out that my excited freakout had become somewhat legendary.
2 - Beck A Western Harvest Field By Moonlite 10" (original Fingerpaint pressing): Pricey, but totally worth it...huge acoustic-Beck fan, got obsessed with these songs and kept the copy from our college radio station in my dorm room for about six months (sorry, KRRC staff), until I found this on eBay.
3 - Apples Tidal Wave 7" - First Apples (In Stereo) release, before they changed their name, as well as the first Elephant 6 release. So hard to find!! In fact, I once shared an office with Apples (In Stereo)'s then-label spinART (the original artwork from 'Fun Trick Noisemaker' was hanging on the wall), and when I asked if they knew were I could get it, they just laughed and said "I doubt Robert even has any copies of that one. Good luck." It has eluded me to this very day!!!
3) What is it about records, or record stores that are different from downloading?
I love record stores and physical formats, and don't own an iPod. I know that makes me a bit of an anachronism at this point - I just prefer the experience of selecting a CD or LP from my collection and listening to it, vs. having anything at hand at the push of a button, and interacting with humans during the buying process. The recommendations that people in record stores have made based on talking to me have always been better than any online auto-recommendation logarithm! The diminished audio quality of mp3s also bothers me, though I do recognize it's only a matter of time before lossless digital audio files becomes the norm. Record stores made me who I am, in a way. I find it sad to think so many people don't have that experience anymore.
4) Any of the products for Record Store Day that you are particularly excited about? Why?
Not sure - there's so much! Definitely the Sonic Youth split 7"s, MC5 7", and Pavement live LP. There's lots of good stuff being reissued on vinyl as well...
Alf Kremer (Twist & Shout Internet Lackey)
1) Where did you buy your first record? What was it?
I can't be certain, but I think it was at the Gap. The original Gap used to be a record store in San Francisco, and I think that's where I think I bought records for the first couple of my record-buying years. The first LP I bought was The Story of Star Wars, which was dialogue from the film along with a stern British narrator pushing the plot along. The first music LP I bought was Starflight, a K-Tel album. (Sort of the Now That's What I Call Music albums of the 70s.) I mainly bought it because it had "Pop Muzik" by M on it, and I remember hating the fact that "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb was stuck in middle of side two.
The first 7" single I bought was Bill Conti's "Theme From Rocky (Gonna Fly Now)." I owned that for about four years, when the record broke. It had a crack in it running from the edge all the way to the large center hole. My brother and I discussed throwing it away, when we decided it'd be fun (in a mildly naughty way) to throw the record off our back porch. I tossed the thing like a frisbee, and it flew up in the air vertically, started plummeting back down...and then struck a telephone line that was strung across the end of our backyard. The wire actually slipped through that small crack, and stopped at the center hole. In a one in a billion chance, I managed to get that record stuck up on the telephone wire. It was up there for several years before it finally dropped off.
2) What record have you wanted more than any other in your collecting career? Did you ever get it?
Buying records is a lot more about the journey rather than the destination. I enjoy the trip wherever it takes me. I don't obsess much about the ones that get away. I do recall wanting to collect every number one single in America at one point, and I had a tough time finding Rhythm Heritage's "Theme from SWAT" on 7". Finally did find that one. I also recall only needing one song to get all the Top 40 singles from 1981 - "Just So Lonely" by Get Wet. Finally found that one, too. I tend to be more excited about the things I stumble across. I remember finding a four-CD set of the soundtrack to the anime film Wings of Honneamise. I had just gotten into Ryuichi Sakamoto's music, and had enjoyed the film, so I decided to spring for it. I still love the CD (despite the fact that the final two CDs are simply the audio track of the film!), and have never run into it again since then.
3) What is it about records, or record stores that are different from downloading?
Despite having occasional "want lists," I rarely enter a record store with a very specific eye for something. Instead, I sort of nose around and wait for something to catch my eye. If it interests me, I'll give it a listen, and if I like it, I'll buy it. I'm the same way at bookstores - I just walk in, wander around, and wait for something to interest me. I end up with a pretty diverse selection of things that way. Record stores tend to be fun, exciting places - each has its own unique sort of vibe. And I have yet to toss an mp3 off a porch and have it stick onto a telephone wire.
4) Any of the products for Record Store Day that you are particularly excited about? Why?
I'd love to get the New Order 7". They're a band I didn't get into until the mid 90s or so, so in my brain, they're a "CD band." I'd be nice to hear them the way they originally were presented to the public.
Matt Barry (Former Twist & Shout Staff)
1) Where did you buy your first record? What was it?
First album I remember buying - some African rap album in NYC that I thought would be good because it was from a NYC record store. That or an old Dr. Demento collection ("Fish Heads")
2) What record have you wanted more than any other in your collecting career? Did you ever get it?
Not really a vinyl collector but any old early Factory label record would be cool.
3) What is it about records, or record stores that are different from downloading?
Community! Duh.
4) Any of the products for Record Store Day that you are particularly excited about? Why?Purists.
Langhorne Slim (Recording Artist on Kemado Records)
1) Where did you buy your first record? What was it?
Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ and it was two records. The Kinks Greatest Hits and David Bowie Ziggy Stardust.
2 )What record have you wanted more than any other in your collecting career? Did you ever get it?
There were two records that I really had to search out. The first was Buzzcocks French featuring the song “Boredom” and the second was Shocking Blue At Home with the songs “Venus” and “Love Buzz” (later recorded by Nirvana on Bleach).
3) What is it about records, or record stores that are different from downloading?
I have never downloaded a song in my life and I don’t even know how. My love for record stores is the same as my love for thrift stores. I usually don’t go into a record store with something particular in mind that I want. It is the hunt for the hidden treasures that is the fun.
4) Any of the products for Record Store Day that you are particularly excited about? Why?
Dr. Dog/Floating Action - split 7" - We are trying to get a show with these guys this summer in Bermuda. Hopefully we will tour together more in the fall when we release our new record.
Bob Dylan - "Dreaming From You/Down Along the Cove" - I’m a big fan and he is a big part of why I do what I do today.
Flaming Lips/Black Keys - split 7" "Borderline/Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" - What a cool split 7”!?! I’m a big fan of both bands.
Gaslight Anthem - Live From Park Ave. 10" - We would love to tour with these guys too.
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