VINYL SOLUTION

A couple of weeks ago, i was in the trashy elegance of Hollywood, CA. I walked a couple blocks from the theater i was waiting to see a show in that night to my personal Mecca. That legendary iconic spot where everything I love about the world is right before me.

The Hollywood sign?
The Walk Of Fame?
The Rainbow Bar and Grill?
The Capitol Records building?
The Chinese Theater?

No fucking way.


Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd. is my home away from home. My Disneyland. I would drive the five hours from my house every month if I could afford it.

Some people like the mall. Some people like Starbucks. Some people like bars. I could spend a whole day at Amoeba and still not get enough done out of my visit. The last time I was there as soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed with this adrenaline in my veins. I am surrounded by the entire solo collection of John Lennon in a huge white 200 dollar box, some rare limited edition import Bowie box sets and an out of print GNR Live Like A Suicide on 33 rpm vinyl. Seemingly every CD title from every band imaginable is displayed before me in new or used condition.

It just takes me back to being a kid in the 70s and 80s who was obsessed with not just music, but records. Some people have a leather fetish, mine was vinyl. I know by the start of the 90s I had something like 500 or 600 albums alone, and probably that combined amount in cassettes and CDs also. At least a third of that catalog was Beatles-related alone. Yeah, I was a geek. But, fuckin' A, I knew my bands probably better than they did.

I think the main reason I adore going to Amoeba so much is simply because the record store itself is such an anomaly in the 21st century. Let's face it, nowadays convenience is king. Why drive somewhere to pick up the new Radiohead CD and pay the store's price when i just point and click and it's sent to my inbox to download and enjoy AND I can just pay what I want for it? I don't have to drive to Borders for the new Keith Richards autobiography when i can just download it to my IPAD for a fraction of the hardcover cost? Believe me, I understand the appeal.

But that doesn't mean I gotta go along with it.



I bring up this story to turn you on to yet another exciting rockumentary i watched recently. I NEED THAT RECORD! is a chronicle of the rise and fall and slow death of not just independently-owned record stores but the music industry itself. It interviews a lot of rock stars and journalists as well as those who champion the indie biz and the fans who keep it going. It helps one understand what record stores mean to a small but fiercely passionate percentage of the population; i.e. people like myself. It's an intangible satisfaction we get that puts some kind of emotional connection to this piece of property that we don't get from ITUNES or Rhapsody.



I don't go to Wal Mart or Best Buy to pick up music. I guess i can see why somebody would because they are already there to pick up groceries or a weed whacker or something. Why not check out the new Nickelback or Taylor Swift CD for my truck, right?

At home, I go to ZIA Records. I don't get the rush I get from going to Amoeba in LA but it still fits my aesthetic going there to trade stuff in and walk out with something else to enjoy.

I hope you have time to check this movie out. It will likely reinforce your commitment to music if you already have one.

I will acquiesce to convenience in this parting shot. I watched this film on my TIVO with my instant Netflix viewing option. I'm not above the point-and-click if it brings my satisfaction and music-geek enlightnment from the comfort of my couch.

WILD ABOUT HARRY.

It's been a great year for rockumentaries and my next piece of evidence is a doozy. Recently released on DVD and Netflix Instant Queue, I had the pleasure of seeing "WHO IS HARRY NILSSON AND WHY IS EVERYBODY TALKIN' ABOUT HIM?"

For those reading this who can't answer that question, watch this.



Harry Nilsson was an extremely gifted singer-songwriter who achieved much commercial and critical success in the early Seventies. He had the respect and admiration of The Beatles, Monty Python and Brian Wilson, and with good reason. His talent was on the same level as theirs. He was probably best known, at least for myself, as a hard core LA party monster who figured heavily into John Lennon's "Lost Weekend that lasted 18 months" in his words.

Lennon actually plays a very symbolic role in the story. They were extremely close friends. They had parallel childhoods, unbreakable artistic integrity and a sharp sense of humor about life. After Lennon's murder, Nilsson campaigned for stricter handgun laws and later retired from the music industry and concentrated on raising a family.

Nilsson was a fine example of that long list of geniuses who should have been bigger than they were. For whatever reason, Harry is one of those guys who, it seems, only real music fans are familiar with. Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, and Tom Waits would be the closest I could compare him to. He's just one of those guys who you may recognize a couple of his songs but you really had to a music lover to understand how far reaching his influence was.

I highly recommend this movie if only because I learned so much about a man who had a long lasting effect on the lives of people, like John and Ringo, who in turn had a major influence on my own life. The movie itself was like the music of Harry Nilsson. It was joyous. It was witty. It was sad. It was deep.

Above all, it was real.