BIG IN THE BOYS' ROOM

Soundsville was bitchen. It was the first record store that I remember going to, that sold only records (back when "bitchen" was used liberally). You could go to all sorts of stores and find a small selection of records, but Soundsville had pegboard rack after pegboard rack, spilling with 12 inch stimuli. I don't even remember seeing 45's there. These guys were heads. You could go in there and browse, and the long hair behind the counter would say something like "Watcha lookin' for?... What do you like?" Uh, I like Jimi Hendrix. "Oh then, you'll like Randy California, sounds just like him." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's the type of store it was. They figured out what sometimes separates the successful record store and the great record store.: a counter guy who can recommend something off the wall, that you've never heard of. They don't point you towards a more popular title. They point you to a more obscure title, one that you'd likely overlook.

Record Store Day is this Saturday. Depending on the quality of your local independent record store (if you're lucky enough to have one), it could present a good opportunity to commune with fellow geeks.

Here's the only Randy California cut I could find, along with a few from Montrose, one from Golden Earring (dig the horns!), and a couple remarkably good cuts from Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star LP (a really great LP you should check out). These were all held in high regard in the boys room.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Randy California - Downer mp3 at The Pingle Pad
Montrose - I Don't Want It mp3 at Kevins Media
Montrose - Rock The Nation mp3 at Kevin's Media
Montrose - Good Rockin' Tonight mp3 at Kevin's Media
Golden Earring - Radar Love mp3 at NGamer.speedrunwiki.com
Todd Rundgren - When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd mp3 at The Rising Storm
Todd Rundgren - International Feel mp3 at Die Monster
Celebrate:
Record Store Day