Wreckerd Riot!

I got rid of almost all my records in 1990, just as CD's were taking over. I was tired of dust, pops, crackle, static electricity, and ready to quit turning them over and go digital. Immediately began buying CD's as fast as I could, and don't remember what happened to my turntable. Probably left it on the sidewalk.  For most of the '90's, it seemed nobody was into vinyl. 

I moved to Jersey City in 1994, and bought a 1981 Buick Park Ave for $600. I liked driving out into the wilds of West NJ, looking for Tag sales. I found a pair of Technics turntables for $25, and picked up used records here and there. About this time an old High School friend emailed saying he was going to get rid of all his albums, and did I want them? "Yes, Please" I responded. He said he'd ship, in cheapest way possible, several heavy boxes my way. Eventually, 150 or so records arrived, many of which had once been mine, bought as a teenager back in the day. When punk rock told me to purge dinosaur music, he ended up with all my King Crimson, Roxy Music, Eno, Kinks, The Move, etc. Sadly, not too long after they arrived, his house in Malibu Canyon burned down with everything in it. 

I was thrilled to have them, but didn't really feel like playing records. My gear layout was inconvenient, and CD's ruled my world, anyway. Then came Napster and the internet. I downloaded 2T of  "free" music, much of which I've never played. I burned 100s of car CD's including a 40 disc compilation "Now That's What I Call Bullshit", and Burning Wood Weekend Mixes just trying to process some of it. I finally hit bottom when I was just shuffling through 16Gs on my phone. 

We moved to Western Massachusetts a little over a year and half ago. As the movers were unloading our possessions, I set up enough stereo to fill the house with music. Sixteen boxes of CDs made the cut, and were being piled up in the corner. Over the next few days while I took measurements and ordered shelving, there were fewer boxes of records, so out they came. Dr Alimantado "Best Dressed Chicken In Town" was first. After years of playing an assortment of files, the analog sound knocked me out. Fun holding them, and the whole process enabled a paradigm shift. Since the move, I've bought well over 100 albums. Yes I still listen to playlists, and buy CD's. 

Wreckerd Riot! is my first Weekend Mix dedicated to vinyl, full of old favorites and new discoveries.

1 "Experiment In Terror" -Henry Mancini. Opens as promised with the soundtrack album version. It's a different take than the one opening the movie. The drums are higher in the mix, with fills and accents giving it more snap.  

2 "Some Velvet Morning" -Nancy and Lee. How best to follow Henry Mancini? 

3 "You Can't Stop The Music" -The Kinks. I'm a lifelong Kinks fan, but that doesn't mean I love all their albums. I bought "Soap Opera" when new, and was disappointed by yet another concept/story album, especially after both Preservations. Good as they were, I'd had enough. This is the only great song on the album, and it's relevancy remains. Picked the album up for $3 about a month ago, and was the inspiration for this mix.

4 "All This Hurt" -Thomas Walsh. A FB friend and excellent singer songwriter across the pond. His latest, "The Rest Is History" is a fine slab of power pop, and follows Ray, Dave, and the boys nicely.

5 "Every Word Means No" -Let's Active. "afoot" Ep introduced the world to REM producer Mitch Easter, with bassist Faye Hunter, and drummer Sara Romweber. Every song says yes. 

6 "The Fast One" -JD Souther. Rockin' Country opener from eponymous first album shares some lyrical temperament with the previous cut, but takes us into '70's SoCal "Cosmic American Music" territory.

7 "St Elmo" -Geese. I love this band. They're young, can play, write songs, and have plenty of charisma. The New Orleans feel, and twisted humor reminds me of Little Feat, which makes me like it even more. Warning: 70 year whiplash time warp dead ahead.

8 "Midnight" -Red Foley. A Goodwill find, I scored this 7 LP set "The Golden Age Of Country Music (1940-1970), released by Reader's Digest in 1987. It's pure Gold, and this 1953 single is a favorite. 

9 "Velvet Goldmine" -David Bowie. I came home from Record Store Day with "Waiting In The Sky", a prototypical version of "Ziggy Stardust", with 4 songs that didn't make the cut, but have long been available as bonus tracks and single B sides. This sounds like it belongs on Hunky Dory, next to "Queen Bitch".

10 "Patience Of A Saint" -One The Juggler, from "Nearly A Sin", released in 1984, has to be the most obscure album here. A friend bought a copy back in the day, and I was envious. It sounded like a sibling follow-up to "Ziggy Stardust" or "Hunky Dory". I kept an eye out, but never saw another copy until running a search on Discogs. There is very little info out there about them or the album, which is too bad. It's solid.

11 "Deco Dance" -Elliott Murphy. I've flipped past his album "Night Lights" in record store bins for most of my life, and my curiosity finally got the better of me. Is it Lou Reed imitating David Bowie, or the other way around? This song wouldn't sound out of place on "Berlin", and features Billy Joel on piano.

12 "Friend Of A Friend" -The Smile. While I'm not the biggest Radiohead fan, I like some of their music very much. Thom and Johnny are forces to be reckoned with, and this new "Wall Of Eyes" has renewed my interest.

13 "Heaven" -The Staple Singers. From 1973, a fantastic closer to their 1973 the album "Be What You Are". In the best way I'm reminded of "Stranded" era Roxy Music.

14 "Get On The Right Thing" -Paul McCartney and Wings, from "Red Rose Speedway". I never owned this album until it came from Malibu Canyon, and didn't play it until we moved here. I never heard this song before. It replaced something overly familiar from "One Hand Clapping". 

15 "Something In The Room She Moves" -Julia Holter. I spent quite awhile curating and sequencing the songs, even if it's not obvious. The title of this beauty seems to reference The Beatles "Something", so it follows Macca in the mix.

16 "Digital Witness" -St Vincent demanded inclusion, and this seemed to fit right here.

17 "Do You Know What I Mean? -Lee Michaels. I've always loved this song, and think it's perfectly happy sandwiched here between St Vincent and Fiona Apple.

18 "Under The Table" -Fiona Apple. I have most of her CD's, and while they all sound great, the vinyl copy of "Pass The Bolt Cutters", purchased from Sal, is next level.

19 "(Return To The Valley Of) Out Come The Freaks" -Was(Not Was). I've been a fan of this song since it's release. Checks so many boxes, and Harry Bowen's vocal makes it. 

20 "Rockin' Shopping Center" -Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. One of my all time favorites. And now that we're neighbors, I can drive out route 128, in the dark, by the powerlines, feeling 50,000 watts of power, with the radio on, any time I want. Pretty much every week I drive past the Stop n Shop on the way to Big Y. 

21 "Mr Sharkey" -Laurie Anderson. When "Mister Heartbreak" came out in 1984, I was living in Southern California, and looking at New York City as the place I most wanted to be. It took me until 1988 to get there, and I love New York, but now I joke that I'm never going south of New Haven again. A recent Record Riot find, and a perfect closer.

I buy a lot of new music through Bandcamp. It's nice that once payment has taken place, I'm free to download the files while I wait for the physical object to be delivered, which can sometimes take awhile. By the time it arrives I already know the music. The new record gets played once, archived in plastic, and saved for special occasions. Similarly, in a kind of reverse process, back in my youth I'd put a new record on, and if I liked what I heard, it went straight to cassette. That's why all the old albums bought in the '70's are still in such nice shape. 

When first comparing digital downloads and analog artifacts, I was surprised how close in sound they actually were. Pretty much identical, except the vinyl  LP had a certain je ne sais quoi that the AIFF files lacked. I've been trying to put my finger on it ever since. My best guesses are that the record is a continuous analog groove, and each performance is unique, while the digital files are exactly the same every time, which makes them feel a little "canned". With records, you can hear the groove go by, like a sailboat slicing through the water. Then there is the ritual, handling the piece of tangible art. The great ones are prized possessions. I'm very happy to reconnect with my 15 year old self while digging the new turntable.

I enjoyed putting this together. Surface noise doesn't bother me so much anymore, and I don't mind the lack of digital je ne sais quoi, either. No scratchy records were harmed in this Weekend Mix.

Wreckerd Riot!

 Enjoy! 

-BBJ

Records are fun. I encourage you to check out Sal's Discogs page. I should be getting the next shipment by Monday.