I am so glad it's September.
Daphne and I were back in our school buildings on August 17, and our daughter started back on the 23rd. August feels too early to be in school, but when it becomes September you can't argue about it. September equals school.
That doesn't mean I don't miss summer.
I get to do things in the summer that I can't do during the school year. For example, on weekdays I get to go to lunch with my family. Seriously, I love lunch. My only problem is to remember to sloooow down when I eat. I eat like a teacher. This means during "B" lunch I can consume a ham sandwich, a yogurt, a string cheese stick, and a cup of cottage cheese in three minutes while reading two emails from parents.
At school, I feel like I'm being efficient. At a restaurant, I feel like I'm being a pig.
Another thing I can do in the summer is shop thrift stores in the morning. I can stop by a store on the way home during the school year, but the popular items that were put out during the day are usually gone by then. Thrifting is a competition, and in the morning I have a better chance to score.
Here are some my favorite musical scores. (Dad joke)
How talented and cool was Irish guitarist, singer, and songwriter Rory Gallagher? In 1975 he was a solo artist, and he declined an opportunity to join The Rolling Stones. That's how talented and cool he was. This is his 1973's blues/ rock album Tattoo. There is a rumor that Jimi Hendrix was once asked what it was like to be the best guitar player in the world. Jimi replied, "I don't know. Go ask Rory Gallagher."
Speaking of the Stones and solo artists... here's Mick Jagger's first solo outing, She's the Boss. It sold over one million copies in the US, and this is one of them. That's all I can say. Like Keith Richards, I haven't listened to this record, yet.
Dark Side of the Moon... nowadays finding this LP in a thrift store is a real challenge. It IS exciting when you do find a copy: First you look at it in disbelief. Then you look around to make sure someone isn't watching you. After that, you calmly, but quickly, pick it up and walk to the register. Keeping your game face on, you hand over your dollar and then leave the store before someone yells that there's been a mistake made. You do not celebrate until you're safely in your car, "YESSS! Dark Side of the MOON, BABY!"
At least that's how I do it.
This is the 12" single "Bass Mechanic" by M.C. A.D.E. who was born Adrian Hines in Miami, Florida. "He is an American music producer and rapper who pioneered the hip hop subgenre of Miami bass music" (Wikipedia). I found several different 12" singles from this era (mid/late 80's) at Goodwill, but this track is my favorite of the bunch. I can't play it loudly, though. The dog barking on it upsets our Great Pyrenees, Ellie. (FYI: A.D.E. stands for "Adrian Does Everything.")
I spotted this CD of 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul at Goodwill. I was pretty surprised when I checked this release on Discogs and saw how expensive it is. I believe that physical media was the only way to hear this because legal disputes kept De La Soul off of streaming services for quite some time. That's not the case now, but I'll still take physical media over streaming any day.
In July we flew to Portland, ME and rented a car to drive through the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Nova Scotia. We spent a couple of nights in Moncton, NB, so we could spend some time exploring the Bay of Fundy - in the morning you can see it at high tide and in the afternoon you can walk on the ocean floor. Anyway, while we were walking to get dinner in Moncton, I spotted some CDs abandoned on the top of a public trash/ recycling bin.
I looked at the girls, shrugged, and said, "Well, I'm not above taking free music." I grabbed Dr. Hook Greatest Hits and slid in into the leg pocket on my cargo shorts. This is the only music I brought home from our trip.
Track 9 is "Sharing the Night Together." When I was a kid, an attractive female was sometimes described as being "really put together." Well, back then I thought this song was about a woman named Sharon. Her last name was D'Knight and she was really "together." I thought the chorus was "Sharon D'Knight's together, Oh yeah." I always wondered what Sharon looked like.
Technically, this isn't a thrift store find, but it's close enough. I went to a record show last weekend, and I found Prince's second studio album in a $1 box. It's not in the best shape. The cover is damaged near his right shoulder (that's not a wound). Cleaning the LP with wood glue removed the weird, white spots that were stuck to the vinyl's surface. It sounds pretty good now.
The back cover ("Album concept by Prince") features a presumably naked Prince on a winged horse. That's worth a buck right there.
In a box full of Ray Conniff, Vaughn Meader, and various religious LPs, I think the self-titled "It's a Beautiful Day" release would get passed over because its artwork. It's, "Based on the 1912 painting Woman on the Top of a Mountain by Charles Courtney Curran" (Wikipedia). I think the sleeve looks too much like a record from the 40's or earlier. The use of the old-time Columbia Records logo in the bottom right corner only adds to the illusion.
Inside that sleeve is a 1969 psychedelic rock record by a San Francisco band that also incorporates notes of progressive rock. I prefer side two. The last track, "Time Is" (9:42), is what I expect to hear playing when I'm in an eclectic record store.
Happy Trails by the Quicksilver Messenger Service is another 1969 psychedelic rock record by a San Francisco band that has a deceiving cover (Discogs purchase). From the looks of the artwork, you'd never know side one is a 25 minute live version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" This sleeve features a young lady who looks very similar to the one on "It's a Beautiful Day." Let's zoom in:
It's weird how similar these two records are. If you go by title, it's even alphabetically correct to place "Happy Trails" next to "It's Beautiful Day."
Seeing the sleeve for The Roaring Silence in stores freaked me out as a kid. I never noticed the band's name because I was so taken back by the mouth inside the ear. Nothing had changed when I brought this home last month. I just wanted the artwork, and I was actually surprised to hear "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band when I dropped the needle. I know that sounds strange, but I just wasn't looking at the sleeve that closely. While I'm on the topic of sounding strange, the lyrics for the first track are "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night." A "deuce" is slang for a 1932 Ford coupe.
I had just finished flipping through a box of records at Goodwill. As I slowly stood up (and groaned with my palm on my back), a young woman who looked to be about 20 stamped up next to me, shoved two LPs back into the box and tossed a Soul Asylum CD on the shelf above. She then wiped a tear of frustration from the corner of her eye and stamped off. The two LPs were Baby I'm-A Want You by Bread and Double Vision by Foreigner.
I turned and watched her walk out of the store. As a dad/ teacher my first instinct is to try to help a young person in distress. I wondered if she had left her purse at home? Heck, two LPs and a CD wouldn't amount to six bucks. I started feeling guilty that I hadn't asked her if I could help, but then I stopped myself. What was I thinking?! Some old, stranger-danger man randomly offering money to a young woman would not go over well...
Despite the water stain on the record's sleeve - bottom right - the Foreigner LP was in good nick (the band's name comes from having members from the US and Britain). I bought the record and left the premises in my car instead of in a police vehicle. Thank goodness.
I really like the YouTube series "What's In My Bag?" It's how Amoeba Music showcases different artists. The artists pick records at the Amoeba record store, and then they show their picks and talk about their influences and the music they love. The videos are short, informative, and entertaining.
In a recent episode, radio host, DJ, and producer Zane Lowe described his favorite era for funky records, “… you sort of feel like it’s the essence of the 70s. That's that '72 to '74 period where instruments just sounded incredible. I mean, you can almost go into a record store and look at the back of any album. [If it’s] really released in 1972, ’73, ’74, particularly ’72 and '73 you just almost got to buy it. And that goes for anything. Like that's when Dolly Parton made her funky country. Like everything's just funky. Everything's locked in there at 80 to 100... The drums are dry. The bass is right at the front of the mix. It's generally got a Fender Rhodes, or some kind of B3 organ on it. And it's just fun. It's a funky time, and I love that…"
I decided to test Lowe's theory with The J. Geils Band's Bloodshot from '73. For me, the last track, "Give it to Me" is the funky standout. "Give it to Me" begins like much of the other songs, but then around the 2:22 mark the organ kicks in and the song morphs into an entirely different animal. The lyrics are abandoned and for the next four minutes you're in a funky instrumental with all kinds of groovy solos. This is such a departure from what came before; it feels like you have discovered a hidden track. So cool.
No wonder I like my Sounds of '73 comp record so much.
With that in mind, Stevie Wonder's Talking Book came out and 1972, and I can't think of a better example of funk song than "Superstition."
Why did I buy these four thrash metal VHS tapes from 1989 and 1990? For one, they were only $.79 a piece, and they're worth more than that. Two, I doubt I'd have an opportunity to find something like this very often. And three, they'll probably be fun to watch in October. Who knows what evil lurks inside?
Besides, they make for a great transition to my next post about video and other things thrift.
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