"If you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends..." (posted 12th April, 2009)

The first record I ever owned as 45 called, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens. I was a young kid of about seven or eight years old and I played that record until the needle wore through its grooves. It was the sweeping falsettos that hooked me.  But what I loved even more was the loping, rhythmic, tribal beat that drove the song. I feel strongly that my love of the blues was spawned from repeated listenings of this infamous song.  One of the other records of my formative-music fan years that used to get a lot of spins was the Best of the Monkees. "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Papa Gene's Blues" were faves.  

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In the movie, Almost Famous, Kate Hudson's "Penny Lane" character said, "If you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends".  So true...

This weekend 17 different countries will celebrate Record Store Day.  RSD was created by a handful of record store fans as a "...celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally". Have a look at the website to check out all the happenings.  

I agree with the idea around celebrating the "unique culture" that inhabits the independent record store.  I have a record shop.  It is called Mojo Records and it is located on York St. in downtown Sydney. Mojo, the self-proclaimed "Kings of the Back Catalogue", is more than just a record shop.  It is a place where people are "regulars" on Thursdays and Friday nights. It is a place where people come to share music and stories about music for hours on end. It is a place where a common bond found in music brings together disparate groups of strangers and friends and turns them into "family". And, it is a place where a blues lick can draw you off the street and into the shop and never let you go.

When I first found Mojo, I was walking down York and I heard the unmistakable tremble of Muddy Water's slide action boucing off the buildings on both side of the street. I looked around for the shop and saw that it sat below the street at basement level...subterranean...buried treasure. The front shop window stretched from the footpath up to my waist and ran close to fifteen feet in length. I hovered over it and paced back and forth, all the while staring down at the collection of records, people, cds and posters inside. I was locked in. 

Once inside, I saw a few people leaning on the counter, beers in hands, talking just loud enough so they could hear each other over Muddy's "Long Distance Call". There were a few more people flipping through the record and CD racks.  The owner, Nev, came over to introduce himself to me.  Within 15 minutes, he had me holding five albums, five "bow-down" albums, that were a money back guarantee promise of hidden gem goodness. Nev is a man of his word. 

Fast forward two years later, my wife organised a surprise birthday party in the shop.  I am a Friday regular.  I stop down after work with a couple six-packs of beer (always Cooper's Red) and stay until closing time...which is whenever we decide we want to close up. That particular Friday was my birthday. Little did I know my wife talked with Nev and his right-hand man Uncle Frank and set up the festivities. It was Mojo's first birthday party.  By 6:30pm, the place was packed with twenty odd people listening to music, swapping stories, having a few beers and eating a record shaped cake.  

We kept on until about midnight and when we were just about to leave, Nev called out "one more song"!  Nev put some Jimmy Dawkins on...a dozen songs, a bunch of stories and a few more beers later, we called it a night. Now that's Mojo; happy birthday indeed. 

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Just yesterday I was at Mojo.  I went to see Booker T and the Drive-By Truckers perform last night and needed to get the "feel" going before the gig. Nev and I talked about what we were doing for RSD.  There is going to be a two-piece band and a book signing by a local artist. People are going to start coming by around 3:00pm. Nev is going to have some vinyl specials going.  I already put three aside to get when I go in: Derek & the Dominoes, "Layla", The Allmans, "Live at the Fillmore" and Otis Redding's, "Otis Blue".  My wife gave me a turntable for Christmas and I need to get some vinly and give it a spin. My music collection is 1,300+ albums strong (98% fat free).  I can't replace it all, but I am going to pick out some choice sets worthy of the black stuff.  Have a look at the collection if you like: Judd's Juke Joint.

If you want to see Mojo in person, come on down next Saturday.  It is sure to be a bow-down event. Oh yeah, bring a rack of beer if youlike...Cooper's Red.

p.s. That 45 I was talking about?  I still have it.  My mom framed it for me and gave it to me as a gift a couple years ago. Records don't have to spun on a turn table to tell great stories.