Another One Bites The Dust

So another sad day here in Edmonton as we lose yet another independent record store. This time it's Sound Connection, a record shop that has been around Edmonton in several different locations and several owners, but has been around for 38 years.

Sound Connection is the first record shop that I started to frequent when I was a young teenager. My music collection pretty much started with this store, first with vinyl, then cassettes and eventually CD's and then back to vinyl.

My brother and I use to go to Sound Connection when it was downtown on 101st. every Saturday morning, taking the bus downtown and then walking the ten blocks or so to the store instead of waiting for another bus. This was always good bonding time, talking about what we were hoping to find at the store, and then racing home to listen to our new purchases.

By the time I was in high school, it was the perfect place to go hang out in the afternoon when I should have been in class. I would go to the store and go through everything, all the vinyl, cassettes, European music magazines (Kerrang) and the t-shirts just to kill time. It was also the first place you could pick up UK 12 inch singles, bootlegs and picture discs.

I sure am going to miss Sound Connection, although I didn't frequent the shop as much as I used to, I still managed to drop in at least once every couple of weeks. So we say good-bye to another local record shop, just months after losing Permanent Records. This leaves Edmonton with only three good record independent shops. It was less then 8 years ago that there used to be 5 record shops just in the Whyte Avenue area (so within 6 blocks).

If only I had the money to own my own record shop, c'mon lottery!! This city could use another good record shop, and I do believe it can still make money in this city.

Don't let this happen to your local record shops. Get out and buy music from your local record shop. It's a great way to meet good people and find and get turned onto new music. Support people support.

Good-bye Sound Connection you were good to me over the years. Going to miss ya!

Old School Album For The Week Of Dec.14th - 18th

This week I pulled out an old cassette released in 1981 called There Goes The Neighbourhood by Joe Walsh,what a great album this is. This is the first album by Joe I ever got into and is still my favorite album of his.
My favorite tracks on this album are Made Your Mind Up,Bones,Things,A Life Of Illusion and my all time favorite song of his Down On The Farm.
My favorite memories of the song Down On The Farm are when my buddies Nerraw,A-Bomb and Scotty and I lived together in a house on 99th street behind a Caribbean restaurant. The place was a freakin' zoo, basically an after hours club,lol. The parties we used to have there are still talked about to this very day. Well the song Down On The Farm was our theme song for that house. Here are the lyrics for that song, my god, we used to sing this song at the top of our lungs,lol.
Out in the middle of nowhere
Gathered around in the barn
Animals all in agreement, they was down on the farm

There was talk of all the boring hours
Standin' around with nothin' to do
It was just another boring evening
With a pail of boring things to chew

There was cows and horses and sheeps and pigs
They was tired of the daily routine
They was plannin' on havin' themselves a bash
Gonna throw a great big wing-ding

So they said 'let's do it, play some rock and roll'
And they got all loose and had a few
And before they knew it, they was out of control
Turned into a regular zoo...
They was tired of the daily routine
Havin' themselves a great big bash
And they was gathering steam

And the pig grabbed a chicken, said
Come on over, let's do-si-do a few
And the chick said 'no, you're covered with mud'
Called him a pig and it was true

And every gol' dang one o'their tails was a waggin'
Under the old horse-shoe
That night the animals fell off the wagon
And a tractor or two

Well they was out in the middle of nowhere
They was rockin' out in the barn
They was tearin' it up in the hayloft
Gettin' down on the farm

This song sums up pretty much what that place was like. Good times!!!!
My favorite memories of Joe Walsh was seeing him play with The Ringo All-Starr Band in August of 1989 and with The Eagles in March of 1995. Joe Walsh stole the show both times I saw him play live. Now If I could only see him perform solo, I would go out of my way to see that.
"Sometimes I Can't Help But Feelin' That I'm Living A Life Of Illusion"

Old School Album Of The Week For Nov.23rd - 27th

This week I pulled out an album that is one of my all time favorites, that I still listen to on a regular basis. It's the debut album by a band called Masters Of Reality released in 1988 and produced by Rick Rubin. It's an awesome album, a mixture of blues,rock, stoner rock feel. There isn't a bad song on the whole album.
My favorite memories of this album is driving around with my buddy Warren in his yellow VW bug with this album just cranked, smoking ourselves silly and cruising all over the city, I also recall going to his and Chris' apartment downtown and bugging out to this wicked album. We had a lot of good times listening to this.
Favorite tracks Domino, John Brown,Gettin' High and The Candy Song. If you can find this album, I highly recommend picking it up. I could have swore I had this album on vinyl, but apparently I don't.
I didn't realize, but Masters Of Reality are still putting out albums to this day. The line up is always changing, but I think I will take a chance and pick up one of their newer albums and see if they are still any good.

Old School Album For The Week of Oct. 26-30

This week I have been listening to Anthrax's album called Among The Living which came out in 1987 (which was their 3rd full album release). This was their classic line up and best line up they ever had. I also think this is their best album that they ever released, and still stands the test of time. It's classic thrash metal, and after listening to it all week, it still rocks big time.
I don't really think there is a bad track on this whole album. Stand out tracks for me are the title track, Caught In A Mosh,Indians,I Am The Law and Imitation Of Life.
I have been lucky enough to see Anthrax 3 times, all of them with the classic line up of Scott(Not)Ian, Dan Spitz,Frank Bello,Charlie Benante and on vocals Joe Belladona. First time I saw them live was opening for KISS in 1988 on KISS's Crazy Nights Tour, Anthrax blew them off the stage (my bro managed to meet Anthrax before the KISS show), then saw them open for Iron Maiden in 1991 and finally on a reunion tour opening for Megadeth on the Gigantour. They have always put on an excellent show. EFILNIKUFESIN