Record Store Day, 2014

I've decided that poverty actually kind of sucks. It might have been okay when I was in my twenties. But it's fucking awful when I'm in my forties on Record Store Day and can't buy The Pogues live double LP. But I did get the Grateful Dead live double LP, and that was the most important thing today. I need to replace my turntable, but at least I have this record for when I do. The album features a good portion of a concert from 1979, Brent Mydland's third show with the band.

Freakbeat Records opens at 11 a.m. Parking can be tricky in that area because a lot of it is two-hour parking, and I knew I'd be there longer. But I found a space on Moorpark, not too far from the store. I got in line around 8:15 a.m., and was farther back than usual. The guy who got in line behind me had a young daughter who was getting antsy within moments of arriving. Then she started playing a video game. If you know me at all, you know that the sound of a video game is something certain to throw me into a desperate, murderous rage. So I said, "Sweetie, can you put that on silent mode?" And her father was nice enough to silence the game. But that led to her saying repeatedly, "Can't hear." How was this girl going to last two and a half hours? Well, she didn't. Once I told the guy that the store didn't open until 11, he took his daughter and left.

The rest of the time flew by. The guy who took the father's spot behind me in line was a Grateful Dead fan who had seen something like eighty shows, including shows in 1974 when the band had the Wall of Sound. So the conversation was good. And other than that, it was pretty quiet. So I was actually able to read a book.

I had planned on just buying the Grateful Dead record and the Ronnie Spector & The E Street Band 7-inch. But as I got closer, I started thinking seriously about getting The Pogues. And about Bruce Springsteen. And about the David Hess picture disc. As you walk in to the store, you have to hand over your wish list. So I put all five items on it, and decided to see what fate would deliver me. As it turned out, they had everything except the Ronnie Spector record. I was surprised they still had copies of the David Hess picture disc. I had read it was limited to 950 copies worldwide. Each is numbered, and it turns out there 1,500. But still, that's a small number. So I ended up buying that and not The Pogues.

But yes, I am already wishing I had bought The Pogues too. And the hell with my bills. Next year I will have money. Next year.

By the way, as far as goodies included with my purchase, this year there was just one record and one compilation CD. The rest were various postcards and stickers, advertising upcoming releases. For some reason they included a Justin Bieber sticker. It says "Believe" across it. Oh boy. I've never heard anything by Justin Bieber, but I am guessing the only person who might be interested in this sticker was the little girl with the video game.