Record Store Day, Black Friday, 2015

A few months ago I watched a documentary titled Revenge Of The Mekons, about a band I hadn't heard but which over the course of the film I came to love. I decided I had to own everything they ever recorded, and I went to Amoeba to purchase whatever CDs of theirs they had. They had none. Then a few weeks ago I went to Newbury Comics in Boston with the aim of picking up every Mekons CD I could find. They had none there, and couldn't order any. What the fuck? If Amoeba and Newbury Comics didn't carry The Mekons, who would?

Well, I knew a new Mekons record was going to be released on vinyl on Record Store Day, so I could at least purchase that.  That is, provided that I got in line early enough. The list of record releases this time around wasn't all that interesting, but there were two I was determined to get. In addition to the Mekons record, I really wanted the Dressy Bessy 7-inch. Both of these were in the "Limited Run/Regional Focus" section of the Record Store Day list, which means a very limited number were pressed. There were also two Kinks EPs that I was interested in, but I knew there would be more of those available.

Freakbeat is my record store of choice, and what they do there is ask each person in line for his or her number one pick. That way, each person is basically guaranteed to get at least one thing he or she wants. This works out fairly well. There is the danger, of course, of someone quite a bit behind you in line wanting what might be your second choice. So maybe I'd get The Mekons, but probably not Dressy Bessy. It all depends on what the folks behind me are focused on, as well as what the people in front me are ready to purchase.

I got to the store at 8:30, two and a half hours before it opened. Shockingly, only six people were ahead of me. So I figured my chances were pretty good. There was a scary moment when I told the guy my first choice was The Mekons and he responded, "There's a Mekons record?" But he went in to check, and sure enough, they had it, and so it was mine. So now I own my first Mekons album. I'm hoping to add to that soon. And, by the way, I was lucky enough to get the Dressy Bessy single as well (along with the two Kinks EPs). A good day.