Three Clerks
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 06:09PM Marvin Gaye and His Girls
John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram
Loudon Wainwright III - Album II
Rick Nelson - The Very Thought Of You
Herman's Hermits - There's A Kind Of Hush All Over The World
Yaz - Upstairs At Eric's
The Best of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits
Donovan's Greatest Hits
Tim Buckley - happy sad
"I'll throw the Tim Buckley in for a couple of bucks," said the record clerk. "It's my last day. What do I care." He slides the records into a brown plastic bag. "Overworked and underpaid."
"Well, thanks for your help, and good luck with whatever you do next."
"I'm going to the moon."
"To the moon?"
"Yeah, to the moon."
"Well, good luck with that."
* * *
Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man/Bedtime Story
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Punch the Clock
Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
The Steve Miller Band - Book of Dreams
Dick Hyman at the Lowrey Organ - Electrodynamics
Utopia - Oops! Wrong Planet
Utopia - Adventures in Utopia
Utopia - Utopia
"Do you want to try anything out?" said the girl at the counter. "I've been listening to The Kinks all day."
"I'd love to hear how this side sounds. There's a big scratch."
"Do you come in here often?"
"I try not to. If I do, I'll just spend loads of money on Todd Rundgren albums."
"I know what you mean. That's like me and bookstores."
"Oh, me too." Dick Hyman plays his Lowrey Organ. "I'm definitely getting this one."
"I used to be so into listening to new music. Now I'm just like, whatever." The sound of a cash register. "My boss will be so happy. He called before and said 'did we earn any money?' and I was, like, 'no.' I've been here for seven hours."
And with that, I crossed "record store" off our list of possible storefront ideas.
* * *
Prince - Purple Rain
Grand Funk - Phoenix
Christopher Cross* - s/t
Bessie Smith - Nobody's Blues But Mine
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
"Ah, yes. Kate Bush. I met her once."
"Was she nuts?"
"Well, hold on, hold on. She was signing records as a promotion for her album back in 1993."
"Rubberband Girl?"
"Well, no, let's see, it was… hmmm. It was called The Red Shoes."
"Uh-huh."
"This was in the days before the internet, but somehow word got out, and by the time I got there the line stretched six blocks. She ended up signing for six hours."
"Wow." (…ow, wow, wow, wow, wow; unbelievable.)
"I actually handed her something to sign that she'd never seen before."
"Cool. Do you still have it?"
"Of course." He flips back to the beginning of the stack and starts counting the prices all over again.
He never did tell me if she was crazy or not.
*Purchased because I confused "Sailing" with "Come Sail Away" by Styx. Oh well. At least I have something to listen to now when I take bubble baths.
© Zan McQuade. All rights reserved.
music, todd rundgren
Reader Comments (2)
We keep amassing records and to this day, still don't have a record player. While in Maine, we bought Charlie Parker (russ) and some Ravel and Debussy (me). This is normal behavior and not the start of a dangerous addiction, right?
Sam, we'll have to bring you over for a record party!