Memphis Tennessee Record Stores: Goner Records

Record Shops, vinyl road rage, , , ,

by Joe Wallace

After Vinyl Road Rage ended its too-brief Nashville phase, it only made sense to move along to Memphis to plunder the record stores there. Memphis Tennessee Record stores are, based on what was found there, basically awesome and well worth investigating.

The first stop in Memphis was Goner Records, located in a fun alt-culture district on the aptly-named Young Avenue. One look at Goner from the outside and I knew it was going to be great.

For starters, they have a nice collection of music-related print matter, books and mags that you probably didn’t stop in for but will want to look at anyway. Very hard not to be tempted there…but the vinyl selections were calling so the printed stuff had to wait. And with good reason.

For a collector of weirdness on vinyl, Goner is a gold mine.

Spotting the “soundtrack” to L. Ron Hubbard’s abysmal Battlefield Earth book was a surprise–it truly is one of the most godawful vinyl records of all time and here it is in all its glory at Goner. Bravo.

I dropped a nice packet of cash on the weird records, to be sure. But the usual suspects are all waiting for you, too…no shortage of great titles in all the genres you want to explore…and I must add there was a fairly impression collection of Ohio Players titles when I was there.

The store itself is laid out well, fun to shop and has great atmosphere–something I’d find sorely lacking on the next leg of the Vinyl Road Rage journey once hitting Arkansas. Needless to say, you won’t have that problem in HERE.

There are plenty of great places to shop, record store-wise, between Bloomington, Indiana and Arkansas, but I have to say, Goner Records was one of my favorite. That could have been clouded by finding so many bizarre record titles in one store, or it could have been that Goner reminds me of some other now-gone shops I’ve been to in Texas…either way this is a must-return store for me and you’ll probably feel the same way after a visit.

If you’re interested in learning more about my vinyl finds at Goner Records during Vinyl Road Rage, have a look at the video clip below, I mention Goner and the other most excellent Memphis record shop, Shangri-La Records.



WTF Records: Aerobics For Jesus

WTF?

It all started while idly browsing the Incredibly Strange section at Waxidermy. That utterly fabulous blog had this brain-gougingly weird Christian aerobics record seen above, with an equally bewildering back cover:

Naturally, I went out in search of other weirdness along similar lines. How many people out there are sweatin’ for Jesus, or at least WERE doing so when this nonsense came out? Apparently, a lot of them.

This was clearly part of the fad that raged through right-wing circles back in the 80s, when people were trying to establish a born-again subculture for EVERYTHING, including death metal and exercise routines. The notion that these things were being done by and for right-wingers made them “OK” to enjoy. It was a brilliant bit of marketing–the implication that born-again Christians might be doing something wrong unless they were spending their money on other right-wingers.

See, back in the 80s and part of the 9os, there were a lot of people in evangelical Christendom who were trying to sell people on the idea that religious people shouldn’t listen to “secular music”, as in, anything not performed by a sweaty born-again rightie. Again, BRILLIANT marketing as there was an up-and-coming Christian music industry that badly needed the sales…hence you get cultural oddities like this that fell in with that sort of thinking. “Don’t buy THEIR evil aerobics videos with that dirty old SECULAR music, buy OURS with this nice, clean whitebread model on the cover and boring by-the-numbers religious rock instead.”

Turntabling Reader Question: How Should I Store My Vinyl?

Advice, , , , ,

by Joe Wallace

I get asked questions about turntables, DJ gear, vinyl records, and such all the time, so I figured it was time to start sharing the answers here in case it might help out other people with the same burning questions.

And since there’s no such thing as a stupid question–only stupid answers–I figured I’d begin with one of the most common, basic questions that I do for some reason get asked more often then I’d like to think about.

“How should I store my vinyl records” is a typical new collector type question but you can’t sneer at the person asking for being ignorant of the best way to store record albums. For starters, there are plenty of mixed opinions. For example, one guy I know is quite adamant about his refusing to stack more than X number of albums side by side without a wooden divider between them and the next batch of LPs.

One reason I have so much patience with this basic question is because of the ungodly number of people who should know better–I’m talking to YOU, record store owners and record show booth renters–who stack big piles of records HORIZONTALLY for whatever damn fool reason.

Folks, it’s my own personal preference and choice NEVER TO BUY from record sellers who stack records in the manner you see below:

My reasoning is that A) Stacking records like this is bad for the vinyl–the weight put on the records in the center and bottom of the pile could make them start to bow and B) You have no idea how long those records have been sitting there just like that.

So I just don’t buy from people who stack like that for any reason. If I see it, chances are good I’m moving on. Putting a few records down horizontally for a moment or two won’t forever destroy your albums, but more than a small number and longer than a moment or two? Let’s say I’m not a fan.

Call me unrealistic. Call me judgmental. But I personally have big record nerdy problems with this sort of thing…my damage.

Back to the original question–how do you properly store vinyl records? Here’s my own personal preference. I store my vinyl vertically and try to minimize tilting albums as much as possible. I try to avoid pressure in the stack that’s the result of too many records crammed into a single cubbyhole or cubicle space, and I like to keep my records away from heating vents and other sources of warmth as much as possible.

When dampness and humidity are a factor, a dehumidifier might come in handy but keeping a steady temperature is also helpful. No, I don’t have a climate controlled room or anything, but I do try to avoid turning off the AC or heating in the appropriate season, I try to keep the temperature more or less consistent. Temperature wise, I’m a bit more anal-retentive than the average collector so you should take this with a few handfuls of salt.

Also–I avoid storing my records in the path of direct sunlight. Heat is only one factor, fading album cover colors is another.

Storing records vertically, spines out, without too many packed in, and kept out of direct sunlight is the short answer. It’s how I personally do it. As long as you’re protecting the vinyl from pressure, heat, and damp you’ll be OK.

Ask Turntabling by e-mailing editor (at) turntabling (dot) net.

Crosley Vinyl Record Album Crate LP storagethe Crosley Vinyl Record Storage Crate holds up to 30 record albums.

WTF Records: Bobby Walker is Yodeling For Jesus

WTF?, , , ,

I’d like to thank/curse BizarreRecords.com for this truly bizarre sonic oddity which might just be my favorite weirdo record discovery of the week (aside from the Traveling Torture Show record mentioned here earlier.)

OK, I’ll admit it–a lot of times when I find WTF records, I feel what I consider to be an appropriate rising contempt–sexist, racist, clueless and just plain crass album covers give me a big ol’ dose of bile. But when I found THIS and listened to the accompanying MP3, I could not help falling in love with this insane, misguided-but-fun record.

It doesn’t hurt that the track was recorded well, actually performed with skill and a sense of humor about itself that’s quite lacking on a lot of southern-friend gospel albums. You could EASILY hear this playing in the background of your favorite 70s drive-in exploitation car chase movie.

And that’s the part that I curse BizarreRecords.com for–once this gets heard, it will be stuck in your damn head for several hours, a brainworm that refuses to die. You WILL hear this guy yodeling for Jesus in your head tonight. I PROMISE you.

And now you get to SHARE MY PAIN. Just listen once and you’re infected.