by Joe Wallace

Vinyl Road Rage #3 is underway and day one was a crazy mix of brain-melting finds and wild goose chases. Joliet, Illinois was the first stop where plenty of interesting vinyl was found including a Legendary Pink Dots album on Play It Again Sam Records I didn’t know existed, some silly blooper vinyl (more on that later–the joys of DJing with that stuff can not be underestimated) and much more.

After Joliet, it was Champaign, Illinois–but first I had to escape Joliet, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds. After my first stop there, I went chasing after the apparently non-existent Monaro Records (the address and phone number turned out to be residential), then chased my own exhaust pipe trying to find the road out of town.

I did pass the old Joliet Prison, complete with a sign which reads “You’ve escaped Joliet”. If only. And why was EVERY SINGLE PLACE I stopped in today completely devoid of toilet paper? Just sayin’.

The hardware store I saw in one small town said it all; a neon sign proclaiming “Heating, Plumbing, GUNS”. If the zombie apocalypse happens, that’s where I want to live…but on a search for obscure vinyl, not so helpful.

Equally amusing–the tiny little cafe I went to this afternoon. When I walked in, the entire place STOPPED TALKING for a moment–the only thing really missing, as I mentioned on Facebook earlier, was the voice of a small child saying in a scared voice, “STRAAAANNNGER!”

Once I did get back on the road, Champaign was fairly profitable thanks to the very cool Backbeat Records, which yielded the Sisters of Mercy Some Girls Wander on delicious vinyl, Sousxie and the Banshees’ The Rapture on translucent vinyl, plus a fistful of soundtracks.

What I wasn’t prepared for is how early Central Illinois rolls up the sidewalks. Several record stores closed up shop at 5PM, which was fairly depressing in one case, and a great relief in another as the second shop to close before sundown seemed to be all CDs.

One of the craziest finds of the day, found in Champaign’s Exile on Main St. Records, was a record made in Russia which was apparently an unauthorized collection of Led Zepplin covers. I didn’t have the heart to shell out 20 bux for this, but the concept certainly is amusing to say the very least.

I am absolutely CERTAIN I made this joke LAST YEAR during Vinyl Road Rage #2, but apparently this Disney record is haunting me, so I say again–WHERE ARE THE DISNEY QUAALUDES to go with the Disney Disco Record?

I will be reviewing the individual record stores at some point, no time to hit all the ones I’ve covered so far in the earliest days of the trip…but the updates from the road will continue. Stay tuned for more vinyl road rage…including some video I’ve shot from the road. Tomorrow it’s Bloomington, Indiana, and Louisville Kentucky. On Saturday Cincinnati beckons, then Columbus on Sunday.

–Joe Wallace