A very "Sunday" sounding Beatles LP.. if that makes any sense. Well, it sounds good today. : ) Happy Sunday!!!

We forgot to post this a couple days ago- Brian from Timothy Christian School in Elmhurst gets "Coolest Teacher of The Year" nomination so far for 2018. Brian brought his entire class on a field trip to the store last Thursday... a class full of hard core vinyl fans none the less. Was way cool to see so many teenagers who knew how great vinyl is.. what a great idea and was a lot of fun for everyone. And side note to the class of Timothy Christian, our continued apologies that Chance The Rapper is not on vinyl yet. : ) Happy Saturday!!!

Some great new music, live music reissues and exclusive releases out today: Live music from Big Star, Ryan Bingham & The Remains.. plus new music from Panda Bear, Børns, Jaguar, Umphrey's McGee, Courtney Pine... plus limited indie exclusive reissues from The Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rolling Stones (really great sounding half-speed Abbey Road remasters), Meat Loaf, several of the "Start Your Ear Off Right" issues from Rhino including two from Dio, ZZ Top and Notorious B.I.G.... plus the great sounding Delaney & Bonnie numbered "Run Out The Groove" Motel Shot (and we have very low numbers)... a really great Hank Williams tribute comp from Sun Records... Blues from Willie Dixon... soul from Marvin Gaye and some really great Acid Jazz/Trip-Hop reiusses from Electro Deluxe, Moodyman, De-Phazz & more! Happy Friday!!!!

Adding a mixed batch of mostly rock titles (including several still sealed LPs) to the New Arrivals bin today: Clapton, Cars, Queen (live & studio albums), Beatles, The Band, Black Sabbath, Beach Boys, Depeche Mode (studio, live and EP's), Buffalo Springfield, Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, Peter Gabriel, Billy Joel, Jesus & Mary Chain, Kinks, Live Tom Petty (still sealed!), Bowie, Kiss, Dylan, George Harrison, Elvis Costello, Hendrix, Donald Fagen Nightfly (still sealed) plus quite a bit more! Happy Thursday!!!!

One of the fun things we love to do is share tricks to clean and maintain vinyl. One that is not for the faint of heart is commonly known as "The Glue Trick", where a coating of carpenters wood glue (we prefer using Titebond II, available at most hardware stores) is applied to the entire surface of the vinyl LP. Once the glue dries (typically takes a day or two to fully cure), the layer of dried glue can be carefully peeled off the vinyl LP, resulting in what is probably the most thorough removal of dirt and particles possible (although we have heard good things about ultra-sonic cleaning too). This particular OG Blue Note Record from the 50's was very clean and quiet on one side, but noisy and "narrow" sounding on the other, so we figured it was a good candidate for the Glue Trick... and it worked on this one really well. If you have a record that you would like to try the Glue Trick to, let us know.. we'll give you a some ideas that will help make it less messy and easy to get good results. Thanks! Happy Wednesday!!!!

It's Tuesday, so yep... We're Workin'... with Miles. : ) Happy Tuesday!!!

"Every day is a little like Sunday" and every Morrissey album sounds even better on a cloudy Sunday. Viva Morrissey! Happy Sunday!!!!

Vinyl Collecting Tip #010618a: If you you are sharing vinyl storage space with a room mate(s) and feel that you need to mark which records are yours, do the following: Put the record jacket in a clear poly sleeve (which we sell and are very inexpensive and will also protect your record jackets) and print your name on a sticker and attach to the poly sleeve. Never write your name in permanent marker on the outer jacket. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to write your name on the jacket, put your initials inside the jacket as shown in this pic. While it is still not recommended to write anywhere on the jacket, writing on the inside the best bet. Happy Saturday!!!!

Lot's of live music plus several reissues and a bit of new music coming in today as well: Neil Young releases "The Visitor", his 39th (yep, 39th) studio album with the Promise of The Real. Also here today is live music from SRV, Cheap Trick, Metallica, R.E.M., Tom Petty, Dave Matthews & Springsteen. We've also added more title to our Blue Note Jazz collection and there is a Mardi Gras jazz reissue out today from Professor Longhair. Also in today are more releases from Rammstein, Tyler The Creator, Woody Guthrie, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, David Bowie (the next in the 7" Picture Disc Series), Ray Wylie Hubbard and more... Happy Friday!!!!

Adding a nice mixed batch to the new arrivals bins today: Curtis Mayfield, Kraftwerk, Violent Femmes, Pink Floyd, Sam Cooke, Sex Pistols, U2, Prince, Turtles, Temptations, Bon Jovi, Cure, super nice Simon & Garfunkel "Bookends" with poster, Wham, Doors, George Michael & more. Plus adding some nice Blues LPs and comps including some early blues featuring Albert Collins, Buddy Guy and quite a few sealed copies as well. Also, by requests, we've been putting together some 12" EP's, Singles & Promos and have the first batch out today including: The Cramps, Gods with Guns, Hellowween, Jesus & Mary Chain, KMFDM, 10,000 Maniacs, Primal Scream, They Might Be Giants, The Roots, De La Soul, Outkast, Fleshtones and quite a few others... Happy Thursday!!!!

We've probably said this before, but it bears repeating because it happened twice today: The absolute coolest thing for this record store owner to see is when a regular customer comes in with someone new and begins to give them a "tour" of HIS store... pretty darn awesome. Happy Wednesday!!!!

Vinyl 101 Fun Fact #010218: Is it a Butcher or isn't it? The original artwork for the Beatles 1966 album "Yesterday And Today" featured the band wearing butcher smocks while surrounded by pieces of raw meat and decapitated doll babies. Even though the entire first pressing was manufactured with the infamous "Butcher" cover, it was quickly deemed too controversial and Capital Records made the call to swap out the cover for something more "tame". While a small amount of the original "First State" Butcher covers did get shipped to stores, the vast majority of the first pressing were still sitting in warehouses when the decision was made to scrap the Butcher cover. MANY of these Butcher covers did end up getting destroyed or dumped in a landfill, but Capital later decided that the most economical thing to do was to paste what is now known as the "Trunk" cover over the top of the original Butcher cover to save having to start from scratch. Because so many where destroyed and Capital was scrambling to get product on shelves, It's not known exactly how many of the Second State Butcher covers where put into circulation, but the guess is anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000. Once the record was certified as Gold by the RIAA (500,000 records sold), the album was re-pressed with the Trunk cover and a stamp that read "Gold Record Award", which would guarantee that there is NOT a Butcher cover lurking underneath. But if you have a copy of Yesterday and Today that is not stamped "Gold Record Award", there is a chance that it is a Butcher. While it's not easy to see the original Butcher cover thru the pasted-over Trunk cover, the most relied upon "tell tale" mark is an upside down triangle on the right hand side about 2 inches to the right of Ringo's elbow. That triangle is the exposed portion of Ringo's black shirt underneath his Butcher smock. We set a pen on our (really nice!) copy just below the triangle... pretty cool! Happy Tuesday!!! Stay warm out there!!!!