At the conclusion of Record Store Tales, I told the story of how I earned the nickname LeBrain. It started with a contest on the Craig Fee Show (on 107.5 Dave FM) called the 4 O’Clock 4-Play which I dominated. I also sent Craig numerous 4-Plays of my own creation.
The challenge is to figure out the common thread that ties all four songs together. The theme could be anything: lyrical, musical, background trivia, artist related…and I liked to come up with unique themes.
Play the tracks in order as a listener would, and make a guess in the comments section! Be specific.
NOTE: None of the information below should be taken as actual singing advice!
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #337: Oh Say Can You Scream
In the 1980’s, screamers were king. Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Brian Johnson, Udo Dirkschneider…all of them were able to scream the high notes, sending chills up and down your spine. We all wanted to be screamers back then! None of my friends were able to croon like Coverdale, so screaming seemed like a viable option. We worked on our screaming voices with practice, practice, practice.
My buddy Bob came up with two ways to practice our scream techniques:
At home: Go to your bedroom and close the door. Put on AC/DC’s Who Made Who cassette, and grab a pillow. Then, scream along with Johnson directly IN to your pillow. Nobody should be able to hear you! The pillow should muffle your wailing Johnson imitation. You can belt it at top lung power without disturbing mom and dad’s TV shows. Just remember to lift your head from the pillow for breathing! (That part is really important.)
If out at dusk: Go to your local park. Make sure the coast is clear. Then, just sing and let it out! Bob and I did this one frequently, walking through our local Stanley Park. We serenaded the neighbors with a selection of AC/DC and Iron Maiden.
There were a couple specific Maiden songs that Bob and I really enjoyed screaming along to. One was a classic from Powerslave: “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Such an excellent, challenging choice. We would focus on the line, “Then down in falls comes the raaaaaaaaaaain!” We’d scream that section over and over again until we were satisfied that we had it right.
After a few years, I became quite good at hitting the high notes. I moved on from my screaming by the time I was in University, and focused on the Bee Gees. I knew that screaming Maiden tunes wasn’t a good way to attract female attention. Singing “Stayin’ Alive” note for note though? That may have had potential! (Note: it didn’t.)
Although I can no longer perform the song as I used to, I am proud to say that I used to be able to hit every note in “Stayin’ Alive”. Something to be proud of at Karaoke.
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #336: Garage Sales
I used to love garage sales and yard sales as a kid; both going to them and having them. As a buyer, you never know what cool things you will find at a garage sale, from books to gadgets to movies. As a seller, it’s a quick way to de-clutter your house and liquidate junk that’s sitting around. In our last few garage sales, I made several hundred dollars and cleaned out a ton of space.
It’s a lot of work, packing up the stuff and getting it organized, priced and displayed. Making and putting up the signs. Creating online ads. Opening for business. But you’re not here to read about the tedious aspects. You’re here for the stories.
Some of the most irritating people on this Earth are the early-morning hard-core garage salers. They scour the newspaper ads each week and want to be first to arrive. Since I live in a condo, the last bunch of garage sales we’ve held were at my parents’ house. I would drive over early on the Saturday morning to open up for business. I’d arrive around 6 or 6:30, in order to open up at 7, our advertised time.
I remember driving over on that lovely summer morning, still dark outside, and seeing a dude sitting in his car on the side of the street. “He can’t be here for the sale,” I said to myself. “I advertised that it starts at 7:00.” But I had underestimated the tenacity of serious hard core garage salers. I parked, opened the garage door, and began moving things out onto the driveway.
Next thing you know, I notice a guy in the dark garage behind me!
“Where are your Star Wars things?” he asked.
I said, “I’m not even close to being ready. They’re here in boxes somewhere but I have to dig everything out.”
“Do you have the vintage ones from the 70’s?”
I laughed. “No. I would never sell that stuff at a garage sale!”
I laughed just like this.
Without a word the guy left and drove off to the next sale. Over the next 30 minutes, while I was setting up, cars would drive by, slow down to look at what I had, and drive off. If they didn’t see what they were looking for (presumably big items like bikes and appliances) they kept going.
Typically at a garage sale, you don’t make any money for the first hour. The first hour is only serious salers who are looking for those specific items. They ask what you have and leave. After that things begin to pick up. Most people are pretty nice. As the day goes on, friends and neighbors drop by, but it’s the cheapskates that drive me nuts.
A garage sale is a place where you can buy things dirt-cheap, but even so, I have my limits. The guy that pissed me off the most at the last one was a douchebag in a big black pickup truck. (Why do the douchebags always seem to drive big black pickup trucks?) I had about a dozen DVDs and a couple Blu-rays out for sale. The prices on them were pretty reasonable: I had the Blu out for $4 and none of the DVDs were over $3. And that’s just the stickered prices, I was always willing to make deals with people who bought more than one. Within reason.
The pickup truck douchebag grabbed all my movies and said simply to me, “50 cents each?”
I said, “No, I can’t go that low. If you take them all you can have ‘em for $2 each.”
He laughed, “$2 each? Are you nuts?” Laughed again. “You’re not going to get $2 each for these.”
“I already have,” I said. “I’ve sold a few already.”
He chuckled again and said, “You’re not going to sell these for $2 each. 50 cents and I’ll take them all.”
“No thanks,” I responded. “I’d rather sell them separately at full price.”
He began walking away. “Good luck buddy, you’re not going to sell any of those movies.”
Again I laughed. “I already have!”
Then he said to me, “You know, that place [name deleted] will only give you 50 cents each for movies.”
The funny thing is the place he mentioned was the Record Store in which I used to work! And they were not giving 50 cents each for movies at the time. I had worked there long enough, and sold enough stuff since, that I knew he was full of shit.
I told him who I was, and called bullshit. He drove off.
I admit I was pretty steamed up. But the guy was a total dillhole. Just the kind of garage saler that everybody hates. Like I would have given him the movies with that kind of attitude!
An hour or two later, he drove back!
“Hey buddy!” he shouted from the window of his truck. “How much for your movies?”
“Same as before,” I responded. “$2 each.”
He said something rude and drove off. I responded with something rude and was promptly scolded by my mother!
“He was a dickweed, mom,” I reasoned. He then drove to my sister’s place, who had a garage sale going at the same time, and bought one of her movies for $2 without a single complaint!
I sold all but three of my movies at that sale and raked in a few hundred bucks. I was happy and I just gave the remaining movies away to friends. Although I may still have my copy of Reefer Madness that nobody wants.
After the garage sale, my parents went on vacation for a week. While they were away, one of the items we sold at the garage sale turned up sitting on my parents’ front porch, with a note attached.
Somebody had bought a VCR at the garage sale, and a few movies to go with it. Everything worked. The VCR was missing its power cable, but that was all. I have lots of spare power cables around the house, and they’re easy enough to find, so I figured that was not an issue.
Well, some dumb lady “returned” the VCR ($5) and left it, with the movies, on my parents’ porch saying she wanted her money back because it “didn’t work”.
You sure can’t fix stupid.
Fortunately when my folks returned from vacation they settled the VCR issue. The lady came back; she was from the neighborhood, and my parents gave her the money back without incident.
Still, I wondered to myself, “Who the hell tries to return something they bought at a garage sale?” Weird.
That was the last sale we had. Though I am sure we will have more, they certainly are not as much fun as they were when I was a kid!
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #335: Musical Archaeological Discovery!
A couple weekends ago, I had a chance to dig through some old boxes looking for musical memories. I found that, and a lot more.
I discovered a complete inventory of my entire music collection, that I had made as a kid. Most of it was on cassette. There’s no date on it, but thanks to my photographic memory of musical life events, I can easily date this to within +/- a couple months. Let’s have a look and figure out when I made this inventory.
The first thing I noticed was there are 24 CD titles on this list. I received my first CD player for Christmas of 1989. That would place this list a fair bit after Christmas of ’89.
In the section for “Videos”, I only had four VHS titles at the time: Kiss, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, and Warrant. I know I received a Faith No More (You Fat Bastards) video for Christmas of ’92. So we’re well before December 1992.
Back to the CD section. The presence of the Led Zeppelin box set helps me narrow it down further. I know I received that box set for Christmas of 1990. I also remember getting Slaughter’s Stick It Live tape on December 28th of that year, and that cassette is on this list.
I distinctly recall my birthday in July 1991. I received Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid on cassette (thanks sis), and Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge on CD (thanks Bob). Neither are on this list. Therefore, this was made sometime between Christmas of 1990, and July of ’91. Just over six months. To narrow it down as tightly as possible, I need to look for purchases that I know I made in early 1991.
In April or May of ’91, I can remember getting the new Mr. Big (Lean Into It) on cassette, and the first Raw M.E.A.T CD. Neither are on here. Most definitively however, missing on this list is David Lee Roth’s newest, A Lil’ Ain’t Enough. I know I got that for Easter of 1991. Now we’re really close. Somewhere between January to March of ’91!
I know I bought the uber-rare cassette single for Helix’s “Good to the Last Drop” really early in 1991. Snow was still on the ground, and that cassette single is not listed here. Therefore: I conclude that I created this list after Christmas 1990 or early in 1991, but probably during Christmas break 1990! I would have had the spare time to work on it during break.
Some additional observations:
1. Apparently I hadn’t yet discovered alphabetizing.
2. The dollar values printed represent approximate guesses as to retail value. I later made a revised list that replaced this with 5 star ratings, but I have not as yet found that version.
Here it is, now preserved digitally forever! And look — I only owned one CD single!* Final interesting note: Most of the items on this list are long gone. I’ve upgraded to CD on all the cassettes and only kept a handful. I have most of the vinyl, but I gave away my ’45 of the Wrestlers. I have some of the CDs, but others (Kiss, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Van Halen, Slaughter, Maiden, Motley Crue) have long been replaced by remasters.
* Iron Maiden’s “Holy Smoke”, bought at Dr. Disc in the autumn of 1990.
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #334: Tyler and LeBrain – episode one – “Nickelback”
Please welcome fellow Sausagefester, Dave FM listener, and lover of leather-clad blues-infested classic rock and roll: Tyler. We’ve decided to team up for musical commentary on a few different topics. Today’s subject:
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #333: Social Media
“Social media”, as they call it today, is nothing new. Before Twitter there was Facebook. Before Facebook there was MySpace. Before MySpace there was Friendster, and so on. What has changed is the degree to which we have included social media sites into our lives. They’re already integrated into our phones and software, making it easy to dive in. Some have shunned all social media, and who can blame them? It’s not for everybody to put your life out there, or to see these endless streams of useless info pouring in. If you only have “x” amount of online time a day, it’s easy enough to waste it all on Facebook.
Social media has its ups and downs. Obviously we can now see breaking news all over the world as it happens. We can also see false rumours start like fires, with “re-tweets” and “shares”. You know this and I know this, so I won’t spend too much time commenting on it. Social media can be a brain-killer. It can reduce our teens to near illiteracy, as they spout their “urs” and “lols”. (“Ur” drives me nuts. Is it so hard to type “your”?) Social media must be used wisely, if you choose to partake. To the ignorant, it can have devastating results.
I believe in using social media for myself, but wisely. Here are some positive things that have come from social media:
1. Direct contact with the stars.
The one time I received a message from Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) regarding something I wrote on MySpace about Helix was pretty exciting to me. Now, you can tweet your own thoughts to your rock star heroes, and some of them actually read them! Our good friend Heavy Metal OverloRd received a direct response from David Coverdale of Whitesnake, to his suggestion for a future Whitesnake DVD release. I’ve been thanked or complimented for my reviews and stories by members of Helix, Killer Dwarfs, Harem Scarem and Judas Priest. Dave Bidini liked that my reviews are “different” from the mainstream, and that comment really made me feel great!
The kind of interaction we can have today with our rock heroes is unprecedented. I don’t mean the types who hire a social media guru to do all their online posts. I mean the kind who are hands-on with their accounts. I enjoy having the chance to say to somebody, “I really liked that song.” Music is about communication and it’s nice to have another avenue of feedback.
2. Creating your own social groups.
Here on WordPress, there is a strong, supportive community of writers. Some of us are pros, most of us are not. Quite organically, many of us have grouped together to read, support, and offer feedback. There’s no organization to it, it’s just a bunch of us here who have similar interests and comment regularly. There’s no exclusion. It’s just writers who read and enjoy each other’s work. It’s a great, positive atmosphere that I believe has made us all better writers. Very little negativity seems to happen here.
3. Surprise “follows”.
I’m fascinated by the people who follow me on Twitter. Even though I’d never contacted her, followed her, or reviewed any of her music, Serena Ryder follows me. I don’t know why, but I still think that’s pretty cool. Other surprise followers included Olivia Black of Pawn Stars fame. Leatherwolf followed me, and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time. Then, I was followed by local cosmetic surgeon Dr. Takhar. I assume she heard me on the radio, rather than thinking I need some work done…but I could be wrong!
Best for me though, a couple writers I really admire have read some of my stuff, and have left positive comments. That means more than any Pawn Star or plastic surgeon. I really looked up to those two guys when I was starting to write.
There have also been some drawbacks to social media.
1. Too much music.
For every band that I love who has followed me, such as the aforementioned Helix and Killer Dwarfs, there are plenty that I’ve never heard of. Some turned out to be pretty good! But each one would probably like if I had a chance to listen to their music and review it. I only wish I had the time! I have a home life, and I work full time. Mikeladano.com is something I do in my spare time, and it’s something I love doing. I love listening to and talking about music. I wish there were enough hours in the day to listen to everyone. I guess there is such a thing as “too much music”.
2. Haters gonna hate.
You’re going to encounter haters online. Geoff Tate fans, for example, have made a nuisance of themselves here in the past. Worst for me personally were the Record Store Tales haters. Social media meant it was inevitable that Record Store Tales would be read by people who didn’t like what I wrote, or that I wrote anything at all!
Regardless of the drawbacks, I don’t regret using social media to promote mikeladano.com. I’ve made readers out of people who only knew me as “LeBrain” on the radio, and that’s what I was going for in the first place.
If you don’t like social media, I get that. I support your decision to use it or not. Aside from a few bumps in the road, it’s worked well for me to get my stories and reviews out there. It’s part of the online landscape now, like it or not!
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #332: Getting Older Everyday
I’ve been lucky enough to marry a simply awesome lady. Jen is a remarkable human being, but she also has one additional gift: the gift of looking perpetually young. She still sometimes gets carded, mistaken for a student, and so on.
Meanwhile here I am: Captain Grey Beard. I still look pretty young when I’m clean shaven. When I have a beard, forget about it! My beard started greying a year or two after marriage. I don’t think the two events are connected…but you never know.
Now, things are so bad that I have twice been mistaken for Jen’s father.
The first time it happened, we were at the Keg. It was Jen, her mom, and myself. The server handed Jen a hot plate without enough warning and she burned her hand slightly. While she and her mom went to the washroom to run some cold water on her hand, the manager came out to apologize. He said to me, “I’m so sorry about what happened to your daughter.”
My daughter! Oh man. That was a shitty meal, I’m sorry Keg, but you blew that one! None of us were in a good mood after that.
The second time it happened, Jen was meeting me at work. She walked in as our shipping supervisor was heading out the door. He’s a nice guy, about my age. The following day, he asked me, “So who was the young lady that you were meeting here yesterday? Was that your daughter?”
I didn’t stab him in the eye with a pencil.
And then, this past summer, something similar (and weird) happened.
Jen and I were out for a nice evening stroll. There were some kids playing near the park by our place. They were younger kids, none of them would have been older than about 10. As we walked past, I heard one kid yell the following:
“LOOK! That lady and that old man peed their pants!”
I looked around. There was nobody else on the street! They were referring to us, and I assure you that we had NOT peed our pants! I don’t know where that came from, but it was probably the first time I’d been referred to as “old man”!
Where do you buy music? I put together an informal survey of where my music has come from over the last 12 months.
DISCOGS – What a great way to fill up on old 12” and 7” singles that I am missing. Not a great way to fill up on uber-rarities. For example, I cannot pay $63 for Tenacious D’s Jazz EP which has only one track. I cannot pay $58 for Iron Maiden’s “Virus” single on 12” vinyl which has two rare Soundhouse Tapes on the B-side.
AMAZON – The lion’s share of my music comes from here. Whether it be a new release or a reissue of something in a deluxe format, Amazon is my go-to store. The prices are fair and the shipping is free for all orders over $25, which is all my orders anyway. Also great for gift-giving when your family has created their own Amazon wishlists. And if you don’t want to buy new titles, Amazon has plenty of marketplace sellers who deal in affordable, good condition used CDs. You just have to check out their ratings, like you would on eBay.
ENCORE RECORDS – The newly relocated Mecca of music shopping in Kitchener. It was even better when Encore was located just around the corner from the great comic book store, Looking For Heroes. Then I could kill two birds with one stone (or as Ricky might say, get two birds stoned at once). Their selection of new and used is awesome. Any deluxe reissues that I don’t get from Amazon can easily be found there. T-shirts, oddball releases, singles…this is the place to go in the area. At least, this is where I go!
CD JAPAN – I’ve been buying on and off from CD Japan for over a decade, but only in the last year have I really gone hogwild. (Thanks, Mitch.) When I can find Japanese versions of albums with bonus tracks for only a little more than the domestic versions, I’m in. These guys have never let me down. I’ve bought about a dozen discs from them in the last 12 months, none of which I would have been able to buy affordably anywhere else that I shop. My biggest score ever was my recent Thin Lizzy At The BBC box set. CD Japan price, brand new? $140. Discogs price, for US issue? $322.
ITUNES – For exclusives only. I will never buy anything on iTunes that can be had physically. This year I purchased Mitch Lafon’s A World With Heroes EP on iTunes, and the odd bonus track here and there. That’s it. iTunes can fuck off otherwise.
TARANNA – Aaron and I do our annual Toronto trip and end up with many treasures every time! See our videos for more details. Also included here is the Toronto record show I attend each April.
And of course, sometimes you just have to buy music directly from the artist. Artists such as Lee Aaron and Helix have earned my dollars via their own websites this year.
Then, there are places I haven’t bought anything from this past year. Walmart, Best Buy…there’s no point, really. Others include:
EBAY – I have bought no music from eBay in over two years. When I’m looking for uber-rarities, this is a very expensive way to get them. A last resort only.
My old store – Although Aaron finds stuff he wants there all the time, I haven’t had any luck in the last 12 months. However that is simply because I have so many CDs. It’s not due to the quality of that store. They are excellent at selling good condition used items. I just haven’t found much this year. I’m sure I will again. I’m just very picky about which versions of items I want, and if I don’t find the exact version I just want to keep looking. I still recommend my old store to anyone looking for cheap, good quality used CDs.
Regardless of where I obtain my music, one thing is certain: The collection keeps growing, and growing, and growing. I am confident with 100% certainty that it will continue to grow, thanks to the fine vendors listed here!
Just because I left my old job at the Record Store didn’t mean I stopped journaling. It did slow down, but it’s interesting to review them today, having just completed the Record Store Tales. It’s fascinating to me how positive they are (in general) compared to the ones only 18 months prior. It’s also interesting how even over a year after leaving that place, certain people continued to terrify me. Even though the person I’ll call “the office bully” had no power over me anymore, I was still in the grips in fear at the mere thought. I’m seeing journal entries about this person haunting my thoughts over a year after my last encounter, and I’m reading words like “terror”. I didn’t realize how I’d been affected by the whole thing. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. It took years for me to really put it all together, and I’m still doing that.
My journals after the store are pretty bland by comparison to the ones before. There are still some pretty funny ones, such as a review of the movie Transformers (2007) that is so stupidly positive that there is no way I will post it here, not even for comedic value! I would simply lose all credibility, so forget it. I remember dragging Jen out to see that stupid thing.
Of the journals I’ve re-discovered, one in particular jumped out at me as a great one to post first.
I won’t share the whole thing in its entirety as it includes a private email, but the first paragraph is pretty cool. I had made a video on Youtube back then regarding the passing of Mark St. John. I don’t have the video anymore, but it was pretty heartfelt and apparently others must have got that out of the video as well. This journal preserved an email that I received from a cousin of Mark:
Date: 2007/04/07 05:17
I just got the most amazing email in regards to my youtube video (below) [now gone] about Mark St. John of Kiss:
“Thank you so much for your tribute to Mark. He was my cousin. Mom called to tell me the bad news. She said Aunt Terry said to look him up online to see all the posts etc. on different sites. It was really cool of you to make your RIP video. [content edited] Thanks again for what you said….he will be greatly missed.”
Stuff like that video, I just threw it together. It was a first take with no edits. But apparently it really touched Mark’s cousin. This was yet another stepping stone in my realization that I should be online, talking about music. I think that was a good decision.
We all end up with CDs that we no longer want or need. I very rarely sell my CDs anymore. I’d rather donate them to a new home, where I know they will be loved and appreciated. The money part is less important to me. The last time I decided to sell off some CDs, I decided to try Sunrise at Fairview Mall (now closed). I’d never tried selling there before, but I had bought plenty. Their pricing was more than fair, but the guy was very slow. He didn’t seem as knowledgeable as the people I was used to dealing with. For example, I sold him my original, non-remastered CD copy of Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry. He asked me, “What is wrong with this CD?” It seemed he didn’t know what remastered vs. non-remastered was, only that the bar code he had punched in came up as something “discontinued”. So I had to explain the remastered vs. original thing to him. He ended up giving me $5 for the CD which was good, and I took store credit (which was a little bit more).
Still, it took him a lot of time. I only had a handful to sell that day (10 CDs if I remember) and it took the guy more than half an hour to look at them. It wasn’t a bad experience; I ended up with enough store credit to buy a some things. The money was good, about the same as I would have got at my old workplace. It was a comparable total, and I was happy with it, but the wait was a little excessive. I used the store credit to buy my friend Peter the new Metallica live set for his birthday.
I have also sold my discs (CD and DVD) at garage sales, an experience so memorable that I’ve written a future Getting More Tale about that story. Stay tuned! I’m saving that one. Let’s just say that serious garage sale people are an entire species to themselves; the cheapest people you will ever meet in your life.
I don’t need to do any more major purges of my music collection, currently. Any time I need to weed things out (usually an old version of a CD that I have upgraded) I can always find them a new home. You might say, “Sure, but money is better.” Maybe, but my friends return the favor in spades, so I can’t complain. I’m often the recipient of used CDs and movies that are sent to me in repayment for the discs I gifted earlier. Nobody ever asks for repayment, we just seem to have created circles of friends who share the wealth. In fact I’ve acquired some really great collectible stuff just due to the charity of friends. Thanks!
What do you do with your old CDs? Sell ’em, trade ’em, gift ’em? I’m curious so let me know in the comments!
mikeladano.com