One Ear At A Time

Saving the world...

Episode 8 - The Nut I'm Trying To Crack

October 05, 2016  /  Jeff Crawford

Episode 8 - the Nut I'm Trying To Crack

I was expressing my frustrations to my coach Charlie, when he decided to cut through my bullshit. He handed me a headset, gave me the notes we just had put together, and said "i'll be back in a bit with more coffee. There is no right or wrong way to say this, but it does have to be said. I'll leave when you hit 'record'." The following 17 or so minutes, while very uncomfortable, did get me out of my own way and did get the boulder moving downhill...More tomorrow.

http://oneearatatime.podbean.com/e/episode-8-the-nut-im-trying-to-crack/?token=570e8372825a2847818480ee3631aa58

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Record Store Day Has Outgrown Good Intentions

April 15, 2016  /  Jeff Crawford

[Editor's Note: The author was well into his 2nd 1pint 6oz Sound Brewery Monk's Indiscretion which he just realized is 10% alc/vol at the beginning of the post. A GREAT brew, but lightweights beware. By the by, it goes down REAL easy with the Billy Bragg/Wilco "Mermaid Avenue Vol I" 150g LP release as accompaniment...]

OK, this might seem like a counter-intuitive position for me to take, but let me explain from a failed record store owner's perspective. Record Store Day (RSD) is a great idea, but it has simply become too large.. A bunch of limited edition releases seems like a great deal, until you realize that there are in inxs (get it?) of 400 releases on this day alone, and for the love of God, it's the day after taxes are due!

Any record store owner would, if they're being honest, tell you that mid-February (when the bulk RSD ordering is due) is not the preferred time for a spend for a Black Friday event. Yes, they might be flush with Christmas cash, but those bills are coming due (net 90 days), but there's still a loooong way until Holiday 2016. Oh, yeah there are also NO RETURNS on RSD product. If the release doesn't sell, you're stuck with it.[A personal note-I scored BIG TIME when recently on vacation in Hawaii, at Request Music on Market Street on Maui-a great shop that should not be missed BTW-finding FIVE RSD April 2015 releases in December that I had long assumed were unattainable. The clerk was thrilled to be rid of them, because his boss was seriously miffed that most of his orders had not yet sold. If my son Miles would have been willing, I would have asked the clerk to show me everything he still had, because they had ben marked down to at or below cost. Instead, I left the shop employees a $20 tip to buy them lunch (or a good smoke).Years later I am still a big softie for record store employees...]

Almost all small shops rely on their monthly Return Allowance, when they can send back a certain percentage of their previous month's orders for credit. So, if each item is $10 (for simplicity)
and you wanted to stock all 400 or so, that's $4000 for ONE copy. That's a lot to gamble one one day. Multiple copies of a single in-demand issue cannot be guaranteed - it's all 1st come 1st served.

The releases also aren't supposed to be pre-ordered or held for your regulars, you know, the patrons who are there all year round, not just waiting in line like Black Friday, to hopefully score one of probably several releases he or she (but most likely he) will have to race around town to get everything he needs. Personally, I opened Glass Onion to be a place where you spent TIME as well as money. Having the register burning like Christmas eve, which is about equal to HALF of an average MONTH (yes you read that right) is a great idea, but RSD simply has become too big for a small mom and pop shop. If you sell out of the new alternate cover art limited Hendrix "Smash Hits" LP that you ordered 10 copies of but only received 3, after those sales, you have to tell everyone else who wants it that they're gone. Bainbridge Islanders intent on this release that they heard about on the news that morning would not hesitate to speak their frustrations, and that's not a conversation I would want to have over and over. Maybe they stay, maybe not, but a real small town shop simply cannot afford to turn any customer away, much less a regular who had the nerve to have a part time job that wouldn't understand an extra break to buy a record..

Glass Onion was so deep in the septic tank for the first RSD, and had no extra ordering capacity, and would shut it's door that October. I already hadn't been drawing a salary for about 6-7 months so I could pay my staff and placate my landlord. The wonderful people at the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, who started RSD did their level best to help, but they also weren't running a charity. Thankfully, the press was much lighter for the inaugural RSD, but I heard about my store's failing to meet demand for weeks thereafter, without the benefit of being able to come clean to them about how bad things really were....

So what's the solution? Record Store Week? Month? I would suggest Record Store Month myself, maybe in October, to create sustained demand (and multiple visits, which is MUCH more important in my view, since it takes about a month to change an average person's shopping habits.) 
In the meantime, go out and support your local record shop tomorrow, and more importantly, far beyond. Put your money where your passion is. If you only shop on RSD, you're part of the problem. If you really give a damn, give your local record shop your continued business, and give them a break if they don't have exactly what you're looking for. They have enough to worry about dealing without new hassles from once a year customers.

I realize this may not be a popular stand from one no longer in the business, but I want to start a conversation. What do you think? Is one day a year enough to drive an industry?

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First podcast posted!

October 15, 2015  /  Jeff Crawford

My first podcast!  No music yet, because while the radio station has clearance to play music (I think) I'm not sure if the podcast does.  I'd rather not run afoul of copyright law right out of the gate!

 

Oh, yeah the link!

http://oneearatatime.podbean.com/e/episode-1-what-the-hell-am-i-doing/?token=4b2a9ad02b4fe00b12781103a3aea1c6

 

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Buddy Guy/Junior Wells - Going Back To Acoustic

October 11, 2015  /  Jeff Crawford

Pure Pleasure Analogue Records PPAN001($26-)

If you like acoustic blues, you can stop reading and go buy this album right now.  It is that good.

Recorded May 15, 1981, and originally released in France on Isabel Records 900.510 (which I am actively shopping to compare sonics-such is my mania) and Alligator Records ALCD 4802.  These two legends came to Sysmo Studios, Paris, France. without their respective bands for an impromptu magical session. This record goes down so, sosmooth, very similar to the Muddy Waters - Folk Singer audiophile chestnut, but lacking that recording's big echo.  This recording is simply two relaxed masters at the top of their games.

This disc is DEAD quiet, even after traveling from Fresno, California, where I bought it from Spinners Records (www.spinnersrecords.com) about three or four years ago.  My brother and I were in Fresno for a family business trip, and, of course, I just had to go looking for records! I saw it, remembered something about it being good, and went to the counter.  I said a silent, kind word to whom/whatever is in charge of airline baggage, and boarded my flight home. Got home, unpacked, everything looked good, and I promptly forgot all about it, until about an hour ago. What the hell was I thinking? I could have been listening to this delightful record all this time!

It begins with John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun" and improves from then on, through "High Heel Sneakers" in the most relaxed back-porch way, you'd never think these songs had ever been recorded electric. Definitely a desert island disc. Go buy this album.  It really makes me wish I still had the Onion...I'd be on a soapbox out front, playing the HELL out of it!

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