It was a rookie mistake. The past few years of scaled-down RSD Drops had lulled me into thinking it would be okay to show up for a full-out Record Store Day at the downtown Reckless Records only a half hour before it opened. But after a brisk walk from the Metra station, I encountered a line of people that snaked around the side of the building and down the alley. I didn’t have much hope of snagging the “Sunday Girl” single by Blondie that was at the top of my wish list.
But all went well. The Reckless Records staff did its usual friendly, efficient job and customers struck up friendly conversations while waiting outside. Two guys directly in front of me discovered they were both Phish fanatics. I was able to buy the Blondie 45 as well the U2 12-inch “Celebration” single. Record Store Day was back to normal again.
Vocalist-guitarist Carla Olson, who formed The Textones in 1978, before moving on to a successful career as solo recording artist and producer, has just released a rampaging cover of The Who’s “I Can See For Miles” on Bandcamp. Olson can also be heard performing “Here Comes That Train Again” with Stephen McCarthy from Dream Syndicate on the upcoming various artists compilation Americana Railroad.
Metric has a single coming out this Thursday, according to a quick teaser post on Instagram.
The Animals have a new vinyl collection coming out on May 20 titled The Animals Mickie Most Years. It’s a limited vinyl edition featuring four U.S. albums, plus a rare 12-inch EP of “I Just Wanna Make Love To You.”
Late last week, I was saddened to learn that Lou Galassini, bassist for the Chicago indie rock band Van Go had passed away. I think, like a lot of people who knew him through the Chicago music scene, I kept rereading the Facebook post hoping I was just misunderstanding what it said. It didn’t seem possible. Lou was a big, friendly guy.
One night at Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue a few years back, he and his wife Erica Loftus, who’s also a local musician, noticed me standing by myself and invited me to join them at their table. We only knew each other from International Pop Overthrow events, but that night, we talked like old friends. On another occasion, we hung out together at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine during a Minstrel’s music store reunion there. From the numerous comments I read on Facebook, Lou was great at connecting with people that way. I also read there will be an event to honor him later this year. I’m betting it will be well-attended.
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