Tuesday 14 April 2009

Record Store Day

The powers that be decided that this Saturday(18/04/09) is "Record Store Day" The aim of this is to event is to re-engage the music loving public and get them out in their droves to buy some product and in turn keep this rapidly disappearing sector of retail commerce from becoming extinct.



Here we Scratchy Towers are happy to pitch in with our support, particularly as it's more difficult to find a worthwhile record shop that's left open round these parts. It was such a part of growing up for me, heading into town on a Saturday, holding my hard earned money in my grubby little mitts ready to splash some dosh on whatever platter mattered on that particular weekend. It started a love affair with music that has lasted the best part of three decades and it would be a tremendous shame if the next generation of music lovers were denied the opportunity to hang out in a dingy shop surrounded by like minded souls (abet some with questionable hygiene habits) perusing the racks and finally experiencing the thrill of making that choice as to which record was going to annoy the parents in the following week by playing at full blast over and over again.



I have completed visual tribute to all the wonderful record stores still keeping their open signs hanging on the door. I have also posted a piece of artwork by my all time favourite comic artist, Jamie Hernandez, who is backing the campaign with his considerable talents. Jamie, along with his brother Gilbert (and to a lesser extent another brother called Mario) are the creative force behind some of the finest comic art in the history of the medium. It's hard to convey just how much of an influence the 'Los Bros' have been in my own cartooning and how essential reading their Love and Rockets comic is. If you haven't dipped into this very special indie punk American-Hispanic magic realism saga, I'd recommend the "The Death of Speedy" storyline as a good place to jump on.



Note for Eighties goth rock music lovers, the band of the same moniker came after the comic and indeed one of the funniest stories features the day to day travails of a rubbish punk band of spotty teenagers called Love and Rockets, the real band couldn't complain because they nicked the name off the Hernandez guys to begin with!

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Hernandez

Jamie at Fantagraphics the comics publisher

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