The Lanes Crew: Jenn, DJ Jack The Ripper, and Pete

Asbury Lanes Record Swap - January 13, 2008 Asbury Park, NJ

"Put your records on, play me your favorite song"- Corin Bailey Rae
"I wanna hit record yeah!"- Raspberries
"I love rock 'n roll, so put another dime in the jukebox baby!"- Joan Jett and
the Blackhearts
"Rock 'n roll records ain't selling this year."- The Supersuckers

And the list of songs about those heavenly platters of plastic goes on and on… Can't say I can think of songs gushing with the virtues of a compact disc, or their bastard cousin, the DVD. Hey, they even named a band after that vital vinyl, The Records! Yeah, sure I have like, a gazillion CD's & DVD's, but my heart, and those of a LOT of other people belongs to the vintage vinyl that we grew up with. Heck, vinyl LP's are making a comeback. Time magazine just had an interesting story about "Vinyl Getting It's Groove Back," comparing the sound quality of iPods, and MP3 players (the sound is compressed) to the rich, cozy sound of a vinyl record, even though some of them have the snap, crackle, & pops.

And it's not only us old fucks that are nostalgic for our youth, you're seeing a lot of kids buying record players, or dusting off their parents turntables. My friend Diane has a couple of teenage cousins who are gaga over The Mama's and the Papa's. I've been giving them the band's vinyl LP's and 45's. It's really cool. they look at you like you just gave them a some black gold! The Record Swap at Asbury Lanes is a natural. Not only is it one of the coolest clubs in the area (if not the world), but their DJ's play only vinyl. And that's not as easy as it might sound. They use only pristine records. You very rarely hear a pop or a hiss, and they play music that is, in a word... incredible! DJ Jack The Ripper and DJ Riff Raff are two of the DJ manning the turntables playing pretty much what they feel like (Rockabilly, punk, 60's/70's Top 40, weird stuff, etc.), sharing their tastes in music and helping to broaden our horizon, enlightening us, or plying an uptight, outta sight, one-hit wonder that you'd swear you'd haven't heard in twenty years. It's song to song energy that gets your juices flowing!

But I digress, the swap ( you can swap your vinyl or sell it), was a lot of fun and diverse. Besides the regular record vendor types, there was also a guy who, with the help of his son (about 10), brought in about 1,000 records, carrying pile after pile. For some reason he didn't use the crates that most sellers use. They just piled them up and let people pick through them. The guy pretty much made up the prices as he wanted. Usually reasonably priced, you could find a long lost favorite like I did when I came across Iron Butterfly's first album "Heavy," and one of the best live albums, Deep Purple's "Made in Japan," a buck each. As far as diversity it's like they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." There were hardcore collectors that, if there were the faintest smudge on the vinyl they wouldn't even consider buying it. Some even brought a small portable record player to tryout the record, which is a pretty good idea, as long as you're not looking for perfection.

The Lanes Crew

Throughout the show, they played music (vinyl of course), keeping Lanes vibe, which was music from the obvious to the obscure. What was also fun was taking to the collectors and buyers about music, and the vinyl. One guy I talked to saw the Iron Butterfly album and had mentioned that he say them across the street at Convention Hall back in the late 60's, and it was the show I had gone to because the opening act was the psychedelic blues band, Rhinoceros. When I was talking to DJ Riff Raff, he went into detail about a Uriah Heep album that he loved... great stories!

Than we got into one of my favorite infamous bands, The Royal Guardsmen! They're the band with the distinction of putting out the "Snoppy" records back in the late 60's. There were three singles (I haven't come across an full album yet), of The WW1 lying ace Snoopy (Charlie Brown's dog), and his nemesis, Germany's ace pilot, The Red Baron. Seems DJ Riff Raff didn't know there was a trilogy of 45's for our courageous K9- "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," The Return of the Red Baron," & "Snoopy's Christmas" (Mr. Raff was missing the "Return..."). And so it went- buying, selling, swapping stories, and listening to some of the grooviest music, this side of Chipmunk Punk!

I think, at least for me, music is an instant emotion, and especially listening to vinyl records, I can hear a song from the 60's, 70's or even a current one like The Supersuckers' "Rock and Roll Records Ain't Selling This Year" (they're playing at The Lanes on Feb. 2), and all of a sudden you smell the room you were in, or you sense what the weather was like, or you remember who you were with at that exact moment.

Besides the vinyl itself, let's not forget the LARGER album covers (14"x14"), and even the more elaborate one's that open up ("Sgt. Pepper's..." by The Beatles is so cool), full-size pullout posters, booklets and liner notes that you don't need a microscope to read. With vinyl you can also get the experience of putting an album on your turntable, and sharing the music with friends (I recently had a listening party for my friends for Bruce & The E-Street Band's "Magic"), as opposed to plugging in some earbuds and tuning out the rest of the world.

Besides record swaps, Amazon.com has a vinyl-only store, and indie stores like Jack's Music in Red Bank, and Vintage Vinyl in Fords (you can also sell your vinyl there, but you'll only get a pittance), sell new releases like The Killers & Ryan Adams, and reissues like The Dictators' "Everyday is Saturday," that are
reasonably priced at around $12 to $18. I'd like to see them bring back 45's also (I'd like to get a Jukebox someday), especially the picture sleeve. You can also record from your turntable to your MP3 player or iPod, getting high-quality sound at home, and portability for the road. Also, vinyl's can be molded into different shapes (I have a cool, pumpkin-shaped record of scary Halloween tunes), and eye-catching designs (I also have a Beatles "Best OF" double record on light blue vinyl and my prized possession- a red, psychedelic, swirly-colored disc, of all kazoo songs).

Coolest Movie Scene With A Record Player: "In "Almost Famous" there's a deleted scene (you'll find it in the extras), where the family is sitting in the living room, around the record player listening to... nothing! Actually they wanted to use a Led Zeppelin song like, "Dazed and Confused" but they couldn't get the rights. It's so funny!

Music is the fastest way to your creative source, and sitting around a record player, or in the case of Asbury Lanes (their DJ's don't use microphones either), with a large group of people, discussing the songs, looking at the band photos, or following along with the pamphlet with the words, or even getting up to flip over a record (don't get me started on MONO vs. STEREO), makes vinyl a more communal experience with family and friends, especially during the cold, dark Winter months. Hey, they even made record players for cars a few years back. A guy was telling me that it played upside-down somehow... and the best way to clean your dirty discs from what I hear is... windex, or good ol' soap and water.

The next Vinyl Swap at Asbury Lanes will be on Feb. 24.
Check: www.asburylanes.com for more info.

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