Sunday, December 13, 2009

Click and Pops-iversary

This blog is exactly one year old today.

One year ago today, the first post appeared on Clicks and Pops.

In lieu of getting me a cake, here are a couple of things you can do instead:


Over the past 12 months, I've been thrilled to hear from more than a few of the musicians I've written about (both old heroes and new discoveries) whose songs have inspired me. But special thanks go out to all of you -- the regular readers and the ones who show up from odd corners of the world via Google (and stay to check out the blog).

And for everyone, in weren't there a year ago (or didn't look all the way back in the archives), here's a rerun of the very first Clicks and Pops post:
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[Originally posted Saturday, December 13, 2008]

I spent too much of my youth in used record stores.

See, I grew up in a small town with three colleges (and two more a few miles away). There were great used record stores there – one in the back of a head shop on Main Street (specializing in selling foreign cut-outs), one next to a stationary store (whose owner was busted for selling pot – I know, in a college town? Shocking!), and another one that sold hundreds of cheap bootlegs whose “covers” were cheap mimeographs of bad band photos.

And I was patient – I’d thumb through the stacks, always looking for something specific, but always open to what I might find – especially if the price was low. And the price was almost always low, because there were always lots of college students selling their records to the used record stores. Plus, I wasn’t a collector.

That’s important. Collectors care about more about the label and the idea of the record than they care about what’s on the record.

This is what collectors do:



For me, it was always about the music.

And while I own a few records that actually are valuable, their real value for me is what’s on them.

To be honest, when I was younger, I was more like Jack Black’s character here:



(I like to think I'm more tolerant now. So if you wanted to listen to "I Just Called To Say I Love You," I wouldn't say anything mean about you -- but I would leave the room.)

And while I own a few records that actually are valuable, their real value for me is what’s on them.

So this blog is mostly about music (and often about vinyl). Because it’s the music that matters.

8 comments:

Maggie said...

Hurray!
I really do think that you are a terrific writer and it's been a pleasure reading your blog.

I love Jack Black.

Steve said...

I wish you'd told me... now I'm stuck with all this cake!

Happy anniversary!

Alex said...

Thanks, thingy & Steve.

Casey said...

Congrats. I check your blog out regularly. Good stuff!

Mister Pleasant said...

Great first post. I wish I had been like Jack Black but really was more like the quiet bald guy.

I really enjoy your posts. Looking forward to year 2.

March2theSea said...

Happy Blog Birthday...here is to many more years!

Connie said...

Congratulations, Alex. What a fine job you've done.

Might I be so bold as to suggest something else people might do to celebrate? OK, here goes. If you have extra copies of stuff, donate them to a shelter for teenagers. These kids use music as a lifeline to sanity and the "old stuff" is much in vogue with the younguns these days.

Connie

Alex said...

Thanks, Connie, March, Mr. P., and Casey (it's no wonder the college crowd digs you).

Connie, that's a wonderful suggestion -- especially this time of year and especially this year (which has been so incredibly difficult for so many people).