Well it’s Saturday and George has volunteered to do the shop all day to let me have a day off. Part of me wonders if someone is bringing in a tasty record collection at three. I just hope today is not the afternoon that Vashti Bunyan chooses to come in.
The break is handy though as I can sit down and write this. There is a lot to talk about. But rather than clear the backblog and finish some of the six blog pieces in the pipeline (I need some photos of Henry’s Cellar Bar among other stuff), here is a brief new one to keep you folks up to date.
“You know we should just buy some Kingspan and shove it up the rafters”. This is the reason the blog has been tardy. I’ve moved into a new place and it needs a tonne of work. If you’re a Cockney, then you’ll understand I need a full tree of monkeys. Or hey, a rock of Gibraltar! All this work needs more cash than a humble record shop can provide and I’ve been working extra shifts at my other job. Some of you already know that when not inventing Cockney words, I’m a part time Geriatrician -which helps me look after George too. Boom Boom.
I also need to discuss the resuscitation status of some of our customers. I’m afraid some are a getting bit decrepit. Luckily the new resus guidelines say I don’t have to give mouth to mouth to our favourite regular Saturday customer. But as a trained medical professional, if erm, Elbert* pops his clogs in the back room I’ll probably have to get stuck in. Note to self: Make sure to leave a pocket mask and a copy of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack under the counter.
It’s good business sense to properly resuscitate your customers.
As I said to a legendary Chilean record dealer when he told me outside of Café Camino “I’ve not been able to take a pizz in 3 days, now I’ve got zees painsh in my back”; “Seriously dude, you need to go to hospital as soon as possible! Have you been into the record fair yet? No? Well make sure you go to the fair and then go to the hospital immediately.”
It’s with a sigh of relief then, that record buyers are getting younger. Prostates are thankfully smaller and a good proportion of our customers have no prostate at all. That’s in part due to the success of Record Store Day and I’m stoked to say that we will be involved again this year. It falls on Saturday April 20th and our plans for the day should be confirmed and formalised by next Thursday when the organisers announce the official vinyl releases. It’s not about the records though guys. Is it? Is it? Is it really?
I’ve freed up some time to get organised and like a good catheterisation this will lead to an outpouring of pent up…. (this analogy has already gone too far)
What to expect in the next few weeks?
1. Ponderings on Record Store Day 2013
2. An update on the VoxBox DJ night
3. New friends and collaborate-bars (title a work in progress)
4. Classic Pop!
5. Where are all ze records?
6. A review of reviews
New blog bits will be announced on facebook and twitter. RSS will be easier to set up next week.
Finally, an in-joke for those in the know, this is BPH.**
*Name cleverly disguised
**Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy.