The Final Posting From Record World

And now a few final words from this blogger.

Last year we had 12,000 views and it was decided to keep this running for another year.  This year we cleared 2,000.  I think the ratings are a bit overblown but I tend to believe the 2,000 views better than the inflated one of last year. But still for 15 years, we had a great run.

While, blogs have come and gone, Tad, has continue to keep his going in the time that I started here.  He's been very supportive   http://tadsbackupplan.blogspot.com/2017/12/9-years.html

As always, Half Price Books have been my number 1 place of finding off the wall CDs and bargain bin favorites.  Since the demise of Hastings, Borders, FYE and many others, HP Books bucks the trend.  They have now been here for over a decade.  The majority of reviews came from them.  I shall continue to live there as long as they stay in business.   Stuff Etc was another thrift store that I could find out of print albums as well from the kindness of people getting rid of their cds.  Of course I have to sort through all of the crappy rap albums and One Direction CDs but once in a while I come across something interesting.  I basically got my Leo Kotteke albums from Stuff Etc one August day.

To the record stores still existence.. Moondog Music in Dubuque, Mad City Music X and Strictly Discs in Madison, Ragged Records-Davenport, Co Op Records-Moline, Record Collector-Iowa City and Analog Vault and Vintage Vinyl in Cedar Rapids, I shall return as always.

I miss the days of going to Arizona and finding music but with Hastings closing their doors, it really doesn't seem much fun driving past the empty buildings in Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City and Kingman to name a few.  They still got Bookman's and they still got Zia's Records and they still got a ton of thrift stores.  The ever passive audiophile will know where to look.

The most fun this year was finding 45s and this year was one of the best, if not the best ever to find them.  Which is saying a lot since a lot of folks are buying records and finding any 45s have been few and far between.  But I got lucky a few times.  There might be a notion to continue to document them whenever I find more next year but on a whole I think things ran their course.  I don't think I'm setting the rock world on fire with all those Paul Anka finds.


I think the early years of Record World (Back when MSN had them up) were the best ones, full of sarcastic remarks and outrageous thoughts and most of disappeared and My Space was more of the same.  I didn't act quite fast enough and the 2006-2007 blogs are now in the black hole of cyberland. Ditto with Multiply, I lost the Neil Young Discography over  there, I have no intent of revisiting that.  Try Greatest Hits, then After The Gold Rush,  Rust Never Sleeps, Re-Act-ot, Ragged Glory, Harvest Moon, and then try your luck when you find the rest in the dollar bins at your local thrift store. Good luck.

The state of music today is that what you hear on top 40 radio, you won't remember the next week. I still think there is good music out there, but they have to compete with the classic albums of the 60s 70s etc and with Corporate interests owning all the major labels and most of radio, today's bands have a hard time getting noticed.   Yes, there's net radio, and of course the local bars and perhaps one day we might have a return to the good ole days that new music paved the new way.  But whatever SPIN or Pitchfork touts, I just cannot get into.  The Father John Misty, The Arcade Fire, and  certainly not new country, the Kane Brown, Old Dominion,  Walker Hayes,  it's easier to make fun of them but in reality if I can't get into their music, there's not point of saying how much they suck.   Public Radio hasn't wowed me with what they been playing either.   Maybe it's the end of music as I know it.  But I do know there's still much out there to be discovered from 60 years of rock and roll and another 40 of the beginnings.  I'll still continue to support the local artists and what they put out but as for rehashed reissues of albums I already have and autotuned chipmunks and kayne west wannabees are not for me. As my late IBM repairman Mark Lasack said, You're On Your Own.

And like the first blog that I did in 2002, we were going through 10 below temps and me trying to make use of my time to write about music and things that I wanted the world to know.  But something happened along the way this year that changed everything.  On the jam circuit I met my future girlfriend and it took a while to finally catch her.  I really did have to be patient to win her over.  We had a few false starts but this month she did finally wanted to be a part of this rock and roll record hoarder's life.  I wasn't sure if I was the one till November at the jam on a subpar night and going home, she caught me at the door, then invited me over to her place to work on some music.  And then things just fell into place.  She didn't have to worry about anybody else, I wasn't looking anyway.  Only her.

And now it's the last day of December, the last day of the year, it's 30 below wind chill and the GD starter went out of one of the cars and the other car is grunting and groaning.  I look in despair, that this month we started out above normal and now after Christmas we can't catch a break with below zero weather and fucking snow every day.  But the place is warm, my woman is in her bed sleeping with a smile on her face and I still got music playing on the box.   So things could be worse.

I no idea what 2018 will be like, but I do know is the music will continue and people will continue to die and there will be babies being born into a world that we have a Fraud as president in tow and a congress representing the 1 percent.  There'll be a revolution coming and people will either rise to the occasion and vote them out or stay home and let the evils and the hobbyists and bought out Congressmen, women continue to take away our way of living.  There'll be floods, and tornadoes and droughts and fires and hurricanes for next year.  Bands will come, bands will go, the trade mags will continue to hang on each word Liam and Noel Gallagher will spill out, and some will care what they say.  I don't.   Of course, the music world will continue to lose the hippies and music makers of the past seven decades, death never takes a holiday and as they say we never know when our time is up.  There'll be new blogs to replace the old blogs, newbies taking over for the oldsters.  It's not the end for me if I conclude Record World, it's been a fun ride and for a decade and a half too.  From here on out, it becomes the archives and I'm sure will be here longer than My Space or MSN put together.  The intent was to turn people on to music you have not heard or new music I know you have not heard or music and bands that were forgotten.  Once in a while it would strike a chord with somebody (Thanks to  Swinging Steaks, and the manager of Mom's Apple Pie), which meant I actually did my job.  The curtain falls but I'll be around somewhere.   If you read this far dear reader, thanks for your support.

I bid you all goodbye and Happy New Year 2018.