Here’s an old thread that I thought would get more play on its initial release. Guess I overestimated the anticipation Townspeople had for this topic. Or maybe it would have helped if I had introduced the piece with my tale of buying Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom with a friend in New York on the day of its release and returning to his hometown of East Orange, NJ before breaking into his friend’s house through a basement window his friend once showed him how to open. There, while the kid and his parents were out doing productive things, we could fire up this new album in all its highly anticipated majesty. The statuate of limitations has passed on this youthful indescretion, right?
This post initially appeared 2/8/08.
Real simple: Here’s an opportunity to discuss at least two issues related to today’s poll.
- What’s the last album you recall so greatly anticipating the release of to the degree that you made sure to buy it the day it came out?
- Can you share a particularly memorable story about a highly anticipated album release and first-day purchase?
I look forward to – no, I eagerly anticipate your responses!
I greatly anticipated rhe release of the Dukes of Stratosphear “25 o’clock” EP.
We were fortunate at GW to have a brand spanking new Tower Records open *on campus* in ’83 or ’84. I bought the EP there and quickly went back to the house I was living in and probably listened to it with mwall and chickenfrank
I greatly anticiptated 25 o’clock as well and was not disappointed. More recently though I anticipated and purchased Smile on the day of release and was thoroughly satisfied as well. I think I also bought Apple Venus vol.1 day of release and still dig that as well.
I vividly remember buying Speaking in Tongues on the day of release and trying desperately to like it. I must have listened to it 4 or 5 times straight, determined that I must be missing the greatness but alas…
I don’t believe I’ve ever bought an album on the day of its release. With direct ordering from artists and labels, I’ve recently done some ‘pre-release’ ordering. I think the recent Robyn Hitchcock box was last example.
I was just all psyched for Black Mountain and Drive By Truckers January 22nd. I’m not disappointed in either and I like them both a lot. I also grabbed Times New Viking’s new one, which also came out that day but I wasn’t waiting for, I just stumbled into it. So I have three albums that came out this year already.
Now I’m eagerly waiting for Ladyhwak’s new one the first week in March. Plus, I hear there’s supposed to be a new Greenhornes album and a new Raconteurs album this year. I love getting new stuff. I always have.
I don’t think I’ve ever bought a record the day it was released either. In recent years I bought the Jayhawks Rainy Day Music a week or two after it came out. No particular story about that, though it’s a record I like and have played quite a bit.
A couple of months ago I read an article about Shelby Lynne doing an album of Dusty Springfield songs. Just from the headline I thought “What’s the point of that?” but something in the article intrigued me and I kept it in the back of my mind that the disc was to be released in late January.
So last Sunday I saw it featured in the Best Buy flyer (which was a surprise) for $9.99 complete with “exclusive bonus DVD” so on Tuesday I picked up a copy.
A day trip to Philly on Friday for a funeral provided 8 hours in the car and an opportunity to listen to some recent acquisitions and first in at 5:00am was Shelby Lynne’s “Just A Little Lovin'” and I was stunned at just how great it is. Nothing is radically different from Dusty’s originals but neither does it feel like kareoke. There is next to nothing lost in the vocal category, if forced to pick I’d still give the nod to Dusty. But the arrangements are really terrific.
I’d never thought that the originals were over the top, although they come dangerously close. But having listened to these new versions, I’m having second thoughts. These are much more restrained, much more low key and I’m on the fence as to whether they might be better suited to the material.
Unlike 95% of most CDs I’ve purchased in the last few years, I fully expect to be spending a lot of time with this one and I’m looking forward to that.
Been playing the crap out of the new Magnetic Fields, which I not only got on day of release, I actually went into a store and bought it instead of getting it from Amazon!
I was in Denver the weekend the new Arcade Fire CD came out. Bought it and played it the next day on the drive back. My friend and I agreed that the songs that worked
best for us had heavier bass parts.
It was an interesting experience. I’ll never forget some of the more downbeat songs playing while driving through the desolate landscape of Wyoming.
I always pick up Springsteen, U2, Wilco records the day they come out.
I know I waited in line for Springsteen Live 75-85 and had to buy the LP, since they ran out of CDs before I got to the counter.
I used to arrive at Turtles Records & Tapes on Tuesday morning looking for that day’s new releases. The manager ususally didn’t have them out yet and was annoyed that he had to go into the back and open boxes.
Mr. Mod, your EC story, as well as the recent issue of the full Hollywood High, reminded me of when I bought Armed Forces at our local Caldor’s when it first came & then going back to my friend’s house to play it, only to discover that the Hollywood High EP was missing, so that we hadda go back & get another copy.
Last October was a perfect storm w/the Big Star box set, the Beatles reissues & the LA Nuggets box set. I don’t think that will happen again.
I just noticed that the T.A.M.I. Show will finally come out on DVD on 3/23, so I’ll be waiting for that.
Wow. I’m glad you brought this one back, Mod. I have a few…
I remember when the second installment of the Beatles Anthology came out. I anticipated it greatly not only because it was to feature outtakes from my favorite period of The Beatles studio period (66-67), but I also greatly preferred “Real Love” to “Free As A Bird” as a “new” song. Also, this was my chance to buy “new” Beatles music for the first time in my life. (I remember a young DJ was about to play “FAAB” on the radio. His air check was perfect: “I’m about to say something that I never thought I would get to say when I got into this business, here’s the newest song from The Beatles…”). I was in college in Cleveland, MS at the time. Needless to say, the only places to buy new music was Wal-Mart (HAHAHAHA) or a local place called Sound Center (they specialized in car audio, but they sold CDs, too) I went to Sound Center where the guy tried to argue with me that it had NOT come out today. I ended up going to the mall in Greenville, MS to buy it. The joys of going to school in the Mississippi Delta…
I was living in Athens, GA the day New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M. came out. They had a “midnight sale” at the local Blockbuster Music, where I promtly went to get it (Even though I was working at record store at the time.). A couple of days later, I read how Stipe and Buck were on hand for the midnight release at Wuxtry. Wuxtry was only a few blocks from my house, but I chose to drive to the mega-chain with the UGA frat dudes instead of the hipster local place where MEMBERS OF THE BAND met and worked at one point. Doh!
I know I have more…
TB
I’m sure TB can verify this story also.. One of the last records I highly anticipated was the Beatles Anthology series.
I believe it was Vol.3 which came out when TB and I were hard at work at Camelot Records. Myself, TB, and Brent (our ultra-hip manager) all were major Beatles fans. I happened to have that Tuesday off of work. So, I arrived at the store while TB and Brent were putting the disc on the shelves. I bought my copy promptly at 10 am.
TB and Brent decided not to open up a copy to listen to at the store that day and decided to wait until they got home later. I remember both of them being ultra-jealous that I could go home and enjoy the set all the way through on my day off.
ha ha TB!!! I still heard it first!!!
Yes. Those were good times to be a Beatles fan while working at record store with all the cool promo stuff Capitol was sending out. It was also hard when there were three of us fighting for that stuff.
You did hear it first while Brent and myself toyed with the idea of whether or not we would crack open a copy and play it. We resisted and listened to our that evening when we got off work.
Another new release story (I may have shared this one here before):
September 11, 2001. Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft was slated for release. While watching the horrific events unfold that morning, I went to my local record store to pick up a copy on my lunch break. That afternoon, when I got home from work, I took a break from the nonstop media berrage of coverage and put my headphones on to listen to the new Bob Dylan record. Bob sang that “Today has been a sad and lonesome day…”
TB
I actually got a copy of the Beatles Anthology 1 the day before its release at a local music shop along w/The Attack of the Smithereens, which came out about the same time.
I also remember getting a copy of the Kinks’ One From The Road for $6.99 at the Harvard Coop when it first came out.
I have never gone to a bricks and mortar store to buy a record on its release date. One thing I’ve noticed lately though is that when I check Amazon on an album I know is coming out soon, I sometimes find a future release date listed, but the mp3 version of the album is already available for download purchase.
I bought the new Magnetic Fields album a few days before its release date. Now that’s anticipation! If you buy directly from certain labels, you can sometimes download early too. Some have an ‘order the CD (or LP) and get a download code immediately’ deal. The future is now.
Jungleland, that dude at Turtles should have put his new releases out the night before so they could be on display when the store opened on Tuesday morning, thus making it less of a hassle for you. He was a bad manager.
I know at Bebop (our local recco sto), we used to prepare the racks and discs the night before and put them out right before we opened. I can;t remember how we did it at Camelot. MickAvory? When I worked there (I used to close on Mondays), I would usually leave the cash to buy the new releases so they could be rung up the next day (We were a Soundscan store, so we couldn’t break the release dates.).
TB
I made a point of going to Tower Records on South St. the night the first volume of the Beatles Anthology came out. I remember the Friggs were there rocking out on “I’m Down,” and Mikey Wilde sang the worst (or best, I’m not sure) version of “Helter Skelter” I’ve ever heard. Great night even though I didn’t love the Anthology CD as much as I was hoping I would.
I bought the Crowded House reunion album on the day of its release. Had to have it, but never fell in love with it.
For a summer I worked at a record store and Marshall Crenshaw’s “Goodnight” album came out then, so I bought it with my employee discount, right on the day of release. As he rung up the sale, the manager said, “why don’t you just wait for the cutout?” and he was probably right.
The only time I can remember geeking out over this was going to buy Achtung Baby at the late, lamented HMV in Harvard Square at midnight (or, to be exact, just after). Well worth it, too.
Dylan albums are the only ones I try to buy on the day they come out, after months of anticipation. So I can second the Love & Theft story from Latelydavidband. It definitely felt weird drivin´ up to the record shop that day.
I’m buzzed up for The Wolfmen’s new album.. Married to the Eiffel Tower (out later this year). I’ve heard snippets, and featured the next single Cat Green Eyes in a podcast – has remixes by Courtney Taylor and should be a winner
TB, if I remember right, I used to put the new releases on the shelf when I got there in the morning. I would usually get in around 9, count the registers and then work on the new release racks. The issue was that nobody really gave a damn about anything but the hot rap flavor of the week. Rawk stuff was almost looked down upon!
And.. if I remember right, there was some other big album that came out on Sep. 11, 2001 besides the Dylan disc. And yes, I went out that evening to the store to get it.
Also.. for a significant number of years.. Starting with McCartney’s Tripping the Light Fantastic Live thing.. I bought EVERY Beatles or Beatles-related release on the day they came out.
I even bought Chaos And Creation PLUS that recent Stones disc while I was on Katrina evacuation in Atlanta. I didn’t know if my house was ok.. but damn.. I had those two cds.
Every release that is…
Until.. Paul’s Memory Almost Full.
The memory which stands out very distinctly in my mind is waiting for the new Jam album “Sound Affects”. It was my first semester of college at University of California at Berkeley – a time when I must have gone the the record stores at least 2 or 3 times a day when walking to and from classes. It was, however, winter break 1980. Fortunately my parents lived in Walnut Creek, a suburb of Berkeley/San Francisco. I knew the Jam album had come out in late November (it’s actually easy to figure out these dates – you’ll see). Anyway, a group of friends and I traveled into Berkeley and went to Rasputin’s Records, which was at the time the best record store. The import copy of the new Jam album was sitting in a rack near the front of the store. I grabbed and held it up, looking at the cover. Then, one of the very “cool” store workers exclaimed, “hey everyone, forget about a Beatles reunion.” Everything stopped as people looked at him, “John Lennon’s dead” he said. I didn’t know what to feel. I bought the Jam album, it was great, the song “Start” sounded just like Taxman…
Excellent tales this time around! I’m glad we brought this thread back to The Main Stage. Keep those tales of anticipation coming! I’m trying to think what the last album was that I bought upon its release – maybe that first XTC comeback album, Apple Venus 1, which was pretty satisfying after the long wait and a couple of albums prior to that that I didn’t like. Or maybe it was Apple Venus 2, which I thought was pretty bad and prepared me for their eventual, official breakup. Actually it was probably something more recent, like one of the last two Nick Lowe albums. Still, nothing comes out these days that makes me want to break into a stranger’s house to get a first listen. Bummer!
Never bought an album on it’s release date. Seen a lot of movies on the day they were released. I’ve also gone to a lot of record release shows by local acts, but I’ve never waited at a record store to get my hands on the first day copy of anything.
Got an advanced copy of Check Your Head, by The Beastie Boys at the college radio station I was working at. That was a thrill! It had been 3 years since they changed the face of pop culture with the monumentally post-modern and at the time reviled, Paul’s Boutique. I was eager to see if they had anything new to bring to the table. They did! They Played instruments, and rapped over their own loops. They also played straight up Rock on this one. A cool little number called Gratitude.
I waited in line for 17 years for Chineese Democracy to come out, and was gravely disappointed!
Just Kidding.
Good one, pepe. There should have been a 1-800-HELP line for any GNR fan who actually did wait for that turd.