The Daily Max

vinyl

New gifts for the record player - You Only Live Twice soundtrack, Frances Faye : I'm Wild Again, and Styx : The Grand Illusion.

Michael Jackson is very sentimental to me for many reasons.  He was the first performer I ever had the privilege to see live in concert.  I'll never forget it.  The extreme excitement of the crowd, the large volume of screams, the range of ages who came to see him live, and myself standing on the stadium chair straining to see him when he walked on stage.  It was definitely a family event.  That experience has never been replicated for me since. 

He also reminds me of meeting Jon for the first time on New Year's Eve.  We had previously met at a friend's 70's themed party and briefly spoke, but it was New Year's Eve where we met again and I had him all to myself.  We danced to "Rock With You" and lots of other Michael Jackson songs that night.  Dancing with him for the first time was so much fun...we've been told by friends who were there that we were very "cute" that night.  I also knew that any boy who could play in a really loud rock band and dance to a Michael Jackson song like that was a boy after my grade school and teenage heart.  Love at first sight happens in funny ways sometimes...

I searched a long time tonight for the perfect video, but this just happens to be one of my favorite MJ songs and it also reminds me of that New Year's Eve party a bit.

Old music is new to me

I'm really enjoying our new record player.  I get to find and pick up albums that sound better in vinyl and/or you can't find on iTunes and I guess I forgot how fun that was.  I picked up this album yesterday mostly for the cover and because I sincerely love Petula Clark.  It would be really fun to recreate this album cover. 

p.s.  Petula's video for "Downtown" is so cool.  I love the rotating multiple Petula heads towards the end. 

Let the music play

Well, that didn't take very long.  These are pictures of our brand new / old Vivico 1969 record player purchased this weekend at Hawthorne Stereo here in Seattle.  An awesome shop with very friendly and knowledgeable salespeople.  Our guy was especially patient with us as he made suggestions, answered our many questions, connected and switched out equipment so that we could compare sound.  And I never got the feeling that he was getting annoyed with us...impressive.  In the end, we ended up buying equipment based half on looks and half on performance.  After all, we're not rabid record people, we just wanted the option to play the records we currently own (Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits) and then listen to cheap records we happen to find.

My favorite purchase of the day was the very cool and scientific-looking vintage Kenwood amplifier that came with the original manual.  And I like turning the knobs and seeing the little red light come on.  Obviously, It doesn't take much with me and I swear I'll remember to turn it off when I'm done...

Hey Mr. D.J....

We're now looking to add a record player to our list of things we absolutely must have.  It's a short list, but a record player would be cool.  We're visualizing Mad Men type moments with cocktails in hand and lounge type music in the background.  I know that an iPod can easily achieve this, but we're selfish people who will have it no other way.  Vintage record player or no deal.  Besides, it matches up better with the furniture. 

If anyone out there knows a good source for old record players, drop me a note.  Images via the Temporary Soundmuseum.

Britney Spears Circus concert : 2009

What is it about Britney Spears that just makes me want to hug her?  I still remember the weekend we went to Portland only to come back to find that Britney Spears had had a mini meltdown.  The shaving of the head incident.  It instantly made me want to go into protective mode.

Tonight, there was no sign of meltdown Britney.  She was spot on with all her moves and through the binoculars we had on hand, she was smiling and seemed to be having a good time performing.  My favorite part of the show was the huge circular screen she had (pictured above) that was constantly changing with graphics and was used as an interlude for costume changes.  It was basically the jumbotron and it worked really well!

I kept joking with everyone that the concert would be a success as long as she didn't fall down or yell out random greetings like Happy New Year (done at earlier shows).  And you know what?  She didn't.  She just performed like a pro and she looked great doing it.