She describes the scene.
“It was just like in that John Hughes movie with the record store!”
“High Fidelity?”
“YES! The two guys working were just total record nerds. One was a bit heavier set with shaggy dark hair and the other, tall and skinny with cool glasses on. They were straight out of High Fidelity!”
She was describing a record shop she was visiting with her four year old son the other day while searching for the perfect birthday gift for me. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been home for my birthday, and she was excited to get me the perfect present. We’ve been friends since high school and we’d always make mixtapes for each other from our record collections or albums we rented from the public library. She had found a mixtape I made from 1990 and had it with her that day to aide in the selection of the perfect record.
She continues her story.
“I walked in, pushing my four year old in the stroller hoping he’d behave long enough for me to shop. I take out the mixtape and hand it to the heavy set guy and tell him that I want to buy a record from one of the bands on the mixtape that best represents that era. He takes the cassette tape out of the plastic case slowly, letting the paper unfold to examine the hand written names of the artists and track listings. He is silent for a long time and I am thinking to myself, oh God, he thinks this is really stupid…and then finally, in a low voice he utters slowly, ” THIS IS SOOO COOOL!”
The two record shop guys were totally into it. They take turns looking at the maxell J-card from my 90 minute mixtape and eagerly hunt down records from some of the bands. Blancmange, Housemartins, The Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Police. There is some debating as they dig in the vinyl bins about what band most exemplified the overall essence of the collection. In the end, they settled on a record by the Psychedelic Furs that features the song that made the cut on my mixtape, ‘Love My Way‘. The album Forever Now features some pretty amazing 80’s hairstyles and Richard Butler is looking exceptionally sexy. 18 year old me was a big fan of his raspy voice and the way he moved in their videos totally influenced my own dance style.
This was such thoughtful birthday gift, and the story and moment it created won’t be forgotten by anyone who witnessed it, including my friend’s 4 year old who already is proving to be a skilled Spotify DJ! Music is something that lingers on long after the trends and fashions of an era fade, especially those songs that made it to the mixtape. Those are timeless,
Thanks to my high school friend for this incredible gift filled with love and nostalgia, and to the Vintage Vinyl record shop guys for their interest and time in determining what album from that collection would be most appropriate. Forever Now was the perfect choice for now and forever!
Fun facts:
Todd Rundgren produced the album and also made musical contributions of his own, including the marimba on “Love My Way”.
The song is featured in the 2017 film Call me By Your Name.
And some great photos of Richard Butler and David Bowie backstage at a gig in Sydney in 1983.
Here is my mixtape from 08 SEPT 1990 brought to you as a playlist on 21 FEB 2018 – 28 years later!
https://open.spotify.com/user/1259060578/playlist/1AGqN1Ob8qZhcFSgWbUkcn
enjoy the music!
xo,
s
