04.16.11 Record Store Day Toledo 2011: Forty Sad Portraits Of Closed Record Stores

Sad, I've been in at least ten of these forty stores over the years. On the bright side, Steve Jobs can finally make the last lay-away payment on that sweet Kenmore washer/dryer combo his wife's been hinting at. I hear that little minx is quite the homemaker.

347 Yonge St. without the iconic "Sam the Record Man" neon signage? 
How will tourists navigate Toronto? 

It's not the commerce I miss so much, it's the hang.
Luckily, we've still got a few places worthy of your time and money right here in Toledo:
Culture Clash Records
Rama Lama Records
Shakin Street Records
And in Ann Arbor:
Wazoo Records

It just wouldn't be right to conclude this pity-party without shedding at least a few tears in honor of some personal favorite fallen temples of vinyl worship: Sounds, NYC; The original School Kids, Ann Arbor; Purple Phrogg, North Lima; Boogie, Toledo, Zed, Long Beach/O.C., and many, many, more.

Thanks to J.Yuenger for the heads up on this list.

03.30.68 Jimi Hendrix Experience at The TU (aka University of Toledo) Fieldhouse

Sunday Special: Roast Beef OR Fried Chicken Only 99¢!

From the Toledo Blade, March 30, 1968

Honestly, do you think anyone is gonna' come out to that stinky-old fieldhouse and lay down $1.50 to see some equally smelly hippie with a Fender guitar jumping around onstage, stroking his ego and making suggestive (really, is there any other kind?) sex-faces at the young ladies in attendance with all these tasty and nutritious dining options available for the same coin?  Likewise, if Mr. Hendrix had a sensible bone in his body, he'd put down that mid-performance guitar tartare he's so fond of and instead sink his teeth into one of Harold's tantalizing specials ASAP.

 A side note to Mr. Promoter: 
Look, all of us in the biz know hyperbole is part and parcel with concert promotion. From the xeroxed flyers stapled to telephone poles by excited teenagers to Grand Funk's legendary, sixty-foot high, city block-long Time Square Billboard, the goal is to "get the message out!" at any cost. But I honestly believe you've gone overboard here; some of that lettering is nearly one-half an inch tall! We don't need your kind tarnishing the otherwise sterling reputations of rock promoters.