Friday Five: Record Store Day

Record Store Day is this Saturday. It’s a little bit like Christmas for music geeks, as dozens of participating musicians are releasing exclusive records—and a CD or two as well—just for that day. (You can check out what’s going on at your local vinyl purveyor here: http://www.recordstoreday.com) Since most barroom jukeboxes no longer play 45s, here are some of my favorite songs about staying home and listening to records.

• 5. “When The Needle Hits The Vinyl” – Adam Brand

  Do records spin the opposite way Down Under? Australian country singer Adam Brand sings about a young boy watching his stoic parents transform when the tunes came on. This tune’s so catchy you may want to cut a rug yourself, and Brand’s accent sure is easy on the ears.

• 4. “Sweet Emmylou” – Joey + Rory

  When some no good man leaves her, a cool chick like Joey Martin doesn’t wallow in the dark with a pint of ice cream and Lifetime on the tube. She copes by blowing the dust off some Emmylou Harris LPs. While Harris may not be able to cure a broken arm or Ebola, she’s pretty damn good at taking the edge off of heartbreak.

• 3. “Record Lady” – Lyle Lovett

  Okay, so records don’t just miraculously appear in one’s house. You’ve got to go to your local record store, and said store is probably staffed by a cutie. At least it is in this sly, witty song from Lovett’s I Love Everybody; he only needs one look at the woman before he’s lost in the “phonographic fantasy” of spinning records together in Acapulco.

• 2. “Vinyl Records” – Todd Snider

  The laundry list of artists in Snider’s record collection is like “I’ve Been Everywhere” for audiophiles. But if all he’s got in his apartment is said records all over the floor, “a beat-up chair, a mattress, a fork and another to spare,” it might be a little difficult to get those of the feminine persuasion—perhaps lured by the promise of Mojo Nixon vinyl—to stick around. Invest in some sheets, buddy.

• 1. “The Buck Starts Here” – Robbie Fulks

  There’s nothing quite like a stack of records to get a person through the night. Fulks deals with his heartbreak with a few 45s, wailing “The Buck starts here/With Hank sure to follow/Turn them up loud and clear/They’re singing my sorrow.” No matter the listening medium, who hasn’t been there?