What's In My Bag?
More adventures in crate digging
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Good Morning!
It’s Friday, so I thought I’d do something different to end the week.
Everyone loves a mystery, right?
Most people have also seen Amoeba Records’ popular “What’s In My Bag?’ series online. In those clips, famous artists/musicians go shopping and empty their bags, talking about what they’ve just picked up & why.
In this case, we’re doing a bit of fusion (yes, I went there). One of my local record stores gets tons of inventory from estate sales or other sources. Not everything is destined for the crates, of course. For the records that maybe are not as loved as they could be or have a little too much wear and tear, there’s another stop on their way to a new home; the Mystery Grab Bag rack.
Strictly Discs has a relatively small street-level but large basement space full of used inventory. There's a landing on your way down the surprisingly steep/narrow staircase. On that landing, you find a rack of brown paper bags marked only with the sticker above.
The premise is simple: 5 records for $2.99. That’s it. You have no idea what you might get, and that’s half the fun. To make it fair, the records are usually playable — at least in my experience — though the media may have seen better days. A “good” record is also occasionally thrown in, making it a vinyl lottery. I try a get a ticket each time I go.
You can't win if you don't play, right?
Below is what I won on my last trip across town. A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest (no pun intended), but I’ve done worse.
Lester Lanin- “Dancing At The Discotheque”
There are two backstories for a record like this;
A: It belonged in a strip mall dance studio where 100s of kids were forced into learning the cha-cha ahead of a relative’s wedding
B: It was played on the hi-fi at a swinging dinner party in the 60s. The kind that Mad Men’s set designers used as inspiration. Where every ashtray was full, and no rocks glass ever went empty. I prefer this one. Nana had a life before you came along, you know.
Oh, and the record is pretty good! I’m a sucker for this sort of graphic design and will probably keep it for when I’m writing and want something more uptempo.
Gino Vanelli- Brother To Brother
Going into this, I couldn’t have told you a single song of Vannelli's outside of his “Living Inside Myself” or “I Just Want To Stop.” The former wouldn’t come out for a few more years, but the latter is on here.
The record itself is surprisingly pop compared to what I expected. And it was the 70s, so of course, there’s a dance-y track about a horse (“Appaloosa”).
I mean, why not?
Pull your Celica out of storage and cue this up.
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The Bangles- “Walking Down Your Street (12” Extended Dance Mixes)”
Well, alright, then! After going probably 20 years without buying a 12" single on vinyl. I’ve now landed two in as many weeks. The previous one being MC Shan’s “I Pioneered This.”
The Bangles are a 180 from that but no less catchy. And if you're not following Susanna Hoffs on Instagram, please fix that immediately. She’s having the time of her life.
The Best Of The Gerald Wilson Orchestra (promo copy)
From the back of the record jacket:
“The Gerald Wilson Orchestra is unquestionably the finest jazz orchestra to emanate from California in a decade. Composer, arranger, musician, lecturer, disk jockey, bullfight aficionado Gerald Wilson is a personality of great distinction.”
Hell yeah.
This record could be trash (it’s not), and I’d still dig it after this. Who doesn't root for a Renaissance man like that? You gotta respect the swagger.
Trio Louis Van Dyke- “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
I was curious about this record but couldn’t get past wondering Why don't they just call themselves the “Louis van Dyke Trio?” The liner notes take care to mention that Van Dyke is a Sagittarius. Smooooth. Van Dyke knows what the ladies like.
Unfortunately, the liner notes are the best part of this album of mostly forgettable covers (the title track, “Round Midnight,” etc.).
Fair play for taking on Thelonious, but most people know better.
Any thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Sound off in the comments!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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An earlier version of this first appeared here.
What a cool concept - love it! Gerald Wilson led one of the great large jazz ensembles of the sixties - chock full of great players. The version of 'California Soul' on that record (classic early Ashford and Simpson) has Harold Land on tenor and Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone soloing, for one example.
I may be the only person who has never heard of, much less seen, What’s In My Bag? but I plan on remedying that today. I love what you got in your grab bag. Have a great weekend!