Here at THE VINYL DISTRICTwe're good consumers. All Mp3's are posted to promote and give exposure to the music and are linked for a limited time. Please download to preview, then head promptly to your local vinyl vendor (or - OK, CD store too) and fork over your hard earned cash. You'll appreciate the piece of mind.
Got something you think we should be listening to or reading? thevinyldistrict (at) gmail.com
Update 10/16: So, who's got your back? TVD - that's who. Due to the overwhelming response to this giveaway, Camila and Leisha have given us ANOTHER pair of tickets to give away--so that means we'll have TWO winners now for our Uh Huh HERE Contest. That's right--your chances of winning just got 50% better, indeed.
It's no mystery to us here at TVD that, despite hailing from the nation's capitol and maintaining a rather DC-centric focus, visitors to the blog arrive from all corners of the globe. (I mean, from ALL corners. Daily.)
So, we've often felt that much of the readership has been shut out of the local ticket giveaways we've sponsored. Sooo - in an effort to remedy that a wee bit, TVD presents our 'Uh Huh HERE' contest where YOU choose the city and venue in which to see the lovely ladies of Uh Huh Her do their thing live. The dates, cities, and venues from which to choose are:
October 24 - Theatre Of The Living Arts , Philadelphia, PA October 25 - The Norva, Norfolk, VA October 27 - The Roxy, Boston, MA October 29 - Irving Plaza, New York, NY
Say hello to us in the comments section and let us know where and when you'd like to see Uh Huh Her and we'll award a pair of tix to the most compelling comment-er. We'll take submissions 'til next Tuesday (10/21) and PLEASE remember to leave us some contact info! Uh Huh Her - Not A Love Song (Mp3)
This is our final installment closing out our “It Came From the North” theme week, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Americans take for granted their inalienable right to kick out the jams to whatever music they want. Perhaps you will be surprised and amused to hear that in Canada we have something called the MAPL system, a series of government-sanctioned regulations to maintain certain ratios of music with “Canadian content” on the airwaves. On one hand, that can be a good thing, giving home-grown artists a helping hand with gaining exposure. On the other hand, it’s a dictatorial measure to influence what gets played based on extraneous features, regardless of quality.
Of course I never knew about this MAPL business when I was growing up, innocently flipping on the radio and absorbing everything the federal government deemed fit to broadcast to thousands of impressionable little Canadians. I was raised on this stuff instead of whatever you Americans were listening to out there in the free-radio zone. Now I’m feeling conflicted… Do I passionately adore these songs because they’re so good? Or is it because I’ve been behaviorally conditioned to think so, salivating every time they come on the radio like one of Pavlov’s dogs? Does it even matter now that I don’t listen to the radio anymore? Let’s hear some objective opinions from our esteemed readers: Did Canadian radio raise me right? Or was my musical taste forever corrupted by arbitrary programming regulations?
Back in the summer of '88 I was working along with my roommate Stew at the Record World in Georgetown Park Mall -- ground floor to the left of the Mrs. Field's. (The Record World's gone now, but oddly that Mrs. Fields is still there pimping the doughy sweets.) Stew's girlfriend Fang (no joke) was working at the dress store around the corner along with my then girlfriend. We made a nice little foursome during lunch at the Food Court, we did.
One late morning, midweek and midsummer I was working the register...scratch that--reading Billboard at the register, when some guy breezed in with a notepad and like a man on a mission headed to the back of the store. Glancing up I thought to myself, "Man, that guy must get all the ladies with the Bryan Adams look he's got going on..." and returned to my Billboard. Glancing up again, there was the Bryan Adams look-alike jotting some notes to himself on the notepad at the register counter. I guess my stare was awkwardly long to the point where the dude sticks out his hand and with that gravelly voice says, "How's it goin, I'm Bryan..."
"Holy shit" I say, "Bryan-freakin-Adams right here in the store...hey look - we have your record on sale right there." He's all like, "How's it selling?" and I'm all like, "pretty good!" He says, "Hey - I'm looking for laser disks to play on the tour bus, do you guys carry any or do you know where I can find some?" (Laser disks...remember those? I have to think these were pretty darn near obsolete at the time we were discussing this, frankly.) So, we're shooting the shit, I'm giving him some options to pursue, then he says, "Hey - are you going to my concert tonight?" Thinking fast on my feet I say, "Couldn't get tickets, man - SOLD OUT. Go figure..." (Jon: NOT a Bryan Adams fan.) He says, "No problem - gimme your name and I'm putting you on the guest list. Got a girlfriend? She's on the list too!" He takes our names down, we shoot the breeze for a little while longer, then he's off. "See ya later" he's shouting as he heads out into the mall. Weird, right?. But I was struck by one thought - nicest guy EVER.
So, I get home and I'm all, "Youwon'tblieveitImetBryanAdams. Nicestguyeverwe'reontheGUESTLIST!" which was met with a sarcastic and disinterested twirl of the finger in the air, "greaaat...wheee..." But, we did indeed GO to the Cap Center out in Landover and I roll up to the will call window and say, "Uhh...Bryan Adams has left me tickets..." and the look of the lady behind the glass was easily one of, "Right kid - I've heard that one a million times..." But, she asks my name, flips through some envelopes, and there it was...killer seats and backstage passes. I actually recall hearing surprised gasps from the converted, ...you know, the REAL Bryan Adams fans in the line behind me. Odd.
We're brought backstage before the show to an area zoned off for radio contest winners who've won the coveted privilege to meet Bryan before the show - and in walks Bryan. "Jon" he says, "so glad you could make it - this must be your lovely girlfriend..." And we're talking and joking like old chums for about 20 minutes, then the lights go down and the crowd begins to cheer and my good pal Bryan says, "SO sorry I have to cut this short..." I'm like, "Suuure - I totally understand..." He gives us both a hug and heads out and I'm thinking, NICEST GUY EVER. Sheez.
But we left about a third of the way into the show. (Kinda' not into the music, y' know?) As we're heading out from the admittedly great, last minute seats, he launches into "Summer Of 69" and I thought...he IS talking about the YEAR, right? ...Cuz I've has some summers where...oh, ...never mind.
Update 10/16: So, who's got your back? TVD - that's who. Due to the overwhelming response to this giveaway, Camila and Leisha have given us ANOTHER pair of tickets to give away--so that means we'll have TWO winners now for our Uh Huh HERE Contest. That's right--your chances of winning just got 50% better, indeed.
