TVD | GFE

First off: 'GFE.'

Last Saturday I stood smack in the center of what was Orpheus Records in Arlington, Virginia. I say ‘WAS’ because Orpheus is no more. Despite the continual delays on the landlord’s part and the many reprieves the store was granted and the life-extensions, push came to shove, the bins were sold, and that was that.

Honestly, you wouldn’t have recognized the interior at all. As I mentioned, the bins were gone from the center and outer isles, replaced with cardboard boxes on the floor along the walled perimeter which held what was left of the many thousands of LPs Orpheus once housed. The outlines of the relocated bins hung heavy on the outer walls, absences having shapes of course.

Even then I found something of merit in the dusty boxes—a sealed, albeit corner-cut copy of The Replacements’ ‘Stink’ which is selling for mad money these days on ebay.

One thing remained housed inside the shell of Orpheus on Saturday however—the spirit of community. The well-wishers staggered in alongside folks STILL just dropping off records for Rick to resell, never mind he was closing for good in three hours. I even scored a free Orpheus tee shirt in the waning hours of the store’s life. (And it most certainly wasn’t a black tee either. Blue. Dark blue.)

If I could be granted the largesse, I’d like to think some of that spirit resides here at TVD in some tangible fashion. Whether you check in once a week or once a day, I hope on some tiny level we can touch the essence of community that existed not just at Orpheus, not just among DC’s brick and mortar shops, but worldwide. Where you can pony up to the register and ask the cashier what’s new and good or what’s old and warrants a fresh ear.

In its infancy, this blog’s meat and potatoes consisted of plundering the old new wave and post punk vinyl and posting the rare and not so rare—the rare eventually becoming a tiny calling card. This week we’ll get back to some of that along with the spirit of community that brings us together for the one minute and twenty seconds (on average) we spend together each day.

All GFE-like.

Stanley Frank - S'cool Days (Mp3)
The Gorillas - Gatecrasher (Mp3)
The Boys - I Don't Care (Mp3)
The Banned - Little Girl (Mp3)
Radiators from Space - TV Screen (Mp3)