Yesterday was Record
Store Day a day when it is not only justified but absolutely expected that
you go out and spend good money on a good cause: the survival of independent
music shops.
Here in Melbourne we thankfully have a strong live music
scene and a growing number of independent record stores. A phenomenon that
coincides with the unexpected and late comeback of vinyl. My favorite local
outlet is called Licorice Pie where the
stock of gloriously obscure and eclectic vinyl has grown by at least a couple
of rooms just in the past few months alone.
I try my hardest to close my eyes when I drive by the shop
front. But yesterday I grabbed the kids
and off we went to explore the endless crates of musical bullion. I picked up
the following and share them tonight.
The first is called An
Evening with Mohd Rafi (1969; EMI India). I didn’t even think twice when I
saw it. Rafi sahib is quite simply one of the glories of international popular
music. Blessed with a glossy voice capable of conveying a multitude of emotions,
he reigned supreme in Bollywood (before it was known as such) for most of the
60s and 70s. The cover of this record is so good too. Standing on the ground floor of his swish
apartment (probably in Juhu) Bombay, he gives the appearance of a man at the
top of his game. We feel privileged that he’s come down to greet us and usher
up to his apartment. And he’s a man of style too. Just look at those colorful
pillars and tiles! The Chevy Impala (a
huge rarity in those days of self sufficient socialist India) lets everyone
know he is cashed up to boot.
On the back, a signed and flowery recommendation by the very
Don of Indian cinema, Prithviraj Kapoor, lays
to rest any lingering doubts about the exact loftiness of the heights to which
the poor kid from Lahore has ascended. Mohammad
Rafi has arrived!
The music is splendid and includes a number of his
best-loved hits of the period, most especially O Mere Shah-e-Khuban and Khoya
Khoya Chand. My personal favorite is
Aaj ki Raat, a stunningly rendered
intimate love song from the 1967 film Armaan.
Track
Listing:
01. Dil Jo No Kah Saka
02. Khoya Khoya Chand
03. Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujhpar
04. Chhu Lene Do
05. Aaj ki Raat
06. Man Re Tu Kahe Na Dheer Dhare
07. O Mere Shah-e-Khuban
08. Chhalake Jaam
09. Akele Hain Chale Aao
10. Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya
11. Kabhi na Kabhi
12. Kahan Ja Raha Hai
The second record is equally cool, early Conway Twitty. Before he notched up more #1 hits (40) than any other country
singer (a record broken only recently by George
Strait) the young man from Friars Point, Mississippi, was a regular rock n’
roll heartthrob. Don’t believe it?
Listen to this record and be suaded.
Modelling himself on Elvis, his
charisma and sexy vocalizing makes every song completely delicious. He makes
even the hoary classic Danny Boy,
sound as if it was written just last week in honor of some proto-Fonz.
Not sure what made Mr
Twitty give up the rock dream and switch to the country roads but perhaps
the incomprehensible hugeness of his role model had something to do with it. If
you’re a Conway fan only familiar
with his Nashville years this ‘alternate’ version is as good as any of
that. He sings not just with conviction
but with genuine sex appeal and grit. Perhaps CW lacks the rebelliousness of Elvis the Pelvis but it is just as fun and fresh.
Track
Listing:
01. It’s
Only Make Believe
02. Danny
Boy
03. Heavenly
04. I’ll
Try
05. Halfway
to Heaven
06. Is
a Blue Bird Blue
07. The
Hurt in My Heart
08. Mona
Lisa
09. What
am I Living For
10. She’s
Mine
11. The
Story of My Love
HAPPY RECORD STORE
DAY!
