Day 6

Pretty sure classes resumed on this day in 1985.  Down at the UofA, there were three record stores adjacent to campus: Al Bum's was across the street from the football stadium, next to the Circle K on 6th Street while Zip's and Discount Records were located on University Boulevard, just outside of the Main Gate.  The latter two were literally three doors down from one another.

After class, I walked over to Al Bum's, one of the cooler, laid back stores in Tucson.  Al was usually there behind the counter, Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned, with incense and other things giving off strong-scented smoke.  The music was usually loud, like listen in your car loud, and almost nothing that came out after 1974 got any play.  I remember hearing Bowie more than any other artist in all my trips there, closely followed by Iggy and the Stooges and, sometimes, the Grateful Dead.  Another cool thing about Al Bum's was their innovative "vinyl rental" policy, although by this time, it was no longer offered but back in high school sometime between 1982-1984, you could pick up a used album for $4.99-$6.99 and return it within 24 hours and get most of your money back.  If you kept it 48 hours, you got a little less back.  After 48 hours, it was yours.  HERC taped a lot of albums that way as it coincided with the end of the Sunday Six Pack on KLPX, where they would play six albums in their entirety back to back, pausing only between album sides for station breaks and commercials.

Honestly couldn't remember why I picked up the Molly Hatchet album.  I owned two or three of their previous albums but listening to the album on Spotify, none of these songs sound familiar in the slightest.

Tommy Shaw's first solo album since he left Styx in 1983 featured two favorites of mine both of which had been getting airplay as singles: the bouncy, synthy title track "Girls With Guns" and the pretty ballad "Lonely School".

The Meat Loaf record must have been cheap because although I had been a fan of his Bat Out Of Hell album (which had immediately preceded Dead Ringer), this one kind of sucked.  His voice was slightly different and the material had Steinman's hallmarks but it was all forgettable. Turns out that Meat had been in no shape to record the planned follow-up to BOOH - Renegade Angel - which became Bad For Good (I bought that album just 12 days prior) when Steinman sang most of the leads and released it under his name mere months before he and Meat Loaf re-teamed for Dead Ringer.  Even an unbilled duet with Cher on the title track couldn't salvage this one for United States fans but over in the UK, Dead Ringer was HUGE.   Loaf's picture on the back of the album is frightening.

The Deed Is Done - Molly Hatchet (1984)
Girls With Guns - Tommy Shaw (1984)
Dead Ringer - Meat Loaf (1981)

On the drive home from school, I stopped by Loco Records on Broadway - it was on the way. Loco was probably second only to AL Bum's in laid back atmosphere.  Whereas Al Bum's was somewhat cramped, unorganized and small, Loco was spacious, very organized and brightly lit. The clerks actually took interest in what you were buying and often recommended other albums or artists.  I even walked out with extra records, usually gold stamped promos, in my bag on more than a few occasions.  "If I Had A Rocket Launcher", Cockburn's latest single, was starting to get airplay on the two stations I listened to and I bought the album just to get that song.  The smooth, calming vaguely Asian instrumentation gives way to vivid and strong anti-war lyrics but I always focused on the guitar and the tumbling drums that come in on the chorus. Paid $6.99 plus tax.  Nowadays, for just a few bucks more, you can score a brand new copy of the album on CD with a bonus track.  Amazing.

Stealing Fire - Bruce Cockburn (1984)

Only Girls With Guns remains on the vinyl shelves.  Two of the other three purchases today exist in their CD incarnations but The Deed Is Done is not one of them.  How Dead Ringer made the collection as I CD I cannot say.

The TOTAL TALLY:

records bought: 19

    money spent: $113.90