Frank Gutch Jr: All Things Must Pass— Thoughts On the Record Business; No Small Children and the Radio; plus Notes To Plant In Your Head (Yes, It is Spring, Sports Fans)…

I just finished watching the documentary titled All Things Must Pass about Tower Records and their rise and fall and am going to try to tell you a bit about the record business in which I worked.  First, though, a few people to whom I have talked about the film have made comments about Russ Solomon, the man behind the chain, which were none too complimentary.  When I heard them, I didn’t say much because I had yet to see it and thought maybe the comments were more toward the film than Russ himself.  So let me now respond to those few, none named because the conversations were private and thus not fodder for public consumption.

Frank Gutch Jr: Before Radio Was Radio, It Was Television, Part Two… Plus Notes

If I hadn’t known rock radio was cool before I saw Gentleman Jim Hunter, drivetime disc jockey for KRKT Radio in Albany Oregon, lean out and wave to the crowd which had gathered beneath the huge T&R sign, I would have known it then.  The sign was HUGE, the main section trucked in on a double-flatbed , and was the talk of the Willamette Valley as it was erected right next to Interstate 5, then a fairly new project itself.

Frank Gutch Jr: Bubbling Under in the Swinging Sixties; My Father and the War; Plus Notes

Rock ‘n’ roll radio.  There was nothing like it.  It was fresh and exciting and exposed teens to a whole new world beyond their doorsteps.  If the fifties had cracked the egg, the sixties had spilled the eggs guts.  All over the place.  Humpty Dumpty magnified.  Omelet City.

Frank Gutch Jr: Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Transistors! (and other fabled foibles of the time)

I should be writing about important things but this week I thought I would take a left turn and explain how we got to where we are, musically.  Or at least one small leg of the journey.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I printed a piece about reality and each person’s perspective of it.  I used Big Star as an example of how reality can be warped (read it here).  I used The Wailers and The Sonics in a similar piece (read that here).  Is there no end to my ego?

Frank Gutch Jr: The Many Lives of the 45

God, but I love 45s!  Out of all the formats invented by the musical gods, it is my favorite.  You can have all of your albums and your CDs and cassettes and, yes, even your eight-tracks.  All I ask in return is your 45s.  The Little Record With the Big Hole.  The Single.  AM Radio’s Friend.  The Rock ‘n’ Roll Pointer.  It is so cool, it freaks me out.  Actually, I should say “they” because over the years the format changed with the times— from the simple one track a side to the EP with three to five tracks (technically a 45 because it was recorded to play at 45 RPM most of the time) to the promo 45 (same track on both sides) to the mono/stereo promo 45 (same track on both sides— one in monaural and the other in stereo) to…. Man, I’m running out of wind here.  There’s more (colored vinyl, picture sleeves, etc.), but I’m anxious to get started because, like I said, this is my favorite format.  Bar none.