“Record store day 2014, Good Records, Dallas TX – April 19, 2104” is under License Some rights reserved by d double u
I was just thinking about this today, that there’s nothing like walking out of record store, with you’re arms full of sounds and straight to your car to see what was under the protective wrapping and artful packaging.
I have to admit that it hasn’t happened very much lately, but when it did; com truise was there, the war on drugs was there on vinyl and CD and before that for some time it was Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. All of them were experienced with other people, and it opened up some minds. They might have done it to humor me at the time, cause I was super excited. But the song Angela didn’t catch on until I started rocking in on the bar jukebox. Now, everyone knew what kind of a slut she was!
That’s the kind of experience you’re supposed to have because it feels good. And when something feels good, you don’t want to give it up, but there are also times when that feeling good get’s away from you, kind of like this guy.
Shake it off
Paul Mawhinney is the kind of guy I really love to hate. Here is a guy who’s invested all of his time, collecting and archiving vinyl, just keeping his head down just so he can demand appreciation for it. He’s been able to make himself the gatekeeper of rare recordings, and he’s able to control the terms and conditions over anyone who wants access.
The ironic thing here however is that Mr. Mawhinney hates people. He’s just that kind of introvert; as his legacy promotes.
So here I was, on a casual Sunday, when this short film comes on that I had seen before, but it’s always good to see it again because it reminds me of my place in the world, which is right here, behind this desk.
Make whatever metaphor/analogy you want to make, about the people who are on those records and his extreme introvertism, but there’s no place in his world for other people, because as you can see there never was.
The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
Anyone with little tolerance and no patience, can appreciate what he’s done. This is more than a lifetime spent collecting. At some point, when he had to find space, he must have seen dollar signs somewhere. This kind of hoarding — while much better than the kind of hoarding we’re used to seeing — ended up becoming hoarding to the rest of the world.
Have I used the word hoarding enough times? HOARDING, HOARDING, HOARDING!
That’s because I know people like this. This type of extreme introvert, has no place in society because they don’t want it. Only when it suits them. As you can see in the film, Mr. Mawhinney has a touching climatic moment with a record, where his entire world seems to fall apart. Because nobody cares enough about his passion. He actually thought, people we’re going to wait around for him. I had wished it had turned out worst for him, because he eventually found a buyer, but not before we get a thorough analysis of why Mawhinney is an asshole.
Set Stuck in their ways
A local hero by the name of Mike Schoder used to sell records and cds out of his vehicle back in the day. He told me himself, but I’ll refer to the story, just so there’s proof.
He eventually opened two CD World stores and one time I visited the Belt line store about the time the frighteningly horrible Rob Zombie album was released. One of CD world’s staff named Twole, was behind the counter, having a discussion with a customer about their apple iPod. It was a slow day and it was just the three of us.
I had just purchased an iPod during that month and had become one of those impulsive buyers who lost control with the iTunes gift cards. So I knew as much as any expert about downloading music, but I’m also one of these guys looking for workarounds, so I had used other digital download, playlist or synchronization software out there. I felt I could provide some input into how to get around iTunes, that they didn’t have to necessarily, submit to Apple.
He was very adamant about not knowing what to do, or to provide any help. CD World wasn’t in the business of selling digital files, as you could probably assume. To Twole, everything was about supporting the artist through the purchasing of physical discs, which he rightfully defend since he ran a record label too.
“74/365: Adele at the Granada” is under License Some rights reserved by LibAmanda
I have a way of being persistent and Twole has a way of blowing people off. Fine. I would think that a band on a label such as his would want their delivery system, as efficient a distributor as possible and not have anything that would threaten their bottom line. His label Angry Planet wasn’t necessarily Daptone records, but time is pretty persistent too and soon after, Mike closed both stores.
It wasn’t Twole who owned the store, and for Mike to become the success he would eventually become, he knew how to change with the times to where he now operates one of the best delivery systems of sound, the Granada Theater, in the only format of sound that beats them all, and that’s live.
So here we have three people, one of them being an all out success story, and for the simple reason that they paid attention to other people.
I don’t want to go of on a rant with this, but don’t you notice that the people who are always afraid of losing something, dig their nails in as deep as they can? It’s like the line in Jacob’s Ladder:
“…if you’re frightened of dying and… and you’re holding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.”
incendiaryAmerican 
