Record Store Day 2011

Record Store Day 2011 post, aka how Cactus Music saved my LIFE.
True Story.
Seriously.

Cactus Music's RSD line-up

This was my second year participating in Record Store Day. But instead of Record Store Day, my experience kind of turned into Record Store Week.

It started with a post on Facebook. The Beach Boys announced they would release a double 78 of "Heroes and Villains" and "Good Vibrations" - easily, two of my absolute FAVORITE songs by them. Considering they're my favorite all-time band since age 7, I kind of completely freaked out. And decided as long as I got that record - even though I have both songs on vinyl and multiple albums on my iPod - I didn't care what else I acquired.

Oh, little girl who calls herself Good Groupie. How you over-estimated the other Beach Boys fans slash vinyl snobs in Houston...
Fast forward to the morning of Record Store Day. It's 9 a.m. (one hour before Cactus Music, my first stop, opens) and I'm still in bed, recovering from the excessive margaritas I consumed the night before, reading Tweets about how people have been in line since 5 a.m.

Overachievers, I scoff. There's nothing I want that badly that I'd be in line at 5 a.m. for!

The Good Groupie's Record Store Day wish list.

I leave my house in the 'burbs around 10:45 a.m. I stop to get coffee. I pick up Luis, the oft-mentioned Mel's boyfriend who graciously accompanied me on this outing - if only for his Neko Case T-shirt, and we make it to Cactus around 11:30 a.m. The line is now just barely out the door. We jump in (which I find odd because last year, the line around this time was five people inside the store.) I bust out my list. I don't mind if I don't get everything on it, as long as I get that Beach Boys double.

The line winds inside. It snakes through the store. I tweet about my lateness in arrival, but, margarita consumption be damned, I'm still hopeful - as long as I get my Beach Boys record, I'll be golden. And given the number released in comparison to the Mumford & Sons record I will foolishly request at the front of this line, I feel like it's not a far gone hope.

The guy in front of us annoys the hell out of me by declaring he only wants the My Morning Jacket release, even though he's never listened to the band and doesn't own a record player - and when a staffer tells him they're out...he leaves. The guy three people in front of us talks about his vinyl collection. (Dude was legit - and awesome.) Luis and I casually discuss what we each want. We talk about upcoming shows we want to attend and music we've been listening to lately. Thirty minutes later we're at the front of the line, anxiously anticipating our turn.

When it's my turn, I hand the CM staffer my Geekster list and tell him, "Whatever you have that's on here." He pulls my requests - I count six records, the green one which I know is my Beach Boys record - and he stuffs them into a free bag from Night Owls Print Shop, and I'm done. But before I turn to leave, I am asked if I want anything on the wish list.

Ah, the magical Cactus Music wish list. See, they don't always get all their RSD releases on time, so they allow their customers to put their name on a wish list with what they still hope to get still.

"Just the Young the Giant 7-inch," I tell the guy, satisfied that I'd gotten my one score I was desperate for. I wait for Luis, then we both get in the payment line.

As we wait, Luis asks "So what did you get?"

"I didn't even look!" I laugh, and then sort through my bag.

The green record I thought was the Beach Boys? It's actually the super limited Mumford & Sons record. YAY! And, CRAP. The Beach Boys record? It was blue...

I turn my pouty face to Luis and tell him the bad news. "Go put it on your wish list!" he tells me. So I walk back over to the table where they're handing out records.

"Um, hey..." I start. "I have one more I want to add to my wish list? The Beach Boys record?" I say this in questions rather than statements, nervous they'll tell me what I'm dreading...

"Sorry," one of the guys tells me. "That was a limited release. We won't be getting more."

My lil' Good Groupie heart just about falls out of my chest.

"Oh. Okay, just thought I'd ask." And I dejectedly walk back over to the payment line.

"They aren't getting anymore," I tell Luis. And then I pout some more. Right up to the register.

When we've paid and we're back in the car, I ask if we can go check out Sig's Lagoon, which I researched a bit online and seems cool. We drive drive in circles trying to find it. But we do. Upon entering, I'm told Beach Boys records are all gone, but there's other releases on the wall.

Luis and I sort through a few and make our purchases. The owner is super nice, encouraging us to let him know if there's anything we're looking for because he can add us to his weekly orders. We leave. And somehow I talk Luis into criss-crossing midtown, checking out two more stores, turning slightly desperate to find my Beach Boys record.

(Then again, Luis is the one who found my Pet Sounds record for $16 at Breakaway in Austin and called Mel asking her if I wanted any of the $5 Beach Boys records he found at Traders Village while we were at the Indie Book Fest...so I guess he understands me. :) )

To quote my 10th grade geography teacher Ms. Sandefur - close, but no cigar.

Dejectedly, I leave store no. 3 as the woman behind the counter pleads "Please come back and see us!" After store no. 4, I'm just outraged. I call the Okies, begging them to look for it, but knowing if I can't find it in the fourth largest city in the county, there's no way in HELL they'll find it in Oklahoma. I drop off Luis. I contemplate driving 30 minutes out of my way home to check Vinal Edge in north Houston. Instead, I console myself with sliders at Little Bigs and go home defeated.

Record Store Day scores

Fleet Foxes, Mumford & Sons, the Decemberists, Raphael Saadiq, the Joy Formidable, and others.

But no Beach Boys.

But I get over it - after all, it was a recording I'm pretty sure I own on MP3 already. Yeah, it would have been fun it have an exclusive Record Store Day release...but I'll live.

Fast forward to today. After reading my Cactus Music weekly newsletter, I discover they have more limited releases. And the one pictured in their newsletter?

THE BEACH BOYS.

The following conversation via Twitter ensues.

SUCCESS!!!

And I cannot even BEGIN to thank my local record store enough. I mean, who else has bad ass customer service like that through Twitter?! And this isn't the first time they've tried to accommodate me. They researched grabbing one of Conan's Third Man Record releases for me - the one they didn't carry already. (No luck, it's an exclusive TMR release.) They also held a CD and tickets for a show for me (which I still feel bad I wasn't able to use because of a migraine.)

Bottom line: even if it took an extra week, my Record Store Day and Cactus Music went above and BEYOND. Plus, I scored the Young the Giant release that was on my wish list.

Happiness.

So in the end, my Record Store Day was a massive success - and proved that my record store is WELL worth supporting. I was already a Cactus Music fan, but now I am a devotee for LIFE.

So Cactus Music, thanks for being so awesome and helping a Good Groupie out. She won't soon forget it.