The K-ZAP Short Tail (A Blog) – “La Belle Vie” on Record Store Day

The K-ZAP  Short Tail – “La Belle Vie” on Record Store Day

Year end assessing already?? Since it is the Black Friday weekend, that means it is Record Story Day, the day we support independent record stores in our town, avoid the malicious malls and mingle with true believers.

Here are the ones officially registered in Sacramento per  https://recordstoreday.com/

And we know there are others, particularly our friend Marty DeAnda, who owns Medium Rare Records in the WAL building over there on 12^th & R Sts. And Rick DaPrato’s Delta Breeze Records on  10th St . just north of the venerable Fox & Goose.

Which brings me to Iggy Pop:

As I have done the past few holiday weekends yearly, I bask in the Anthony Bourdain CNN “Parts Unknown” series. I love him still, and miss his heart and brain and soul. So I watched his “Miami” episode for the umpteenth time. In the final moments of the show, there the two of them are, sitting at a lovely restaurant, and it is not lost on Bourdain that he is at a table with one of his main music heroes, eating healthy food and sipping white wine (“our only tilt to the debauchery of our previous lives”).

And Bourdain says to Iggy: “Looking at my own life and career, I’m pretty much known for traveling the world, recklessly drinking and eating to excess.. I just came from the gym! What does it say about us that that we are now sitting in a healthy restaurant?

And the Godfather of Punk looks right at him and says, “If you just flamed out, you are in such voluminous and undistinguished company –and then all your works will flame out quicker with you.” So poignant and telling…Bourdain WAS gone only three years later

I’ve never seen Iggy live, and I just need to. His offering on Record Store Day this weekend is a beautiful little album called Après  that he made ten years ago and he is celebrating it with 10th anniversary special edition version of the release in black (worldwide), white (France), pink (USA) vinyl. The Bonus track is “La Belle Vie”. Illustrations by Seamus Beaghen (a hellacious UK blues pianist) with design by Simon Taylor. Produced by Hal Cragin.

Vinyl is all back and I’m glad it is. US vinyl sales have risen by 22% in the first half of 2022, according to RIAA’s mid-year report. While the increase is impressive on its own, it’s doubly interesting when compared to recorded-music revenue’s increase of 9%. Similarly, streaming revenue was only up 10%.

So here’s to being a rock and roll survivor like our Godfather Iggy. Enjoy the weekend and visit your local independent record store today and tomorrow and for the rest of your shopping holiday.

Here’s to “the good life.”

— Mindy Giles