2006 Austin Record Convention

2006 Austin Record Convention

i quickly snapped these photos with my phone. i couldnt take my cameras in.

2006 Austin Record Convention

the 2006 Austin Record Convention

The 2006 Austin Record Convention was this weekend. We got up early Sunday and went. It was at the Crockette Event Center on N. Lamar and was advertised as the largest sale of records in the country. It was a collection of collectors. And in the 50,000 square feet it was said to have, every space was utilized. Sales tables lined the walls and made four or five rows in the center. Some had big displays with posters and memorabilia and others only had rows and rows of milk crates. I talked to collectors and dealers from Dallas, California and W. Virginia. People from all over just to come to the Austin Record Convention. (We didn’t know it was going to be that big). It was $4 for the whole weekend but we only went that one day.
Inside, we started to make our way around the left side of the room first. Right away I found a poster from a Beastie Boys concert I saw in 1998. That was kind of neat (but expensive)! Across from the posters was a Beatle fan. We talked to him for a minute. He didn’t limit himself to the Beatles but all of his "showcased" records were Beatle records. He tried selling one to me but I already have most of them and his had writing on the sleeves. Another dealer walked up and they both complained for a minute about not making as much money as they hoped. It sounded rehearsed and a little while later they were both sitting behind the table. Keny bought two Prince 45's on purple wax- "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain" singles. Time to move on. Around the next row I found an auction house table - Amer. Heritage (?). Keny wandered off while I got into a completely nerdy conversation about Beatle memorabilia and comic books. This went on for about twenty minutes. When I caught back up with Keny he had already come back up the other side and was at the end again. Time to find an ATM. We walked along the back wall where all the classical music collections were displayed-most behind glass- and I thought about my dad. Appropriately, Dad called right then and I talked to him for a second but it was way too loud to talk on the phone. Next to the classical display were two tables covered with and storing beneath clear plastic milk crates packed with records. The first crate had Band on the Run in it. I could see it from a table away. As I was gawking I noticed something shining up from below the table but I’ll get to that in a minute. Next to the tables along the back wall was a concession stand whose attendant pointed us in the direction of an ATM back at the front entrance. It was time to step outside for a minute anyway so we cut through the center making mental notes of tables to come back to. After wasting another seven minutes of our lives and about seven bucks on ATM fees we continued to wander. This time in we started around the right side which I found more interesting. The first table was selling rare and out of print CD’s. I passed this up for the Beatles memorabilia table next to it. These guys were serious. Backstage passes, concert tickets, old buttons. I talked to them for a little while but I blew it when I mentioned my Yoko autographs. They immediately snubbed me. You have to watch what you say around these guys. So, feeling slightly ashamed, I slinked away to a big band table. I picked through a few crates but got frustrated because there’s no way I could find what I was looking for without hearing it first. I kept moving up one of the center rows until Keny called me. I thought he was still behind me. I found him at a table discussing David Bowie’s Peter and the Wolf. The dealer had one copy but wanted one on coloured wax. Keny had seen one on the other side for half of what the dealer was willing to pay but we weren’t in the same league to haggle and trade as these guys. We continued up the far right wall where I found a small Lou Reed booth/shrine that I wished I could have bought in whole. Keny thumbed through old posters and I tried to avoid conversation while "people watching". I joked to Keny that 80% of the people there were single. This was my type of "people watching" crowds- music nerds. There were several young girls - probably DJ girlfriends- walked around who I watched giggle and repel away from group after group of geeky old men. Some had old woodgrain turntables that cracked out old blues or country which drew a crowd of three or four singing poorly. Others- mostly the women- were too aggressive. They were pushy and noisy and I didn’t want to be hassled so I walked around for a while pretending to be on the phone. Sun Records had a large display. They were selling really cool t-shirts with old Sun records printed on them and hats and photos of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis-some of the only Elvis memorabilia I saw- but not too many records. A few Johnny Cash 45's. When we got back around to the back wall I decided that I had already found my gem. Early when I found Band on the Run I found another crate on the floor below it labeled "soundtracks". The first record was "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Since I currently do not own a turntable the records I buy right now are novelty. It will look very cool on the wall and is in classic Kate style if I do say so myself. It was only $8 but Keny talked him down to $6 which I thought was very cool. Buying a new turntable is not quite high priority but a material possession that I will have to break down and buy eventually. But if I did have a turntable I found the crate I would have bought. Yes the whole crate. I found the best last. I don’t know how I missed it before but at the end of one of the rows were two small crates labeled "old school" and "hip hop". They were dream crates. Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Digable Planets - SEALED! Old Tommy Boy singles, old Tribe. Just about everything I would put in a list of hard to find treasures. I still can’t believe I even saw some of them. I thought they were myths, legends. I got overwhelmed and stepped back just as someone stepped in front of me. Ask Keny about this guy. He looked exactly like Andre 3000. We stalked him for a minute and called it a day. We found some treasures and got free stickers. I got to see what the largest record convention in the country looked like. I don’t think very many people know about my record obsession. When I was little my parents had a pretty large record collection and their music was what I grew up on. I can’t tell you the words to Ice Ice Baby - I thought Vanilla was a New Kid until I was corrected in an embarrassing memory of junior high. I know zip about Poison or Megadeath or Whitesnake (???) Or even if they are in the same category. I know Bon Jovi and Ice Cube as actors. I grew up rocking Paul McCartney and the Talking Heads. The Doors and the Grateful Dead. Bob Dylan and Phil Oches. Frank Zappa and the Mothers. Listening to records as a small child made listening to music ritualistic for me. The process of handling the record. Placing the needle in just the right spot. Enjoying the crackle and pop of vinyl. And recent music in my childhood didn’t interest me. Around 1995 I started listening to CD’s and started to get into hip hop. Outkast, the Goody Mob, the Pharcyde. Then the Beastie Boys ill communication came out. I didn’t know too many people in Monroe who listened to hip hop (not rap) but I had MTV and maybe two friends to keep current with. When I moved to Baton Rouge I found a whole group of kids who like the same kind of music and had a love for it on vinyl. Until then I didnt know that vinyl records were still pressed out and packaged for general sale. I know that sounds naive but regardless, it combined my love for records and hip hop perfectly. I can’t name all the records stores I’ve been in but I can remember every one. Buddy’s Rock Shop in Baton Rouge, La. Peaches and The Magic Bus in New Orleans, LA. Papa Jazz’s in Columbia, S.C.(the best!!!) Since I moved from down south and my turntable went kaput my record searching and collecting has been on hold. It was nice to go to the convention. I had almost forgotten that dusty smell of old 45's.