As I grow older, other things die

I've been busy lately, so that means I am lousy in getting back to people when they call, write, et cetera. So, today I see this e-mail from my good friend Anthony out in Seattle:

Hey man,
What's up? How come you never return calls anymore? I've been trying to call you to see what you've been up to and I also wanted to let you know I went to Fla for Xmas and found out both ALL Book & Records closed & Craig (from Craig's Collectibles) passed away. I wasn't sure if you knew. I understand you are the King of Conn. Clubs now. Give me a call.

TTYL
Anthony

What a shot in the soul, and I am not talking about the unreturned phone calls bit. You see, today, I turn 34 years old, along with Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Iggy & The Stooges' Raw Power, and a host of other records released in 1973. When I have birthdays, at least lately it seems, I reminisce about the old days, especially with music. I am instantly transformed back to that goofy 17 year old Palm Beach Gardens High School kid with the James t-shirt. You know...the one with the flower. I remember how vivid the days were when I went to Sound Splash on Northlake Blvd., with Matt and John playing Blake Babies records, or the new Dinosaur Jr. major label debut release, whatever. It was exciting, so I relive the days by visiting, and re-buying, some of these old records. When Anthony stated that All Books & Records closed up shop in the above e-mail, well, that crushed me for the time being. I was all set to go to Florida for the holidays this coming December, and I've been thinkng that I was going to drop a couple hundred bucks on some old vinyl and cd singles. All Books & Records had a great selection of UK indie singles, including lots of Madchester-era stuff, famous and obscure. I commented here earlier this month, on Hartford Courant rock music critic Eric Danton's Sound Check blog, about mom and pops going by the wayside. Well, here's another one to add to the list. Don't even get me started on Yesterday & Today Records in Miami Beach. They closed up about 12 years ago and I have been depressed and emotionally wrecked ever since. That's for another, possibly multi-part, entry later on.

R.I.P. All Books & Records. I pissed a lot of money away there, and loved every minute of it.