ATTN: Vinyl Heads

If you're like me, you really appreciate music on vinyl. It's bulky, cumbersome, and beautiful. The sounds you get out of vinyl resurrects albums to the way they were meant to be heard. Vinyl has enjoyed a recent resurgence and there are a lot of things happening right now to aid you in your vinyl ventures.

For one, 97.1, the Drive (Chicago radio), is running an amazing event the next couple of days.  They are counting down the 100 greatest classic rock albums of all time by playing an entire side of each album uninterrupted on vinyl.  The greatest thing you can ask of a radio station is to teach you something, and with this feature, the Drive teaches not only great albums, but also, in playing an entire side, refreshes the hits, and introduces b-sides.  Would you have known that Tom Petty hits "Free Fallin," "I Won't Back Down," "Runnin' Down a Dream," and "Yer So Bad" all happen back-to-back-to-back-to-back to open the album Full Moon Fever that was released in 1989?  I certainly wouldn't have.  Or that you would innately recognize the majority of the songs on the Grateful Dead's American Beauty?  I certainly had forgotten.  It's an amazing feature the the Drive is airing from 7am-Midnight for Friday and Saturday.  Head HERE for the part that has already played, and HERE to listen along.

Also, Saturday and Sunday, CHIRP ((Chicago Independent Radio Project) Radio hosts a record fair at Chicago Journeymen Plumbers, 1340 West Washington Boulevard. It runs from 10am-5pm both days. The admission is $7/or $5 with any ad that mentions the record fair. There is a special pre-admission on Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 8am-10am. It is $25 and gets you reentry all weekend long. Go HERE for more details.

And finally, next Saturday, April is Record Store Day. On this day every year, artists and record labels release a slew of rare, limited, and new material to help drive the economy of local record stores. This year's date features new and old material from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Panda Bear, the White Stripes (RIP), the Grateful Dead, Phish, Pearl Jam, The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, the Beach Boys and many, many more. Go HERE for a complete list.

It's a very exciting time to be into vinyl, and these are just a few of the reasons. Good luck.