What Are You Listening To?

needed a little pick me up..  :)


purchased at Orpheus about 3 miles from here…."Buy local, listen local"

The guy at Orpheus used to have these dollar bins where he would put some great stufff once in a while the last couple of years.. I think he got tired of even pricing stuff…..I was rather shocked to buy this for $1.. oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

It was signed at the recent show obviously.

The Band- The Band

Spotify, took the my, most played songs throughout the year and put them in a list of like fifty or so, so I can hit shuffle and listen.  I, like that.

Bob Gordon- Meet Mr. Gordon

Pacific Jazz 10" LP from 1954….classic West Coast jazz…very nice stuff to wake up to

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

Joy Division- Closer

I ordered Peter Hook's book on Joy Division…. should be an interesting read..

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

that would make for a fun afternoon, but i don't know if i would go alone.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

that may make for a fun afternoon, but i don't think i would go alone.

This is one of my favorite records…. I note on Rate Your Music people have it rated at #20… there is no way in hell Ian Curtis would have anticipated that…

I'm listening to a UK textured cover copy… I'm not sure I would call it a first pressing..certainly early.. probably 1985ish would be my guess…

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

That is the website.  Rick's not the owner.

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

That is the website.  Rick's not the owner.

they sell pianos and stereo equipment?

The Orpheus I went to was owned by Rick  and dealt only in records

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

That is the website.  Rick's not the owner.

they sell pianos and stereo equipment?

The Orpheus I went to was owned by Rick  and dealt only in records

I always thought Rick was the sole owner as well.  But I was at the Organic Butcher of McLean (picking up some Polyface Farms double-cut Tamworth pork chops - highly recommended) and saw a dude in an "Orpheus Records" t-shirt with a McLean address.  I asked if Orpheus had re-opened in McLean.  He laughed and said that they had always been in McLean - sort of.  I gathered that he was the co-owner, as he was clearly involved with the record store since it's Georgetown days.  He is definitely the current owner and told me the store's inventory was in his garage, that he runs the occasional sale from there, and that I should feel free to call him if I wanted to come browse or buy.   

If you make the trip, you should also stop by this place to see some drool-worthy new and vintage stereo equipment:  http://dejavu-audio.com/index.html

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:

ggw wrote:

hutch wrote:
oh if only the store had lasted a few more years..

The "store" is now in the dude's garage in McLean.  Contact him if you want to buy/sell/browse.

but that is not Rick right? is this the store?

http://www.orpheusrecordstore.com/pages/about-us

That is the website.  Rick's not the owner.

they sell pianos and stereo equipment?

The Orpheus I went to was owned by Rick  and dealt only in records

I always thought Rick was the sole owner as well.  But I was at the Organic Butcher of McLean (picking up some Polyface Farms double-cut Tamworth pork chops - highly recommended) and saw a dude in an "Orpheus Records" t-shirt with a McLean address.  I asked if Orpheus had re-opened in McLean.  He laughed and said that they had always been in McLean - sort of.  I gathered that he was the co-owner, as he was clearly involved with the record store since it's Georgetown days.  He is definitely the current owner and told me the store's inventory was in his garage, that he runs the occasional sale from there, and that I should feel free to call him if I wanted to come browse or buy.   

If you make the trip, you should also stop by this place to see some drool-worthy new and vintage stereo equipment:  http://dejavu-audio.com/index.html

interesting.. I don't think I ever saw the guy once….

from their facebook it seems a little high endy for me… talks about a rolling stones record worth 10K..stuff like that. .i'm not sure he wants me to browse his stuff looking for my usual dollar records!

a few years back i heard rick's health wasn't so good..its very bizzare its like there are two orpheus websites.. one has just a picture of rick and a guy that died.. the other has pianos and stuff like that but the story in the piano one matches the story of the orpheus i know (used to be in g-town, moved to clarendon, etc0

i'll take your word on the pork chops! :)

hutch wrote:
from their facebook it seems a little high endy for me… talks about a rolling stones record worth 10K..stuff like that. .i'm not sure he wants me to browse his stuff looking for my usual dollar records!

I would hope that he doesn't keep such supposedly valuable records in a fucking garage.

Justan wrote:

hutch wrote:
from their facebook it seems a little high endy for me… talks about a rolling stones record worth 10K..stuff like that. .i'm not sure he wants me to browse his stuff looking for my usual dollar records!

I would hope that he doesn't keep such supposedly valuable records in a fucking garage.

maybe he pulls those out and keeps them in his mansion…


for me Orpheus was Rick.. to go to some dude's house in McLean who sells pianos and talks about turning down $10,000 for a German 10" in VG condition  is of little interest but its cool to know this info so thank you GGW

I mean this is the one of three posts the dude has on his Facebook..this is not Rick..that I can tell you:

Sometimes the rock?n?roll gods just smile upon you. This week we purchased a collection that featured a mint condition mono white label promo of the first Rolling Stones album from 1964 complete with an undamaged full color photo inside (books for $5,000!), a copy of Hot Rocks with 11-5-71 stamped in the dead wax on side four (means it has the alternate demo version of Wild Horses, books $1,000) and the rarest of all Rolling Stones items, a stone mint copy of Beat, Beat, Beat from Germany, their only ten inch record with the misspelling of Ian Stewart's name on the back cover (books for god knows what, probably something stratospheric, we turned down $10,000 for our VG copy of it not too long ago and this one is in perfect mint unplayed condition). Listening to these makes you realize that unlike the pale imitation of themselves that they portray now, there really was a time when these guys were the bad-asses of rock!


(Note I have a couple of the Hot Rocks with alternate versions which I purchased for under $10… Note 2: what an item "books" for isn't always what you get for it on the market)

Mongo Santamaria- Mongo in Havana


All percussion and chanting… pretty interesting…from 1960

James Brown- Night Train

actually the second version with the new title and cover.. but same..I think this music came out in 1961 so it was like James' third album or so…

amazing how much music the guy put out… I try to collect him but its never ending.. and even if you do get an album it might have a different name or cover! so you're never done…

ok this was the one




now I'm listening to the "For the Heart" side of George Michael's Ladies and Gentleman 2 disc compilation

I'm rather jolted by George Michael's death I have to say….

He was such a phenomenal talent…. and as a young kid my sister and I when we were living in Japan in the early 80s really got into his music…. we used to watch this 30 minute MTV type program every day at 5 and they would play Careless Whisper, Last Christmas.. even Club Tropicana like every single day….He was my favorite at a young impressionable age…

then we moved to the US for a couple of years and High School and I think if I'd said I liked Wham! I would have gotten stoned to death or something… it was Van Halen, Scorpions and Rush for people in my High School… you had the "weirdos" you dressed in black and long coats who listened to Depeche Mode

Even today I know that George Michael is very much looked down on by hipsters but the guy could sing and he had some beautiful messages in the music…Praying for Time encapsulates all my problems with religion into a few stanzas… gives me goosebumps even thinking about it..

but I kept listening to George Michael pretty much for life… some amazing singing… who else could cover Queen, Elton John and Stevie Wonder (at least twice!) and pull it off? Some of his singing is about as gorgeous as singing in English gets… His version of "I can't make you love me" (originally relegated to a b-side that only big fans would pick up…).. makes Bonnie Raitt- and Bonnie can heckuva sing- sound like an American Idol contestant…

Do I feel bad I missed his concert at Verizon about 10 years ago? Probably not.. maybe so.. (Kudos to Seth and IMP for bringing him to DC…). I watched some video of it a friend filmed.. it sounded and looked great…watching it I did feel rather stupid for not going….I think it was the only time in my life he came to a place I was at.. which is rather shocking..but he didn't play a ton of live shows…he sort of devolved into a hermit with seemingly many troubles though he did not want us to think so and since I don't know its almost pointless to speculate… but he definitely stopped using his amazing talent…no original albums since 2004.. only TWO albums of original songs between 1991 and 2016 seems rather sad…..but maybe he was happy.. people owe others nothing…. his appearance on the original carpool karaoke is comforting.. to know he could make fun of himself…its a beautiful skit any Michael fan will appreciate…. Michael: "Can I come to Comic Relief" Corden: No Michael: Why? Corden: "Because you're a loser.. Comic relief is supposed to help people like you!"…. I can't help though but get the sense he didn't realize how much pleasure he gave so many through his music… but maybe he did.. that is not necessarily enough.. people don't live just for others.. his lover dying of AIDS, his mother dying … an apparent addiction to some drugs…. public bust ups… I hoped his near death experience about 5 years ago would jolt him.. I think part of ht reason I passed on Verizon is he was the guy I wanted to see at a place like the Warner…not necessarily because it was a smaller place.. just I wanted to hear him singing with the beautiful acoustics.. performing as an ARTIST which is what he was..

I'm sort of numbed by all these deaths combined with Trump's "victory"….and a few things on the personal front that even I can't go into..

I am more interested, that you lived in japan.