A late Sunday morning with kids off tied up in a school activity afforded me a visit to RECOfan, a record shop in Akihabara with a rather huge inventory. Despite digging through nearly everything there, nothing quite jumped out of the crates at me, so I left empty-handed, even without a ¥100 7inch. With a ride clear across Tokyo to get back home, a “Records shops around me” Google search lead me to Tohto Records & Books in Yushima where I discovered a quaint shop run by the friendly Tetsuya san, who as it turns out, prior to opening Tohto, worked for 30 years at the very RECOfan that I had just visited.
Tohto had a very well-curated collection of records and books. I went through it all while some funky music played over the speakers, and despite seeing tons of stuff I wanted to take home, I just went for an inexpensive French release of Harry Nilsson single, “Without You” (…on a Nilsson kick these days). While I was checking out and chatting up Tetsuya, I noticed that the record that had been spinning on the turntable and that I was enjoying was Yukihiro Takahashi’s 2nd solo album, “Murdered By The Music”, which I had never heard. We both lamented his passing that very day, and both shared our mutual admiration of him and YMO and beyond. One of my favorite things to buy at record stores is the album that’s playing on the house system because it’s a memorable way to find new music, so I asked Testuya if the album was indeed for sale and he said it was, and that it was the blue vinyl version, and included the original posters and inserts, and at a very reasonable price, and so I said that I’d take it too. Instead of having him stop the record right then and there, I asked him to play the rest of side B, which he did while we chatted and while I made Miyu’s photo (from the previous post).
Tohto is a cool store with not only heaps of records and books, but cool memorabilia and many signed glossy photos, notes, and more of famous Japanese rockers. Tetsuya must be a well-known Tokyo record aficionado! Go in and pay Tohto and Tetsuya san a visit! Thanks for the nice time and the great records and memory!
Moon Riders ムーンライダーズ – Camera Egal Stylo カメラ=万年筆
Label: Orplid – OPL-4001, Crown (3) – CSL-5860
Format: Vinyl, LP, Promo
Country: Japan
Released: Aug 25, 1980
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Art Rock, Experimental, Avantgarde
https://www.discogs.com/release/12641759-Moon-Riders-%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%A9%E4%B8%87%E5%B9%B4%E7%AD%86-Camera-Egal-Stylo
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