Tony is the real deal.
Last summer I got a message from a stranger saying he had discovered my YouTube channel, and that he owned a record shop in Baltimore, Maryland and that he’s been making frequent record shopping trip to Japan over the last 20 or so years. He said his name was Tony and his record shop was called “Celebrated Summer Records” …(thinks to self, “Where I have I heard that name before, “Celebrated Summer”? Isn’t that a Hüske Dü tune?) Soon enough I was pursuing Tony’s online photos and getting a few glimpses of his Record Shop, which looked supremely cool.
The first thing I noticed was a delightfully minimal online presence, a blogspot blogroll that went back to 2007 and stopped at 2020. But the blog confirmed, along with tons of great pictures of the evolution of the record shop, in-store concerts, that there were many repeated trips to Japan, where Tony would seem to rendezvous with both Japanese and non-Japanese friends, see tons of live music, visit countless record store, plenty of culture adventure and exchange, and a usually a big haul back to his shop in Baltimore. Digging a little deeper into Celebrated Summer Records, I read “We specialize in: Punk, Soul, Hardcore, Jazz and Indie records although we get lots of other styles in as well…Our mission goal is to provide a Friendly, Fun and Clean record store where everything is fairly priced, bagged and organized…We don’t put anything on Ebay, Discogs or on-line ever, we are a true walk-up only Record Shop like from days past!
Between the minimal online presence, yet seemingly vibrant community that permeates the store (as best I could gather from the photos), along with the cheerful and friendly, but diehard-punk-to-the-core punk (note: perfectly tolerate of patchouli-sticking hippies like me) it seems Tony had really cultivated a real deal record shop, the kind legends are made of, the ones in the cult-classic movies. Well done Tony.
If you’ll note from my previous post, that weekend that he was here on his umpteeth visit to Japan, happened to coincide with the Summer Sonic Music Festival that I attended for the first time in years, and this time with my entire family in tow. We were so busy with the weekend activities that I nearly missed the chance to meet Tony in person. But at the 11th hour before his return to Baltimore, with yet another nice haul of records for both his private collection and his shop, we managed to connect in Kabukicho for a shot in front to GODZILLA! Epic! I was expecting to see some a handful of punk records, and he did have one, but also Coltrane Om (That is going to make somebody back home VERY happy) AND AND AND, a copy of Udemen, Happy End’s first record on account of me talking all about it on one of my videos! NICE, TONY! Stoked you scored that one. I love the 2nd track, Kakurembo (“Hide and Seek”.) It was a short but delightful hang and I’m really glad I got a chance to meet Tony. Thanks for making the time and for the Celebrated Summer Bumper Sticker too! Hopefully see you again on your next trip to Japan!
More Tokyo Record Style on the Way!
はっぴいえんど (Happy End) – はっぴいえんど
Label: URC – URL-1015
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Country: Japan
Released: 1975
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock
https://www.discogs.com/release/29358565-%E3%81%AF%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B4%E3%81%84%E3%81%88%E3%82%93%E3%81%A9-%E3%81%AF%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B4%E3%81%84%E3%81%88%E3%82%93%E3%81%A9
Death Side – Wasted Dream
Label: Selfish Records – BEL-12036
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Japan
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Hardcore, Punk
https://www.discogs.com/release/2402669-Death-Side-Wasted-Dream
John Coltrane – Om
Label: MCA Records – VIM-4668
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: Japan
Released: 1983
Genre: Jazz
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
https://www.discogs.com/release/8476769-John-Coltrane-Om
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