To people like me a good record store is a bit like a good pub. A place where you see familiar faces either behind the counter or hogging the H bin that you are sure holds the gem you are looking for.
Today there are really just about only good record stores left - as the big impersonal chains have gone to that big retailer in the sky after being pummeled by iTunes, Spotify and Amazon, leaving behind stores run by enthusiasts. The people behind the counters in good stores are always informed and opinionated and need to be - frequently they can be opinionated arseholes like Jack Black in this clip . Mind you Jack is SO RIGHT.
There is always good music playing (ie music you either have already or want). One such record store in Wellington was Colin Morris on Lambton Quay. An added advantage was that it was on the way (with only a little deviation) between Uni and the Railway Station.
In 1978 I bought a lot of records from that store. Especially on a Friday night after a few beers and Dicky Barretts and a feed of oysters at the California Steakhouse. Sadly all three institutions have now gone. Anyway one time in 78 I walked in and Colin was playing this album by a guy called Dirk Hamilton, whom I had never heard of.
It immediately grabbed my intention and after listening to three or four tracks and talking to Colin about the similarities between what I was hearing and Van Morrison and Springsteen I walked with the record in hand. It is a great record - most of which stands the test of time. In particular Billboard on the Moon, Meet me at the Crux, How do you Fight Fire (is "In the Land of the Lizard, under the bubbling mud" a reference to NZ?) and my favourite Every Inch a Moon.
Two years later came Thug of Love - the last of his big label albums. It took me a while to get into this album but it is now my go to album of Dirk's. Strong songs throughout including Colder than the Mexican Snow, Moses and me, I will acquiesce, Change in child's hand and ... well all of them really.
Years later when Oasis released a song called Acquiesce (one of their better ones). They claimed it was the first time Acquiesce had been used in a song title to which I wanted to reply in terms they could understand "Fuck You, You C##ts! Dirk was there first!!!"
By now I was hooked and found that he had released two earlier albums that had never made it to New Zealand. It was before ebay and the internet so what to do....... That's right send your brother off on a world wide trip to search out copies. He did well and did find a copy of one of them, the improbably titled You Can Sing on the Left or Bark on the Right . (I never told him that he was an inadvertent drug smuggler as when I opened up the gatefold cover a few grains of dope fell out - which probably tells you a little about this folky album!) To me there is joyfulness about this album that was not as obvious in the following two albums. All the same it is a solid second album signally where he was heading. I particularly liked the songs The Sweet Forever, Grow a Rose, Wasn't that one night good, Little Big Time Man and When She Kiss Ya like she love love you (You know she do).
Listening to that album again as I write this what strikes me about his writing are his honest and simple observations on life and his nice turns of phrase which are clever without being too clever. While he has frequently been compared to Van Morrison it is this simplicity that differentiates him.
Eventually I picked up his earlier album Alias I through ebay. But after reading about his retirement after Thug of Love I thought that was it.
Then one day I googled Dirk Hamilton and found out that he was back in the saddle so to speak. Apparently he found out he was "big in Italy" and that rekindled something.
After about 10 years away from the business he returned and has been releasing albums reasonably regularly ever since. Eventually the first four albums were also released on CD with excellent booklet style packaging.
I have since bought many of his recent albums, either coming across them unexpectedly in record stores (I always check out the H bins) or directly from Dirk from his website. All are solid albums but as is often the case while I enjoy them none of them connect with me in the way that the first two I heard did. However I can recommend his live "The Relative Health of Your Horse Outside" "Sufferupachuckle" and "The Ghost of Van Gogh".
Interestingly some of the people in his current band were on that first record I heard almost forty years ago. I think that tells you something about the guy. So I have promised myself that one day, when in the states on business or some kind of musical odyssey I will look him up. He seems like the kind of guy I would enjoy a beer with.
Today there are really just about only good record stores left - as the big impersonal chains have gone to that big retailer in the sky after being pummeled by iTunes, Spotify and Amazon, leaving behind stores run by enthusiasts. The people behind the counters in good stores are always informed and opinionated and need to be - frequently they can be opinionated arseholes like Jack Black in this clip . Mind you Jack is SO RIGHT.
There is always good music playing (ie music you either have already or want). One such record store in Wellington was Colin Morris on Lambton Quay. An added advantage was that it was on the way (with only a little deviation) between Uni and the Railway Station.
In 1978 I bought a lot of records from that store. Especially on a Friday night after a few beers and Dicky Barretts and a feed of oysters at the California Steakhouse. Sadly all three institutions have now gone. Anyway one time in 78 I walked in and Colin was playing this album by a guy called Dirk Hamilton, whom I had never heard of.
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| Dirk Hamilton : Meet Me at the Crux |
It immediately grabbed my intention and after listening to three or four tracks and talking to Colin about the similarities between what I was hearing and Van Morrison and Springsteen I walked with the record in hand. It is a great record - most of which stands the test of time. In particular Billboard on the Moon, Meet me at the Crux, How do you Fight Fire (is "In the Land of the Lizard, under the bubbling mud" a reference to NZ?) and my favourite Every Inch a Moon.
Two years later came Thug of Love - the last of his big label albums. It took me a while to get into this album but it is now my go to album of Dirk's. Strong songs throughout including Colder than the Mexican Snow, Moses and me, I will acquiesce, Change in child's hand and ... well all of them really.
Years later when Oasis released a song called Acquiesce (one of their better ones). They claimed it was the first time Acquiesce had been used in a song title to which I wanted to reply in terms they could understand "Fuck You, You C##ts! Dirk was there first!!!"
By now I was hooked and found that he had released two earlier albums that had never made it to New Zealand. It was before ebay and the internet so what to do....... That's right send your brother off on a world wide trip to search out copies. He did well and did find a copy of one of them, the improbably titled You Can Sing on the Left or Bark on the Right . (I never told him that he was an inadvertent drug smuggler as when I opened up the gatefold cover a few grains of dope fell out - which probably tells you a little about this folky album!) To me there is joyfulness about this album that was not as obvious in the following two albums. All the same it is a solid second album signally where he was heading. I particularly liked the songs The Sweet Forever, Grow a Rose, Wasn't that one night good, Little Big Time Man and When She Kiss Ya like she love love you (You know she do).
Listening to that album again as I write this what strikes me about his writing are his honest and simple observations on life and his nice turns of phrase which are clever without being too clever. While he has frequently been compared to Van Morrison it is this simplicity that differentiates him.
Eventually I picked up his earlier album Alias I through ebay. But after reading about his retirement after Thug of Love I thought that was it.
Then one day I googled Dirk Hamilton and found out that he was back in the saddle so to speak. Apparently he found out he was "big in Italy" and that rekindled something.
After about 10 years away from the business he returned and has been releasing albums reasonably regularly ever since. Eventually the first four albums were also released on CD with excellent booklet style packaging.
I have since bought many of his recent albums, either coming across them unexpectedly in record stores (I always check out the H bins) or directly from Dirk from his website. All are solid albums but as is often the case while I enjoy them none of them connect with me in the way that the first two I heard did. However I can recommend his live "The Relative Health of Your Horse Outside" "Sufferupachuckle" and "The Ghost of Van Gogh".
Interestingly some of the people in his current band were on that first record I heard almost forty years ago. I think that tells you something about the guy. So I have promised myself that one day, when in the states on business or some kind of musical odyssey I will look him up. He seems like the kind of guy I would enjoy a beer with.
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