Writing Prompt: Go to record store, goodwill, garage sale and find something that catches your eye...
Every weekend for me tends to be a little adventure in search of music. Thankfully I have two great parents who love going shopping at thrift stores and the swapmeets around our city of San Diego. I use to be very against this since this was a major waste of time for me, but ever since I've gotten a record player, everything has changed. Now every weekend I try to save up money to go buy new records to add to the growing collection of new and old vinyls I have. It's worth all the pennies...
So this weekend my parents were able to take me shopping at the swapmeet and a thrift shop. I was able to grab some great records at the swapmeet by artist like The Who, The Cars, and The Beach Boys all for a great price. I was super excited to get home to hear my new bundle of records, but I couldn't forget about my assignment: grab a unknown record. I waited until we arrived at the Thrift Shop near my grandma's house, where they usually have a good selection of records. The thrift shop usually tends to be the place for finding new old records that look interesting, but I was pretty unlucky that day.
They had a small pile of records in a old box right next to the technology stuff. I remember how dusty and unpleasing they looked from a distance, but I wasn't just going to give up and not search for anything good. Well... it took me around 2 minutes to go through the whole box and unsurprisingly I didn't find anything worth buying. Just when I was going to leave the box full of records, I searched through it again and found an old record I didn't notice my first time around. I took the record, stared at the cover for a minute, read the back, and decided I was going to give it a chance.
So this weekend my parents were able to take me shopping at the swapmeet and a thrift shop. I was able to grab some great records at the swapmeet by artist like The Who, The Cars, and The Beach Boys all for a great price. I was super excited to get home to hear my new bundle of records, but I couldn't forget about my assignment: grab a unknown record. I waited until we arrived at the Thrift Shop near my grandma's house, where they usually have a good selection of records. The thrift shop usually tends to be the place for finding new old records that look interesting, but I was pretty unlucky that day.
They had a small pile of records in a old box right next to the technology stuff. I remember how dusty and unpleasing they looked from a distance, but I wasn't just going to give up and not search for anything good. Well... it took me around 2 minutes to go through the whole box and unsurprisingly I didn't find anything worth buying. Just when I was going to leave the box full of records, I searched through it again and found an old record I didn't notice my first time around. I took the record, stared at the cover for a minute, read the back, and decided I was going to give it a chance.
The record I ended up grabbing was The O'Jay's "Travelin' at the Speed of Thought" 1997 album. I honestly grabbed it because it seem to familiar for me to pass it over, but after a close inspection, I noticed I never really heard about these guys. I think it might have been the cover that really brought my attention too. I figured it looked similar to a Earth Wind And Fire or Gap Band album cover, so it brought my attention that I might be running into some kind of disco/R&B record from the 70s or 80s. It looked interesting enough and it was cheap, so I decided to give it a chance.
The album consist of 8 tracks, but my the one that caught my attention the most was the beginning track 'Travelin at the Speed of Thought'. It's weird wacky guitar and catchy bass riff intro caught my attention to what I never expected to hear. I ultimately kind of afraid that I ended up wasting a 2 dollars on a bad album, but it soon that things started to get interesting in the song. It wasn't long until all the instruments kicked in to created a punchy little verse with vocals kicking that energy in. Lyrics like, "The time we live in are demanding" clearly giving off a very meaningful message in such a groovy song, that I almost chuckled a little bit. The song quickly turns into the weird wacky intro again, but doesn't lose anyone interest and fades away into the end.
Now if you fully listen to this whole album, it's pretty killer. It has some pretty good R&B/disco tunes to get anyone grooving to the beat. Apart from that they also some very nice relaxing songs that fit the mood in a Sunday afternoon. The men from Ohio weren't afraid of playing around with the tunes and trying to get something new out of their own sound. It was quite interesting to hear their soothing harmonies and vocals too. I don't know how "famous" these guys were, but after some research, they had a good amount of chart hits. Apart from that, they were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! That was something I never expected from a band I didn't even know.
Now I don't know if you might be lucky enough to find this record at your local thrift shop, but if you do you must buy it. Their 8 tracks of musical bliss is worth the money and the time, and will take you through a pleasant R&B journey. With this record O' Jays record, this really opened the door for me in terms of looking for the other songs. If you don't have the time checking if investing in their record, at least have a listen on Youtube, you won't regret it.
The album consist of 8 tracks, but my the one that caught my attention the most was the beginning track 'Travelin at the Speed of Thought'. It's weird wacky guitar and catchy bass riff intro caught my attention to what I never expected to hear. I ultimately kind of afraid that I ended up wasting a 2 dollars on a bad album, but it soon that things started to get interesting in the song. It wasn't long until all the instruments kicked in to created a punchy little verse with vocals kicking that energy in. Lyrics like, "The time we live in are demanding" clearly giving off a very meaningful message in such a groovy song, that I almost chuckled a little bit. The song quickly turns into the weird wacky intro again, but doesn't lose anyone interest and fades away into the end.
Now if you fully listen to this whole album, it's pretty killer. It has some pretty good R&B/disco tunes to get anyone grooving to the beat. Apart from that they also some very nice relaxing songs that fit the mood in a Sunday afternoon. The men from Ohio weren't afraid of playing around with the tunes and trying to get something new out of their own sound. It was quite interesting to hear their soothing harmonies and vocals too. I don't know how "famous" these guys were, but after some research, they had a good amount of chart hits. Apart from that, they were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! That was something I never expected from a band I didn't even know.
Now I don't know if you might be lucky enough to find this record at your local thrift shop, but if you do you must buy it. Their 8 tracks of musical bliss is worth the money and the time, and will take you through a pleasant R&B journey. With this record O' Jays record, this really opened the door for me in terms of looking for the other songs. If you don't have the time checking if investing in their record, at least have a listen on Youtube, you won't regret it.