The Right Hemisphere

The Right Hemisphere? Am I discussing the complex inner workings of the cerebral cortex again? NO!

The Right Hemisphere was the cool little neighborhood record store in my old town (Media, Pa.) where a kid could go and get lost for hours looking for cool new music. I could ride my bike a few blocks to the store or if I had a few extra quarters I could jump on the trolley at the end of my street and ride into town. If I stayed on the trolley a few more blocks to the end of the line I'd be at my Dad's office, how cool was that! Many times my trusty old golden retreiver would make the trek with me, only to bother the record store cat, Maestro.

The store was pretty small, but jammed with tons of used records and tapes, including IMPORTS. You remember imports, those hard to find gems that would blow your socks off when discovered. Only to be followed by you emptying your grass cutting money for that rare copy of the Clash's "Innoculated City", the one that had the unlicensed use of a toilet bowl cleaner commercial at the begining. Yeah I had it, "had" being the optimum word.
They also had loads of stuff you'd never heard of, but would try on the suggestion of another shopper who was also scanning the bins for audio gold. I might add the store also often had an odd smell at times that reminded me of burning leaves? Hmmmm?
It was always a fantastic musical scavenger hunt of sorts. You'd start under "N" looking for New Order and a song would hit you and you'd try to remember to go look up that band as soon as you found the New Order you were looking for. After you found the song you were looking for you've totally forgotten the bin you wanted to hit next. So you amble over to the next bin and skim through only to be distracted again and the cycle restarts. Ah the days of having time to kill.

Anyway it's a shame that kids today (wow how old am I to put that in print) don't have a place like that anymore.

What's spinning around my house these days?
Citizen Cope "Brother Lee"
Goat "All Aboard"
Milton "Williamsburg Lullaby"
Snow Patrol "Shut Your Eyes"

ps I'm going to see Milton at Joe's Pub (Manhattan) in 2 weeks. It's a cool place dedicated to small musical acts (meaning #'s not popularity) because you sit and eat dinner while the artist performs in a very intimate setting.


Have fun and please comment