When I was younger I loved going to the many record stores like Moby Disc in Sherman Oaks. I could spend hours in a record store looking through the stacks of records searching for the elusive import containing tracks unreleased in the US.
It is how I expanded my music of U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure, OMD, Psychedelic Furs, New Order, and the other second English Invasion bands. In some fashion I was handed them by MV3 an afternoon show on KHJ-9 in So. Cal headed by David Maples, Richard Blade and Karen Scott. I didn't get MTV at the time, so it was this afternoon show that was a way of getting some music videos. Later there would be other entrants like Friday Night Videos, where I remember seeing the "Late Night Version" of Duran Duran's Girls on Film and seeing Thriller in its entirety.
While I don't do vinyl or CDs much for that matter, when I do go to a city and see a used record/CD store, I tend to walk in and spend a little time looking for musicians that I like and stumbling across new ones to sample. It was harder back in the day because listening to samples was much harder, CD stores helped a little as some of them had CD listening stations where you could have them open CDs and listen to the whole thing before buying it.
Today, it's a little less hunting in person, it's sampling things online and iTunes. I've been able to find some interesting music that isn't from the US. Some of it is pop music sexy lolita Alizée from France to interesting Blues from Iceland's Lay Low or even French electronica tango from Gotan Project (thank you again Halx!), a surprise anime hit song Theme from Voltes V (one of my childhood finds) or an old Filipino disco hit Awitin Mo, Isasayaw Ko by VST & Company.
I have yet to break into the myspace locations to find the diamonds in the rough, but maybe some of you can lead me there.
Voltes V - Theme Song
Voltes V - Soundtrack (1977)
VST & Co. - Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko
unknown - 1970's
(I haven't the foggiest idea who the people in the video are but this is the only original of the song I can find anywhere)
Lay Low - Please Don't Hate Me
Please Don't Hate Me (2006)
Alizée - J'en ai marre!
Mes Courants Électriques (2003)
Alizée - Mademoiselle Juliette
Psychédélices (2007)
Gotan Project - Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)
La Revancha del Tango (2001)
The Gotan Project may sound familiar if you watched the movie Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas as it was the song used for one of the tango scenes.
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