WIZZARD LINER NOTES VOL.10 "DIG"

Apr 22, 2023 by 佐藤幸史

Hello everyone.

Thank you as always for reading WIZZARD LINER NOTES, which I publish at my own pace.

What kind of digging are you doing?

"Digging" (掘る) -- I'd like to share a little story about that.

Thank you for joining me this time as well.

These days, I've been digging for music online more often, but the numerous records on the shelf in my living room each bring back stories, memories, and scenes that float up with the music.

Before, I used to dig for CDs and records in record stores even more than I do now, listening to them and then moving on to the next one, repeating that process over and over again.

I would go out searching for things I wasn't even sure existed.

Looking back now, it seems like I was always on a treasure hunt, as if possessed by something.

The other day, a friend took me to a place called jammin' BAR in Hiroshima for the first time. As soon as I entered, I saw a drum set inside the store.

The walls were covered with posters, ethnic reliefs, and flyers. Aside from the bar counter and seats, it felt like a small secondhand record and novelty store.

↑↑

"Only ¥100 for secondhand!" I thought, almost in tears.

The master I met there was standing behind the counter, wearing a tie-dye Pink Floyd band T-shirt.

Perhaps because it was late, there were no other customers in the store, so we had the place to ourselves.

Although there were many CDs filling the shelves behind the counter, the only sound in the store was the faint broadcast of a Hiroshima Carp baseball game from what seemed to be a local radio station.

Hmm...

While a feeling of "maybe this isn't going to be so great" began to well up inside me, the first thing that caught my eye when I looked around the store was YMO's 1979 second album, "Solid State Survivor." Perhaps because Sakamoto-san had just passed away, I picked up the standing album and naturally started talking to the master.

"Sakamoto-san passed away, didn't he?"

"Oh, is that right? Yeah, yeah."

"Can you play it?"

"Sure, go ahead."

From there, our conversation blossomed with YMO's music, and my music-loving friends also started talking.

It began with song requests and "digging" into the instruments, records, and other items scattered around the store, leading to more and more digging.

Time flew by as we heard stories from the master's younger days and behind-the-scenes tales of our favorite bands that we didn't know, much like reading liner notes.

It was a night where I truly got to "dig" into the master's way of life at jammin' BAR.

It was a delightful time that reaffirmed how interesting and amazing people's histories and personalities are.

Moreover, all the songs that played during the time we spent there were spiced with episodes and stories, and they were newly added to my life's collection.

I think modern times are very convenient, but sometimes, a treasure hunt-like "dig" might also be valuable.

By the way, I ended up going to jammin' BAR again the next day and chatted for a long time, haha!

Thank you, Master! I'll be back to dig again next time!

jammin' BAR
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069917151326

Thank you for reading LINER NOTES VOL.10 this time!
See you next time in LINER NOTES VOL.11.