by Sally
Davey Havoc pic by Audra, all other pics by Kaitlin.

Every year Record Store Day just gets bigger and bigger, and the craziness grows! Here in SF before we opened the line was INSANE outside our doors and the first person in line had been there since 6am! That's some dedication! Even more astounding, customers were calling Friday night and asking if they could camp out for prime spots on the big day!

At 10:30am on the button, the doors were opened and people swarmed into the treasure-laden vinyl aisles of Amoeba SF. There were hoardes of people packing the rows and surrounding the 7"s. Watch an awesome video below shot by Audra of the line and the vibe before the doors were flung open!

           

I have been excited about the new Wanda Jackson ever since I heard she was working with Jack White. I already loved her but I knew she could be even better with the help of Jack White! Jack White is, of course, from the White Stripes, who are now officially broken up. Not that Wanda really needed Jack White -- she was putting out some of the best rockabilly and country albums way before he was even born. She is the Queen of Rockabilly, after all! But I knew that he could be bring that greatness out of her once again. It had been a while. Jack White already helped Loretta Lynn make an amazing album a couple of years back, so we knew he could do it. Both Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson are two of my favorites! I obviously don't like anything new that comes out in the world of country but I have always loved the country music of the 50's and 60's. Wanda Jackson got her start back in back in the 50's, back when Rockabilly was very popular but there were not really a whole lot of women putting out rockabilly records. This is why she is known as the first woman of rockabilly. She paved the road for many who followed her. She later moved on to putting out more country albums and eventually gospel albums, but on this new album she is putting out the great rockabilly that made her famous. This is good stuff!

Sad news today from the Whites: Jack and Meg are permanently breaking up and the White Stripes are officially no more. They said that "the main reason is to 'preserve what is beautiful and special about the band.'" Makes sense, I guess -- I mean, how many different songs can you really write with a guitar and a drummer? I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier, frankly. White Stripes, RIP. It was good while it lasted.

 

"Death Letter"


"Truth Doesn't Make a Noise"

This month we are celebrating 20 years of Amoeba! It's our anniversary! And one of the ways we wanted to celebrate was by highlighting here for you some of our best, most memorable instores of all time! We have been so lucky over the years -- we've hosted shows, signings and events with Paul McCartney, Queens of the Stone Age, The Shins, Flight of the Conchords, John Waters, The Gossip and zillions more. You can find video footage and interviews from many of our instores right here! Read on to find out what three of our most seasoned instore reviewers thought were some of our very greatest.

But first, get further immersed in our 20th Anniversary! To check out our first Anniversary blog post, with testimonials from some of our favorite customers, click here! Our second Anniversary post is an interview with co-owner Marc Weinstein about getting the Berkeley store off the ground all the way back in 1990 and what Amoeba means to him. Read it right here. Our third Anniversary post includes Top 10 lists from some of our old skool employees -- click here to check out their favorites in music and movies from the past 20 years!

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