Austin Record Convention

Austin Record Convention

Crockett Events Center, Oct. 25 A line of 50 anxious diggers awaited the opening of the Austin Record Convention as I pulled up to the Crockett Events Center on Saturday. Once through the door an expansive candy shop of records and music memorabilia presented itself. On a quest to bolster my vinyl collection, I hastily swept the floor for dollar-bin bargains and quickly ran across an album that has eluded me for years. Paying the vendor's mere $2.50 for Things We Like by Jack Bruce, I knew I'd finally secured the sample source for rap classics such as Diamond D's "Sally Got a One Track Mind," Smif N Wesson's "Bucktown," and the Artifacts' "Wrong Side of the Tracks," among many others.

Shuffling between tables, I picked up a stack of albums that include drum breaks among their arsenals. Spooky Two by Spooky Tooth begins with a wicked percussion sequence that clocks in at over a minute. For Earth Below by Robin Trower and Harder ... Faster by April Wine each feature short but hard open drum patterns; surprisingly enough, the self titled effort by Dog Soldier, a Seventies Southern rock outfit, is chock full of unintended allusions to hip-hop culture. While it's normal practice for shoppers to tote portable record players in order to listen to their potential purchases, it wasn't until I got home that I realized why I bought Thunderbox by Humble Pie. It contains the loop for one of my favorite tracks by the Lifesavas.

Glad to score a clean copy of The Warriors soundtrack, I practically felt obligated to also grab a copy of the ultra-common Star Wars and Galactic Funk album that someone on eBay recently passed off as rare to the tune of over $100. What had to be one of the most impressive collections of funk records in the house was presented by Richard Chisolm of Atlanta, who hooked me up with 12-inch copies of "Flirt" by Cameo and "Just Give the DJ a Break" by Dynamix II.

Retreating to my car for a moment to empty my bag, I was informed that the guy pulling up in the parking lot with the U-Haul trailer had a gang of rap records for sale. Seizing the opportunity, I offered to help the man unload his crates, which were holding at least 15,000 records, in exchange for a discount. That man happened to be DJ Smoove from Dallas and he was more than happy to have the help. Shortly after unloading as much wax as his assigned area could handle, I discovered the true value of such a renowned convention as the four of us that were left digging through the remaining boxes in the trailer realized that we were respectively from Austin, Louisville, Toronto, and London. Among the stack of records that I purchased from DJ Smoove, I was most happy to land a series of early 2 Live Crew singles as well as classic releases by Texas artists such as Nemesis and Trinity Garden Cartel.

The theme of local hip-hop continued as I ran into DJ Nick Nack, who was smiling from ear to ear, as well as Houston's Carlos Garza who sold me a copy of Wreckshop by Fat Pat. If only I had more money once I finally stumbled on Ed Smith's table, overflowing with funk records brought from his store in Orlando. Just able to squeeze the first three Slave LPs into my budget, I left the Events Center with a smile of my own. Unlike the other record fairs I have attended on the West Coast, this Austin Record Convention seemed to emanate with a feeling of goodwill as collectors and dealers put aside competitive urges in favor of beneficial interaction. Of course the next show is only six months away ...