Vinyl Destination
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04/17/2026
We will be selling here! Great show, great dealers.
Nearly 41 years ago – April 18, 1985 – I poked around backstage at The Metro in New Haven.
“He’s back there, somewhere,” a roadie said, pointing right. And suddenly, from around a corner, D. Boon appeared, big smile, warm handshake.
We spent some of the afternoon there, in an appropriately unfancy backstage area, talking. We discussed everything from the shared woes of Navy brats to Creedence to politics and the blitz of recording Double Nickels.
I’d set up an interview with Minutemen’s singer/guitarist through his label, SST, having been shaken alive by the band’s sprawling double LP, Double Nickels on the Dime. It moved me like few other records, a bit of everything slathered in punk sounds and bathed in its ethos. It was like nothing else. It still moves me, still feeling ahead of its time.
Its time was “We Are the World” atop the charts, Wham! and Lionel Richie circling in hot pursuit.
Minutemen were working class personified.
I was there with an assignment from Vox Pop magazine, a Connecticut based freebie. No pay, but who cared? (Sort of like this, I suppose – my, we’ve come full circle) It was free tickets, a chance to write outside of my paying gig for the Acorn Press chain of weekly papers and access to folks like Boon.
The show – with openers Agitpop and No Milk on Tuesday – was brilliant. Brilliant!
Boon bounded around the place, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, holding it all down, magnificent anchors, sympatico in the way jazz players let a frontman fly. I remember thinking in a moment of uncharacteristic mindfulness, there is no place I would rather be. I am where I should be.
When it was over, Boon dutifully headed for the merch table. I bought a $5 US Out of Central America shirt.
“Hey,” a smiling Boon said, handing me the set list he had used onstage. “For you.”
He had taken down my address earlier. A few weeks later, a cassette of a Who bootleg we’d discussed arrived in the mail.
I still have it all, save the tape, which was lost over time. (But I’m still looking.)
I also have the letter from SST eight months later announcing that Boon had been killed in a van accident just before Christmas. He was 27.
After our interview, I snapped some photos, one of which – Boon, flashing a peace sign, big smile -- hung years later in my record store until I couldn’t take people asking about it anymore. Who’s that? Is it for sale?
That’s the thing about Minutemen. None of it ever was.
Which is all by way of recommending you read a wonderful piece in tomorrow’s New York Times by Bob Mehr. It discusses the impact of Boon’s death, its aftermath for his bandmates and punk and a moment where the surviving crew summon the lost sailor’s spirit.
It’s beautiful.
Bob Mehr
March 26 at 2:34 PM
·
My latest for The New York Times: a look back at the life and legacy of the late great D. Boon and Minutemen. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting San Pedro to spend time with Boon’s friends and bandmates, Mike Watt and George Hurley, as they did some recording and reflected on Minutemen and how they’ve continued to carry forward the spirit of Boon and the band. With further thoughts from Ed Crawford, Thurston Moore, and Jeff Tweedy. This is, I hope, a deeply felt story about music, friendship and perseverance in the wake of tragedy. Online now and in print on Sunday’s NYT. Here's a gift link to the story, feel free to read and share: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/arts/music/minutemen-d-boon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WlA.1Opq.Jr2wESqq0494&smid=nytcore-ios-share
https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/19835
Behold! Todays' release of the annual Record Store Day list of special releases arrived with something special -- the announcement of Metal Machine Music: Power to Consume Vol. 2, a 2-LP industrial/noise tribute to a landmark Lou Reed recording that includes Ron Lessard, proprietor of the amazing RRRecords on Central Street in Lowell and -- perhaps most importantly -- the Godfather of Noise.
Over more than four decades, folks have come from near and far to Lowell to find the guy who championed noise on literally hundreds of releases. They've bought his recordings and those he has produced and they have stood in his store to watch him and other noise musicians bash, bleat and bemuse in live performance.
He the man also known as Emil Beaulieau has been quiet for a long time.
Here is something his customers know about this iconoclast: He is one of Lowell's true gems, and at least the music world is catching up.
It was a few months ago that a record company guy from Legacy called Ron to ask for a track for the compilation, which celebrates Lou Reed's most disregarded/misunderstood/groundbreaking album, 1975's Metal Machine Music. It was ... noisy.
Ron found a track in his archives, sent it to the producer and there it is, leading off the whole shebang, "My Brother's Name is Lucien. But Everyone Calls Him Lou."
Long retired from performance and recording, the Godfather has spoken again.
Record stores will carry the release (only 1,000 copies were made) if they participate in Record Store Day.
Here's the best part -- RRRecords has never participated in RSD. You'll have to find it elsewhere.
NOISE, INK & THANKS...
Thank you so much to the folks at Hive Public Market -- especially the unflappable Jen Cerretti -- for putting together Noise & Ink, where records and art lined the hallways of the wonderful new hive Public Market in the heart of downtown Lowell.
Had a blast selling records and other stuff but more importantly seeing old friends. Wow. My people.
The noise king, the new hip man, the judge, the newlyweds, the skater (and Mrs. Skater), the chef, the guy whose shirt I bought a decade ago (I wore it), the neighbor, the hockey dad, the drummer, the candidate, the DJ, the sisters, the artist/jazz DJ who owes me a new record, all of the shop keeps, and everyone who came out.
This event will return, but what a start. Way beyond expectations. Stay tuned for future dates.
There is sweat and magic in this new place. And yes, Rick, these ARE the gold old days. Write it on the wall.
VDLY!
Oh, goodness. It's almost here. TOMORROW!!
Starts at 11, ends at 5.
No admission fee.
Positively giddy about this one. There is beer (heck, it's AT a brewery, Counter Weight), pizza (there's one in the brewery), food trucks pulled up outside, the finest record dealers in New England and thousands and thousands and thousands of records. LPs, 45s. CDs. Videos. DJs will be spinning stuff.
This is all of it.
It happens at 7 Dana Court in Cheshire, CT.
We are bringing tons of LPs (the best stuff), a bunch of $10 CD box sets and a selection of $20 Mobile Fidelity CDs. This is our last dance for at least a month.
Worth the trip
VDLY.
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