Disclaimer: The brief recollection you’re about to read is an assortment of dusty memory shards pieced together in an old pickled noggin. Events described may skew toward the true-ish rather than the dead-on accurate.
I got turned on to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins via the 1983 Jim Jarmusch movie “Stranger Than Paradise,” which memorably featured his signature song, “I Put a Spell on You,” on its soundtrack. Smitten with Jay’s unhinged sound, I dutifully purchased his compilation CD “Frenzy” and fell in love with more demented ditties, including “Alligator Wine,” “Little Demon,” and the title track. A few years later, I was living in Boston and Jay came to the area to play a gig. I’d read that his live performances could be playfully macabre—he’d been known to pop out of a coffin at the start of some concerts. As an avowed fan of over-the-top rock theatrics, I knew I had to be there. Continue reading
Hello again! I’m back after a brief hiatus from the blog while I moved the operations for Dugout Discs and its subsidiary holdings (wink) from Toronto, Canada, to Portsmouth, England. We’re by the sea, people! It’s glorious. And the even better news is that Portsmouth has at least four decent places to buy vinyl, including a well-stocked HMV. My two favourite shops so far are a hip little venture called 
dugoutdiscs 