The beacon for all music lovers–Amoeba Music in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of the Vanessa Franko Collection)
I think one of the reasons my family and friends find a trip to Amoeba Music with me so daunting is that I don’t just stick to one section. I usually start in the rock/pop area, (used first), but before I can make my way to the register with a basket full of finds, I’ve hit the hip-hop, dance, jazz, clearance and oldies’ areas at the very least.
The first time I came to California, on a family vacation, I was given only 20 minutes to explore the Amoeba in Hollywood for the first time, can you imagine? It was like supermarket sweep with me grabbing every punk import I could find.
Luckily, now that I live here, Charming Husband finds my Amoeba trips amusing (at least for the first 90 minutes or so).
The point of all this is that I have a very eclectic music collection, one that includes two artists that go together like peanut butter and battery acid.
With the Space Shuttle Endeavour making its final tour through South Central Los Angeles, I started thinking about all of the great rap that sprang out of the area and cracked myself up thinking about Ice Cube watching Endeavour pass by en route to the LA Science Center, even though I don’t think the shuttle is going through Compton. Here’s the N.W.A. classic “Straight Outta Compton.” Don’t worry kids, I found the “clean” version.
Now, take that and put it with this other song that has been in my head since I got an email pitching a Counting Crows interview for their November show at Pechanga yesterday afternoon.
It’s another very L.A. song, with mentions of canyons and Hollywood, but very different than the last one. Here’s a live version of “A Long December.”
Yeah, only at the Audio File can you find N.W.A. and Counting Crows in the same place. Well, here and at home in my CD collection. Got questions for Adam Duritz? Post them in the comments below.