Who Knew there was an actual ‘Record Store Day’ to be celebrated? Not me, but in case you need a reason to go buy some vinyl, tomorrow is Record Store Day. Yesterday I got an email from KEXP’s awesome blog master, Jim, asking for our personal record store memories.

I jumped on it since my first record store holds some of the happiest memories in my early years of music discovery. Here’s my entry:

“As a really young kid, I spent hours rifling through my mom’s albums, mostly just looking at the album covers and art, waiting for the day I was allowed to play them and not just play with them…they made great walls for the houses I built for my dolls. I always giggled at Herb Alperts Whipped Cream & Other Delights, thinking I found something I wasn’t supposed to see. The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Crystal Gayle, The Muppet Movie Soundtrack, tons of jazz and classical, it was a cornucopia. I knew the names Mozart, Wagner and Bach long before I knew Michael Jackson and Madonna. One Christmas when I was probably 9 or 10 years old, my brother gave me Def Leppard Pyromania on vinyl. My very own record. I immediately found out where he bought it, a store right up the street called Licorice Pizza. It was on Brookhurst in Huntington Beach, CA, just a bike ride away and was a great motivation to do my chores for that allowance. That was my first real record store, one that I called “My record store” (and what a great name). Albums in my collection from Licorice Pizza (keep in mind I was 10): Billy Idol, Madonna, Def Leppard, Stephen Tintin Duffy (you know you remember that one), Culture Club, Olivia Newton-John, Duran Duran and Morris Day & The Time, just to name a few. I’m so thankful for Licorice Pizza, it helped make me the music junkie I am today.”

Many DJs, KEXP employees and members of the NW music community contributed and you can read those stories here.

If it’s still open, go hit up your favorite record store tomorrow. Buy some vinyl and celebrate your days of discovering music.