Celebrating Ringo Starr on his 85th birthday. —Ed.
Beatles fans, stop your incessant bickering about who’s the better artist, Paul McCartney or John Lennon! Because let’s face it, Ringo Starr beats the MBEs off both of ‘em! He’s a hit machine, a genius and a true Starr! And to those who would say otherwise I say, well, to HECK with you!
I don’t base my opinion on the fact that Ringo is the humblest and most lovable Beatle. No, all one has to do is compare his best of, 1975’s Blast from Your Past, with those of the other members of the Fab Four. It’s got a higher winner to loser ratio (90%, and that’s only if I call “Beaucoups of Blues” a loser, which it ain’t!) than John Lennon’s Shaved Fish (64%) Wings’ Wings Greatest (50%), and George Harrison’s The Best of George Harrison, which I refuse to even consider seeing as how its first side is composed solely of Beatles’ era songs.
And not only does Ringo have a better batting average–he’s also a lot more fun. Sure Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” (to pick just one song) is a harrowing depiction of heroin withdrawal blah blah blah, but do I ever listen to it? Of course not! It’s a stone bummer! And yes, Paul the Frivolous has written some lovably lightweight songs over the years, but he’s also the spitwit responsible for “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘em In,” and “Ebony and Ivory,” which makes him a horrible person in my book! And don’t even get me started on that nebbish George Harrison. No, Ringo’s the King, and I say that not as a fan but as a completely objective party who Ringo just paid me to say that!
Look, I would call Ringo the Greatest but I don’t have too since he comes right out and says he is in “I’m the Greatest,” just one of the delicious trifles that make Blasts from Your Past as indispensable an album as, well, pick an album, any album! And just in case you think Ringo’s only good for producing trifles, I give you “Photograph” (as touching a song as you’ll ever run across) and “It Don’t Come Easy,” which has George Harrison’s fingerprints all over it but who gives a shit!
Shepherdstown, WV | Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment finds new home, plans expansion to inventory. Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment closed the doors to its storefront at 141 East German Street on June 15, after seven years in the location. Over the following four days, the business underwent a move to a location down the street, at 119 West German Street. On Friday, the business opened its new doors to the public. “It was a whole lot of work,” said owner Andrew Barton. “We’re not completely done yet, but everything essential to us selling and being in business is here.” According to Barton, this is the second move his 11-year-old business has had to make. The reason for this move, to the former home of Dickinson & Wait Craft Gallery, is to enable the business to expand its inventory. The new location is 
Minneapolis, MN | After 37 years, Hymie’s in Minneapolis spins its last record: After nearly four decades of serving the Twin Cities’ vibrant music scene, Hymie’s Records has decided to close its doors. Originally opened in the 1980s, the Longfellow neighborhood shop once praised by the Beastie Boys and Rolling Stone, announced that it has no plans to reopen. Adam Taylor, the store’s fourth owner, bought Hymie’s in 2019. Taylor says that throughout the pandemic, record shops around the Twin Cities were hit hard, experiencing financial hurdles that put some out of business. While Hymie’s managed to stay afloat, Taylor says that added financial pressures chipped away at the business’s future. “Rent is astronomical. I can’t afford 4,000 bucks a month,” Taylor said, “I’m out of spirits. 
Then he said, “I can give you a bottle and a pack of cigarettes. Like tequila?” I said, “Man, this is ridiculous.” He said, “You’re disappearing ink. I never saw you. Take the tequila. It’s some expensive shit. And I recommend heartily that you find another way of getting paid, because you’re too nice a guy for this business.” By this time there was a customer standing behind me. I didn’t even know he was there. I turned to him and said, “I’m sorry for the hold-up, no pun intended,” and bolted. And heard him say behind me, “It takes all kinds of idiots to make a world.”
Her memoir 
Golden Valley, MN | Down in the Valley: Four Minnesota businesses, four different tariff tales. All four of these businesses are weighing uncertainty. …Back up to Golden Valley, at Down in the Valley record store, tariffs are striking a blue note. “The problem is as a small retailer, we can’t just absorb these small added costs,” said Scott Farrell, general manager of Down in the Valley. “We are already running on thin margins the way it is. So, we have to pass that onto the consumer.” Sixty percent of the products he sells are imported. Suppliers of action figures, toys, incense and turntables are already charging higher prices. “The entry-level turntable retailed at 129. 
Tokyo, JP | A music lover’s guide to Tokyo: Shop for your favorites at a record store. Ask anyone who has visited Tokyo about record shopping and they will all mention Disk Union. The behemoth music retailer has been around since 1967 and has multiple stores across the city. In Shinjuku alone, we’re talking four separate buildings within a three-block radius, containing various levels that cover 18 different genres. Music lovers will need a map—and fortunately, you can find one online or at the front of any of their stores. 
To appropriately comprehend the level of Big Bill Broonzy’s popularity, please consider his prolific output across the decade of the Great Depression. The brutal 1930s economic downturn decimated the young record industry, which had been thriving before the crash, and snuffed out recording opportunities for dozens of bluesmen, with a handful of those musicians later “rediscovered” in connection with the folk music boom of the 1950s-’60s. Broonzy was an early catalyst-beneficiary of that boom, and would’ve surely experienced further success had he not died in ’58.
