First album: Van Halen -  Fair Warning 
 
Favorite album:  I could probably write a short novel because I have to consider different genres.  For the sake of everyone’s sanity, I will go with The Fountain by Clint Mansell as far as scores go.  Favorite album in popular music would probably be Ben Harper’s Fight For Your Mind and Revolver by The Beatles.  
 
Favorite Enjoy The Ride or Enjoy The Toons release:  TMNT 7 Inch!  I ran into you all at MondoCon one year and you were passing out the masks to go with the purchase.  Been following ETR ever since.  
 
Favorite album artwork: Anything from Uriah Heep or work done by Frank Frazetta.  They are always fun to look at and to admire all of the details. The gang at Cadabra Records also consistently has great cover art for their releases. 

 
What are your favorite local record shops to support?  In our area, I try to support Mojo Vinyl in Roswell and when I get to the city (Atlanta), I like shopping at Criminal Records, Wax N Facts & Fantasyland Records. Comeback Vinyl is a great addition to our neighborhood as well. Oh and a little known place called Ghosts In The Garret Records that I may own and have a slight bias towards. 
 
What have you been listening to more frequently lately?  With this pandemic going on and being able to work from home, I have been delving into things I have always wanted to explore more. That includes odd specialty records like The Acid Test and Aleister Crowley as well as horror scores, Americana (John Prine and Ward Davis), and Psychedelic/Neo-Funk (Budos Band, Orgone, Karl Hector, & Shuggie Otis). 

 
Any specific albums you wish you had on vinyl? I wish I had more Shuggie Otis and horror scores on vinyl. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is also at the top of my list.  I’d add another wish and ask that my wallet didn’t have a bottom to it.   

What was the best album(s) you've discovered this year (it can be anything, doesn't have to be a new release): I am very fortunate to have had the chance to explore this year! I revisited Tom Petty’s Wildflowers (the deluxe edition is insane), Purple Image (fantastic funk album), The Head Hunter Soundtrack (see this immediately), and I have gotten really into the work of Harold Faltermeyer.  I need a box set of his music much sooner than later. Lastly, I fell in love with both of the Red Dead Redemption 2 volumes. Music shouldn’t be that good for a video game. Speaking of which, The Ghost of Tsushima is pretty stellar too. 
 

Since the holiday season is upon us, what are some of your favorite holiday albums?  I love Christmas.  With that said, I can’t do full albums of Christmas music too often.  I like songs and compilations and they would include John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Burl Ives, etc.  Tony Bennett & Count Basie did an album together that was solid as did Bela Fleck & The Flecktones.  I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I have belted out Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” in my car several hundred times.  

What 2021 vinyl releases are you most excited about? I am looking forward to listening to the Bride of Frankenstein soundtrack by Waxwork and the latest John Carpenter release from Sacred Bones. I think the floodgates will open for many artists next year due to not being able to tour and such and I am pretty excited about that.  

 
Since many of us are still practicing social distancing, can you make a few top 5 lists for us, to help keep folks at home entertained? 

Top 5 Albums:   
Peter Gabriel – Up 
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti 
Rare Earth – Live In Concert 
Thee Oh Sees – Smote Reverser 
Black Pearl – Black Pearl
 
Top 5 Films: 
A Prophet (Un Prophète) 
The Rock (Sean Connery & Nicolas Cage) 
Heat 
Spartacus 
Tombstone 
 
Top 5 Books: 
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee 
Live By Night – Dennis Lehane 
Ghosts I’ve Met – Hans Holzer 
The Road – Cormac McCarthy 
Paul Simon: The Life – Robert Hilburn 

 
Top 5 Podcasts:   
Joe Rogan 
Mark Maron 
The Uncaused Cause 
Alien Theorists Theorizing 
Raised In Clay 
 
Scenario time! If you could create a vinyl variant for any album (already pressed or never been pressed before), what would it look like? Feel free to get creative with this one, it's always awesome to hear what different features everyone likes! Oh wow, I could create about 247 of these.  Great question.  I have always wanted The Rock on vinyl. The mid to late 90’s actioners had some amazing scores/soundtracks and this one has a special place in my heart.  It would be an Expanded 2xLP gatefold on “Alcatraz Grey & Goodspeed Green Swirl” for Vinyl 1 and “Rocketman Red Burst” for Vinyl 2. A sticker that says, “Please Stop Shooting At The Nuclear Rockets” and a collector’s pin that says Carla Was The Prom Queen.” The cover art would be on a matte finish, much like the Desperado Soundtrack release from RSD 2019. The pic would be of Nic Cage on his knees waving the flares for help with the floating heads of Nic Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris in the sky and Alcatraz in the backdrop.  A 12x12 signed & numbered litho of the cover art would be included. The set would be limited to a run of 1996 and would include a small “In Memoriam” to Sean Connery & Don Simpson written in the liner notes.