![]() ![]() I could have spent hours in the Gray Skull Vinyl store, flashing back. Peeples.Īnd above Elvis was a large framed black and white photograph of Neil Young shot in 1990 by my friend Harold Sherrick, who just put out a book of his favorite photos a couple of years ago, “ Stolen Moments,” via a local publisher in Castaic. 1 hit “Stuck on You,” which I loved as a precocious 8-year-old, much to the consternation of my mother.Įlvis and Neil are at top right, sharing the east wall at Gray Skull Vinyl with The Cure, Celtic Frost, and The Beatles. On the store’s east wall above the bins, I spied a framed gold record plaque for Elvis Presley’s salacious 1960 No. There’s rare cool stuff any direction you look. I think everyone at one time in their life has had a poster on their wall.” “When I was growing up, my whole wall was full of posters, and then eventually, I had a couple of posters signed. On the posters and memorabilia front, “I have all kinds here,” Torres said. ( See her photo and pics of other customers here.) “She came all the way here from Palmdale,” he said after the happy customer left the shop. Soundtrack junkies know Paledouris had previously scored “Big Wednesday” (1978, also directed by Millius) and “The Blue Lagoon” (1980) and went on to write the music for “Conan The Destroyer,” “Red Dawn” (Millius again), “RoboCop,” and “The Hunt for Red October” in the ’80s.Īs Torres bagged the “Conan” album for the customer, they swapped trivia about Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack for “Red Sonja,” the 1985 epic with Schwarzeneggar in a supporting role. “I tried two other places and they couldn’t find ,” the thirty-something woman said. That’s the experience I want to give to my customers.”īetween my questions, a customer came in to pick up a copy of the soundtrack album from the 1982 Arnold Schwarzeneggar sword-and-sorcerer cult favorite “Conan the Barbarian,” co-written (with Oliver Stone) and directed by John Millius and featuring music composed by Basil Paledouris. “I’m always willing to go the extra mile and look for that record you are looking for. “Any records you don’t find in the store or online, feel free to let me know,” he said. My very good friend Eric Pigors created our logo, and I think everything goes well – the name, the font, and the colors.”Īlong with popular mainstream titles, Gray Skull Vinyl’s record bins include a surprising number of collectible rarities.Īt the front of one bin was a copy of the infamous “ Masked Marauders” “superstar” hoax album from 1969, which I immediately snatched.Īnother bin included the first version of the second solo album by Mama Cass Elliot (“ Bubblegum, Lemonade and…Something for Mama,” also from 1969, coincidentally), with cover photo by my friend Henry Diltz and art direction by his pal Gary Burden, the ex-architect.Īlong with salting the bins with rarities, Torres said he enjoys tracking down other hard-to-find titles, which he has done as a service for customers since Gray Skull Vinyl began operating at the Swap Meet. Our logo is not really a gray skull, so it’s kind of a play on words, you can say. “I watched a couple of cartoons, and just the name just caught me. Now, about the store’s name and logo: “I just always loved the sound and the look of the name ‘Gray Skull Vinyl,’” Torres said. With the vinyl, I clean the records, play them to make sure they are in working condition, and make sure the outer sleeve is in great shape.” Now that I’m selling records, I have the same feelings as my customers. “I’ve always loved collecting music and memorabilia. Torres also encourages Santa Clarita Valley and Canyon Country locals to take any music or music memorabilia they want to sell or trade when they visit Gray Skull Vinyl, from single items to collections. I want to share that with everyone who comes in that door. Growing up, I listened to all kinds of music, and I have that here. “Even if it’s Beethoven, Mozart, I have some in here because I also appreciate that style of music and listen to it, too,” Torres said. The shop does indeed have choice selections in just about every musical genre, from all kinds of rock (and yes, lots of metal) to Latino, from novelty to jazz, from blues, R&B, and soul to soundtracks, from country to classical. The eastern wall of Gray Skull Vinyl in Canyon Country, May 6, 2021.
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