Easy Street Records and Cafe

Happy Record Store Day! Did you know there was such a thing? Neither did I, until this week. One of our local cafe/coffee shop/record stores is celebrating Record Store Day today so Bruce and I had to walk up there and check it out.

We've eaten breakfast here a couple of times and we always recommend it to our visitors, as well. The food is so-so, nothing to write home about, but to tell you the true, it's not really about the food here at all. This place is so much more...and it finally hit us this week. It's about Rock 'n Roll! They are big supporters of local music scene here in Seattle and there is a lot of it. We didn't realize how big of supporters they are until we saw this video from Easy Street Records last year on Record Store Day.

They hosted a concert by a local group called the Sonics who were popular in the 60's in Seattle.  We knew they must have been popular awhile ago because of their ages...but we thought they were still pretty good!  If you watch this video long enough, around 22 minutes into it, a surprise guest singer shows up, Eddie Vedder, and sings with the band. It's so awesome!  We loved it.  Apparently, they also hosted Pearl Jam, too.

We have a whole new appreciation for Easy Street now.  The cafe is jammed packed full of music memorabilia which is attached to the record store.   

We found the Sonics as we browsed around

and a whole section attributed to David Bowie, of course. 

I mainly liked the cafe because their dishes are cleverly named after bands and musicians such has the Hank Williams Western Omelet, Hall and Oats (oatmeal), Dolly Parton Stack (pancakes), Grateful Granola, Culture Club (sandwich), Green Day (salad), Let it BLT...you get the jist, right?  Very entertaining, along with all the stuff on the walls.  After experiencing Record Store Day, I want to get back into the Seattle music scene.  It's been a long time.  A local TV show called Evening Magazine recently had a segment on the 25 Greatest Songs of the Northwest.  We were very intrigued watching it.  Here are the results:

#25  Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts “Angel of the Morning” (1968)  

#24 Mother Love Bone, “Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns” (1988) 

#23 The Fleetwoods, “Come Softly to Me” (1959) 

#22 Alice in Chains, “Would?” (1992) 

#21 The Wailers, “Out of our Tree” (1965) 

#20 Screaming Trees, “Nearly Lost You” (1992) 

#19 Elliott Smith, “Miss Misery” (1997)  

#18 Sleater-Kinney, “Jumpers” (2005) 

#17 Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Just Like Me” (1965) 

#16 Death Cab for Cutie, “I Will Follow You into the Dark” (2006) 

#15 Nirvana, “Love Buzz” (1988) 

#14 Mudhoney, “Touch Me I’m Sick” (1988) 

#13 Presidents of the United States of America, “Lump” (1995) 

#12 The Ventures, “Walk Don’t Run” (1960) 

#11 Modest Mouse, “Float On” (2004) 

#10 Soundgarden, “Rusty Cage” (1992) 

#9 Sir Mix-a-Lot, “Baby Got Back” (1992) 

#8 Pearl Jam, “Alive” (1991) 

#7 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “The Wind Cries Mary” (1967) 

#6 Heart, “Barracuda” (1977) 

#5 The Sonics, “Have Love Will Travel” (1965) 

#4 Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert, “Same Love” 2012 

#3 The Kingsman, “Louie, Louie” (1963) 

#2 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” (1967) 

#1 Nirvana, “Smells Like Team Spirit” (1991) 

I remember going to Pier 70 and seeing Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts in '70s.  Those same years, I was also going to the Aquarius to see Heart multiple times.  When they made their first album, we were so thrilled and rushed out to buy it immediately.  All my favorite songs were on it.  I know Lauren has her favorite local bands, too, like Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and, of course, Macklemore.  Lauren even saw Macklemore at Dick's on Broadway one night (with his entourage, of course) I totally understand why young people love living in Seattle so much.  The music scene has always been so awesome.  Heck, Eddie Vedder just shows up to sing a song with the Sonics at our local neighborhood cafe for Record Store Day last year.  Yep, I think I need to get back into the local music scene around here again. Happy Record Store Day.