list of bicycles leading up to one upon which i came across a new record store in my neighborhood:banana-seat bike, yellowwhite folding bike, small wheelspanasonic upright 3-speedbrakes stolen first day after spring break, 14i discovered this while trying to slow down on the way homei get them replaced and look in hardware storesuntil i find locks long and skinny enoughpanasonic women's ten-speedriding to schoolall of a sudden i'm on the groundon the other side of a just-opened car dooras if i'd gone through the open windowbut that's not possible, is it?red schwinn five-speedstolen after a couple of monthsi see it in front of the donut shop on 23rd and 8thsaturday night, nine 'o clockgo in and ask who belongs to that bike outsideguy in his sixties sitting with his coffee says mei tell him it's mine and was stolenhe says he bought it on first avenuei believe him, he looks sad and annoyedi let him keep it today, on blue raleigh, first bike i've had in yearsthat actually has all its parts and rides greatsee a store called books & recordsbought, because they were cheap, albums that i already ownbut are either in storage or pretty scratched upand these were in bags and mint1. elvis costello and the attractions, get happy $5.00my favorite of his records by a long shot. 2. bealtes '65 $8.00not an official UK album, but except for kansas city — hey hey hey hey being left off, the first side is the same as on beatles for sale. no reply and i'm a loser are such a bittersweet opening one-two punch3. rolling stones, let it bleed $6.00the label is a wonderfully pretty yet hard to read silver on deep royal blue. i'm listening to gimme shelter right now. years ago, i worked at a great studio called the magic shop on crosby street in manhattan. andrew loog oldham came in for a few weeks to produce a mexican band called the ratones paranoicas. when my boss steve rosenthal introduced me to him as the intern, mr. oldham said "intern, does that mean you can write me a prescription?" a few years later, i was working on some let go overdubs there and the computer had crashed and i was resting on the couch, pretty out of it from hustling from studio to friend's house to studio, doing little piecemeal off-hour sessions, trying to finish the record without having to borrow money from anyone. steve poked his head, saw me sitting there quiet and said "do you want to come downstairs and listen to satisfaction?" i thought, well, it's not my favorite song in the world, but it's pretty awesome, i bet it will cheer me up, "ok" and followed him down to the basement studio. turns out he was getting the master tapes ready to send to bob ludwig at gateway in portland, maine for remastering. the master tapes!! so steve plops me down in the center chair, and hits the big round play button on an old ampex 1/4" 2-track machine, and the flipping master tape of the flipping satisfaction mix starts turning. shit, even the stones playing right there in the room might not have sounded better. deep, wide, totally hi-fi, totally heavy, not an ounce of distortion anywhere except on the vocal, which i'd never realized was overloaded on purpose, "can't GET NO" just jumping out of the speakers, all crackle and edge. right in front of me on the desk is the box with fading notes on it in pencil and old scotch tape turning to dust. jesus h. christ. 4. creedence clearwater revival, chronicles $5.00wow, never noticed that before. suzie Q, creedence's first single shares a lot with down on the street, the first (amazing) song on funhouse, the stooges second album. wow, it sounds like they were listening to it earlier that day or something. that's cool.