If You Ever Wanted to Play Disc Jockey For George Gimarc, Tomorrow Night's Your Shot

Just last night I was telling the wife about how, like, about 20 years ago I was part of a small group of music freaks and geeks who'd gather 'round the turntable every so often to drink bourbon and swap songs and stories about why this guitar solo was, like, the best ever or how you can totally tell this guy ripped off that guy or what, like, this song means to me, man. And then George Gimarc calls me this afternoon, asking me to extend this invitation to you -- if, that is, you're a fan of that "moldy fig" (his words) known as the vinyl record.

Tomorrow night beginning at 7 p.m. the old farts known as the Vinyl Preservation Society of Texas are having their semi-bi-quarterly show-and-tell at the Bryan Street Tavern. Tomorrow night's theme, says George, is: "Bring the record that changed everything for you."

No pressure. (Introducing the Beatles? Maybe. The first Clash record? Possibly. The Who Sings My Generation? Hard to say.) George says he hasn't quite decided on his offering -- either something by Spike Jones ("who turned me into a record collector") or the Ramones ("who changed my music tastes forever").

Way it works is: Someone (usually Darin Robinson) serves as host, and those who show take their turn at the turntable to play one song while explaining why. The loosely assembled group consists of about 200 members, with somewhere between 15 to 20 actually showing during these get-togethers (including Big Bucks Burnett and Mark Ridlen). That said, the former host of The Rock and Roll Alternative -- who I'm pretty sure is responsible for playing a record that changed everything for me -- is offering door prizes tomorrow night: "I'll grab a big stack of 45s before I leave the house and just give away records."