One of the recent posts concerned Coltrane's "Love Supreme" solos being too much for a standard record store patron to take. I remember buying that record on recommendation when I was about 20. This was in 1984- the record store still had only a limited numberr of Cd's available, so I went for the vinyl. The clerk looked at me when I came to the register and said, "This is some far-out shit, I'm not sure you'll like it." I bought it anyway and went from there on to a party at a friend's house. Since this was summer, and I am living in Georgia, I take the records in to the party so they don't melt in the car. My friends ask me what I bought and I showed them. I should add that the bunch of friends at this party were all confirmed Metallica and Pink Floyd fans. They asked me to play the record and I demurred, saying that they wouldn't be interested because none of them liked jazz, but they insisted, so I put the record on. Once the music started playing all conversation ceased, no one said a word until Side 1 was over. The silence was broken by my host vociferously ordering me to flip the record over immediately. So I did, and again nothing was said until the record had ended. Most of the people in that room went and bought the record shortly thereafter. For most of them, A Love Supreme is probably the only true jazz record they will ever own. Another story concerns the convenience store I worked at during college. The store owner let me play music in the store, and didn't seem to care what I played. I began experimenting by playing all kinds of music, and seeing people's reactions to it in the store. I mean, I played the first Black Sabbath record one morning at 6 AM! Nobody said a word, though. One Friday evening around rush hour, I got the devilish idea to play John Coltrane's "Om". I put it on and the rush hit. People were forced to stand in line and listen to 8 middle aged jazz guys take acid and try to play music! I saw one country type fellow beginning to turn red, he started pacing nervously, and then once his turn to pay came, shouted at me, "I hate your music!" threw his money down and literally ran out the door. Not the nicest thing I ever did, but one evening a guy came in, stopped cold, looked at me with incredulity and exclaimed "Sonny Sharrock!" We've been close friends ever since so I guess my experiments weren't entirely negative. I managed a Sam Goody for a while and got serious complaints for playing "Guts Of A Virgin" in the store once. Those people deserved it, though.... One thing I did notice, however, is that most people that I came into contact with stated they liked the fact that I played different music in the store, and this made them more interested in seeking different kinds of music out. So if you are trying to come to grips with the ethical question of airing the Merzbox while grinding through your shift at Barnes & Noble or wherever you are working, I say, go for it, your public will appreciate you all that much more! Craig L _________________________________________________________________ Enjoy the holiday season with great tips from MSN. http://special.msn.com/network/happyholidays.armx