Blacktop Records releases 500 Lisa Loeb vinyls
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Blacktop Records' Ben Andress jumped when he had the chance to produce a 7-inch vinyl with two Lisa Loeb singles.
Loeb, who rose to fame in 1994 with the release of platinum-selling No. 1 hit song 'Stay (I Missed You),' used in the movie Reality Bites, toured Ontario this weeks with stops in Oakville and Stratford.
"She's touring a lot, still making music that's relevant," said Andress. "And in movies. Seems like out of a lot of those 90s artists, she's kind of one who kept afloat over the years. I'm a big fan of her music since I first saw her video on MTV, and even in college I listened to her records non-stop. Really, really great pop records."
Tillsonburg's Blacktop Records had two songs licenced for a 'limited press' of 500 vinyls.
"One is an exclusive version of the song, 3-2-1 Let Go," said Andress. "The original mix was used in the movie Helicopter Mom. That song kind of came up about a year or so ago and this is the first official physical release of it. And on the B side is a fan favourite, The Disappointing Pancake."
"I think indies have always been great at getting to an audience directly in a grassroots way," said Loeb, a touring artist, author and philanthropist, via email. "Often we associate more interesting, unique points of view musically with indies too, and that's where I feel like I fit in - unique, but connected to a lot of people.
"I have a grownup song on one side, and a song for everyone about pancakes on the other," Loeb added. "I love how focused I used to be on the music when I bought a 7-inch and played it over and over again on the turntable. The songs are more special when you remove them from longer albums. It's a real collectors item that's also fun to listen to and look at!"
Andress recalled Blacktop Records' artist Meghann Wright performing with Loeb a few years ago, and connected with Loeb on Facebook. And in the past few months, connected with Loeb's manager to release the 7-inch vinyl coinciding with Loeb's July 10-13th Ontario tour.
Slated for a July 8th release, the collectors' 7-inch vinyls were delayed at the pressing plant. Pre-orders were taken, and Andress expects to ship in a week or two.
"This is only the second time in 10 years there's been an issue of not having a record on the release date," Andress noted. "It was very short notice. Our timeline was very, very tight, which I was aware of and Lisa's team was aware of... and they were working as hard as possible to get it done. I think the records are done, they're just working on the art - I think there was an art issue."
Although vinyl album sales peaked in the 1960s and 70s, but there has been a resurgence since the 2010s, and they are popular with DJs.
"A lot of my friends have them (record players) but to me... it sounds the same," said Andress, comparing vinyl albums to CDs. "It's music. But if you have a good system, some people fell it's louder and warmer. You need a good record player, good speakers. They are correct in that it's an uncompressed audio format. Digital is compressed, you're missing a lot of your low ends and high ends. But as I said most normal people don't notice the difference."
When it comes to collecting vinyl, some people don't even have players. They collect for the sake of the art.
"For probably the first three or four years of me collecting vinyl, I didn't even have a working record player. They were kicking around and I liked the artwork. It was bigger than five inches and it was more of a piece of art. And a lot of them had download cards, so I could download the records anyways."
Loeb's Blacktop Records 7-inch vinyl will also have a mp3 download card.
"You can find the originals on iTunes, Spotify, all that, but this version - it's slightly different."
The vinyls will be available through Loeb's webstore, at her concerts, and Blacktop Records' webstore.
"Other than that, a few smaller stores here. There's a couple shops in Toronto, Record Works in Woodstock, Grooves in London will have it, so there's going to be a few shops that you can go into and pick the record up at."
For a full list of locations, check blacktoprecords.ca.
Lisa Loeb facts
- Loeb was the first pop musician to have a No. 1 US single while not signed to a recording contract.
- Hit singles Do You Sleep, I Do and Let's Forget about It, and the albums Cake and Pie, and No Fairy Tale followed. Her albums Tail and Firecracker were both certified Gold.
- Loeb is the designer of Lisa Loeb Eyewear, writes children's books, and supports non-profit causes.
- The Los Angeles based mother of two is known to parents and kids for her albums Catch the Moon (with Elizabeth Mitchell) and Camp Lisa (with sales benefiting the Camp Lisa Foundation). She published her second picture book-CD for Sterling Children’s Books: Lisa Loeb’s Songs for Movin’ and Shakin’, in 2013.
- Her song “Disappointing Pancake” became a hit in concert and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. She recently collaborated to co-write the children’s musical "Camp Kappawanna," which debuted at New York City's Atlantic Theater Company.
- Her recent film and television appearances include John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, About a Boy, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, King of The Nerds, and Sprout Channel's Sunny Side Up Show. Her song 321 Let Go is featured in the 2015 motion picture Helicopter Mom (Loeb made an appearance in the role of a teacher).
- Visit LisaLoeb.com for more information and updates.