Picked this one up at The Big Dig record show at Vermillion in Seattle, though I almost didn’t go.
At the time my oldest daughter was maybe two years old. I couldn’t justify the extra expense of a vinyl haul weighed against my new parental responsibilities. My amazing and supportive wife encouraged me to go anyway. We had moved about twenty miles north of Seattle for a larger place to fit our growing family, so making it out to Seattle after dark was a bit of a trek.
I arrived happy I’d made the effort and focused my limited budget on my favorite vendors. Bought a decent handful of records and started heading out.
Near the entrance a vendor I’d never seen before caught my eye. I needed to know more. Digging through his crates I came across this, the first record from Iran I’d ever seen in the wild. It touched me immediately, because that’s where my wife’s family is from.
I spoke with the vendor about it for a bit, where he’d found it, his travels through the Middle East. Then we got around to the price and I put it back in the crate. $160. That’s a lot of diapers and baby clothes. I said farewell, took my haul, and headed home.
When I got home my wife wanted to see what I’d found. We looked through everything and talked about the records. Then I mentioned I’d come across a Googoosh record but passed on it because of the price. She lit up. “Does he still have it? Is it still open?!” I told her I wasn’t sure if he still had it, but the show was open for roughly another hour. She didn’t hesitate, she demanded we pack the family into the car and go get our treasure. So that’s what we did.
The plan was to all go in together, but there was no parking and it was too cold and rainy for a late-night stroll with a toddler. We double-parked in front of the venue and I ran in.
The vendor was slowly packing up and talking with the people at the next booth. I told him I was back for the record and explained myself, that I’m a collector, not a reseller, that my wife’s family is Iranian, that this record would be passed down to our children as a cultural heirloom. Records from that era of Iran are relatively rare and we both knew it. He was touched. He said, “Hold on a second.”
He dug through his 45s and gathered a few. Then we talked price. He came down to $140. Then he looked at me and said, “These are also for your family,” and handed over the 45s he’d set aside. All from the same era of Iran.
I thanked him. We exchanged genuine salutations and I booked it back to the car to show my wife the records and share the kindness that had just been extended to us.
The record is a beautiful sound from the past. The intro song, You and Me, begins with a rolling piano and lush strings. Then Googoosh blesses it with her voice. Being a best-of compilation there is no down point. The entire album is great.
If you see any of her records I’d highly recommend grabbing them without hesitation.