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The Record Collector in downtown Iowa City is a dead ringer for Championship Vinyl in the movie High Fidelity.
It's the Cool Record Store where you wonder if what you're buying is hip enough to impress the clerk, or if Jack Black will leap out from behind the counter and slap you for daring to utter the words… "Celine Dion."
On the afternoon that Hillary Clinton's campaign announced that Celine Dion's "You and I," had, well, won the online vote for Clinton Campaign Theme Song, defeating rivals like U2 and Smashmouth, Gary Kuhlmann (pronounced "cool man") was at Record Collector buying two albums.
He held a collection of circa 1966 Byrds outtakes on two 10-inch disks. But his big find was a vinyl copy of the Smashing Pumpkins' breakthrough album, Siamese Dream, released in 1993 when vinyl had already all but vanished from music stores.
"I didn't even know they had that on vinyl."
"Oh, I've seen it before," said Gary, "but someone always grabs it before I can."
Celine Dion, somewhat like Hillary Clinton, has a tendency to draw strong, opposing reactions — people tend to be devoted admirers or fierce critics with little middle ground. Clerk Lindsay Schroeder had not yet heard the news from the Clinton campaign; her mouth and eyes opened wide but she was speechless.
"You've got to be kidding me," said store owner Kirk Walther. "She's a loser — big time." From the context it was unclear whether he meant the Canadian singer or the New York senator.
Record Collector specializes in used and rare vinyl and CDs, and over the years has been a haven for many a broke student evaluating the resale value of a music collection against the need for food or beer money. Could you still get cash for Celine? "We bought them in the past, but there's no interest now," said Kirk.
Lindsay checked the store's inventory software and determined that Record Collector had last sold one (and only one) Celine Dion disc two years ago, "but before that it was sometime in the '90s that we last sold one." That was when Dion's career was on the rise, during the first Clinton era. It peaked in 1997-98 with the inescapable theme from "Titanic," "My Heart Will Go On," of which critic Rob O'Connor wrote:
What never ceases to amaze me is how the trite-est, most cliché-ridden music often takes an assembly-line of lauded professionals to perfect… Sinking ships are what I imagine as this tune plows onward of four-plus minutes, and this album feels as if were never to end. Is it no wonder why I have such fears of going to the dentist?
"You And I" is somewhat newer, a studio track appended to the 2004 A New Day: Live in Las Vegas which documents the stage show that's been running for nearly four years in what's now the second caucus state.
The bins at Record Collector, split 50-50 between CDs and vinyl, appeared to be Celine-free Tuesday afternoon. The only Clinton seen was an old poster depicting George Clinton of P-Funk fame. Who would be buying a Celine Dion live in Vegas CD? "Someone my age," said Kirk, who's 51. "Average, mainstream… women."
"Someone at the mall," said Gary, asking for a vinyl sleeve to protect his long-sought Smashing Pumpkins album. "Go to Best Buy" added Kirk, with just a hint of derision on the last two syllables.
Lindsay said she's undecided in the presidential race. Gary said he's "leaning undecided," acknowledging he has a favorite but declining to offer the name. "I like some things about Barack," said Kirk, but "I'm so disenchanted with both parties." His favorite candidate is Ron Paul. "I don't agree with everything he says but I like some. Get rid of the Federal Reserve, get us out of the war."
Yet Kirk thinks Clinton's chances are strong. "All she has to do is get half the women to vote for her and she wins."
So the hipness quotient of "You And I" may be low — though Team Clinton did better with the Sopranos parody video clip announcing the choice.
Near dead-on, except for not back timing the Journey track so that the cut to black at the end synced up with the words "Don't Stop –" That's the kind of detail a record collector would notice.
But in politics the goal is not a rave review from a handful of critics. It's hitting Number One. And Celine Dion sells out every night in Vegas.
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