If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve no doubt seen the song of the week by Michael Zampelli.
What you probably don’t know is that Zampelli has been supplying unique songs for alternative music enthusiasts for about 40 years.
This week, I found a clipping from Billboard magazine on Google Books written by John Sippel in 1986 that mentions Micheal Zampelli and his legendary punk rock record store, Zed Records.
Zed Records opened in 1979 and remained a thriving Long Beach business and punk rock icon for 27 years.
The store was especially known for bringing unique releases directly from the UK to Long Beach. During the surge of the punk movement, Michael Zampelli would travel to the UK with suitcases full of local punk rock releases. He would come back with suitcases full of punk rock from the UK. Zampelli was particularly skilled at servicing the needs of voracious music collectors. He carried limited edition releases such as a Devo single with 4 separate and unique picture sleeves and UK-only releases by The Cure on colored vinyl.
The 1986 article about his store has two parts. Part two of the article is on page 43, not page 41 as Google has indexed it.
The article mentions how DJ’s from KROQ and KNAC discovered new finds at Zed and how the Zampelli’s (especially Micheal and Marlene) formed family-like ties with punk and new wave bands such as the B52’s, Dead Kennedys and The Misfits before anyone else even knew who they were.
Michael Zampelli continues to search for and share new music by contributing a song of the week to the Get Galvanized blog. He also photographs live music and has recently captured images of acts such as Lil Wayne, Skinny Puppy, The Prodigy and various punk rock shows. Visit Michael Zampelli.com to see more.
Tags: billboard magazine, michael zampelli, punk rock, zed records
