The Checkers

Artist: The Checkers

LP: 7" single

Song: "A Tearful Request"

[ listen ]

A few weeks before my trip to Washington, DC, my good friend Aki traveled to Nagasaki, Japan to visit his family. While he was there, he took the bus into town, the dear, to hunt for vinyl treasures to bring back to me in Seattle. He came across a used record shop called Sonny Boy that, judging from the photos he sent me, had just been waiting for someone like him to come along. This 1984 single by The Checkers is one of the things he found. The debate over "checkers" vs. what we call "plaid" here in the USA aside, these boys take their band's trademark pattern pretty seriously, as you can see from the design of their record sleeve below. (I guess you have to admit, "The Plaids" doesn't really have the same ring to it.) More photos from the single's fold-out picture sleeve coming soon. A big thanks to Aki, not just for the records, but for Japanese-to-English song-title translations too.

[ the outside of Sonny Boy Records — Nagasaki, Japan ]

[ the Sonny Boy Records sign — Nagasaki, Japan ]

[ the inside of Sonny Boy Records — Nagasaki, Japan ]