Mrs. Mills

Artist: Mrs. Mills

LP: Everybody's Welcome At Mrs. Mills' Party

Song: "Chicago/Avalon/Who's Sorry Now"

[ listen ]

 

I'm taking some time out this evening for a party with Mrs. Mills. Everybody's welcome at her parties. Can you imagine this kind woman turning anyone away? Neither can I. According to Wikipedia, Mrs. Mills was "discovered" and was taking England by storm at about the same time as The Beatles, but sadly, her chapter in the history of British pop music has been edited out of most recent editions. 

 

Personally, I "re-discovered" Mrs. Mills in a dank basement record "store" called Play It Again during my trip to Astoria, Oregon this past weekend. Speaking of re-discoveries, back in 2006 or 2007 I was driving to the Oregon coast with Eduardo and as we were heading down the highway, I saw a sandwich board sign next to the highway that just said "Records" and had an arrow leading passers-by down a small hill to a huge silver warehouse. Turns out the warehouse was stacked high with records! As we were on vacation to the Oregon coast and hadn't yet actually arrived there, I wasn't allowed much time for browsing, but I did manage to find a neat old LP by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. So the next time I went to the Oregon coast, several years later, I kept an eye out for the magic warehouse full of records...but it had totally disappeared. 

 

Well, Play It Again is the same store! It's the same guy, with the same unruly collection! He said he's moved 22 times in the past 23 years, or something like that. He also said he had recently hired a 20-year-old employee, but "You know how that goes" and he mimicked the slashing of his wrists. I guess I don't know how that goes, since I have no idea what he was trying to say. Do all 20-year-old record store employees commit suicide? Maybe he should try hiring someone who's 23. Anyway, I'd better get back to the party. I've included a Mrs. Mills video clip below. Enjoy!

Mrs. Mills on YouTube:

[ "Save All Your Kisses For Me" ]

[ Mrs. Mills: August 29, 1918 — February 24, 1978 ]