Introduction. My name is Randy Anthony, and I collect records. A lot of records. Really, a whole great big, friggin' roomful of records - LP's, 45's, tapes, and CD's - enough to literally provide about six months of uninterrupted listening pleasure. Music has been my all-consuming passion since I was a kid, and I have devoted much of my life to pursuing it.

Success in any tangible form has proved elusive, however. Against the advice of, oh, almost everybody, I tried to earn a living as first as a musician and then as a record store owner. Briefly stated, I failed, but I ended up with a helluva record collection. Having also garnered a fair understanding of web design (and finding myself temporarily unemployed), I decided to display the wreckage of my misspent youth by founding this website.

Still, I hope to impart on these pages some wisdom about what's good in music and why I care so much about it. Randy's Rodeo is a nothing more (and nothing less) than a place for me to write about the music I love and the records I collect.

In collectors' circles, I am what is called a generalist - I have a bit of everything. My tastes revolve around my first love - rock and roll - but they include almost everything that shares that rebel spirit. I believe that music should express emotion before thought, and that it should entertain before it enlightens. In short, if it has a good beat and you can dance to it, everything else is gravy.

Jazz, blues, and country can be all those things, and Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" is a damn fine pop record. My point is, great music comes from the heart, the gut, and the loins - not from the head - and how you respond to it emotionally is, ultimately, the only criterion that matters. Rock and roll is simply the music I respond to most passionately. [top of page]

ABOUT ME. I was born in Dallas in 1960. I scarcely knew pop music existed as I grew up, sheltered and happy, in suburbia. Much to my parents' chagrin, though, I started collecting records like a fiend when I was eleven years old. At 12, I got my first guitar, and at 19 - about the time punk exploded - I got serious about it, writing my own songs and forming my first band.

At 25, I left graduate school to pursue a musical career full-time. I headed to Austin, Texas, to seek my rock 'n' roll fantasy, but I discovered that a lot of other young men and women had the same idea. So, by the early 90's, I was trying to sell records rather than make them. I did that until 2001 when the record store I owned, ABCD's, went out of business.

The reviews on Randy's Rodeo began as content for ABCD's website, chainstoressuck.com. I had always enjoyed writing about music, flirting with rock journalism through college, and composing our web pages reignited my passion for both writing and music. Rather than waiting for a big advance from Rolling Stone, I put my rantings and ravings online, and I continued the effort on these after the store went under.

One undeniably good thing about my checkered past in the music business is that it brought me into contact with the vivacious and talented Lori Moffatt. Lori works as an editor and writer at Texas Highways magazine, and it is her good taste and better judgment that helps my circuitous prose come out straight (most of the time). Lori agreed to marry me in 1997, and she kept her promise the following year. [top of page]

WHY THE NAME? I named this site after a legendary night club in San Antonio, Texas. The bar has existed in one form or another for many years, but it earned its greatest claim to fame when the Sex Pistols played there on their only American tour in 1978. Click through to read special features about the history of Randy's Rodeo and view a detailed account of the Pistols' infamous appearance.

Beyond the obvious (I share a first name with the club), the name and the history of the club evoked for me the kind of wide open, action-packed music to which I had always been drawn. The few documented references to Randy's Rodeo that I have dug up (other than the Sex Pistols' gig) indicate that it was a wild and woolly place full of hard drinkers, good timers, and eclectic music. Sounds like a place I'd like to be... when I learned the URL wasn't taken, a concept was born. [top of page]

FURTHER READING. After reading my recommendations, you may want some more information or a second opinion. I think the All-Music Guide is the best on-line music database. Many online retailers and informational sites use the AMG database - so why not just go directly to the source? The first link on every page in Randy's Rodeo is to artist's the corresponding page in the All Music Guide.

Where possible, I have also linked my pages to official artist websites, fan tribute sites, and other artist-specific pages throughout the worldwide web. I spend a lot of time weeding out the crap (and there's a lot of it out there), and devotees will find my link listings to be one of the most valuable aspects of what I do.

I also maintain an extensive Links section that will take you to more general sites where you can read about, listen to, share, or buy music (and a bunch of other stuff). And, of course, I recommend books about music, too.

Finally, keep in mind that albums go out-of-print all the time - even the good ones. Sometimes, they're reissued later, but some are lost to the ages. Feel free to emailme for help if you can't find what you want. I made a living for years helping people find music, and I always found it to be its own reward (it sure wasn't the pay...).

I hope you find the information, opinions, and links on Randy's Rodeo helpful. I hope, as well, that you'll feel free to contact me with your opinions. Hey, point out my oversights, congratulate me on my good taste, or tell me when I'm just plain full of shit! If you love music, let's talk. Drop me a line...

Randy Anthony