Andy Dowling / The Andy Social Podcast

07/07/2024

Great idea

BIG NEWS: We’ve now completed the conversion of all 7 of our town halls to arts and cultural venues available free of charge for live performance, exhibition & rehearsal 🎤 🎹 🧑‍🎨 🎸 🎨

Better yet we have kitted all 7 venues out with audio-visual and performance equipment so there’s no cost to artists to hire.

The number of live music venues in Sydney more than halved in the past decade.

Affordable spaces for artists of all kinds have been lost.

Our town halls are beautiful buildings but they have been sitting dormant and unused to much of the time.

Now it’s time to welcome the people in to use these iconic venues.

Help spread the word to all artists - the Inner West is the place to come to create, practice and perform.

02/05/2024

Was anyone else part of a music/cd/record club back in the day? Or maybe a membership with a local music store?

21/04/2024

Know someone who might be keen? Hit me up!

⬇️ Here’s a real life picture of me hassling people to send me their promo material to be included in Andy Social Records orders.

Sure, I benefit by having cool stuff in my orders but I’d also like to think that over the 10+ years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve helped countless artists, bands and independent businesses connect with a huge number of music fans not only in Australia but all over the world.

I do these shoutouts pretty regularly but I figured you need to SEE what it looks like behind the scenes. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

So hit me up if you have CDs, stickers, flyers, business cards, apparel, whatever you want me to put into the orders that i’m firing off every week.

I’m a broken record about this stuff but with all of the attention grabbing noise online, its never been more impactful to get what you’re passionate about into the literal hands of someone who still cares and buys physical music. The people we are all trying to reach in an algorithmic world, right?

Share this around, tag mates, whatever you need to do. This is open to anyone, not just those in Australia. If you get the goods to me, i’ll do the rest.

(Thanks to Tristan Tait Illustrations for you know what)

19/04/2024

Happy Record Store Day Australia! Step into one today and pick up some goodies.

08/04/2024

Just went to pull up the lyrics to Driving Wheels for a bit of a sing-along. Was not disappointed.

31/03/2024

Sunday sesh of beer, bball and order packing. The pile is growing! Aiming for 80 more titles sold by end of day to hit my 7k all time target. 3,500 odd titles available and over 600 at $5 a pop. Free shipping $100 and over in Australia 🤘🔥🍻🏀

https://www.discogs.com/seller/AndySocialRecords/profile

23/03/2024

Get the hot new single at your local Dick Smith Electronics 🔥🔥🔥

22/03/2024

Thanks to for sending some flyers to include in upcoming Andy Social Records orders, being shipped across Australia and internationally. Want your goodies included? Shoot me a DM!

3,500+ titles available over at the store. Link in comments.

13/03/2024

Anyone who’s dedicated to the cause of selling physical music has my 110% support. Dave is one of the best in the biz with his Heavy Metal Merchant operation. Get your apparel, new releases and brand new stock from one of Australia’s best online stores.

I’ll be throwing these stickers in upcoming Andy Social Records orders and if any other music retailers are keen, throw your promo goodies my way. High tide raises all ships.

12/03/2024

Best song from Peace Sells?

————

From Hardline Media - KINGS OF THRASH return to Australia with “WAKE UP….AUSTRALIA!!!”
Featuring David Ellefson, Jeff Young and special guest Chris Poland of MEGADETH!!!

KINGS OF THRASH! Back down under due to high demand! And with some extra special embellishments… For his first time in Australia, the original MEGADETH guitarist, Chris Poland, will be joining the group to perform the MEGADETH album “Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" in its entirety plus a Best Of set for their upcoming Australian shows. An extra bonus to this run of shows… a very exclusive, Q&A evening with the band themselves in Melbourne.

KINGS OF THRASH “Wake Up...Australia!!!” features GRAMMY® Award winning, co-founding member of Megadeth, bassist David Ellefson, along with guitarist Jeff Young from the acclaimed "So Far, So Good... So What!" album and finally, after all these years, the original Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, who recorded the first 2 extremely influential albums "Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!", along with the multi-platinum worldwide smash, "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?”

What an honour to reunite these original members of a groundbreaking genre and showcase an evening of early Thrash classics in MELBOURNE*, CANBERRA, BRISBANE, SYDNEY, ADELAIDE (First time) and then MELBOURNE AGAIN!

If you were lucky enough to catch the band on their last tour of Australia in 2023… the shows were packed to the rafters and the VIP experience packages were sold out across the board. We were left wanting more…

So, we asked the fans… What would they want for a follow up tour of Kings of Thrash in Aus? The resounding, definitive answer? What will now be known as the Kings of Thrash “WAKE UP….AUSTRALIA!” Tour.

This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this line up… doing this album… with these guys… rounded out most expertly with the esteemed Chaz Leon and Fred Aching, returning once again, upon demand.

See our beloved KOT live in Australia on the following dates…

The run of Australian shows will kick off with a VERY SPECIAL Q & A, SIT-DOWN EVENING IN MELBOURNE*. Hardline will host an intimate, seated evening with David, Jeff and Chris. This will be a night of crowd interaction and Q & A on Monday, 22nd July at the Corner in Melbourne. This is your exclusive chance to hear all the stories, ask all the questions and to ultimately get your inner ‘DETH fix. There are special VIP meet and greets for this night as well.

TOUR DATES:
Monday 22 July - Melbourne - The Corner - Q&A special*
Tuesday 23 July - Canberra - The Basement
Wednesday 24 July - Brisbane - The Zoo
Thursday 25 July - Sydney - Crowbar
Friday 26 July - Adelaide - Lion Arts Factory
Saturday 27July - Melbourne - Max Watts

PRE-SALE, EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE:
THUR 14TH MARCH @ 10AM AEDT - These are strictly limited, and there is no booking fee... so save some bucks, get in early. Early bird tickets via www.hardlinemedia.net

GENERAL PUBLIC TICKETS ON SALE:
MON 18TH MARCH @ 10AM AEDT.

LIMITED VIP MEET & GREET* WITH DAVID ELLEFSON, JEFF YOUNG, CHRIS POLAND, CHAZ LEON & FRED ACHING:
- Early access to the show and merch stand
- Get a photo on your phone/device with the band
- Australian tour poster to get signed by the guys
- Exclusive VIP lanyard/laminate
- Bring along 3 personal items to get signed
- *VIP TICKET INCLUDES ENTRY TO THE SHOW

21/02/2024

Another leaning tower of mixed riffs! What are your picks from this bunch? 🔥

10/02/2024

This is how i attempt to relax. Art and farkin’ craft. Cutting up damaged/double up magazines and then putting them into a plastic folder, in alphabetical order. 🤓

I got inspired by a recent Faith No More single i came across where the previous owner put a bunch of little clippings/adverts inside the CD (previous post on my page somewhere). Total nostalgia stuff and it sucked me right in. Now i’ll have a catalogued assortment of stickers, flyers and various clippings to include in orders as they pop up. Over the top meticulous behaviour? A bit childish? Time wasting exercise? Possibly all of it and more but its a great way for me to bring the stress levels down momentarily, zone out for a while and day dream about music. Fun stuff.

17/01/2024

Almost 1,500 titles under $10 and over 500 of those are only $5!

For those who have bought from me, do you use the filter button? You can use it to browse by genre, condition and of course price.

If you’re in Australia, you can get free shipping if you hit an order of $100. That could be up to 20 x $5 titles and you would not need to pay a cent more to get them shipped to you.

Fill in the gaps of your collection or get some cheap tunes for the car (for those who still have cars with CD players!). Either way, there’s a stack of cheap music in the store and more on the way.

https://www.discogs.com/seller/AndySocialRecords/profile

10/01/2024

Dave did a drive-by yesterday and dropped off a stack of Flaming Wrekage flyers for their Sydney show at on Feb 2. I’ll be chucking these in all Andy Social Records orders that are going across in Sydney.

Got some flyers you want to give me? Shoot me a DM. They could be for a show, tour, new release or a generic flyer just talking about your band (evergreen!) which means I can throw them in ALL Australian and International orders.

Either way, i have a stack of music buying legends that get orders from me every week and i’m ready to get YOUR stuff into their hands. Shoot me a message if you have some stuff you want to send my way.

06/01/2024

Here’s my semi regular shoutout to all artists, bands, like-minded business owners to offer to place their promotional items in Andy Social Records orders.

Promo CDs, stickers, flyers, business cards, apparel, etc etc. Clean out your cupboards or get some stuff printed!

2023 was bigger than all previous years combined for my store and we’re now on track for an even bigger 2024. High volumes of orders being sent all over Australia, as well as the US, Europe, Asia. This is a great opportunity to get your stuff physically into the hands of music enthusiasts. This is a huge point of difference compared to the digital ambush we receive only a daily basis, which is always dictated by the ever changing algorithm.

Shoot me a DM if you have some things that you’d like me to include.

Get them to me, and i’ll do the rest.

For international/interstate friends, if you want flyers/stickers printed in Sydney, I can get you in touch with a great printer locally to me who can sort it out for you at reasonable rates (saves you shipping me promo material from the other side of the world or country!).

* You get your promo items into music enthusiasts hands.

* People who order get cool stuff to check out.

* My store keeps providing a great experience for everyone.

Everyone wins!

04/01/2024

Playing catch up. Kind of lost track a bit at the tail end of the year, so here’s the September to December books that I read.

In total I read 43 of the 74 books I intended to read in 2023.

Quality over quantity right? Absolutely, but i love reading and the more I can read, the better. I’ll see if I can beat 74 in 2024 but its going to be one busy year. Time to pull the finger out!

04/01/2024

For NBA fans in the 90s, even us in Australia knew all about the NBA All-Star ballot. Exciting stuff! I managed to pick up this super cool McDonald’s ballot form when I was in the USA as a kid. This was for the 97-98 season, 98 All-Star Game. Who were your picks?

03/01/2024

I was a f**kin’ cool teenager 🫣

31/12/2023

I love how labels used to cross promote. I’d love to see more independent bands do this kind of stuff and just generally embrace the notion of connecting audiences together. High tide raises all ships, y’know?

31/12/2023

This is how I’m spending my last day of 2023. Packing orders and I have a stack more to go. Huge support this year for the Andy Social Records store. Double the volume and $$$ of sales in just the second half of 2023 alone. 2024 will be all about building this bigger and better. Reminder to all of my muso, artist, industry, likeminded business owners to get me your promo items (stickers, CDs, cards, flyers, bla bla) so i can include them in orders throughout the new year. High tide raises all ships.

28/12/2023

Remember the “gold edition” CD releases? Used to be pretty popular back in the early/mid 90s, whether it be a numbered edition or a tour edition. Do you have any in your collection?

I just sold this RHCP one yesterday to a legend in Tasmania. As you can see in the photos, apart from the gold numbered stamp on the front cover and the art and data sides being gold, there’s very little else that makes it unique.

Left hand top and bottom photos are the gold edition, right hand side shows the comparison of the gold edition up the top and the standard edition (white coloured art) below. Small changes but still cool!

25/12/2023

It’s a Brutalist, NBA, and coffee kind of xmas courtesy of Jess 😍

24/12/2023

Plucka Duck and Chucky for my xmas day outfit

24/12/2023

Leave a bit of action 👇

Physical musical recordings have been in decline over the past decade.

CD sales fell 19 per cent in 2022 to $20.4 million. By comparison, Australians spent more than $140 million on CDs in 2013.

But vinyl records have bucked the trend. The amount spent on vinyl climbed 23 per cent in 2022.

Read more: https://ab.co/3NET1vg

24/12/2023

Merry xmas

23/12/2023

Big year of great music. If you’re on Spotify, here’s my top picks of 2023. Any you agree with?

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7xbWxUpz1wqfXvkTJN1Xhb?si=PG_Iz_MyRVurdcxrPbwN-g&pi=a-G1ADVn1FSzCX

23/12/2023

Is this cool or uncool, because i’m ready to wear it for the rest of my life.

23/12/2023

The great Bob Lefsetz blew me away by talking about this incredible band/album in his email newsletter yesterday. This is one of my all-time great AOR/Melodic Rock albums.

If you dig that kind of music, this album is a must have.

Bob: “You see CDs were once exotic, rare and expensive. And the goal was to work your way up in the business until you got on the mailing list, until you got CDs for free. And if you released a CD, you were above the fray. Most acts never got signed, if someone invested money in you your music was worth hearing. Well, if you were on Warner/Reprise, or Atlantic, and certainly Chrysalis. So I played every one.

Now I remember when Derek Shulman took over RoadRunner. He sent me a pile of CDs, and the one that resonated was Nickelback, I could hear it, this was long before "How You Remind Me," back before most people knew who Chad Kroeger was, never mind hated him and his band. There was no radio play, that was difficult to achieve, especially in the metropolis. Then there were CDs by acts I was familiar with, like Robin Trower. I immediately played his 1990 album "In the Line of Fire," it's really good, and unless you're a believer you've never heard it, I don't think radio ever played it.

Not that most of these CDs were worth playing more than once. But some were, and one was Stage Dolls.

Usually the first track is the best, and if it sucks it's hard to go much deeper into an album, but the opening cut of Stage Dolls' album was instantly memorable, it hooked me, it was called "Still in Love."”

Bob: “Now sometimes you play the old records and you wince. They're period pieces that make you cringe decades later. But I'm listening to "Stage Dolls" and I feel at home, this is the sound I cotton to, that no one makes anymore.”

From Wiki:

“Stage Dolls is the third studio album by Norwegian hard rock band Stage Dolls. Like the first two albums, it was also recorded in Trondheim, Norway, using the same producer, Bjørn Nessjø, and engineer, Rune Nordahl.”

Released:

1988 in Europe
June 28, 1989 in America (Vinyl)
July 5, 1989 in America (CD & Cassette)
December 21, 1989 in Japan

“The album was released in the United States in 1989 by Chrysalis Records, Inc. The single "Love Cries" went to number 46 on the Billboard Singles Charts, and "Wings of Steel" went to number 10 in Norway. The album itself peaked at number 3 on the album charts in Norway. It was certified gold disc in Norway.”

Track listing:

All music written by Torstein Flakne, all lyrics written by Flakne/ B. Icon, except where noted.

1. Still in Love
2. Wings of Steel
3. Lorraine
4. Waitin' for You" (T. Flakne, B. Icon)
5. Love Cries
6. Mystery
7. Don't Stop Believin
8. Hanoi Waters
9. Ammunition

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/4b8AZ9n9c5pN0WcElxMyFg?si=LEj-YhTQQqC-hZ8-mBK_Pw

22/12/2023

Thanks to for some more and stickers to throw in Andy Social Records orders! Cool ones as well 🔥