UKRANIAN VILLAGE — Psychedelic rock's pied piper will be descending upon a record store in Ukrainian Village Friday and he's bringing LPs packaged with chocolate skulls, each containing a magical "golden coin" valid for entry into any Flaming Lips show in his band's upcoming world tour.
Wayne Coyne's "National Record Store" tour is stopping at just five record stores and only one in Chicago, Warner Bros. Records announced this week.
"I'm not sure exactly why we were chosen for this crazy, rad visit from THE Wayne Coyne. It's better than waiting for some fake-ass, bearded, fat man to slide down your non-existent chimney," said Liz Tooley, co-owner of Permanent Records, 1914 W. Chicago Ave.
"It's Wayne Coyne, and I secretly hope he shows up in a pimped-out sleigh!" Tooley added.
At 8 p.m. Friday, Coyne will be meeting and greeting fans at Permanent Records and agreed to "sign anything," Tooley said.
Tooley is encouraging people to bring "serious scratch" if they want to buy the goods Coyne will be bringing along with him: a reissuing of the Lips’ first-ever EP, 1984’s The Flaming Lips 1st EP and 1983’s The Flaming Lips 2nd Cassette Demo.
The Flaming Lips 1st EP will be available as a limited edition 12-inch on green vinyl record and signed by Coyne. It will come with a solid "anatomically correct and life-sized" white chocolate skull containing the golden coin, according to a news release.
The Flaming Lips 2nd Cassette Demo will be available as a limited-edition 7" on blue vinyl and signed by Coyne.
Originally recorded in 1983, the demo "captures the group in a transition from its primitive shambolic drug-damaged punk-pop to the primitive shambolic drug-damaged hallucinogenic cosmic brother death rock heard on the 1st EP," the release said.
Describing Coyne as "a dude that is as wonderfully weird as we all are here at Permanent Records," Tooley said the shop is "stoked" to have him pay a pre-Christmas visit.
Though Coyne posted an image of the chocolate skull with the LP on his Instagram, he allegedly pulled it shortly after it was posted.
A spokesman from Warner Bros. said he is not sure of the exact cost of the limited edition LP.
Tooley and shop co-owner Lance Barresi have hosted five yearly "Zaireeka parties" to honor their now deceased shop cat Zaireeka, who was named after the Flaming Lips' eighth full-length studio album that was released in four CDs and intended to be listened to on four audio systems simultaneously.
If you miss the stop Friday, both records will go on sale from participating record store retailers on December 24, with 2,000 copies of each piece made available to fans and collectors.
Wayne Coyne's Record Store Tour:
12/19 @ 4pm Nashville, TN Grimey's
12/20 @ Noon Louisville, KY Guestroom Records
12/20 @ 8 pm Chicago, IL Permanent Records
12/21 @ 5 pm St. Louis, MO Vintage Vinyl
12/22 @ 5 pm Lawrence, KS Love Garden Sounds
