The radio station I listen to these days is 101.9, WRXP. Today they were celebrating the record store: not Tower Records, but the Mom and Pop stores still open today, struggling to make it in a world of downloading music onto Ipods. Remember the days of wandering through a record store-- fingering through hand-written, alphabetized labels. Maybe you'd start at the beginning- ABBA, ACDC, Aerosmith Anthrax, .... or maybe you'd go straight to a certain section to check if they had something a little more obscure? The Dead Milkmen? Violent Femmes? Siousxie and the Banshees? They Might Be Giants? Dinosaur Jr? If music helps people find themselves, there was something about the process of searching through records that just made sense. With each discovery, it felt like my personal collection came closer and closer to expressing who I was. First it was vinyl, then tapes- the transition to CD was difficult for me. Do I replace everything I already own?
Anyway, I have fond memories of record stores- and the days of carrying your music home in a bag. Some of my favorites are Looney Tunes in West Babylon. and Slipped Disc in Valley Stream.
Click here to watch a tribute on YouTube to Slipped Disc.
LOVE LOONEY TUNES! OMG! Spent thousands of dollars in that place on CD's, bought my first ever CD's there. The day Stevie Ray Vaughn was killed in a plane crash, I went there and hung out all day mourning with people. Great place, great times.
ReplyDelete