Paradise' is heaven to vinyl record lovers

ESCONDIDO — A group of young people hanging out listening to records in a record store sounds like a scene from a bygone era, but there is such a place in Escondido.

Gary's Record Paradise Volume II on West Felicita Avenue still sells a wide variety of vinyl records along with CDs and tapes. Although the store has moved several times, owner Eustaquio Kirby has kept the name Gary's because the makeup of the store has remained nearly the same since it was opened by Gary Goldstein in 1977.
Kirby, 50, helped Goldstein in 1986 and became owner in 2004. He said his customers range in age from 13 to 95.

“They come to me because I carry a lot of stuff that no one else does, and that is the key to this store,” Kirby said.

The market for vinyl records is growing, and some bands are releasing new albums on them, because digital music doesn't capture the full quality of the music, Kirby said.

“Vinyl has a resurgence because a lot of people who are doing this download thing are getting tired of the way it sounds,” he said. “Vinyl is analog. Analog is a natural sound. When you digitize, it takes away that ambience. The lows aren't as low and the highs aren't as high.”

Last Saturday evening, six young friends hung out at Gary's, listening to music and buying records. Jorge Lopez, 19, who will be going to Palomar College in January, lives a block from the store and is a regular.

“I come in the store almost every day,” Lopez said. “I like looking at the new stuff that comes in, and I like helping out. I like the Doors, Jefferson Airplane and Deep Purple.”

Isabelle Medina, 15, is a student at Orange Glen High School. “I come in randomly. I like punk,” she said.

“Most everything in the store is under six bucks,” Kirby said, although he did score a big online sale with one record.

“The highest I ever got for an album was a Beatles 'butcher cover,' ” said Kirby, who sold it for $12,036.23.

The Beatles' 1966 “Yesterday and Today” record became a collectible after the original cover was recalled because it depicted the band in white butcher jackets, holding slabs of bloody meat and doll parts.

One record that Kirby will not sell was made by his father, Harold Kirby. He was the bass player with a group called the Strangers, and their hit was “Caterpillar Crawl.”

Although he sells on the Internet, Kirby said he prefers the interaction with people in his store.

“When somebody is happy with what they get that makes me happy,” he said. “I just wish more people would get happy.”

One of those happy customers is Doug Best, a former Escondido mayor who hosts Doug Best Swings radio show on KKSM-AM 1320 at Palomar College.

“He refers people here and they come here to get my Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw,” Kirby said.

Best, who has worked in radio since 1950, said Kirby “really knocks himself out” for customers.

“When I can't find something,” he said, “I go to Gary's.”

[SignOnSanDiego]

A spin artist whose medium is vinyl

It is, perhaps, a fitting indication of the artistic and commercial bond between Harold Gold and his wife, Max I. Million, that they hit on the idea for a new product line together.

It was early 2005, and the couple had just closed their landmark Plastic Fantastic record store in Ardmore and moved to smaller quarters up Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr. They had already trucked up more than 1,000 U-Haul boxes of LPs, CDs and magazines, and they no longer had the space to display them all.

"And people were starting to say, 'We like the album covers, but we're not buying records anymore,' " Harold recalls. Many no longer even had turntables.

So Harold the promoter looked at Max the artist/interior designer, and the notion of turning records and album covers into art objects was born.

They started with a Jimmy Durante album cover featuring a life-size drawing of the comedian's face and its Nebraska-sized nose. Max remembers it like this:

"So Harold says, 'Look at that honker. How do you think it would look on a tissue box?' The whole concept of turning a two-dimensional object into a three-dimensional object was an amazing thing."

Now, they have literally bent and twisted the concept into such directions as Santana and Billie Holiday album-cover clock faces; Beatles jewelry boxes; Easy Rider cigar boxes; Jimi Hendrix tissue boxes; a Madonna handbag; and records shaped into bowls and desk caddies.

The items are available only at their Gold Million Records store, 851 Lancaster Ave., and their Web site, www.goldmillionrecords.com, although Max says, "If Neiman-Marcus wanted to pick us up on an exclusive, I wouldn't object."

Prices range from $5 for the smallest bowls made from 45-r.p.m. records, to about $100 for the most elaborate wine carriers and desk caddies.

The first prototypes were made at the couple's Villanova home before they converted part of the store's upstairs to a workshop and added a window sign that reads "Cool Stuff Made from Records."

"We had no vision for this part of the place," says Harold as he and Max stand in the upstairs kitchen, where Max crafts the line. "But we knew that we wanted it."

Harold, a tall, bearded man "in my 50s," is dressed all in black, topped by a "Titanic" baseball cap. Max, who is in her 40s, is wearing a black jumpsuit and a necklace crafted from 45-r.p.m. record spindles, rhinestones, and Swarovski crystals. They finish many of each other's sentences.

He is a native of Great Neck, N.Y., who had been sales manager for Polygram Records in Philadelphia when he founded Plastic Fantastic in 1976, buying and selling LPs.

Max grew up in Spring Lake, N.J., and, yes, her real name is Max I. Million, which is one reason she thinks her father is so cool. Irving Million was a career Army man, a reconnaissance photographer in World War II who set up one of the earliest mobile photo labs in the Pacific theater. Her mother was a model and a legal secretary.

Max got a degree in architecture and fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and decided one day in 1992 to come into Philadelphia to check out a graduate program at Drexel University.

She stopped in at Harold's store to buy a Steely Dan cassette tape to smooth the ride home. "And the rest," says Harold, not even attempting originality, "is history."

They were married two years later. Max helped him run the store, and when their lease expired, they decided to move and stop selling space-gobbling magazines, DVDs and CDs.

Instead, they remodeled the new store back into the past, turning what had been a traditional gift shop for decades into a place where hip and nostalgia meet - and perhaps even form a seamless web.

They removed the drop ceilings to reveal the original tin, pulled up the carpets to bare the hardwood floors, and stripped the drywall from the brick walls. Out front sit two replicas of the RCA Victor trademark terrier, Nipper. Zebra-pattern rugs bring the black-and-white color scheme inside.

In addition to LPs - some newly minted, as vinyl makes a comeback of sorts - the couple sell memorabilia unrelated to their own product line. "It's not just the music, it's the lifestyle," Max says.

Although Harold facetiously refers to the company as Gold Million International, even their online sales are mostly national. Most of the buyers are what Max describes as "baby boomers looking back."

There have been some notable exceptions, though.

A woman from Nashville, Kathleen Cash-Tittle, recently bought a Rocky Horror Picture Show tissue box. Harold asked her if she was related to Johnny Cash. Turned out, she was his daughter, "and she ended up buying every Johnny Cash thing we had in our line - 13 pieces."

Max takes photos of almost everything she makes, so she can duplicate what sells out. And the couple are always looking for suggestions about new objects to make.

Sometimes, however, they let tradition speak for itself.

Recently, an estate sale yielded some turn-of-the-century Edison cylinders, perhaps the oldest form of recording known. What about converting them into new art objects?

"No," Max says firmly. "These, we'll leave alone."


[Philly]

Take a Tour of Fat Beats Records

DJ Eclipse takes you on a tour of the world-renown hip hip vinyl mecca known as Fat Beats in New York City.

[Fat Beats blog]

LAist Independent Music Store Guide

Photo by FourthFloor via Flickr

We all know Amoeba and mourn the passing of terrific indie record shops like Aron’s and Sea Level, but what about the great stores we still have that continue bringing us back to discover old and new music alike? LAist has compiled a list of record stores from our vast area for the holidays (and a handy Google map) in support of these local businesses that help us remember what it’s like spending an afternoon going through bins, talking shit with store clerks and going home with a song you can’t wait to play.


View Larger Map

Did we miss your favorite music shop? Let us know in the comments and why you love the place.

Atomic Records
3812 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank CA 91505

Located down the street from Portos bakery, Atomic Records carries a lot of rare vinyl, including LPs, 7- and 10-inches. The quality is at its highest here and the prices can reflect that. From LAist writer Bob Thompson:

“Atomic has all used stuff, vinyl and CD, at reasonable prices, and is one of those shops clearly run by collectors for collectors. [My wife] was once fawning over an autographed Beach Boys album in his private collection behind the counter, trying to convince him to sell it to her for my birthday present. In order to decide if I was ‘worthy’ of owning it, he had her call me up and ask trivia questions. I eventually passed the test and am now the proud owner of an autographed 280 gram vinyl pressing of Surf's Up. That was an unusual case but they're just those kind of guys. We have far too few shops like this in town anymore, and should support the few that are left.”


Canterbury Records
805 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena CA 91101

“I'm really into Canterbury Records in Pasadena right now,” says LAist contributor Dan Collins. “They're mostly focused on CDs, but also have a lot of hidden vinyl singles under the racks of music as well as newly pressed vinyl, CD box sets, and used everything on the cheap. They also have smoking hot collections of the best classical music, from Ligeti to hurdy gurdy recordings to Glenn Gould and Yo Yo Ma. They have tons of soundtracks, lots of ethno-cultural oddities from every country in the world, great collections of spoken word, and tons of dead stock cassettes and video tapes for those looking for cheap thrills! They also have a complete collection of public domain films to buy on DVD for about seven bucks a piece. This is where I do all my Christmas shopping.”

Don's Music
4871 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90041

Blink as you’re driving by and you might miss Don’s Music in Eagle Rock, but take the time to seek out this tiny storefront and you’ll unearth a treasure trove of goodies. Offering records, CDs, toys, collectibles, books and zines, the jam-packed shop is a warm, welcoming destination. Owner Don and his feline friend Thirteen will keep you company with cheerful conversation and inspired musical suggestions.

Fingerprints
4612 E. 2nd Street
Long Beach CA 90803

Fingerprints is located in the Belmont Shore district of Long Beach. Besides selling new and used CDs, vinyl, books, DVDs toys and gifts, the store schedules great, live (and free) performances. Various jam sessions for The Kooks, The Whigs, Rivers Cuomo, The Delta Spirit and The Submarines took place in store just this year.

Freakbeat Records
13616 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks CA 91423

Boasting a huge section of rock music, Freakbeat Records is also known for great jazz and soul finds too, along with many other genres. The meticulously kept store is filled with new and used vinyl, and turntables are furnished for those who’d like to test drive a used album before buying. A whole room is devoted to LPs and CDs priced at 99 cents a piece.

Poo-Bah Record Shop
2636 Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena CA 91107

What many claim a music store should be, Poo-Bah takes eccentricity, a comfy atmosphere and a sense of adventure for those wanting new and used LPs. It’s the place to go if you want to get a little more left field in your music selection with reasonable prices. They also have their very own in-house label dedicated to putting songs on vinyl. Artists like Kutmah, Dennis Duck, Ras G, Black Monk and The Antarcticans have been pressed for 7-, 10- and 12-inch releases.

Rhino Records
235 Yale Avenue
Claremont CA 91711

Says Joshua Pressman, LAist Music Editor, “Rhino Records in Claremont is just about the best record store in the Southern California region.” Make the drive 40 minutes east from downtown LA and you won’t be sorry upon entering the 6000 square foot space that’s filled with a huge inventory of vinyl, CDs, DVDs and games. Originally opened in 1976 by the Rhino label, this music store has a stage inside for performances. Also there are tons of kitschy toys and items that harken back to the clever Rhino design and packaging of the past that music lovers will appreciate. The location near the Claremont Colleges makes an ideal spot to scavenge for music sold by starving students.

Rockaway Records
2395 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90039

Before there was a yoga studio, before Silverlake Wine, before the designer tween clothing store, there was simply Rockaway Records which opened in 1992. These days, the record store takes up one section of the huge space they used to solely occupy but the same great service and prices are still there. The $1.99 CD and sale LP racks are worth sorting through for one of the most diverse assemblages of music in the city. The store walls and shelves also sport music memorabilia and collectibles for sale. It’s a great place to just walk into and find some happy surprises without worrying about your bank account.

Record Surplus
11609 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90064

“Record Surplus on Pico has tons of really cheap stuff. Every now and again you find something really great,” notes another LAist writer, Molly Bergen. When she says tons of cheap stuff, she isn’t exaggerating. Record Surplus has a whole attic of sale items priced at 92 cents. They carry over 100,000 items in their stock of used CD and vinyl records, DVD, VHS, video games, books and even cassette tapes and laser discs. Listening stations allow you to check out used selections before buying. The place is super dusty and has that thrift store smell, but dive in and you’ll easily emerge with some music you didn’t know you needed or a nice gift for that special someone.


Turntable Lab
424 N. Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles CA 90036

Not for those searching for what’s been used, Turntable Lab offers brand spanking new items, keeping a fairly consistent stock of new arrivals and back catalog reissues. Record players allow you to sample before purchasing and the staff is helpful and friendly. Turntable Lab also has an outlet in New York’s East Village. Here, the store is bigger with clean lines, and in addition offers all kinds of tools for actually making music like DJ equipment, software, synth controllers, mics, mixers and exceptionally curated lines of clothing, books and gifts. The vibe here is definitely street chic, with an emphasis on dance, electro and hip hop.

[LAist]

SAD NEWS: Retailers: Black Friday Music Sales Down

blame this recesssion we are in for this ...

While mainstream media is touting that the Black Friday weekend started the holiday selling season with a bang, music merchandisers certainly didn't have that experience. Music sales were down anywhere from 10% to 30% and hit albums released for Black Friday didn't perform up to expectations, according to merchants contacted by Billboard.

According to sources, Kanye West's "808's & Heartbreak" will sell in the range of 425,000-450,000 units, significantly down from 700,000-975,000 units previously projected.

Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" is expected to clock in at 250,000-260,000, which is also down from expectations that it would sell anywhere from 300,000-784,000 units.

While some press reports show across-the-board retail weekend sales up 7%, music merchandisers point out that in order to accurately measure the holiday, it should be measured the week containing Black Friday this year - which was the last week in November - versus last year, when the day fell in the third week of November. Consequently, some merchants say they doubt the validity of the 7% increase reported by the mainstream media.

At music specialty stores Newbury Comics sales were down 21% on a comparable store basis for the last two weeks of November, while music sales were down 28%, reports the Brighton, Mass.-based chain's CEO Mike Dreese.

In Marietta, Ga., comparable-store sales were down 5%, according to Value Music president Rob Perkins. But the chain had yet to breakdown music sales and other categories at deadline.

At big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble, label executives report that hit sales were off significantly for the Black Friday weekend, anywhere from 30% to 40%.

On the other hand, as expected, online shopping was stronger than last year, says an executive with a wholesaler that does CD and DVD fulfillment for online stores. But he declined to provide details, other than to say that Friday was better than Thursday, for the first time.

"I hear traffic was high, but overall purchasing wasn't because shoppers were cherry picking the deals," says one senior distribution executive.

[Billboard]

Salem record store goes back to its roots

Since opening Ranch Records in 1982, Kit Close has been providing the kind of rare, offbeat music and collectibles that you won’t see in the Wal-Mart music section. A self-described “record nerd," who has always had a huge record collection, Close has followed his dreams to a profitable business, opening two other Ranch Records stores in McMinnville and Bend. Close’s wife Lori runs the McMinnville store and his partner John co-owns the Bend store. Even though this might seem like a modest chain, Close says, “Surprisingly, we find ourselves as the largest independent chain of music stores in Oregon. Who saw that coming?”

Ranch Records recently opened in its new Salem location on High Street, the sixth space it’s inhabited, from its most recent spot on Liberty Street. Close says he moved because the old space was larger than he needed and the heating bills were enormous.

“[The] place was a little run-down," Close said. "There was an oil burner in the basement from the '50s. Heating oil got so expensive last year it was costing me $1500 a month to heat it.”

Kit estimates that about 90 percent of his stock is rock and roll, with a little bit of jazz, blues and hip-hop making up the other ten percent.

Music released on vinyl records has had a recent resurgence, Close says. With the move, Ranch Records has cut back on CDs to focus more on records.

"It’s what all music stores are doing these days. If you want digital music, you just download it off the Internet really cheap. We still sell a lot of used CDs, but new CDs are almost going away. I don’t want to pay $16 for a CD. We’re bringing in a lot more records than we used to. Plus, I’ve been stockpiling records for the past 20 years and we’re starting to break into those.”

The appeal of vinyl records, Close thinks, is that it’s like a piece of art.

"It’s like books or anything else. It’s something you can hold. When you play records you’re more connected to the music because you have to get up every 20 minutes and turn the record over! You put CDs on, sometimes they just become background. I have a six-changer CD player and I won’t change the CDs for a week.”

According to Close, records aren’t cheap, and even more expensive than CDs. But he doesn’t think people mind paying the extra money because of the artwork that you get to see on a record.

Some records are being released on extra-thick, 180 gram vinyl that can run from $30-$40, but Close is convinced that the sound quality is “absolutely” better than a standard vinyl record. In the '90s, vinyl was dying out. CDs were hyped as what would make vinyl obsolete. New records were still being made, but the punk and underground music scenes were what kept the medium of vinyl records, especially singles, alive. One of the claims about CDs (espoused by the makers of CDs) was that they were a lot more durable than records. Close agrees.

“When they came out, they said that CDs were indestructible. But that’s absolutely not true.”

Ranch Records doesn’t try and compete with mainstream music stores.

On the future of recorded music, Close says, “the days of selling 20 million records are over. Bands are going to have to rely on touring, T-shirts, and merchandise and stuff to make a living. There’s a lot of other ways for bands to make money these days. Commercials have become huge. Bands come out and do commercials before they’re even known. People come here all the time, ‘what’s that song on that so-and-so commercial?’ There was a day when we looked down on bands for doing that though. We were idealistic; it was the '60s.”

[Willamette Live]

Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop

There is nothing quite like the feeling of thumbing through LP after LP in a dusty old record shop, only to stumble upon some hidden treasure, new obsession or forgotten love. Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is a homage to the holy places of music collecting, complete with their particular anecdotes, peculiar characters, and unique environments.

Emma Pettit, formerly of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, has travelled across the UK and America into these eclectic spaces of musical exchange, interviewing record shop owners, collectors and musicians to provide a rich account of the increasingly rare independent record shop. Featured shops include Other Music (New York), Aquarius Records (San Francisco), Amoeba Records (California) and Jazz Record Mart (Chicago). The first comprehensive look at these important institutions, Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is an essential read for the musically inclined.

Featuring contributions by Byron Coley (Ecstatic Yod), James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Simon Reynolds, Devendra Banhart, Billy Childish, Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne), Sean Bidder (Vinyl Factory), Rob Da Bank (Bestival) and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

From the Back Cover
'There is nothing quite like walking into a strange little record store in a town far from home and finding a record you've been after for so long, you didnt even remember you wanted it until you flipped through the bin and saw it. There is no similar charge available online, and it can't be gotten from a CD. It is something unique to vinyl and little stores and the people who live to breathe their air.' - Byron Coley from Ecstatic Yod

Vinyl helps record stores find a niche

Independent record stores spin success

On an unassuming stretch in Chicago's Beverly community, there is a music revolution sounding thanks to two independent record stores that keep spinning the vinyl even in tough economic times.

Beverly Records, 11612 S. Western Ave., and Mr. Peabody Records, 11832 S. Western Ave., are separated only by a few blocks, but they remain two of the few independent records stores in the Southland. Although the region once was filled with competitors such as Discount Records and Threshold Music in Tinley Park, the digital music revolution and rise of big-box chains such as Best Buy forced several independent record stores to shut down.

"You just can't compete with free, and that's pretty much what occurred," said Mark Ament, who owned Discount Records. Ament opened the first Discount Records in 1980 at the corner of 59th Street and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago. He eventually opened stores throughout the Southland - in Midlothian, Matteson, Homewood and Frankfort. The stores sold vinyl, 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs but, when customers started burning music and relying on MP3s, Ament said his business became no longer viable.

He began closing stores in 2006, starting with the Frankfort location, and one store closed every six months until the final store in Matteson closed in February.

"It's a reality that people don't spend money on music, especially in today's times when consumers are hit hard in the pocket from gas prices," he said.

Hanging on

Though it can be challenging, Beverly Records and Mr. Peabody Records have stayed afloat by supporting a niche market. Both stores focus on selling rare vinyl, which has seen a surprising surge in popularity this year.

Beverly Records opened as a penny candy store in 1967, selling candy, gift cards, novelties and the top records of the week, according to Jack Dreznes, current owner of the store. His mother, Christine, who ran the store back then, noticed that customers began asking for the old records after they were replaced. She started specializing in harder-to-find items and records. By the 1970s, nearly 75 percent of the items in the store were records.

Dreznes, who started working at the store in 1975 after serving in the Army, immediately fell in love with the unique clientele who would come in the store and ask for rare records.

"I remember somebody called and said, 'I want a record by Jelly Roll Morton.' I said, 'You're kidding me, right?' And he said, 'No I'm serious. He was a jazz artist in the '40s.' I said, 'Oh, I'll take a look,' and, sure enough, we had two or three records by him. I said, 'Oh, this is fun.' I just gave up looking for a job and stayed since then," Dreznes said.

The store established branches throughout the Chicago area in the '80s, but as demand for vinyl diminished and CDs become more popular, those at Beverly Records decided to focus on one store and closed down the last branch in the mid-1990s.

"Since then, we've been hanging on," Dreznes said. "We're not thriving, but we're surviving by specializing in harder-to-get things that the bigger stores don't bother with - the jazz, the karaoke, the more obscure artists from the '50s and '60s. Kind of what our clientele asks for -- the more they ask, the more we'll get in stock."

By specializing in hard-to-find records and karaoke equipment, customers looking for a specific record can walk in and request a record. Using the Internet, record collector sites and other stores Beverly Records networks with, Dreznes said it usually can track down most records if they are not in stock.

This specialization keeps Cedric McQuitter, a former disc jockey and avid record collector, coming to Beverly Records between 10 and 15 times a year. McQuitter's wife works at an FYE store, but when looking for a rare record, McQuitter chooses to shop at Beverly Records.

"There's no comparison in my book. No comparison," he said.

On a recent afternoon, McQuitter, who's 49 and lives in Chicago's West Pullman community, came to the store looking for an old disco record titled "Do You Wanna Funk?" by Sylvester.

In addition to walk-in customers, approximately 10 percent of the business comes from Internet sales overseas, mainly from England, Japan, Germany and France.

Rare recordings

Just two blocks south of Beverly Records, Mr. Peabody Records is another independent record store that has survived by focusing on a niche market. The store, which opened in February 2004, specializes in soul, jazz, rock, dance, disco and early rap music. The store stocks more than 80,000 vinyl records and a few thousand CDs.

Co-owners Marcus Pettigrew and Mike Cole Jr. decided to open a record store after meeting at Beverly Records and realizing they both were obsessive collectors.

"We were talking about records. From then, I gave him a ride home. We were playing tapes in the car, and he went into the house and got some tapes. He said, 'Man have you heard this? Do you know about this? Do you know this label?' " Pettigrew said. "We figure two can do more than one, so we might as well team up and see how much stuff we can find and discover."

About 90 percent of their business is on the Internet, mostly from overseas clients who are looking for rare records, Pettigrew said. Dealing with high-end collectors who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for records helps focus their niche. Pettigrew and Cole also work with record labels - including the London-based BBE - with licensing and redistributing rare music.

"I think (in the beginning) everyone was probably like, 'Are you guys crazy? You're dealing with vinyl?' Now look at it. Best Buy is carrying vinyl. But it's an extreme niche," Pettigrew said. "We have to really watch how much we buy and what we buy. You've got to know what you're doing today to survive."

[Southtown Star]

Records Make a Sound Investment

Here's a story about a former customer of mine.

Vinyl finally dead? That'll be the day... MP3 players may be all the rage but records make a sound investment

Who said that records were finished? If you have a pile of old LPs gathering dust in the loft, you could be in the money. The most collectible records fetch thousands of pounds.

Jean-Paul Cuesta-Vayon, 42, who runs the Vinyl Junkies shop in Soho, central London, says: 'You can't beat records - they are not just more tactile with far better art work than CDs, they also boast far superior sound quality. When CDs and then MP3 music formats came along they offered more convenience and seemed an exciting alternative. But as time has gone by many music lovers have come back to the more lasting appeal of vinyl.'

Jean-Paul says this attraction goes right across the music market -- from jazz to rock 'n' roll, hip hop and rhythm and blues. But though the appeal attracts all age groups, the nostalgia of those brought up on vinyl is also a key driving force. The blue-chip investments are the bands with international appeal that have stood the test of time.

Turning a profit: Vinyl Junkies shop owner Jean-Paul Cuesta-Vayon

At the head of the list is The Beatles. Other highly collectible groups include The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen and The Smiths.

Among the individual performers, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Cliff Richard, Elton John and Marc Bolan are the most sought after.

Industry magazine The Record Collector puts the first ten numbered copies of The Beatles' White Album - released 40 years ago this weekend - as top of the pops for rarity value. It puts a conservative estimate of between £5,000 and £7,000 for one of the first ten copies, though investors might pay twice that amount.

Other rarities include a swearing Marc Bolan on a recording of Hard On Love plus a silk-padded sleeve of The Rolling Stones album, Their Satanic Majesties Request, both valued at £2,000. Collectors will pay about £3,000 for the mono version of Unfinished Music No 1: Two Virgins, an experimental 1968 album by John Lennon & Yoko Ono with the couple nude on the cover, rarity rather than musical appeal pushing up the price. Perhaps the most expensive record is the 7 inch single of That'll Be The Day, recorded by The Quarrymen in 1958 before three of them went on to form The Beatles. Sir Paul McCartney owns the only known copy, which is valued conservatively at £100,000.

Stephen Maycock, the rock 'n' roll memorabilia consultant for auction house Bonhams, says: 'It wasn't until the Eighties that vinyl really started to be viewed as collectible, when the supply dried up as the musical format was switched to CDs.'

First pressings are usually the most valuable, as they were often produced in relatively small numbers before the record became a hit. Early demos and limited exports are also sought after among die-hard collectors.

Cant's be beat: Jean-Paul among his wares

The record company and issue code on the disc and sleeve can help reveal the identity. Other considerations include whether it was a commercial release or promotional, recorded in stereo or mono, contained any freebies or has a picture sleeve.

As with all collectible items, Maycock says condition is vital. An LP in mint condition is worth twice a 'very good' example that has a few minor scuffs and surface scratches. Anything less is not usually considered as collectible - a badly scratched copy could fetch less than a tenth of the value.

Although Jean-Paul admits that recordings by the big names in music have accounted for some of the most impressive price rises in recent years, there is also a growing market for more obscure artists where cut-price gems can still be discovered.

'I have an early Seventies jazz record, The Latin Taste by Romano Mussolini, the youngest son of the wartime Italian dictator,' he says. 'It could be picked up for a few pounds a few years ago, but is now worth £600. Another rarity is Charlie Parker's In Sweden 1950 album, which is worth £1,000 because it's extremely rare.'

Bonhams has put a £600 estimate on a disc recorded in the late Sixties by Reg Dwight before he changed his name to Elton John. An early U2: Three 12in single from 1981 and signed by Bono has a valuation of £3,000.

While internet trading has transformed the market, for many vinyl investors there is no substitute for the fun of rummaging through racks at specialist record shops or trade fairs.

Befriending the dealer at a secondhand record store can also prove invaluable. But traders will typically offer half the price you could get on eBay.

An excellent source of information with details of shops and fairs is the Record Collector. The magazine publishes the industry bible, Rare Record Price Guide 2010. For American releases, investors should check out the books, Goldmine Record Album Price Guide and Goldmine Price Guide To 45RPM Records.

[Daily Mail]

Vinyl Records Making a Comeback in The Ozarks

It's the awakening of an era for music lovers. Vinyl records are coming back and gaining popularity in the Ozarks.

"I never thought we'd come back to vinyl ever." says Michael Vincent, owner of CD Warehouse. "I brought in 50 pieces to test it and it immediately went crazy."

Vinyl records are hitting store shelves in the Ozarks.

"What I see are people picking Frampton Comes Alive, Kiss, Aerosmith. They never thought the music they listened to when they were kids would be popular with kids now." says Vincent.

"The production of these is so much more imaginative" says Tom Muetzel.

Muetzel, who works for KOLR 10 and owns South Avenue Pizza Company, says the majority of music played in his eatery is from this turn table.

"Once I started bringing things in all of a sudden, it had a snowball affect from curiosity from different people, so we rotate the records we have here." says Muetzel.

And vinyl is so popular at South Avenue Pizza, with customers, that it actually has it's own night.

"It just got to be a neighborhood things where you would grab up favorite records and come down and hang out and have a beer and listen to music." says Muetzel.

While the iPod is a handy portable way to carry your music, Muetzel likes the spin vinyl records brings to the table.

"They came with posters they came books they came with picture disks a lot more imagination." says Muetzel.

"Goes to show you, a good song will last the test of time." says Vincent.

Prices for vinyls today can range from $9.99 to $25.00.

[Ozarks First]

A Record Store that Closed Earlier this Year is Reopening Because of the Demand for VINYL

PAWTUCKET, R.I.—Before compact discs, before the music file sharing Web site Napster and before the iPod came along—the main way the world listened to music at home was with a diamond stylus on a vinyl record.

“Technology had a major impact in sales. Sales decreased incredibly, and I thought it was all done. I thought it was over,” said Luke Renchan, of Luke’s Record Exchange.

Luke’s, in business since 1979, with more than 1 million different records in stock spanning 50 years, was able to weather the storms of cassette tapes and CDs. But then the computer killed his business with online fire sharing.

“First year, we saw a 50 percent decline. I probably saw a 10 to 25 percent decline over the next three to four years, and then it bottomed out,” Renchan said. “I tried everything I could and nothing seemed to work.”

But then something happened when he was getting ready to close the doors for good in May.

“The final week was such a huge week in sales, and I already started getting that feeling that maybe it’s not over,” Renchan said. “My language changed from ‘closing’ at the beginning of the last week to ‘I’m not sure what I’m doing.’ So, I left it as a question mark.”

In those six months, with vinyl record sales—in the analog format—booming and CD sales—in the digital format—slumping, Luke decided to give the old store one more try.

“The customers came forth and spoke, and they’ve changed my mind. They brought me back,” Renchan said. “Analog sound is a much better sound than digital is. When you ‘digital’ something, you’re losing something in the process.”

Renchan said part of the reason behind the resurgence in vinyl: You can’t find the music anywhere else.

On Saturday, Luke’s will be back in business, with all the old stuff and a lot of the new stuff stocked by the record manufacturers, too.

“They’re going to be producing more vinyl. They’re bringing titles back that have been out of print for many years. They’re bringing titles in that have never been in print,” Renchan said. “I want it to work. I feel it’s going to work.”

Renchan hopes to prove you can go back in time and that the old does become new again.

Sales of vinyl records doubled from 3 million to 6 million copies between 2006 and 2007, according to the music technology Web site future10.com. Sales of turntables increased 80 percent in the same time period.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A COOL VIDEO ...
[TurnTo10]

Indie Record Store Thrives

Dynamite Records in NoHo moves to new location with continued success

The indie record store is a piece of Americana that has influenced the lives of adolescents throughout the latter part of the 20th century. It's a home where the smell of vinyl is the only air freshener, and friendships form out of a love for Glenn Danzig. It's a place where local, music-obsessed individuals can interact with others like themselves while surrounded by the thriving force of good music. However, in the age of iPods, MP3s and music piracy, this important piece of American culture is becoming as outdated as hair metal.

One independent record store in Northampton, Mass., won't let the age of iTunes bring them down. Dynamite Records opened in 1982, and is the longest running independent record store in western Massachusetts. Dynamite started in the back of a station wagon in front of the Amherst Post Office, then moved on to spend 20 years in Thornes Marketplace. Recently, it moved to 33 Main Street in Northampton, between Lucky's Tattoo and Piercing and La Veracruzana. When Dynamite was invited to use the store front on Main Street, owner Ronnie Kwon jumped at the opportunity.

"We spent 20 years in Thornes, and we had really outgrown it," said Kwon. "We wanted a more visible location, since Dynamite had become a local secret that was difficult to find."

The store is as cozy as any home, with hardwood floors and an actual living room display in the front window, and an array of artists swarming the shelves. Dynamite Records specializes in new and used vinyl records, but also carries a wide variety of new and used CDs, pins, patches and posters.

"There's a lot of love in Dynamite Records, and that's why I love it," said Kwon. "I love records; I love the way they look, the way they sound, the way they feel, just everything about them."

The music industry is at a noteworthy place at this point in time. With the emergence of MP3s and digital file sharing, shelves containing a music library have been reduced to a hard drive that can crash at any time. The current echo boomer generation has taken creativity and good music for granted. Many people have substituted quality for convenience, and face-to-face communication for computers. Buying music online is nothing like going into a store and having the power to listen to everything happening around you.

"Independent record stores allow us to bypass what's playing on the top 40 and fill our ears with something real, something with heart," said UMass senior and psychology major, Rachel Schein. "It'll change your perspective on what music's all about."

However, it seems as if more and more people are trading the experience of a record store for the cheap thrill of a download timer. It has been proven however, that MP3s have a far worse sound quality than CDs or even records. In order to fit an MP3 onto an MP3 player, the file from a CD has to be compressed to an extremely small size. As a result, the song may sound much different, and small subtleties, like key changes, can't be detected by the listener. Yet many people, both young and old, are standing by their vinyl. Kwon has faith in his store and doesn't believe he'll lose many customers as a result of this new technology.

"There's always going to be change," said Kwon. "I think you have to learn to adapt and evolve and know that people still value music. We choose our standards and we have a lot of loyal customers."

One can truly feel at ease and at home inside Dynamite. There's always good music playing as the gazes of Siouxsie Sioux and Robert Smith look down from displayed posters. The store has a very relaxed atmosphere, where no one peers over your shoulder and you're allowed to be with the music in your own way.

"I think independent record stores are a good idea; keeps the small businesses up and running, and the awareness that records are still being produced and used," said Hampshire College student Taylor "Matchstick" McNeilly. "[Records have] a very different quality of sound, and are definitely enjoyable. I'm glad such places as Dynamite Records are still around, because it really lends something to the culture."

Dynamite Records also tries to help local artists obtain success by offering them a place to perform. The shop often has artists perform in the store itself or in the display windows. This gesture is how Mr. Kwon and his employees give back to the community.

"I feel like there are fewer opportunities than before for local artists to get out there," said Kwon. "Even in New York, there aren't a lot of places where local artists can perform. Music is such an important part of people's lives and of important value in communities. Dynamite Records has always been a community store and will always be a community store."

While Kwon is giving back to the artists, the artists are giving back to the record stores. Record Store Day, which will be celebrated on April 18, 2009, aims to make people more aware of the culture and history that record stores have.

On their Web site, Recordstoreday.com, Boston native Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls said, "My early record shopping experiences were my musical backdrop… it's not just the ability to touch, see and smell an album and the artwork ... it's the fact that you're in a real place with real people ... you can't get that feeling sitting behind your computer, ever."

Kwon doesn't wait for April to celebrate his love of music. To him, every day is Record Store Day.

"I just hope people still enjoy the experience of buying music," he said. "If you don't know what that is, come on in and we'll show you."

Independent record stores, their employees and their loyal customers are filled with a passion for music. They do more than just hear music; they can see it and feel it. It's a part of them. To them, shopping for music is more than just retail therapy, it's a ritual. It's not something they do, but something they experience. Independent record stores are alive today because of the people who want to have that experience.

Dynamite Records is located at 33 Main Street in Northampton.

[Daily Collegian]

Insound to Launch Vinyl Newlsetter

Vinyl-loving online retail site, Insound, is a about to launch a new bi-weekly vinyl newsletter covering the latest news on vinyl releases. If you sign up for their newsletter you can use a coupon code to receive 10% off your vinyl purchases from now until November 1st.

Sign up here and the coupon code is:
vinylnews10

Metallica, Radiohead and other bands help the LP stage a comeback

Vinyl Gets Another Spin

Metallica's new release, "Death Magnetic," went on sale on Sept. 12, but fans who want the vinyl version may have to wait. Even when it was available for pre-order, the two-LP set was one of the fastest-selling music items on Amazon.com recently and is temporarily out of stock.

The heavy-metal titans are among a wave of artists putting out albums in an old format: the vinyl LP. Madonna and Coldplay recently issued deluxe vinyl versions of their latest records. U2 and Van Morrison are re-releasing their back catalog on vinyl. New LP titles are coming in the weeks ahead from Oasis, Bob Dylan and Kings of Leon.

The 12-inch vinyl LP record -- in decline for the past two decades, clung to only by DJs, audiophile nerds and collectors -- is making a stand amid the digital revolution. World-wide sales of LP records doubled in 2007 (from three million to six million units) after hitting an all-time low in 2006, according to IFPI, the international recording industry trade association. Global sales of CDs dropped 12% in the same period, after having fallen 10% the previous year. Turntable sales in the U.S. increased more than 80% from 2006 to 2007 and continue to rise this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. "Last year and this year have been our busiest ever," says Kris Jones of London's Sounds of the Universe record shop, which sells more music on vinyl than on CD. "It's really crazy."

Record companies are looking for innovative ways to make people pay for music -- often music they already have in another format -- rather than get it free or at a reduced price over the Internet.

"There's a reaction against the commoditization of music" that downloading represents, says Mike Allen, a music industry consultant and former vice president of international marketing for record company EMI Group. "With vinyl there's something that has innate value -- a physical object."

Sound quality also plays a role. Vinyl fanatics have always maintained that LPs sound warmer and richer than digital formats. Some acts, like Beck, Tom Petty and Fleet Foxes, are playing to fans of both the old and new technology by including free CDs or MP3 downloads with vinyl versions of their albums.

Amazon recently launched a vinyl section with more than 250,000 titles, and bricks-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and HMV are stocking more LPs. Indie record shops such as Other Music in New York and Amoeba Music in Berkeley, Calif., never stopped selling records.

Late last year, Radiohead made its new album available online and asked people to pay whatever they wanted to for it. But they also released the music in an $80 "discbox" edition, with two vinyl records, two CDs and a souvenir booklet. Even with the music available digitally for free, Radiohead has sold more than 60,000 discboxes. "People want to hold something," says Mr. Jones. "They like the pictures, the artwork."

So do older listeners, who remember when buying a new record was special. "You forget how gigantic the artwork was, how much more interesting the albums are than CDs or downloads," says Mr. Allen. "It's a bit of a lost joy."

[WSJ]

During Recession and Shrinking Music Industry, Newbury Comics Opens up a New Superstore

Norwood superstore sets Newbury Comics record

Thirty years after opening its first store in a converted studio apartment on Boston’s Newbury Street, Newbury Comics is tackling its biggest experiment yet, even as digital downloading continues to erode CD music sales.

The independent chain is opening a Norwood superstore in a former Boch Kia dealership. At 12,000 square feet, it’s more than twice the size of Newbury Comics’ average store and will feature a permanent sound system and movable stage for performances, interactive game-playing, a coffee bar and Wi-Fi.

The store, expected to open this weekend, will be the 29th for Newbury Comics, which projects companywide revenue of $77 million this year. Along with a Faneuil Hall Marketplace location that opened three weeks ago, it represents the chain’s biggest store investment in a decade. The company has put more than $2 million into the Norwood location, including $1 million-plus in inventory.

Although Newbury Comics’ sales have been flat for four years, and profit is down 10 percent from 2007, chief executive Mike Dreese believes it’s the correct time to take a risk and make a big statement.

“Every time the economy goes into a recession, that’s when you want to invest,” said Dreese, 52, an MIT drop-out who co-founded the company with his college roommate, John Brusger. “We’re relatively strong going into it. Virgin (Records) just pulled out of town, Tower is bankrupt. If we’re going to expand, we should do it now.”

The superstore idea sprung from Dreese’s friendship with car czar Ernie Boch Jr., whom he met in the late 1970s when Boch was a student at Berklee College of Music.

“Ernie has been a huge Newbury Comics fan forever,” Dreese said. “He originally brought up an idea of trying to co-locate a car dealership with Newbury Comics.”

But Boch’s exit from the Kia business allowed Newbury Comics to open a store with a completely different look and feel. Much of the difference is in the merchandising. The store will carry extensive inventories of certain products, including vinyl records.

“There’s a huge resurgence in vinyl,” said Dreese, noting that many bands are releasing albums on vinyl and 18- to 20-year-olds are buying turn-tables. “We sold 600 to 800 in the last two months.”

Newbury Comics will sell more than $1.5 million in vinyl this year, up 70 percent from a year ago. The growth comes as its CD music sales have declined to about 43 percent of overall sales, down from 75 percent a decade ago.

“The recorded-music industry is doing quite poorly, but there’s a reason why we didn’t change our name years ago,” Dreese said. “We’ve always had a lot of other merchandise. We think of ourselves as a pop culture department store.”

The Norwood store also will devote expanded space to movies in the Blu-ray Disc format, products tied to local sports teams and jeans, which the company now sells in a couple of its locations.

“We expect a lot of what we set up there won’t work that well, but we think it will be a good testing ground,” Dreese said. “The best in breed of those will spread to other Newbury Comics stores.”

[Boston Herald]

San Antonio: Wax Works !

Wax works

With CD sales dying, local music shops give records a second spin
By Clint Hale

Converse’s Chuck Taylors are continually fashionable. Poison frontman Bret Michaels stars in one of cable television’s most popular reality programs. Hell, even once-forgotten teen heartthrobs like Jason Bateman are relevant again. So the resurgence of records shouldn’t be altogether surprising — Americans, after all, are notorious for embracing favorites of yesteryear.

But seriously, vinyl? In an era when music can be purchased — or stolen, for that matter — from the comfort of one’s own PC, are we really so nostalgic we’ll buy scratchy old records to relive the glories of songs gone by?

The answer, apparently, is yes.

According to a time.com report earlier this year, 990,000 vinyl albums were sold in 2007, a 15.4-percent increase from the 858,000 records moved the previous year. Though local store 180 Grams is closing shop at month’s end (see side bar, 53) other San Antonio record-store owners agree — vinyl sales are on the rise in the Alamo City.

That sales increase, the owners contend, stems mostly from the raw, more intimate sound often provided by records in comparison to impersonal mediums like CDs and mp3s, not to mention the nostalgia that one experiences from spinning a classic like Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde or Springsteen’s Born to Run on a turntable.

“With vinyl, people like the sound better than CDs,” says Gary Smith, co-owner of CD Trader. “With a lot of CDs, you just don’t get that same quality.”

Vinyl’s resurgence has not been lost on San Antonio’s flock of record-store owners, who have stocked their shelves with everything from brand-spanking-new mainstream releases to old-and-dusty classics to the flat-out obscure. Here are five of the foremost authorities on local vinyl retail.

Alamo Records
& Sheet Music
125 Broadway, (210) 212-4200

Considering it’s located on the third floor of an antique mall in the downtown area, you’ll know what to expect upon entering this shop — oldies ... lots and lots of oldies. Though Alamo Records features a sizable section dedicated to 1960s-80s mainstream, the charm of the store is found in the more obscure records resting on the shelves, on the floor, and in boxes strewn all about the place.

CATERS TO: Music historians; anyone born before 1950.

A SAMPLING: Aretha Franklin, Aretha Now; The Knack, Get the Knack; Gladys Knight and the Pips, Anthology

OF NOTE: Of the record stores visited by the Current, Alamo Records stocks the biggest collection of vinyl — by a rather substantial margin.


CD Trader
10724 Perrin Beitel, (210) 590-0045, myspace.com/cd_trader

Not only a place to purchase music, but also a place to discuss music, CD Trader features predominantly old-school rock and metal, everything from Iron Maiden to Slayer to European bands the likes of which you’ve probably never heard. And should you desire more info on a particular release, co-owner Gary Smith — as evidenced by the Current’s recent trip to CD Trader — will be more than happy to oblige you with some music-related conversation and advice. In addition to a stacked collection of vinyl, CDs, and even cassette tapes, CD Trader features novelty items like Rob Zombie and Misfits lunchboxes, autographed pictures, and even a 2-foot-tall Ace Frehley KISS doll.

CATERS TO: Metalheads; musical conversationalists.

A SAMPLING: Manowar, Kings of Metal; Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd Meets Frank Zappa; The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St.

OF NOTE: CD Trader isn’t limited exclusively to metalheads of years gone by, as evidenced by copies of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. Yes, they actually released the latter on vinyl.


Hogwild Records, Tapes & CDs
1824 N. Main, (210) 733-5354, myspace.com/hogwildrecords

Perhaps the most revered record shop in San Antonio, Hogwild has achieved such a feat for two reasons — its proximity to SAC’s legion of music-craving students, and the diversity of its inventory. Punk, rap, jazz, rock — the list goes on. Whatever your taste in music, Hogwild probably has something to satisfy it. And in addition to loads of newly released albums from contemporary bands like the Killers and the White Stripes, Hogwild also features used records from bands of yesteryear like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

CATERS TO: Those who answer “What kind of music are you into?” with, “Oh, I listen to a little bit of everything.”

A SAMPLING: The Black Keys, Attack & Release; Nirvana, Nevermind; Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

OF NOTE: If you’re a musician looking for a band, or vice versa, Hogwild allows locals to post music-related “help wanted” clippings.


Janie’s Record Shop
135 Bandera, (210) 735-2070,
janiesrecordshop.com

If you’re in the market for vinyl of the Tejano or conjunto variety, and you’re not shopping at Janie’s Record Shop, you’re probably in the wrong place. The locally owned retailer, in addition to a hefty vinyl selection, also stocks a plethora of rare and out-of-print CDs, and even some cassette tapes. Plus, the friendly and conversational staff is one of the more musically knowledgeable the Current encountered while on its local record store excursion.

CATERS TO: Fans of all things Tejano and conjunto; collectors on the hunt for rarities.

A SAMPLING: Ram Herrera, Just for You; Mazz, Para Nuestra Gente; Lydia Mendoza, La Alondra De La Frontera

OF NOTE: Janie’s stocked plenty of Gabe Garcia’s music before the local guy hit it big on Nashville Star (an autographed Garcia photo also resides on a store wall). Now, the store is receiving ’round-the-clock calls from record stores nationwide, hoping to secure some of Garcia’s pre-Star work. In fact, during the Current’s late-afternoon visit to Janie’s, store employees were busy addressing Garcia-related envelopes to a slew of music retailers.


Music Town
4714 Broadway, (210) 826-2737,
musictownsa.com

If ever there was a record store that catered to the Facebook crowd, it’s Music Town. Run by Brent Evans, the 16-month-old shop features mostly contemporary favorites like Radiohead, Spoon, and Animal Collective. Of course, Music Town doesn’t cater exclusively to fresh-faced youngsters — its biggest vinyl seller to date is The Beatles’ Abbey Road.

CATERS TO: Indie hipsters, anyone born after 1975.

A SAMPLING: Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam; Beck, Modern Guilt; Jeff Buckley, Grace

OF NOTE: Should you desire a title that isn’t in stock, Evans will order it and have it shipped to the store. •


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More San Antonio Record Stores

DEL BRAVO RECORD SHOP
554 Old Hwy. 90 W., (210) 432-8351,
delbravorecords.com

DIRT CHEAP DISTRO
600 E. Amber Place, (210) 921-0222,
myspace.com/dirtcheapdistro

FLIP SIDE RECORD PARLOR
1445 SW Military, (210) 923-7811,
myspace.com/flipsiderecord

THE YARD
529 San Pedro, (210) 299-5210,
txyard.blogspot.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Local record store temporarily shelved

Jesse Garcia wants to improve San Antonio’s live-music scene, so much so that he’s putting his record store on hold to do so.

Garcia, the owner of 180 Grams, says he’s closing the shop’s doors at the end of the month in order to devote more of his time to luring popular indie acts to San Antonio for live shows. Garcia’s lease at 180 Grams’ current location on San Pedro expires at the end of the month, and since he couldn’t find a more spacious locale suited to in-store appearances and other live shows, he’s putting the business on hiatus while focusing on the live-music aspect.

“I want to bring bands to San Antonio that may be going to Houston and Austin but are not coming here,” Garcia says. “Now I can focus on touring bands like that.”

Garcia, however, isn’t giving up on the music retail business altogether. He plans on leaving myspace.com/180grams open as an online outlet for music, and he says that he will increase the store’s platter inventory upon re-opening the store in its physical form. After all, he contends, records are back in vogue.

“When [180 Grams] comes back, I want it to be more vinyl-oriented,” Garcia says. “Until then, I want to keep the store in the public eye.”

[SA Current]

Turntables 'cool' again with young

GROOVIN' ON VINYL
Turntables 'cool' again with young

A new generation of music lovers is starting to groove to the sweet sound of vinyl records, reviving sales of the kind of turntables their parents used to own. A lot of older technology has been swept away by the digital age, but old-fashioned analog audio is still alive. Record and turntable sales indicate there is new interest in the sound of vinyl.

"A lot of young kids are discovering vinyl for the first time," said Chris Stiles, owner of DJ Hut, a record store in Dupont Circle.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHELLE GININGER/THE WASHINGTON TIMES
DJ Hut, a digital and vinyl shop in Northwest, carries vinyl records and turntables. Vendors say listeners are convinced that the sound quality of a vinyl record is superior to that of a compressed digital file.

Turntable shipments topped 32,000 in April, one-third higher than the 19,000 record players sold the same month a year ago, according to the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington. That's less than 1 percent of total music-player sales, but the increase has not escaped the notice of store managers.

"When people started first finding out we were carrying them, they started purchasing them a lot more," said Mario Luis, a merchandising supervisor at Best Buy in Tenleytown. "We couldn't keep them in stock."

Big-box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart, online suppliers like MusicDirect and Needle Doctor, and even the pop-culture retailer Urban Outfitters stock turntables, many with built-in USB ports. The ports make it possible to load analog music onto computers and convert songs into digital files with better quality than a CD or MP3. Prices range from $70 for a belt-driven Audio-Technica player at Wal-Mart to $24,000 for a top-of-the-line Avid from MusicDirect.

The average listener can get a very good player for $350, according to Josh Bizar, sales director for MusicDirect, an online supplier of turntables, needles and record cleaners. His company's turntable sales increased 400 percent in the first half of the year, he said.

Employee Jim Pitocchelli (top) keeps the shelves at DJ Hut stocked with vinyl LPs, which Nielsen SoundScan says are increasing in sales while CD sales are declining. Turntables (above) enable customers to listen to a record before purchasing it.

While the "cool factor" is partially driving the under-25 demographic to give analog a try, turntable vendors say listeners are convinced that the sound quality of a vinyl record is superior to that of a compressed digital file.

"We have always believed that an analog source is going to sound much warmer and more natural than any digital source," Mr. Bizar said. "These younger users are really into the sound quality."

Kenny Bowers owns more than 15,000 records, which fill a special room in his Minneapolis house. He loves records so much he has made preserving them his job. He manages Needle Doctor, a company that sells replacement needles and helps record-player owners care for their machines.

"There's definitely more vinyl out on the market than ever before," Mr. Bowers said. In addition, consumers are buying more needles and cleaning solutions from his company to take care of their records and players.

CD sales declined 15 percent in 2007, but sales of vinyl recordings are on the rise, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a research company that tracks music sales. Year-over-year sales of vinyl records increased 70 percent in March and could reach 1.6 million by year's end.

The tangible nature of vinyl is also driving its growing appeal among MP3 collectors who are tiring of building virtual collections of digital files, some in the record industry say.

"An MP3 - sure, you can get it somewhere off the Internet, but all you're getting is the file," said DJ Hut manager and buyer John Johnson. "What we're finding with young people is they're just happy to see what they're getting with their money."

While most music collectors are busy building MP3 music libraries, some never stopped perfecting their vinyl collections.

Annapolis resident John Venitz stopped by DJ Hut to search for a vinyl version of a Chicago Symphony performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," which he recently bought on CD. He said he has been collecting records for years to play on the replacement turntable he purchased nine years ago.

"More people need to bring back vinyl," Mr. Venitz said.

MICHELLE GININGER/THE WASHINGTON TIMES
John Venitz of Annapolis searches at DJ Hut for an LP version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade." He has it on CD but feels the need to "bring back vinyl."

Recording artists such as Madonna and U2 are appealing to a younger generation of vinyl lovers by releasing recordings on vinyl as well as on CD and MP3. Other artists including Led Zeppelin, Wilco and Amy Winehouse are releasing remastered vinyl albums.

LPs appeal to people who are focused on listening to their music instead of keeping a steady stream of background music running, Mr. Bizar said.

"If you want to have a record collection that will last a lifetime, you have to have a real record player - a real turntable - one with a good needle on it that will not damage the record," he said. "It will bring so much more music out of the grooves on it that it will leave your jaw on the ground."

[Washington Times]

www.djhut.com

Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale is creating a cool scene

On the wall, a grid of album covers: Led Zeppelin II, Cash, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz celebrating the sonic verve of Cuba y Puerto Rico Son.

Below this, a row of new and used CDs: punk, heavy metal, soul and Motown, blues. There's some incense and books about bands by the register, a couple of listening stations trussed up with turntables and headphones.

The guts of Radio-Active Records, however, are in its back room, a cavernous square fringed by lime-green walls, where artists show their paintings and photos and musicians rock a small, hand-built stage.

Yet what stands out, above all else, is an extraordinary tally of vinyl records.

The independent music store, one of only a few in Broward County, first opened as a CD shop six years ago at the Gateway Plaza in Fort Lauderdale. Owner Sean Kayes had already run a couple of stores in Hollywood and Pompano Beach.

But Kayes had begun collecting vinyl, as addictive a habit as smoking or checking your e-mail. So he decided to start stocking it as well. His first purchase was 2,500 platters for $200, obtained from a woman who pulled up with the stack in the back of her pick-up truck.

Kayes and store manager Mikey Ramirez aren't sure how many records exist in current inventory, but they're guessing it's more than 8,000.

Radio-Active is as much a shrine as it is a vendor, and had you visited on a recent rain-drizzled afternoon, you would have joined the devout poring silently over neatly bundled bins, listening to New Order sing about power, corruption and lies, hoping to find whatever album for which they're pining, and for a deal at that.

Q. What makes vinyl special?

Mikey: CDs wind up on the floor of your car, or you throw them at your little brother. You tend to take more care of your records. You have to pay more attention to them; when [a record] ends you have to lift the needle. They just sound better. Each side has a story. When you listen to a record, it's more like "OK, here's the first part of the book, and here's the second part."

Q. What makes this store cool?

Sean: One of the greatest things for me is when somebody from Boston or New York walks in and says, "Wow, you have a record store like this in Florida?" It's in the oldest shopping center in Broward and all the stores in it are independently owned. The only chain is a Subway, but even that's a franchise.

Q. I like the green you chose for the walls.

Sean: I was going to do muddy colors, but when I said that to the kids — that's what I call my employees — they said, "Ehh. Can we do something different?"

Q. Why did you decide to expand the store to include the back room and a stage?

Sean: The AC broke and the landlord told me we had to go into the warehouse to fix it. I hadn't even been back there. I called Mikey and said, "You gotta come and see this. You won't believe it." It was an old decrepit storage space; I think it was a dining room for Nathan's [Famous] Hot Dogs at one time. It took us months to clean it out.

Mikey: It was beyond gross. Like a crime scene.

Q. What do you think the art shows and the live music bring to the store?

Sean: They bring the right kind of people, people who aren't commercial artists and who know that money is not everything. Let's face it, I'm not going to become rich running this shop. But my stress level is zero and I love coming to work.

Mikey: Even if I didn't work here, I'd be here buying records every day. I spend more time here than at my own house.

Q. How close is the vibe in Radio-Active to the record store in the movie High Fidelity?

Mikey: We're not that store. We're not going to treat someone [with disdain] just because they want to buy Billy Joel or Coldplay or some other music we don't listen to. We know most of our customers by first name. We treat everyone with respect.

Sean: Although if someone came into the store looking for that Stevie Wonder song, I might have to say something.

Q. What are your top five albums to accompany the brutal summer heat of Florida?

Sean: Anything by Toña La Negra. We just got in tons of Latin records, and I brought home five of hers to check her out. That was it. She's got one of those Edith Piaf- Billie Holiday, once-in-a-century kind of voices.

Mikey: Diamanda Galas, because it sounds like you're in the pit of hell. And that new Hercules and Love Affair. It's a good summer boogie. Also any Sun Ra. He's just cosmic.

Sean: Definitely the new Beck. He just nailed it. There's r&b stuff, shoegaze-y stuff. Plus he kept it short and sweet. It's 33 minutes and there's no fluff and no waste.

Q. Got any weird record tips?

Mikey: If you slow down the 12-inch copy of Madonna's Into the Groove, it sounds just like David Gahan from Depeche Mode.

Sean: When you play Imaginary Lover at 45 speed, it sounds like Stevie Nicks. She's Mikey's favorite.

Mikey: Don't write that. People might not know it's a joke.


WHERE IT'S AT
Radio-Active Records, 1930-B E. Sunrise Blvd., inside the Gateway Plaza, Fort Lauderdale; myspace.com/radio_active_records or 954-762-9488.

[Sun-Sentinel]

The Last Independent Record Store

RECORD STORE DAY: April 19, 2008 ... be there !!

www.recordstoreday.com

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the country will celebrate “Record Store Day.”

On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.

Plans are underway to set up special events at all of the stores on this day, as well as provide customers with a goodie bag that promotes new formats, new releases, and exciting information on music, theatrical, and gaming releases. Working with our partners, the indies will also link to run extensive marketing campaigns both on a national level and a local level.

All indie-record stores are invited to participate by making April 19, 2008, a celebration day for their store. In-store performances, sales, demonstrations, dances, and everything that makes an indie record store unique should be on display that day. Sign up today!

Some of only the many quotes by famous and not-so famous people regarding record retail stores:

Cameron Crowe

"The record store. Where true fandom begins. It's the soul of discovery, and the place where you can always return for that mighty buzz. The posters. The imports. The magazines. The discerning clerks, paid in vinyl, professors of the groove. Long live that first step inside, when the music envelopes you and you can't help it. You walk up to the counter and ask the question that begins the journey -- "what is that you're playing?" Long live the record store, and the guys and girls who turn the key, and unlock those dreams, every day."

Chuck Berry

"Music is an important part of our culture and record stores play a vital part in keeping the power of music alive"