Detroit, MI | Paramita Sound to revamp record shop, add booze at Siren Hotel: West Village-neighborhood record store and party house Paramita Sound is reopening as a combined bar and retail shop at the boutique Siren Hotel in downtown Detroit. The record shop closed its 3-year-old location on Van Dyke Street in January, popping up afterward in retailer Detroit is the New Black’s 1426 Woodward Ave. store from February to April ahead of its planned permanent relocation to downtown. Founder and owner Andrey Douthard, 32, wants to grow revenue of the business that was “basically … breaking even, keeping the lights on” in West Village. “Having the ability to sell spirits is going to completely change the dynamics of the financial picture for the record shop,” he said. “It’s a bittersweet moment leaving the Villages. Not excited about it, but we have to do what’s best for our business.”
Cincinnati, OH | C&D Record Bar: Oldest record shop in town has closed: Greater Cincinnati’s oldest record shop is no more. C&D Record Bar, a fixture along Newport’s Monmouth Street shopping district since 1957, has ceased operation. Dave Heil recently sold his inventory and the building at 908 Monmouth, which housed the store on the ground floor and his private residence above. “It just ran its course, I guess,” said Heil, who owned C&D since 1996. He also previously owned Circle CDs & Records, a former shop on Glenway Avenue in Western Hills. Heil had been attempting to sell C&D to a party interested in keeping the shop alive but couldn’t find a buyer. “I wanted somebody to take over the building and the business so I didn’t have to move it all, but I couldn’t wait forever,” the 64-year-old Heil said. “The next best thing was to move the inventory down the street. Keep it in Newport, at least.”
Barrington, IL | Rainbow Records in Barrington closes, but another music man steps in to fulfill ‘the attraction of vinyl’: cherished, independent storefront where music lovers gathered for 12 years to thumb through isles of vinyl recordings to buy, Rainbow Records in Barrington, recently closed its doors. However, the shop’s well-known reputation for vintage record selection and music industry knowledge from its owner, John Thominet, will continue when a separate store soon opens under a new owner and name. Rainbow Records is set to remain doing business Aug. 23 through Sept. 30 at its old location, 421 N. Northwest Highway, while the new Scratched Vinyl store has an Oct. 5 grand opening at 119 Barrington Commons Court in downtown Barrington under owner Jon Decatorsmith. “I wanted to get 20 years in, and it was time to go, which was what I did,” said Thominet, who operated his first Rainbow Records in 1998 in Palatine before opening a storefront in Barrington in 2006.
Lynchburg, VA | Aretha Franklin music lives on at local downtown record store: The Queen of Soul passed away but her music is being played throughout the country. A Vinyl shop in Lynchburg, Speakertree Records has Aretha Franklin’s records on display to honor her. Blake Gederberg owns Speakertree. He said he loves the community of people his Records store brings in because it’s about collecting music rather than consumption of music. “It reminds people of their passion and their love for that artist, to the point where they might be like I don’t have enough Aretha on Vinyl,” said Gederberg. Since her passing, Speakertree has this Natural Woman on display as you walk in. “I’ve listened to her all growing up, there’s nobody who doesn’t know who she is, she’s an icon,” said Michaela Williams, a frequenter of the store.
Youngstown, OH | Owner of local music store says Aretha Franklin fans may now rush to buy her music: Aretha Franklin, or the “Queen of Soul” as she is known to most fans of Motown music, passed away Thursday morning in Detroit, Michigan. It was fitting that she died in the city where her career began as a young girl singing gospel in her father’s church. Although she is gone, her music will live forever. Jeff Burke, owner of the Record Connection, says fans will now rush to buy her music. “Unfortunately, it always seems like when an artist passes away, people come and buy. We always say, ‘Why weren’t you supporting their efforts while they were alive? Let them appreciate the fruits of their efforts.’ But I think sales will pick up, they normally do.” Franklin was named by Rolling Stone as the greatest singer of all-time.
Aretha Franklin’s most striking record covers: When speaking about the power of Aretha Franklin’s music, much of the focus is placed on her voice. But the Queen of Soul was visionary in every way. Take a look at any of her record sleeves, and you’ll find a uniquely Aretha-hued impression of what lies within. During the 1960s, the covers remained in keeping with the style of the era. Franklin greets us with mascara-flicked sass, as she peeks out of shades on Yeah!!!. While ‘Never Loved A Man The Way That I Loved You’ ascends her unto a gossamer, romantic rose-casted haze. As Franklin’s music veered away from the more overtly pop and soul realms into the spiritual, she reemerged in stripped-back form. For Young, Gifted and Black, released in 1972, she appeared statuesque amidst a stain-glass backdrop, the same photograph mirroring itself in four different orientations.
