Kirksville, MO | Heartland record store is the second oldest record store in the world: Rinehart Music and Video is the oldest record store on the western hemisphere. The family owned business has been selling entertainment media since 1897. The store has over thousands of movies, video game systems, comics and pop culture collectibles. Rinehart’s was recognized in 2016 by the Missouri State Legislature for its contributions to the funding of both colleges in Kirksville and providing telephone and electric services to the city. Owner Dr. Karl Hildebrand talks about bringing quality entertainment to the Heartland. “We’re able to bring a lot of things that you could only find in a metropolitan area because of the type of business that we are and so there are things that we try and bring in that wouldn’t otherwise be available in the Kirksville area. We try and maintain a high level of quality and a realistically affordable price range so that it’s available to everyone in our community…”
Shoreditch, UK | Shoreditch record store Sister Ray Ace to close: The Shoreditch outpost of the famous record shop Sister Ray Records is set to close four years after it opened as a pop-up in the Ace Hotel. Owner Phil Barton said it was “time to do something else” but allayed any fears about the iconic Soho branch. He wrote on Twitter: “Sad news but it’s not bad going for what was a pop up. Four years serving vinyl to Shoreditch and the east. “Time to do something else. “Grateful for the kind words and we are still going strong at the mothership in Soho.” Phil launched Sister Ray as a stall on Camden Market in 1984. Named after a Velvet Underground song, it moved to Berwick Street, the “Golden Mile” for record stores, in 1989. The Shoreditch store now has a sale on with 20 per cent off all stock. It is open every day from midday to 6pm until it closes down.
Thiensville, WI | For sale: a piece of vinyl history: Stardust Records owner says running the store is getting more challenging: When you walk up the five steps and swing open the wooden door to Stardust Records & Collectibles, it’s like entering a time capsule. Wind your way through the maze of LP display racks – there are more albums stashed in old-time fruit bins on the floor – and you’ll get to Rocky Kruegel holding court behind the counter. “Music from the ’30s to the ’80s is pretty much what we handle,” said Kruegel, who has run the store at 106 S. Main St. for the past 14 years. Technically, Stardust is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. In reality, the store is open whenever he’s there – which is often. The store is owned by Kruegel’s ex-wife, Kathleen. “She took me out of retirement to run the store for her,” he said, adding the business is a family affair, with daughter Dana and grandson Chad helping out.
Wakefield, UK | Turning the tables on the internet age: “Without a website, you won’t last six months.” It was hardly the morale-boosting comment Alan Nutton needed when he announced the opening of his new record shop. That was almost five years ago, he still doesn’t have a website and more to the point, his business is still going strong. Businesses are repeatedly warned not to be left behind, with online sales blamed for the painful demise of our staple high street stores. When it comes to selling music, the likes of Our Price and Virgin cut their losses years ago while HMV was recently dropped into administration for a second time. Music shops may appear to be heading for extinction, but if you sift through the debris of this digital age, there are independent record shops in West Yorkshire that are not just surviving, but bucking the trend. The well-documented ‘vinyl revival’ has seen a surge in interest in records since 2007, perhaps not at the rate seen before the advent of CDs, but enough to take a defiant stand against dot com domination.
Frank Zappa’s Beloved Live Double Album “Zappa In New York” Celebrated With Suite Of 40th Anniversary Releases Including Deluxe Box Set, Expanded 3LP And Digital: …In celebration of its eventual release in 1978, Zappa In New York will be released on March 29 via Zappa Records/UMe as a suite of expanded anniversary editions to commemorate the album’s recent 40th anniversary. Overseen by the Zappa Family Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the expanded versions will be available as a 5CD box set, 3LP on 180-gram audiophile grade vinyl and digitally. The 5-disc collection, which will be housed in a limited-edition metal tin shaped like a NYC street manhole cover and includes a replica ticket from one of the shows, consists of the main album in its original mix, newly remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2018 and available for the first time since its debut.
Iconic Beatles anthem Hey Jude was almost never a hit after a US record shop merchandiser branded the vinyl’s apple logo ‘pornographic’, newly-unearthed letter reveals: The Beatles’ smash-hit single ‘Hey Jude’ was almost never a hit – because the vinyl’s apple label was dubbed pornographic, a newly-discovered letter has revealed. The iconic song by the Fab Four was their first release of their newly-created Apple record company in 1968…The letter, addressed to Apple Records’ then-boss Ron Kass, was written by Capitol Records Inc. President, Stan Gortikov. It reads: ‘Here’s a wild and unanticipated problem to brighten up your day. ‘I just received a call from a very large and influential rack jobber in the western United States. ‘He opened the conversation by saying, ‘Are you guys serious? Do you know what you’re doing? Do you really intend to sell products bearing the new Apple label?’ ‘He then stated that he felt the new Apple label was completely pornographic and actually depicted a vagina.’
