Ann Arbor, MI | Encore Records shop to move to Kerrytown, offers big sale: A decades-long used-record shop that placed its footprint near the University of Michigan is moving to Kerrytown by the end of the month. Encore Records, previously called Liberty Music Shop, was at 417 E. Liberty St. for about 60 years but the future of the building is causing owners Jim Dwyer and Bill McClelland to leave sooner. “The situation is that our current landlord is basically doing a ground lease on the space and this building is kind of dilapidated. It’s probably going to be torn down in a couple of years,” Dwyer said. “An investment firm from out of town secured a lease … they have a plan … to build something huge and wonderful … it’s probably gonna be a hotel. So we were going to have to move in a couple years anyway…“We’re really fussy about the condition of records. Not all used-record stores are as fussy. We don’t buy records if they’re scratched up or dinged up,” Dwyer said. “We have a dedicated staff who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and see what we do as religious missionary work. Our job is to help them find the music that makes them happy.”
Richmond, VA | Southside Johnny started collecting records in second grade. Now he has more than half a million: The joy of discovery is what drives John Wood to keep looking for his groove. “It’s organized chaos,” Wood said. “That is why I like it here because I never know what I’m going to find digging through the boxes.” Like a miner sifting for gold, Wood’s prospects remain high of finding precious metal, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues. “There is a bunch of Four Seasons, Aretha Franklin. I love Aretha Franklin,” Wood said. Wood’s vocation is vinyl — volumes of vinyl. “If it has a beat I like. If it has a sound I like or a lyric I like, I’m going to buy it,” Wood said. His favorite hunting spot is far from flea markets and swap meets. John’s honey hole under his own roof in Chesterfield. The one-time DJ known as Southside Johnny has amassed a collection of records that is rarely matched. Wood says he has probably 10,000 or 15,000 78s, 500,000 45s and about 75,000 albums.
Gallatin, TN | Gallatin community fights to save Randy’s Record Store: The fight to save a once-famous building in downtown Gallatin isn’t slowing down. Sumner County historians said during the 1950s that Randy’s Record Shop on West Main Street was the world’s largest mail-order record store. But when the abandoned building’s roof collapsed last year, it was deemed dangerous. Last week Gallatin Council members voted for the building to be demolished in 90 days. A Facebook group and GoFundMe page have been created in hopes of saving the building. Residents are working to raise $250,000 to create a foundation in the original owner’s name. So far just over $2,000 has been raised.
St. Joseph, MI | Vinyl, jukebox store coming to downtown SJ: Kerstin Peterson is in the midst of bringing her dream to downtown St. Joseph. Peterson on Saturday will open 4A Song Vinyl and Jukeboxes at 416 State St. The process has been a long one as Peterson – along with her husband, Tim – has been transferring the original store’s inventory from Illinois to Southwest Michigan. The opportunity to reopen the vinyl and jukebox store in St. Joseph happened within a 10-day period, Peterson said. “It was something we wanted and we went for it,” she said, upon discovering the store’s owner was selling their spot in downtown St. Joseph. “Our five-year plan turned into a five-week plan.” On her trips to and from Chicago, Peterson is bringing more than 4,000 records of various genres. About 10 percent of the stock will be new vinyl. 4A Song sells new and used vinyl records, along with CDs and cassettes. They also do sales and rentals of jukeboxes.
An AI analysed a record store’s catalogue and created 230 fake DJ names: Berlin-based Olle Holmberg is a Swedish electronic music producer and photographer, with a great affinity for one of Berlin’s most renowned record stores, Hard Wax. So much so, that he trained an AI to scan and analyse all of the artist names currently on the Hard Wax website in order to generate its own set of producer names. The result is a list of 231 DJ names that are surprisingly believable. The record store analysed, Hard Wax, is a well-known seller of vinyl and home to some pretty notable releases and a menagerie of underground cuts of acid, techno and house. In an interview with Electronic Beats, Holmberg stated that “by doing data scraping/ analysis and AI type hobby projects… I’m gradually equipping myself skill-wise for near-term survival. That the subject of the homework is electronic dance music is merely incidental to my own proximity to it.” The result of chewing up all the names on the site is a list of 231 slick aliases, including names like Dovinik, Tony Flu, SØDS, Rootar Brompson and more.
Teardrop Explodes’ ‘Kilimanjaro’ And ‘Wilder’ Set For Vinyl Reissue: The short-lived, but much-acclaimed outfit led by Julian Cope were one of the leading lights of Liverpool’s post-punk scene. Kilimanjaro and Wilder, the two official studio albums recorded by neo-psychedelic Liverpool band, the Teardrop Explodes during the early 1980s are set for reissue on deluxe, 180g vinyl on 23 August via UMC/Mercury/USM. Originating from Liverpool’s post-punk scene, centred around the city’s legendary alternative music haunt, Eric’s, The Teardrop Explodes was the brainchild of vocalist and prime mover Julian Cope, while the band’s personnel also included drummer Gary Dwyer and keyboard player (and future Food Records co-founder) David Balfe. Alongside contemporaries Echo & The Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes rose to prominence on Merseyside during 1979-’80. A series of well-received singles through legendary local label, Zoo Records, (‘Sleeping Gas’, ‘Bouncing Babies’, ‘Treason’) led to the band signing with Mercury Records, who released their debut album, Kilimanjaro, in October 1980.
