Liverpool, UK | Liverpool’s oldest record shop appeals for memorabilia of its long-lost second city store: The Musical Box in Tuebrook is appealing for customers to help in finding archives of its long-lost second store. The shop on West Derby Road, which has been run by four generations of the same family, can proudly claim to be Liverpool’s—and England’s—oldest record shop. Dating back to 1947, it’s been a go-to for generations of music lovers ever since and served famous customers including teenage mates John Lennon and Pete Best. But the much-loved Tuebrook shop wasn’t the only one opened by current owner Tony Quinn’s nan Dorothy. There was a second Musical Box on Prescot Road in Old Swan, between 1960 and 1979, which was run by Tony’s mum Diane. Now 88, Diane still remembers chatting to Merseybeat star Rory Storm when she was working there, as well as Ken Dodd and a very young Holly Johnson.
Lexington, KY | A music lover’s mecca in Lexington set to turn the page: Lexington favorite CD Central is set to close in early September and reopen under new ownership and a yet-to-be-unveiled name. Just minutes after opening time, CD Central owner Steve Baron is already on the phone with an eager customer. “Oh, yeah. It looks like it did come in. I got it right here for you,” Baron says. The early start is hardly a surprise, given the fan base the beloved music shop has built up over three decades on South Limestone near University of Kentucky campus. And Baron says business is still great—in large part thanks to the surprisingly durable resurgence of vinyl—but he believes it’s time to think about retirement. The reaction to that announcement, he says, has given him a sense of how much the store has meant to its many patrons. “The outpouring of support and and sadness at its closing is really been overwhelming…”
Oakland, CA | Flipside Sounds under new, but familiar, ownership: Since 2018, Garrett County native Patrick Franc has been running Flipside Sounds in Oakland, providing a curated selection of vinyl records for the community and visitors to peruse. Franc claims to have grown up during the “Golden Age of Rock.” “They say your music taste usually forms by the time you are 14 or 15 years old,” he said. “That would have been around the time of Woodstock, and the beginning of the 1970s. So what I did, just started collecting my own records, and I kept collecting records all the way through adulthood.” …“As I was getting closer to retiring from the corporate world, I was dreaming more and more of opening a vinyl store of my own,” he said. “At that time, my expectations were very modest. Vinyl was not en vogue; it started falling out in the 1980s when CDs came. By the ’80s into the ’90s, you could hardly find a record.”
San Francisco, CA | Rooky Ricardo’s Dick Vivian in Need of Support After Cancer Diagnosis: If you’ve ever walked into 429 Haight St.—or 419 Haight, or 448 Haight—to browse for records, you’ve undoubtedly encountered Dick Vivian. Since 1987, the vinyl bon vivant has owned and operated Rooky Ricardo’s Records, which received official legacy status from the city in 2017. Both the shop—which champions music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s with a special affinity for soul and girl group 45s—and Vivian himself have become San Francisco icons. Just ask GQ, which profiled Dick in 2013. …Rookys is one of the oldest record stores in San Francisco; it’s survived two displacements, multiple rent hikes, two tech booms, one financially devastating scam and a pandemic. And now, Vivian has continued to run the shop despite a Stage 3 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March.
Nashville, TN | Nashville Gets Its Country Soul Back With Ernest Tubb Record Shop Reopening: All good things must come to an end. And in 2023, it seemed that the time had come for the Ernest Tubb Record Shop to close its doors for the last time. With Nashville the heart of country music, the city drastically changed over the last decade. Once a place of music, the city seemed to transition into a tourist destination. Featuring bars and restaurants from singers like Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, and several others, the city embraced the future while almost forgetting its past. But thankfully, at its core, Nashville will always remember those who helped country music, as the shop will once again open to the public.
Limerick, IE | Downbeat Records celebrates one year open: …a year into running Downbeat Records, Frankie reflects that it was a culture shock to move back from Bristol which has a strong reggae industry to Limerick where the scene has been non existent since the Root Factory days. “It was a struggle, Frankie admits, culturally, musically, I miss much about Bristol’s independent culture and independent city vibes. So I came to the realisation that if I want all that shit, it’s just gonna have to be me bringing it to the city, rather than the city having it for me. “But it really has paid off. When I opened the door of Downbeat Records, it became a beacon, and people started coming through. So I’m just meeting really cool people all the time.”
St Anne’s-on-Sea, UK | St Annes record fair gears up for its first edition ever—here’s everything you need to know: St Annes record fair launches this year with free entry and a wide selection of vinyl, CDs, and more. Music lovers on the Fylde coast have something to look forward to this September: the first-ever St Annes Record Fair is set to take place on Saturday 13 September. Aimed at vinyl enthusiasts, collectors, and anyone who simply enjoys flipping through crates of music, the event promises a vibrant day of browsing, discovering and connecting with fellow music fans. The fair will feature a wide range of music traders, offering everything from classic rock LPs and soul 45s to CDs, tapes, and even the odd turntable. Whether you’re into jazz, punk, pop, or experimental sounds, there’s likely to be something that catches your eye—or ear.
Austin, TX | Chulita Vinyl Club Spins Storytelling at Flower Shop Residency: Vinyl DJ collective’s Pride show incorporates inclusive records, members. The members of Chulita Vinyl Club, or the “chulitas,” as they call themselves, take pride in spinning vinyl sets that blend genres and tell stories. At the Flower Shop, CVC has been a part of the action since the first chapter. “It’s so fun to connect with people that love music, especially through the craft of vinyl, which is a really intimate, tactile way of connecting and communicating,” says chulita Shavone Otero, whose DJ name is Con Safos. Their second-Saturday residency—usually spun by Otero, Raquel Peña, and Jessenia Giron—quickly became one of the collective’s favorites. Seventies-inspired, New-York-gone-Austin bar the Flower Shop opened last October on East Seventh, and as the three-story joint began to blossom, CVC’s genre-expansive, danceable mix built a loyal fan base.
August 12: National Vinyl Record Day. Every year, a specific sect of humanity—equal parts music purist, thrift shop scavenger, and guy-who-swears-“It-sounds-warmer,” emerges from their wood-paneled basements to celebrate the analog magic of National Vinyl Record Day. It’s the one holiday where it’s socially acceptable to spend four hours alphabetizing Fleetwood Mac albums you will never actually listen to. Vinyl Record Day is observed on August 12 to commemorate the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877. He had no idea he was setting the stage for future generations to spend $29.99 on a reissue of Rumours they already own on CD, cassette, and in their memories.
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