We’ve closed TVD’s HQ for the Thanksgiving holiday. While we’re away, why not fire up our Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores?
Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up and we’ll see you back here on November 29.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | There were quite a few photographers on L.A.’s early punk scene, but Melanie Nissen’s pictures have always stood apart. The legendary photographer shot for illustrious punk rock fanzine Slash from 1977-1980 and will release the first official collection of her work with HARD + FAST, a hardbound art book published by Blank Industries due out February 1, 2022.
In its early years, the L.A. punk scene was egalitarian, and the mix of people in her pictures is astonishing. Senior citizens, people of every race, children, swells in fancy clothes, people in rags – everyone was welcome. “The early years were special,” Nissen reflects. “There was a real sense of camaraderie and everyone was generous with their work.”
Immersed in the burgeoning scene herself, Nissen was friends with most of the people she photographed. This created a unique trust and comfort for her subjects to act naturally, injecting a biting sense of humor and extravagant body language into her photographs. There are also elements of formal portraiture evocative of work by Richard Avedon; like Avedon, Nissen sometimes prints her portraits framed with rough outlines of thick black ink that give them an unconventional edge.
“I can see that these are also documentary pictures because they include elements of Los Angeles that have disappeared,” concludes Nissen. “The Tropicana Motel, bars and cocktail lounges, newsstands, nightclubs, the street life on Hollywood Boulevard, boutiques run by and for punks, burger stands, phone booths – these things are gone today, and they represent an aspect of L.A. history that shouldn’t be forgotten. The entire city had the familiarity of a neighborhood then, and that’s no longer the case. L.A. is my home, though, and I’ll always remain loyal to it; I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
When Nissen left Slash she embarked on a career in the record industry, working as a photographer and graphic designer for the four major labels – Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Virgin, and A&M – for more than two decades.
Japanese Breakfast, Little Simz, St. Vincent and more get Rough Trade-exclusive vinyl pressings: “Rough Trade record shops have played a huge role in our musical lives,” list-toppers Dry Cleaning said. Indie retailer Rough Trade have announced a new suite of exclusive vinyl pressings, celebrating their recently published list of 2021’s best albums. The full list ranks a total of 100 records, with the top 20 – topped by ‘New Long Leg’ by Dry Cleaning, and rounded out with records like Japanese Breakfast’s ‘Jubilee’, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ by Little Simz and ‘Daddy’s Home’ by St. Vincent – all receiving new colourways exclusive to Rough Trade. To celebrate their Number One spot, Dry Cleaning performed a one-off show at the Rainbow Room of New York’s Rockefeller Center, with support from fellow list-makers The Muckers. Tickets were free for those who bought the band’s ‘Tascam Tapes’ vinyl, which was also exclusive to Rough Trade.
Exploring the wonderfully weird world of America’s private pressing phase: …Enter the rise of private pressings whereby people took the matter of making records into their own hands and had their own vinyl made out of hard-earned savings. For better are for worse there are gatekeepers in the art world as there are in every walk of life. The difference is that art is subjective. If you want to be a surgeon, you have to pass a test, if you want to be the next Usain Bolt only your times will tell, however, if you want to be a musician you don’t even have to be able to play an instrument, just ask anyone who knew Johnny Rotten. Private pressing circumnavigated the gatekeepers of the art world and got straight to business. When this new notion of substance over skill combined with the inherent glossy-eyed aspirations of Americans and increasing disposable income, the maddening world of private pressing burst open almost as an inevitability.
Record fare: What’s the deal with eco-vinyl? There are many ways to upcycle an old vinyl record: melt it into a bowl shape for your chips, turn it into a clock, make a funky dreamcatcher, or add a little pedestal and voila! You’ve got a cupcake stand. But in terms of recycling vinyl, it’s a little hairier. PVC (poly vinyl chloride), the plastic from which records are made, isn’t totally environmentally friendly. But some artists are looking for ways to morph the process. The famously eco-aware Coldplay released their Oct ’21 album Music of the Spheres on an alloy dubbed “recycled splatter vinyl,” and Bristol punk-rockers IDLES latest album Crawler is about to land in “eco-mix” vinyl. But artists’ eyes have been on this idea for a while: in 2019 Mercury Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Nick Mulvey released his single In the Anthropocene on a world-first format called “ocean vinyl,” made entirely from recycled plastic gathered from the waters off the UK‘s southern coast.
Record player stands – the smartest ideas to add the X factor to your vinyl collection: These record player stand ideas will add charm to both classic and contemporary rooms. Record player stands are a must if you’ve invested in a high-tech record player and are keen to grow your vinyl library. A simple, stylish way to showcase your passion, the latest record player and hi-fi unit stands are ideal for housing a range of music media including speakers, vinyl, CDs and all the kit that comes with owning a record player. From simple solutions to more complex arrangements, we have ideas to suit both modern and maximalist styles. ‘The most important factor when choosing a record player and hi-fi equipment stand is to ensure the turntable is placed on a sturdy, level surface,’ says Simon Webster sales and Marketing co-ordinator for Rega Research. ‘Ideally, the turntable should be isolated from the floor as much as possible to prevent unwanted resonances travelling into the turntable and damaging the sound quality.’
Comodoro, AR | “Here’s your album”: Merlin, El Duende or Chiquitita, the record stores that made history in Comodoro. Ernesto Capovilla feels comfortable between records and sound equipment. Since he was 14 years old, he has been related to music: he worked in record stores that he also considered his home and a place of enjoyment. “The recording world was very exciting because nothing was like now that you push a button and listen to what you want. The album was released three months earlier. Then the diffuser would come and bring you the photos of the LP and you would see how it was going to be. Then we would stick the photos on the window and people would walk by and look at them. There was expectation: first they were heard on the radio and after months, the records were put on sale ”, recalled Capovilla. Mariano Crespo, a Comodorense who was part of that time, assured that “Entering a record store was entering a toy store. That was the direct analogy for music lovers.”
Athens, GA | Celebrating 45 years of Wuxtry Records, a local music scene fixture: For the 45th anniversary of local record store Wuxtry Records, guest DJs Pip, Nate and Tim Schrieber accordingly spun 45 rpm singles at the Little Kings Shuffle Club to celebrate on Friday night. Attendees enjoyed beer provided by The Southern Brewing Company as they celebrated Wuxtry with both friends and family. Plates of home-cooked and party food were happily picked through and sat on a foldable table housed on the side of the club, as Wuxtry staff supplied food for early eventgoers. Wuxtry opened its doors in 1976 and has had several different storefront locations, but its heart has always been in Athens. The music groups R.E.M. and the B-52s, which helped put Athens on the live music map were intertwined with Wuxtry early on as some members were staffed at the shop. The connection to Wuxtry runs deep for some — attendee Paul Butchart said he traded in Top 40 albums for $1 punk albums during his college years because no one would buy them and he regarded it as a good deal.
Athens, OH | Republic of Athens Records opens in city of Athens: Michael Wood, owner of Republic of Athens Records, has been entranced by vinyl music since childhood, as shown by the photo of a young Wood with headphones atop his head displayed in the new store. As he grew older, Wood inherited his father’s record collection and his love for vinyl grew. The original turntable he used is on display in the shop as well, although it has had some serious upgrades since then. His personal collection, according to Wood, includes a lot of “sad dad rock”, neo-soul and music from the hit show, Insecure. “We used to listen to records all the time,” said Wood. “It was just always a part of what we did.” Starting off as a pop-up shop in Little Professor Books on Court Street, ROAR has grown into its own brick-and-mortar enterprise housed next to The Standard Salon on the corner of E. State and Stimson Ave.
Decatur, GA | The Record Loft opens near Avondale MARTA station in Decatur: A new record has opened in Decatur, providing a cozy loft space for music lovers to sell their records and find new treasures. The Record Loft, which opened in August, grew out of Steve Tockerman’s love for music and his online record shop. “It’s just a way for people to bring me records,” Tockerman said. “I was selling mostly online for years and going to Europe to sell [records].” Tockerman’s wife, Margo, also posts on various online boards seeking records and Tockerman constantly goes to garage sales, and other events, hoping to find some musical treasures to accumulate the stock for the store. The process of buying records varies in terms of finding records. People can drop records off at the store. They can either wait at the store or come back after the records have been evaluated.
Toronto, CA | Not just Adele: Surging vinyl sales amid supply squeeze derail some artists’ plans: Everybody seems to be blaming massive orders of Adele’s new album for a historic backlog at vinyl manufacturers, but Nashville singer Lindsay Ell says people should go easy on the pop superstar. Last year, as the Calgary-born country artist planned the release of her own album “Heart Theory,” she learned of supply chain delays that would make it impossible to premiere the vinyl version on the same day as digital platforms. “In the middle of COVID, a lot of the factories making vinyl weren’t even in full operation,” Ell said. But she didn’t want to leave fans who pre-ordered vinyl packages hanging, so she turned to modern technology for a lifeline. “What I had to do was throw in a digital copy and say, ”We’ll send your vinyl when it’s finished,’“ Ell said. By all accounts, the vinyl pressures have only intensified in 2021 – and there is little relief in sight.
Charlotte, NC | In a world of streaming music, Charlotte’s Lunchbox Records keeps on spinning: Just in time for holiday shopping and the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day, we venture to Lunchbox Records, one of the most recognizable record stores in the Charlotte area, not only because it’s aquamarine blue exterior, but also because of its impact in the music community. It’s known for hosting in-store performances for all ages, stocking records from local acts and receiving signed music memorabilia from Grammy-winning fans (hello, Taylor Swift!). In the age of music streaming, Lunchbox Records owner (and Late Bloomer vocalist) Scott Wishart shows that we’re actually in a record renaissance. “…One of the things that helped bring vinyl back to the spotlight was “Record Store Day.” People love to hate it, but they’ve done something that no one else was able to do: they turned around an industry. Lunchbox Records has done it every year they’ve had it.”
Southampton, UK | Vinilo in Southampton will stock Adele’s 30 album: It is one of the biggest albums in history – but also one of the most controversial. A whopping 500,000 copies of Adele’s 30 are being pressed during a ‘global vinyl shortage’, and dozens of shops are boycotting it. But Southampton’s biggest independent record store Vinilo will stock the product. The album has pushed back releases by other artists by months, which is the driving force behind the boycott. A spokesperson for Vinilo explained why it will sell 30 from November 19. “Adele’s album has a vast amount of pre orders for it and lots of interest for the limited clear vinyl,” they said. “We support new releases and new music every week, and Adele is looking like one of the key releases this year. Also let’s not forget this is her first album since Adele 25.
San Antonio, TX | Tejano institution Janie’s Record Shop unveils new renovations with Grammy-winning musicians: Janie’s Record Shop is hosting a “Grand Re-opening” party after months-long improvements to the shop and the passing of beloved founder, Janie Esparza. New renovations include an expanded inventory, new seating, and a coffee station. A small platform stage for in-house open mics and music community events will also make an official debut. From noon to 4p.m. on Saturday, November 20, the shop will host meet and greets with five-time Grammy winner “Little Joe” Hernandez and two-time Grammy winner “El Mero Gato Negro” Ruben Ramos. Throughout the day, DJ Chuco will be spinning all your favorite hits. Individually packaged snacks and refreshments will also available. “We’re looking forward to it, unfortunately our Mama wasn’t able to see it, but she had given us her blessing,” says Robert Esparza, Janie’s son and successor. “So we’re excited to do it.”
VIA PRESS RELEASE | On January 28, 2022, Merge will reissue The House of Tomorrow, one of the earliest releases from The Magnetic Fields. Never before released as a 12-inch, this 30th anniversary remastered edition of The House of Tomorrow is available on opaque spring green vinyl (as well as basic black). But don’t press bandleader Stephin Merritt to discuss the color’s charms, please. “My favorite shade of green is brown.”
When Susan Anway, who sang on early albums Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus, left the group, Stephin stepped up to the microphone. “This was my first time singing on record,” he recalls. He sought to sound simple, subtle, and unobtrusive, à la the Japanese concept of shibusa. “But now, listening back, I hear a little too much vocal influence from the Jesus and Mary Chain. (I really should move to Scotland. I belong there.)”
A departure from the largely electronic setup of the first two albums, the arrangements and production of The House of Tomorrow show an increase in Merritt recording using live instruments played by himself and his band members. Despite this, Stephin resisted the typical “rock and roll” sound: “I wanted to have rock instrumentation, plus cello (so ELO without keyboards), but everyone was tracked separately so there was no question of sounding like we were playing together,” explains Stephin. Instead, he chose to highlight the artifice. Voilà! “The drums are like Tusk only more so, the cello sounds like a synth, and the guitars might as well be programmed.”
VIA PRESS RELEASE | “A movie no blues lover, no popular music aficionado, and no devotee of American culture and folkways should miss… a peek into our national soul.”
—Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times
In 1990, commissioned by award-winning musician, songwriter, producer, innovator and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, veteran music film director Robert Mugge and renowned music scholar Robert Palmer ventured deep into the heart of the North Mississippi Hill Country and Mississippi Delta to seek out the best rural blues acts currently working for Deep Blues.
Starting on Beale Street in Memphis, they headed south to the juke joints, lounges, front porches, and parlors of Holly Springs, Greenville, Clarksdale, Bentonia, and Lexington. Along the way, they visited celebrated landmarks and documented talented artists cut off from the mainstream of the recording industry. The resulting film expresses reverence for the rich musical history of the region, spotlighting local performers, soon to be world-renowned, thanks in large part to the film, and demonstrating how the blues continues to thrive in new generations of gifted musicians.
Dave Stewart commented, “Ever since hearing my first blues albums at 14 years old I was transfixed, hypnotized by the sound and pure honesty coming off that old recording and I stared at the vinyl slowly turning, dreaming I could be there in that room witnessing the pure magic coming from these Blues artists. Well, sometimes dreams do come true and I was lucky enough to be in that room with Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough and sit on the front porch being taught “jumper on the line” by R.L. Burnside deep in the Mississippi Delta.”
Featuring performances by Booker T. Laury, R.L. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough, Roosevelt “Booba” Barnes and the Playboys, Big Jack Johnson, Jack Owens with Bud Spires, and Lonnie Pitchford.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Yukihiro Takahashi has been at the forefront of the Japanese music scene as a drummer, singer, composer, and producer since he first joined the Sadistic Mika Band in 1972. He established his identity as a solo artist in the early ’80s following the unprecedented success of the phenomenon that was Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Neuromantic is Takahashi’s first solo release for ALFA and his third solo album overall. In addition to Japanese musicians Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Kenji Omura, the album also features Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay (Roxy Music), and Tony Mansfield whom he recorded with during a long stay in London. This record builds on the techno sound of YMO’s BGM (released the same year), infusing Takahashi’s unique romantic aesthetic and is considered one of his masterpieces. The sixth track, “Drip Dry Eyes” is a self-cover of a song that he wrote for ALFA artist artist Sandii.
Yukihiro Takahashi explains, “The early ’80s was one of the busiest periods of my music life… When I think back now, I think that my recording style and production process that I continue to this day may have been solidified then, during the early ’80s.”
The new reissue of Neuromatic is part of ALFA’s ongoing reissue series featuring many of Yukihiro’s early ’80s solo albums from his first hit record Murdered by Music (1980) to his last record from his ALFA era Poisson D’Avril (1985 soundtrack to the film of the same name).
Liverpool, UK | Record store with a bar and live music opening in Liverpool: The venue is on Seel Street. Phase One in Liverpool officially opens its door next month following an 8-week refurbishment. The venue on 40 Seel Street is home to Jacaranda Records and as well as selling records it’ll have a bar with a “more mature” drinking environment. The idea originally started as a pop up in 2018 to expand the record shop above the city’s iconic music venue, The Jacaranda. The venue has now been transformed into a “shinier” and “grown-up” space with the record store making a permanent return under the new leadership of local DJ, Namina Koroma. The record store will greet you from the street and is chart registered, so every purchase of a new release counts towards its chart placing.
Salem, OH | Salem record store continues to grow: Music lovers looking for their favorite tunes on vinyl, wanting to find a classic record in any genre or even talk about music can visit State Street Records in historic downtown Salem. The old-fashioned record store is located upstairs at 417 E. State St. and not only sells records, cassettes, CDs, T-shirts and music memorabilia, but also buys records and more. Hours are posted on Facebook/ Instagram pages for statestreetrecords or call 330-942-0509. The business can also be reached via email. For owner Joshua Buck, it’s all about the music and providing a place where young and old alike can find that special record that makes them happy or evokes treasured memories or special feelings. “People are excited to have somewhere to go,” he said.
Nashville, TN | An East Nashville record shop is the latest example of a small business trying to gain ownership in a rapidly growing city: The Groove is a small record shop nestled into a modest house near Five Points. It’s got a reputation for being a community space, hosting live music and showing scary movies on a projector in the backyard. But their landlord is selling, and The Groove is at risk of becoming one of the latest victims of the city’s sky-high real estate prices. Part of their lease agreement gives The Groove an opportunity to buy the building before it hits the competitive real-estate market. Unfortunately, the price tag is about half a million dollars, say Jesse Cartwright and Michael Combs, who run the business. They need to raise the money by the end of January. “When you think about East Nashville, you think about the location, everyone says, ‘Well, that’s not bad for Nashville,’” Cartwright says. “And it, I guess, isn’t. But for a small business it’s just unimaginable, honestly. It’s just not something that is doable.”
Where Is America’s Oldest Record Store? Depending on who you ask, one’s in Pennsylvania, the other’s in New Jersey. Both places matter. In many ways, the folks who own and work in record stores are some of the most important keepers of recorded music history. Digital music helped wipe out the big chains. Thankfully we still have mom and pop indie shops. They’ve kept the torches burning for genres that predate streaming, for artists that never had mainstream success — or ones whose work was never reissued — for sourcing rarities from unexpected places, and for rolling with the times, while still holding reverence for what came before. About 90 minutes east of Pittsburgh is George’s Song Shop, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is believed to be the oldest record store in America. First opened nearly nine decades ago in 1932 by brothers Eugene and Bernie George, the store’s current owner John George (no relation) has been behind the counter for six of them.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | On November 26, 2021, the four-time GRAMMY® winning and Diamond-certified rock legends Aerosmith will release Aerosmith—1971: The Road Starts Hear (UMe), a rare and previously unheard rehearsal from 1971 as part of Record Store Day 2021.
Recently discovered in the Aerosmith vaults, the original tape had not been touched in decades. This historic recording features seven extraordinary tracks showcasing the early, unbridled talent of the future Hall of Fame members including a nascent version of “Dream On,” which they would later record and release on their 1973 eponymous major label debut. Aerosmith is one of the few bands to chart with the same song 5 decades later, the song was a hit in 1973 reaching No. 59 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and re-entered the charts in 2020 at No. 4 on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart.
The Road Starts Hear, produced by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Steve Berkowitz, available on both vinyl and as a limited edition cassette for Record Store Day, features previously unseen archived photos, images of the original tape box, and liner notes written by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke with new interviews and comments from the band about this long forgotten recording.
The landmark early recording was made with Joe Perry’s Wollensak reel-to-reel tape machine in 1971 by Mark Lehman who owned the infamous van and became Aerosmith’s one man road crew, either in the band’s Boston rehearsal room in front of a few select friends, or at a rehearsal the band did during a soundcheck for an early show. All that is certain is that the tape captures a young, hungry rock band one year before being discovered and signing with Columbia Records and two years before their self-titled major label debut was released that helped catapult the band to one of the biggest rock acts of all time.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | This November, festival attendees across the US will have another opportunity to see the documentary Harper’s Bazaar is calling “masterful…a rousing ode to the healing power of music”: The Sound of Us.
Captured amidst a deeply divided and uncertain moment in time, the film chronicles a series of wide-ranging, diverse stories that exemplify music’s universal ability to unite and inspire. Over the coming weeks, The Sound of Us will screen at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Weyauwega International Film Festival, Louisville’s International Festival of Film, Fayetteville Film Fest, River’s Edge International Film Festival and Maui Film Festival.
The stacked slate of November screenings follows an already busy season for The Sound of Us, and its 12x Emmy-Winning, Grammy-nominated director, producer and composer Chris Gero. After winning the Movie That Matters Award during Cannes, and earning the Accolade Global Film Competition’s Best of Show, the urgent new documentary has continued to garner acclaim.
In October, it made its West Coast Premiere at Newport Beach Film Fest, in addition to appearing at Indianapolis’ Heartland Film Festival, the Gary International Black Film Festival, and Peachtree Village International Film Festival, as well as the BZN International Film Festival, Calgary International Film Festival, Breckenridge and Vail Film Festivals, and more in September. The film also took home Best Feature Documentary and Best Director awards at the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Jazz lovers and record collectors have a lot to be thankful for as MPS Records is reissuing eleven albums on vinyl and CD from their historic catalogue this month. Germany’s first jazz label dropped six titles on Friday in North America via Edel Germany in partnership with Bob Frank Entertainment, including albums by Albert Mangelsdorff, Art Van Damme, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, John Taylor Trio, and the Michael Naura Quartet.
Founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, MPS was the recording home for legendary artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, The Count Basie Orchestra and George Duke. Last summer, MPS reissued 31 albums on vinyl and CD, the success of which created the demand to reissue additional titles.
Mangelsdorff was a revolutionary experimentalist who developed the art of jazz polyphonics, an avant-garde technique in which he simultaneously blew and sang into his trombone. The German keeps fine company on “Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends,” a stellar duets collection recorded over an 18-month span on which he is paired up with Don Cherry, Elvin Jones, Lee Konitz, Attila Zoller, Karl Berger and Wolfgang Dauner.
Van Damme was another innovator who changed the image of the accordion, proving that the instrument synonymous with polka could be cool when placed in a jazz setting alongside guitar and vibes. The trio of instruments formed Van Damme’s swinging signature sound as captured on “Ecstasy,” which was recorded in 1967-68 utilizing MPS’s house rhythm section comprised of German bassist Peter White and Swiss drummer Charly Antolini.
Middletown, NY | Hudson Valley Record Shop Celebrating 36 years: With about $2500 cash and the blessing of his parents, Stephen Keeler, a lover of hard rock and heavy metal, opened his hard rock/heavy metal concert shop back in 1985. Now if you wanna go back even further, Keeler actually opened a shop called Rock and Roll Fantasy in 1979 on rt 211 in Middletown. That shop would last a few months before a robbery would shut the business down which nowadays is a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Rock Fantasy was the idea of Keeler, who wanted to open a shop that would be a place for heavy metal fans to get hard to find releases from band’s like Metallica, Slayer, Venom, who weren’t really main stream in 1985. After years of doing the flea market circuit selling records, t-shirts, pins and such, a heatstroke would sideline Keeler and would eventually motivate him to open the physical store at 79 West Main St. Rock Fantasy Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Concert Shop would be successful at the location for many years, eventually moving next door to 75 West Main St. where the store would remain…
San Francisco, CA | Omg: Happy 24th Birthday, Amoeba Music in San Francisco: On November 15, 1997, a San Francisco landmark opened: the Amoeba Music store on Haight Street. Over the ensuing two-plus decades, the record store existed as a balm — a source for audiophiles to find polished studio recordings; where cassette collectors could build their sets; when DVD and CD devotees began coming in droves later on — for vinyl enthusiasts and those who consume media in more analog fashions. Even though COVID-19 threatened the establishment’s future physical presence in the city, Amoeba Music at 1855 Haight Street saw those financial hardships through; they’re still, obviously, around today. And doing what appears to be quite well, as a matter of fact. The past 24 years have seen Amoeba Music become a touchstone in San Francisco. The Bold Italic, too, has waxed our love for the Haight-Ashbury’s bastion of yesteryear media on many, many occasions.
McKinney, TX | Red Zeppelin record store in McKinney to expand with more retail space, music venue: Woman-owned music shop Red Zeppelin Records has plans to expand its store and offer more to its customers. Owner Katie Scott recently took over the space next door to the shop and is looking to expand its floor plan. This will allow her to add more records, CDs and cassette tapes, as well as a music venue. The first phase of the expansion is tentatively slated to open in late November, store manager Bayleigh Cheek said. Next year the expansion will also be home to a bar with beer and wine, Cheek said. The business is located at 206 E. Lousiana St., in downtown McKinney and offers vinyl records of all genres, both old and new, in a punk-rock environment. The store also carries some music gift items.
Nashville, TN | Help Keep The Groove in Place: Donate to the fundraiser to help the owners of the much-loved East Side record store buy their building. It’s a story you know all too well: Several years or even several decades after a small business has become widely loved, the owners and/or operators of the business learn that their landlords are getting ready to sell the property. Several variations on this theme have come into play just this year. The team that runs the Mercy Lounge suite of venues is not signing a lease with the new owner of its longtime home on Cannery Row and plans to move elsewhere in the summer; beloved dive bar and karaoke spot Fran’s East Side is looking for a spot to relocate to; Exit/In’s Chris and Telisha Cobb continue their campaign to buy the land that the club resides on from the development firm that bought it earlier this year.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Island Records, Interscope, and UMe today announce the 30th Anniversary Edition release of U2’s seminal album Achtung Baby, which will see a special Standard and Deluxe vinyl release on November 19, ahead of a 50-track digital box set available December 3, 2021.
Thirty years ago, Bono described Achtung Baby as “the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree” while Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote that “stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990s.” The album won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance and became one of the most significant records of U2’s career.
Recorded over six months at Hansa Studio in Berlin and Windmill Lane in Dublin, Achtung Baby is U2’s seventh studio album. Produced by long-time U2 collaborators Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno with Steve Lillywhite, Achtung Baby was engineered by Flood and released on November 18, 1991. Lead by “The Fly,” four other singles followed: “Mysterious Ways,” “One,” “Even Better Than The Real Thing,” and “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.”
In celebration of Achtung Baby’s anniversary, the band have collaborated with Berlin-based French artist Thierry Noir (the first artist to paint on the Berlin Wall) for a special one-off installation at the legendary Hansa Studios in Kreuzberg. Thirty years ago, the band commissioned Noir to paint a series of now iconic Trabant cars, which featured on the album artwork, as well 1991’s Zoo TV Tour. U2 x THIERRY NOIR sees Noir return with a newly painted Trabant for 2021, as well as an exclusive mural painted on a section of the Berlin wall.
CBS News poll: Just a quarter of Americans own a working turntable: Though Americans have largely embraced the digital age when it comes to listening to music, a quarter of Americans still listen to vinyl records – or at least retain the ability to do so if they wish. Twenty-four percent of Americans have a working turntable that can play vinyl records. Older Americans are more likely to own a working turntable than those who are younger. Four in 10 Americans over 55 years of age own a turntable, but under the age of 45, this drops to just 13% of adults. This poll was conducted by telephone September 14-19, 2021 among a random sample of 1,006 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both landline and cell phones.
Andover, UK | Three Successful Years For The Record Box: Are you a lover of vinyl records or a collector maybe? If you are then The Record Box in George Yard, off the High Street, is an Aladdin’s cave for you to browse around. Owned by Phil Nightingale, the shop has been open for three years. Phil stocks all types of music – in his words “from ABBA to Zappa” He has been a dealer of toys and collectibles for 38 years since he was 18. Previously he has had shops in both Torquay and Newbury.He started out selling only toys, moving on to records and other collectibles but these days he deals mainly in vinyl albums and singles although he does have a small selection of collectible toys for sale in the shop. It’s amazing how much stock he carries within such small premises. Phil, as you can imagine is extremely knowledgeable on the subject of music. There is nothing he enjoys more than chatting to his customers about this.
Pueblo, CO | Unwind with a beer and a book at Analogue Bar in Downtown Pueblo: When the Analogue Bar opened at 222 N. Main St., one local seemingly fearless entrepreneur officially took over half of a block of Main Street with his businesses. Mike Hartkop, who is the operating owner of the Solar Roast Coffee house at 226 N. Main, also recently opened the Analogue Books and Records store which occupies 218, 216 and 214 N. Main. The bar is nestled between the coffee and book stores. It’s an amazing full-circle accomplishment for Hartkop, 40, who was one of the first graduates from the University of Tasmania, Australia, entrepreneurship and innovation program in 2004. It is all inspired by his job at a similar coffee and music store where he worked making bagels as a 20-year-old college student. “It was the best place right downtown and it was wonderful and simply the most fun I’ve had in my whole life,” he said. “I always wanted to open a bar and a record store – something I’ve been talking about since college.”
Lancashire, UK | Record shop boss angry and upset after double burglary: A record shop was burgled twice in the space of three days and more than £6,000 worth of stock stolen. Blackburn magistrates heard the offences committed by Rafique Ricky Shaban had a financial and emotional impact on the owner of the Music Box in Nelson. In a statement he said as a small business trying to make a living the offences had hit him hard. “It has made me want to stay in the shop and confront the people responsible,” he said. “It has had more of an impact as we were trying to get back on our feet after the pandemic.” Shaban, 47, of Lime Street, Nelson, pleaded guilty to burglary at the shop on Friday and Sunday. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. Alex Mann, prosecuting, said over 300 records were stolen in the raids, some of them high value collectables. A door was damaged on the first occasion and a window on the second.
