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Authors Celebrate Record Stores With Help From Peter Buck, Cameron Crowe
- Posted on Apr 16th 2010 12:00PM by Steve Baltin
Just in time for Record Store Day this Saturday, music industry vet Gary Calamar (a longtime DJ on L.A.'s KCRW as well as music supervisor for HBO's 'Six Feet Under') and music journalist Phil Gallo have provided a sparkling literary look at the rise, fall, and rise again of record stores. "I've always loved record stores, always loved visiting them as a kid and looking at the posters," Calamar tells Spinner of the inspiration for the book, aptly titled 'Record Store Days,' which is available now. "When I went to school at one point in Boston, in college, there were two stores in this one little block where I'd have to walk by to get to classes and I would literally go into both stores every day. Then I started working in some record stores, and I just always thought it was fun and a great place to meet people and hear music."
Plenty of musicians felt or feel the same, as evidenced by just the front and back inside covers, where artists from Regina Spektor and Joan Jett to Brett Gurewitz and Damon Albarn provide quotes on record stores. Gallo found getting people to share their love for record stores was as easy as it sounds. "There were so many great stories and what's almost comical in a way is the minute you tell people you're doing the book they immediately start telling you a story," he says. "It's like, 'Let me tell you about my experience.' It didn't seem that tough to get people to kind of share something, whether it was Ryan Adams or Lucinda Williams."
And there were some artists that were determined to help out the record stores. "It was funny -- Steve Van Zandt was just so busy with the Springsteen thing and satellite radio, but he really wanted to do something so finally he just said, 'Record stores are cool,'" Calamar says. "And that was his quote. He just really wanted to be in the book."
The book contains a foreword by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, who recalls meeting Michael Stipe in a record store. Buck writes, "I think he was buying a Suicide record that got me talking to him. He was looking to form a band; I was looking to form a band. It worked out."
"Someone like Peter Buck, it was great he put aside some time to talk with us and put that foreword together. And he is just one of the key people in the record store story because he said he goes to the record stores several times a week and he still loves it as much as anybody," Calamar says. "I think that's part of why he made time for us, because he really loves record stores."
That's one thing 'Record Store Days' shows, that record stores are not dead. There were a few that emerged in this book that Gallo believes carry on the tradition of the great stores of the past. "[There's] Amoeba, Twist & Shout in Denver, Ear Ecstasy in Louisville, Waterloo in Austin and I'm a big fan of the specialty shops like Aquarius in San Francisco, Dusty Groove in Chicago, and Downtown Music Gallery in New York," he says. He also gives special props to two. "The best in-stores possibly in the country are Fingerprints in Long Beach and Music Millennium in Portland, Ore."
And for those whose only music-buying experiences are online, make no mistake, there is a great tradition of buying physical copies. In the book, Cameron Crowe has a two-page spread that he dictated to Gallo. In it he writes, "Record stores are a community of shared passion. You see the look in people's eyes and you know they're like you; everybody was there for the same reason. The music just sounds better. And you feel like you are in the beating heart of the thing that you love." Amen.
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r.a.burla
As a veteran of multiple indy/corporate record stores throughout college and a bit beyond, I must say that what I miss the most is the collective passion, humor, and ultimate elitism of my fellow "Counter Jockeys" and Clientele. (Think: John Cusak's crew in "High-Fidelity"). Working on The Strip in H'Wood, I actually heard one of my fave employees tell a 30ish Springsteen (who thought he wasn't recognized) that "We don't carry "Born to Run", because this a--hole's label ran out two months ago and won't reorder until "Darkness" sells...Life's a bitch, ain't it?" Bruce: "Damn! I'm in town visiting my Aunt, and she doesn't believe I put any records out. You have a used copy, anything?". So my minimum wage sales guy goes,"I listen to Coltrane, Man. Sorry. Life's a bitch, ain't it, BOSS?" Cover broken, Bruce laughed, then gave all ten of us "VIP" tix for his five night stand at The Roxy. One of a thousand stories. Back to the Future: Like the books says (according to reviews) is that the demise of "The Record Store" ended a communal, cultural gathering spot for the like-minded of all ages. Sadly, we have lost the collective joy of MUSIC. That grand power which once mended fences and united much of our communities has gone the way of the IBM Selectric. (Google "Typewriter"). Who in the 21st Century ever says, "Hey! Let's go to Tower and hear the new "_______" album!" ? Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" was on the Billboard charts (LP and CD) for almost 20 YEARS, and being invited into a friend's home for a "Listening Party" where you absorbed the magnificent writing, musical nuance and total grandeur of their "Opera" bonded you with your peers/generation forever. And without knowing became an indelible part of who you were and what you might become. And while I'm not a huge fan of that particular band, it lives on in my mind, in a way no $.99 download of "Money" could approach. Thank God it is not available "in pieces" yet, as some kid might still find the LP and decide to teach Philosophy. Or drop out. Music is that powerful. The quick-hit of something hummable at the expense of true "Appreciation" does not bode well for a disappearing, American Made culture--And, sadly, at a time when we need it more than ever.
April 17 2010 at 5:02 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Nancy
Here in NYC there are few record stores left. Or few of anything left. Just corporate, yuppie, gentrified nothingness. Glad to see that record stores still exist in hipper parts of the country.
April 17 2010 at 4:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Chuck
Rockaway Records in Silverlake,California. One of the very few good record stores left in the Los Angeles area. Ahh this hiss and pop of vinyl, sure do miss that.
Gotta dig those 33&1/3 's out of the garage.
LaylaB
My son is 13 years old and an "old soul" in my mind, and is so hell bent on ADDING to his vinyl collection. Of course, he took half of mine but he loves records, even has his own record player (ummmmm, for you idiots who think vinyl is sooooo 80's, his record player is attached to BOSE speakers...ever hear of THOSE????) and he just loves the sound of vinyl like I used to and I'm 51 now. LONG LIVE ROCK N ROLL AND LONG LIVE VINYL! Oh, and also, DAVID...if you had some "bread" (yeah bread, MONEY) hook up to Sirius Satellite Radio and check out Channel 14! It's called Classic VINYL. Yeah, I know they don't play real vinyl, but it's all the great music that existed when vinyl was around unlike your skanky bands you listen to now. Go pound it, David!
April 17 2010 at 2:07 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
margaret duhon
My favorite record stores were as follows:
Audio Hideout Opelousas, Louisiana
New Generation Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Raccoon Records Lafayette, Louisiana
Sound Warehouse Houston, Texas
Penguin Feathers Washington DC
Of course all these stores are but a great memory but I remember music purchases, radio station live remotes, concert ticket purchases, the day new albums (vinyl) arrived. I miss those days so much.
David S.
They still have record stores? Wow, it is 2010, not 1980.
April 16 2010 at 7:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
lawrence fishberg
let's face it....the industry is ladygagaism.
April 16 2010 at 5:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
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