Here is yet another collection of glorious images from the road trip from Chicago to NYC, vinyl finds, kooky album covers and much more. There are still LOADS of record stores to review and post–we have more from Philly, Toledo Ohio and New York City to come…next week is going to be packed full of record store review goodness.
I have been looking forward to this particular post ever since I walked in the door of Jerry’s Records–the Pennsylvania record store that wins hands down for size, selection and overall coolness. And I mean that literally as well as figuratively–Jerry says his air conditioning bills are $1300 a month for this staggering collection of vinyl.
As you can see, when you get to Jerry’s, at 2136 Murray Avenue
in Pittsburgh PA, you’re in for quite a treat. The 78s section advertised on the door is sure to draw out the obsessives in that part of the vinyl junkie kingdom, but I thought the main store was more than plenty to keep me going–no need for me to obsess over a whole new undiscovered country yet.
A newcomer to the store really cannot prepare themselves for the volume of vinyl here. If you’re into post-punk, 80s new wave and related sounds you will spend all of your money and all the money you’re GOING to make in the next year at Jerry’s. No contest.
And the prices are extremely reasonable, I might add.
Soundtracks were a bit frustrating to wade through as there was a filing system at work there that completely escaped me. I was looking for the horror stuff, naturally, but found so much broadway mixed in with the other titles that it made things quite difficult. The soundtracks section was full of the old standbys and in the short time I was able to spend back there (in a labyrinth all its own) I couldn’t locate anything I didn’t already have–the curse of the collector rather than an indictment of Jerry’s, really.
Don’t go into Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh for the first time if you aren’t able to spend at least 90 minutes. Seriously. You WILL be late for whatever appointment, rendezvous, tryst or meeting you’ve set up for the day. There is too much, too too much here to skim over or simply glance at.
What I loved best about Jerry’s, aside from an excessively fussy classification system that lists MANY bands by name (even obscure ones that might be better in the general alphabet sections) is the attention to one of my favorite genres—weirdness on wax.
Jerry’s breaks down the weirdness into subdivisions I’ve never found in any other record store–I was soooo grateful to find the strange vinyl handled as lovingly as all the other genres—no short shrift given to THESE records just cuz nobody but me wants to buy them. I mean, really–they listed all the weird records with ANIMAL COVERS.
Jerry’s Records was one of my absolute favorite record stores on the entire Vinyl Road Rage 2 trip. I say you’ll be hard-pressed to find another shop that is as large, exhaustively stocked, and fussed over. Jerry himself is on duty at the store, which tells you something about how he likes to run things…and he told us he’s got a whole warehouse of vinyl that hasn’t even made it into the shop yet, so you know this place isn’t running out of the good stuff anytime soon.
I highly recommend Jerry’s, in case you couldn’t tell from all the breathless hype. I will be back there and soon, I hope.
–Joe Wallace
I’m writing this update from Newark, New Jersey. Vinyl Road Rage 2 has been one hell of a crazy trip. How crazy? Try 17 record stores in five days between Chicago and NYC. And it’s not quite done yet.
I am still writing record store reviews on the Cleveland stop alone–there are many more reviews to come for wonderful indie record stores from Akron, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Philadelphia and Greenwich Village. I have purchased more than 45 titles on this trip and am afraid that the total will be much higher before it’s all said and done.
Highlights of the journey so far: the crew behind the counter at Music Saves in Cleveland telling me about the record shops I didn’t know about there and helping me round out the list somewhat. Ditto for the gentleman working at Allentown’s delicious Double Decker Records, which had some of my favorite finds of the entire trip. Double Decker is a crazy mish-mash of old and new and you’ll find plenty to surprise you there. Do NOT pass by this store. More on that in my full review, complete with lots of pics.
Favorite goofy moments of the trip so far–a guy at Bleeker Bob’s Records in NYC asking me in a seemingly nervous way if the images I was taking were “for publication”. Not to worry, Bleeker Bob, no images I take with my iPhone are being used in a book or magazine. Ditto for the guy behind the counter of Rebel Rebel who confronted me about leaving Turntabling business cards behind. “WHAT are those CARDS?” It was funny to hear his reply to me telling him about Turntabling. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t one of those carpet cleaning guys.” No worries, matey.
I keep seeing the same album covers on the walls of some of the stores. It’s funny to be haunted by Wendy O. Williams, but even funnier was the posters I saw side by side of Madonna and Henry Rollins. For once, Madonna’s nipples were covered, while Henry Rollins’s were exposed. What a reversal!
I’ll have much more on Vinyl Road Rage 2, Chicago to NYC over the remainder of the trip and beyond. Tomorrow is another day of vinyl record shopping and obsessing in New York City.
… Continue Reading
by Joe Wallace
Let’s just start by saying that the best record stores have performance spaces in them. I played more than a couple of gigs at the late, great Austin, Texas record mecca 33 Degrees in the late 90s, and since then I’ve been hooked on shops that know where their bread is buttered.
Chicago’s awesome “sound & vision” store Transistor, at 5045 N. Clark Street in Andersonville is just such a place. Usually, stores that don’t pick a direction–vinyl/CDs or electronics, or art, or…whatever– and stick with it are doomed to fail from the start, but Transistor has something many similar endeavors fail to promote–a philosophy.
Sure, that’s MY interpretation, but take a quick glance at the records, books, DVDs, music gear (Transistor is an authorized Numark, Korg, Alesis and Marshall dealer to name a few) and art; you’ll soon discover the vibe of this place. Everything’s interconnected somehow.
Transistor has regular workshops, performances, film screenings, even a Sunday podcast called Transistor Radio. It’s an ambitious operation, to be sure, but it definitely beats sitting on your thumbs waiting for Jesus to come and whip out a keg of Belgium’s finest. This is definitely one of the most forward-thinking shops in the Chicago record store scene. Yes, I’m well aware that it’s a multi-faceted operation, but they still sell vinyl and therefore…
One last note–99% of the vinyl falls into the new release category, but there is a smattering of used vinyl the shop offers on behalf of the Chicago Independent Radio Project as a benefit for them. How cool is that?
Reggie’s is an unusual place–located at 2105/2109 South State Street in Chicago, this is a rock and roll venue, a bar and grill, and home to Record Breakers, the indie vinyl and CD store located upstairs. It’s a dangerous thing for a record collector to stop at the bar on the ground level BEFORE buying the vinyl–you’ll stagger up the stairs and back down much lighter in the wallet.
Record Breakers is a great place for new collectors–you can fill a lot of gaps in your collection if you’re looking for punk, post-punk, and soul. It’s not so great for soundtrack fiends like me, as the selection is pretty grim. I was happy to see a decent assortment of Chicago Wax Trax! era titles but really bummed about the soundtracks. The lack of a weird/unclassifiable section was a disappointment, but definitely not a deal breaker for the newcomer to vinyl.
I’d recommend Reggie’s for the full experience–don’t go and just record shop, take the whole scene in. A nice change from the standalone store, to be sure. If you go early on a Saturday, (after 12 but before 5) chances are you’ll have the run of the place–it was pretty quiet when I got there and got excellent service from the bar. Nice one.
–Joe Wallace
When I read the rave review of Forever Young Records in Grand Prairie, Texas (just outside Dallas) I knew I had to go. The hype said this was a massive warehouse of glorious vinyl, so I dropped my other plans (sorry, OKC) and pushed right on through to Grand Prairie, Texas with all the urgency of a lonely coal miner on his annual trip to the cathouse.
When I walked through the doors, I was stunned. I’d never seen anything of this size filled with vinyl, barring the Austin Record Convention. Behold:
This image in no way conveys the size of the place. Imagine a small airplane hangar and you have the right perspective. … Continue Reading
I only include this because I stopped there–I was giving it a pass when I spotted a sign out of the corner of my eye that said, “VINYL” in big block letters. Could it be? I haven’t been in a CD Exchange in YEARS, so I had to at least stop and look. Could this be a sign of an era of coolness for CD Exchange? Have they added as many titles as they have in the CD sections I remember from my last visits?
I was as disappointed as a frat boy at a chastity convention–two paltry sections of vinyl, all brand new and selling at frat boy prices. Don’t ask me WHY they’re frat boy prices, but I can just see some 20-something with his greek letters shaved into the back of his head shelling out $22 or for a Ben Harper LP. Whatever.
This shop wasn’t bad as far as CD Exchanges go, but that’s like saying you didn’t mind losing your thumb that much because it was the one off your LEFT hand.
I had already been completely underwhelmed by the endless series of Walmarts, strip mall nail shops and fast food joints. Springfield, Missouri was already starting to wear thin by the time I pulled in here. My first stop was a complete dud. I pulled in because the name Vintage Stock just screamed vinyl records of all sizes. I mean, they put VINTAGE in the bloody NAME. … Continue Reading
by Joe Wallace
Where the mighty St. Louis-based Record Exchange wins hands-down for sheer staggering size and collector-friendly deep stacks, Vintage Vinyl gets top marks for diversity of styles and a selection that’s more squarely in the present and recent past (though the classic vinyl doesn’t get neglected, no siree.)
In short, it’s the sort of place an OCD vinyl junkie can bring a less-interested significant other and have a reasonable chance of both walking away with new tunes. I am particularly impressed with the soul/R&B vinyl, and there’s plenty of new, shink-wrapped releases to look at, too.
Once again, the “rock” category proves to be a real bummer since most of the stuff I look for there is more along the Athens jangle-pop sound or obscure new wave titles…but you’ll be forced to sift through those godawful Krokus albums and 15 million copies of Journey and Manfred Mann. The prerequisite Aimee Mann/Til Tuesday records (ever present!) are there, but there’s an awful lot of good 80s/90s indie vinyl represented. And if you’re a jazz freak, you won’t ever leave, since that section is equally well-stocked. … Continue Reading
What a long strange vinyl bughunt it has been…From Chicago to San Antonio, I am now halfway through the driving insanity. Tuesday is OKC and Dallas…maybe even Denton if I feel REALLY sexy. I might just, after the stuff I was hearing all around me today at the record emporiums.
The following was overheard in one of the record shops I hit today–people with cell phones talking very loudly never know when they’re going to get their 15 minutes of fame. But when people are practically shouting this crap in your ear, it deserves a second go.
“Yaww, yew jist pour it in yore pee. Maik shore thu kristles are all, you know, like, dissolved and all or you’ll fail the teyust.” It was a 50-something woman who looked like an office drone. She sounded like a backwoods Tim Leary.
Then, ten minutes later, a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON on the phone. “Yah, yah, you just pour the little envelope of crystals into your pee. Look to see if it changes color. You only go about three ounces of pee anyway, don’t worry about it!”
In Springfield, Missouri, we now know people like to put additives in their pee. Should I ever go back there?
And then…
Oh, but she looks far too INTO having that puppet so near…where is her OTHER hand?
But wait, there’s more. Just in case you hadn’t quite finished playing a game of canasta with the Moosehead Lodge brothers, here come Herb Alpert to trumpet you TO DEATH. That sticker boldly proclaims that this is the very very FIRSTEST TIME IN THE WHOLE OF FOREVER that A Taste of Honey has been released as a picture disc. I’m touching myself even as I write this, I am so excited about the idea of this picture disc EVEN EXISTING. A bargain at twice the price, eh Eugene? Yeah, daddy-o. Let’s take the Galaxy 500 for a spin to the malt shop. No, wait, wrong culture. Martinis, everybody?
Just when you thought it was safe to fire up the record player, another face from the past comes back at you like a spoiled cinema hotdog. I’m so tired from driving that I can only hope that last line made as much sense to you as it currently does to me.
I still owe record shop reviews a plenty. Vinyl Exchange, CD Warehouse in Springfield, MO and tomorrow’s Guest Room Records invasion. Brace yourself.
By Joe Wallace
I am hiding out in the rec center at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri–blogging incognito and trying to get a full charge on the laptop before the born-again security staff sic the wolverines on me.
Today has been a day of disappointments and joy. Photos to come plus a full report but suffice it to say that large chunks of Springfield, Missouri are some of the ugliest stretches of endless strip malls you’ve ever had the misfortune to view. I stopped in three music shops—one had no vinyl whatsoever in spite of having the word “Vintage” in its name, another had a pathetic two bins worth of all-new releases from bands I really don’t care about (except the Misfits, perhaps, who were always fun in their heyday). However I struck paydirt with the ultra-friendly Stick It In Your Ear.
Wes Nichols is the gent behind this VERY friendly store, and I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to spend a couple of hours rifling through the stacks. There’s a large quantity of material here–hardcore collectors won’t be surprised by 75% of the titles, but I did manage to locate Tuxedomoon’s Ship Of Fools, which I hadn’t seen previously anywhere else.
I also scored Devo’s Greatest Misses on CD for the road, I needed a break from Big Youth, Morricone, Beck, and Big Black. What can I say, it’s been a long strange trip.
Tonight I plan to post some updates with more images including the uber-scary Shari Lewis LP I found and a picture disc I never, ever expected to be created for an album reissue that, well, makes me wonder who is BUYING this stuff. Besides weirdos like me, I mean.
The vinyl buying road trip continues. Vinyl Road Rage 2009 hits Joplin, MO next…I think. I didn’t hear good things about the shop I looked up so I might take a pass in favor of hitting Oklahoma next.
As I look around the room here, blogging away furiously, freshly scrubbed, 20-something faces stare at me. They know I’m not one of THEM, I’m not like the others. The girlies look slightly intrigued by my presence, the guys pretend to be indifferent while muttering “Praise the Lord”. I don’t know how much longer I can stay here before my cover is blown as an unrepentant libertine and non-trumpet player. More later.
I am based in Chicago but willing to travel. Call or send an e-mail to jwallace (at) turntabling (dot) net.
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