by Joe Wallace

Today was a road warrior-iffic drive-a-thon starting off just outside Little Rock Arkansas and ending up in Norman, Oklahoma. Record stores hit along the way included the strangely-named Ugly Mike’s Records (which lived up to its name in that the store was indeed pretty ugly), Been Around Records, Arkansas Record Exchange and Guestroom Records in OKC, which was definitely the best of the day’s visits.

Ugly Mike’s Records was a strange experience. I’m used to record stores being disorganized, even run down, but this was a pretty grim place.

Honestly the only thing that kept it from feeling like the record store in Hell’s Waiting Room was the fact that the owner and some customers were laughing and having a good time–thank god for them otherwise I would have been looking for Rod Serling to step out of the shadows to tell me that this dimly lit concrete blockhouse was actually my final destination forever and ever.

What did I get sent to Hell’s Waiting Room for anyway? Did I magic marker up a Beatles butcher cover or play frisbee with a Japanese import edition of a rare Dawn of the Dead pressing?)

I left this shop wondering how the hell it stays afloat, but there is probably plenty I don’t know about the place–maybe he has live acts coming in there or it’s just a sideline business connected to the event hall that was upstairs–which was also kind of a grim little setup, but throw some turntables and a couple of DJs in there and maybe it livens up.

Been Around Records was friendly and fun, but definitely chaotic. There were tottering piles of sideways stacked vinyl everywhere and my favorite part of the store–the soundtracks–were obscured by the piles–something that always makes me a sad record junkie. I did find some rare goodness though, so it was definitely a stop I was happy to make.

Arkansas Record Exchange was the polar opposite of Been Around–obsessive cataloging and a LOT of pristine and hard to find titles.

There was a stange vibe in the shop though, starting with the VELVET ROPE blocking the entrance. I though the store was closed at first, til I realized that you were SUPPOSED to go past the velvet rope. But the owner has a weird thing about not wearing a coat in the store—get past the velvet rope with a hoodie on and he’s all over you to use the coat rack.

Really? Seriously? It unnerved this record collector a bit as the response I got for going past the rope with my hoodie still on my body was, while not quite as severe as if I had just exposed my penis to an elderly evangelist, was a bit hardcore. Maybe this shop has had a massive shoplifting problem in the past, I don’t know. But it altered my experience there, to be sure.

On the way out of Arkansas for Oklahoma City, I saw a sign proudly proclaiming “Toad Suck Park”. This was an official state road sign and it KILLED me not to get a photo of it. Ahh well…

By far the best stop of the day was Guestroom Records. I found crazy Thai psych music, a KLF single I’d never seen available before and overall it was just plain nice to be in a record store that was both well-stocked and very friendly. Cozy, even. I even left there with names of several other record shops I should check out as a fellow collector–who does THAT? I’ll tell you who–vinyl sellers who know there’s room enough in the game for ALL of us and don’t mind helping a fellow obsessive out, that’s who. Guestroom Records, you are my number one stop in Oklahoma now.

As always, I’m saving the individual record store reviews for later, there’s just too much to do on the trip AND write those up, too-plus it give some extra exposure for the shops, which is definitely a good thing.

I’ve pulled over for the night in Norman, Oklahoma. Tomorrow’s destination is Denton, Texas where I’ll take my sweet time looking around and writing more updates…