Lakewood, CO | Lakewood record store hit by suspected drunk driver, forcing owners out: Chain Reaction, a popular Lakewood record store, was left picking up the pieces after a suspected drunk driver crashed into the store early Saturday morning. It happened Saturday morning around 1:30 a.m. when the driver traveled off of West Colfax Avenue, hitting a light pole and street sign before ramming into the store. Then he fled. Investigators followed tire tracks that led away from the scene to West Estes Street and West 20th Avenue, a residential area. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the damages to Chain Reaction are devastating. “It was crushing. The first thing you think is like, this is it, we’re done,” co-owner Josh Lent said. “This is our 10th year — we should be celebrating at that point. The business is more financially stable and you’re thinking about growth and the future, but I was like, that’s it. End game. Over.” But he changed his mind quickly about closing.
Poughkeepsie, NY | Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie set for big birthday celebration: The popular record store will celebrate its 13th year with a big birthday bash. Darkside Records first opened its doors on Jan. 15, 2011 at their first location on Main Street in Poughkeepsie. I remember it well, being so excited that we were actually getting a record store in town. The location on Main Street was there for 5 years, before they relocated to their current location at 611 Dutchess Tpke on Jan. 15, 2016. I’ve always liked how they have hosted artists for meet and greet events at Darkside Records. Back on June 1, 2013, Tom Keifer from Cinderella came through the area for a show at The Chance and Darkside had him by the store signing copies of his critically acclaimed debut solo album The Way Life Goes. Another highlight for me at Darkside Records was getting to meet John Waite back in September of 2017. He came by for a meet and greet and intimate performance with his band. I had always been a fan of John Waite from his work with The Baby’s to Bad English and of course his solo career.
MI | Michigan’s record shops sure ain’t what they used to be: Record stores just ain’t what they used to be…not in Michigan, anyway. Back many decades ago, especially in the pre-Beatle era, anyone could go into a record store and listen to a record before buying it. You would pick out a record, the store clerk would open it and place it on a turntable, while you went inside a ‘listening booth’, put on headphones (or listen thru a speaker) and decide whether or not you wanted to buy it. If not, the clerk would re-seal the record and put it back on the shelf. This routine eventually petered out but later, there were shops where you could listen to a CD before buying. Nowadays, just listen online. The old record stores had record album covers all over the place: on all the walls, the ceiling, countertops, and the rows and rows of shelving that contained literally thousands and thousand of vinyl lps. There are some of these shops still out there, but they are mostly used record shops.
Manchester, UK | Vinyl Destination: Rubber Ducky Records. With an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and post-pandemic era that sent shockwaves through small businesses, aspiring record store owners have been finding increasingly niche ways to offset the costs of traditional brick-and-mortar shops. One such spot is Rubber Ducky Records, a boat-based record store run by Myles Greenwood. Opening in October 2022, the appointment-based store has been serving its visitors with a fine selection of mostly secondhand electronic vinyl, all from the cosy confines of a canal-anchored boat. Unfortunately, last April, any boat owner’s worst nightmare became reality when Rubber Ducky sank on a journey to Manchester. In the following months, thanks to an online fundraiser and the support of the music community, Greenwood managed to restore the boat and its stock. Now back in action with a new location in Manchester, Rubber Ducky has returned to calm waters.
Watford, UK | Memories of Bob Geldof performing at Our Price in Harlequin Centre: Watford has attracted its share of famous names from the music world through the years who have performed or held signing sessions at record shops in the town but very few had the worldwide profile of this singer-songwriter. Bob Geldof had risen to fame as the lead singer of Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats in the 1970s before becoming a global figure through his efforts to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia as a founder of charity supergroup Band Aid and organiser of the Live Aid concerts. Almost nine years after the biggest names in world music had taken part in the fundraising spectacular at Wembley Stadium and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, a rather smaller crowd gathered to watch Geldof perform at Our Price in the Harlequin Centre where he was promoting a newly-released compilation album, ‘Loudmouth – The Best of Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats’.
Detroit, MI | The Vintage Electronics Expo returns to the Southfield Pavilion on Saturday: As vinyl records continue to enjoy popularity, this local event has grown. Retro gear is having a bit of a moment. The Vintage Electronics Expo claims to be the largest vintage gear expo in the U.S. and last year moved its annual gathering to the larger Southfield Pavilion, where it’s set to return this Saturday. Organizers say that they have seen an influx of younger attendees in recent years who are drawn to the equipment as vinyl record sales have increased steadily over the past decade or so, and add that old radios can be retrofitted with auxiliary inputs for Bluetooth technology and other modern updates. Others simply like to use beautiful vintage radios from the 1930s-40s as indoor decor, or repurpose console cabinets from the 1940s-50s as storage. This year’s event is set to feature silent auctions, a presentation on stereo repair, and DJ Del Villareal will be spinning records throughout the day.
New Orleans, LA | Vinyl Culture: A Conversation Brice White. Join Tulane University Libraries and the Newcomb Music Department for a conversation with Brice White about vinyl record culture. Collecting records for as long as he can remember, Mr. White has made a career of supporting local music culture, starting in 1993 as a radio DJ beginning on Tulane’s WTUL radio station. Since then, Mr. White founded two record labels, Sinking City and Raw Sugar, and co-founded New Orleans Record Press. This talk is a feature event of the day-long Groove at the Library! Stop into room 602 to browse crates of vinyl records curated from the Library’s collection and drop one or two on the turn table to give it a listen. Take a break at the crafting table in the 6th floor to design an album cover for the sound track of your day. Sign-up for the 1 hour workshop, Intro to Creating with AI art, and create a digital album cover for the sound track of your day.
Tim Burgess announces the debut official compilation album, Tim’s Listening Party: Tim Burgess has announced his first official compilation album celebrating his legendary Listening Parties, with the forthcoming release, Tim’s Listening Party. Speaking on the compilation, Tim Burgess says “I’d done some Charlatans and solo album listening parties, and as the Twitter followers grew I’d repeat it and do it again and again. It was maybe about a week before being told that we were going to go into a lockdown before we actually did something. I saw all the TV stuff, all the kind of crazy things that were happening and thought if we’re going to have to stay at home there must be a way that we can share times together.” The album is available as a 62 track 4CD in Deluxe Packaging, which brings together 62 highlights from the 1,278 Listening Parties that took place. It is also available as a 24 track 2LP collection, pressed on green translucent vinyl, this double LP set brings together 24 Listening Party highlights.
Metallica’s limited coloured vinyl campaign continues: With …And Justice For All. Metallica will reissue their 1988 album …And Justice For All as a special 2LP coloured vinyl pressing, next month. This release is part of an ongoing campaign to press their first five studio albums on special limited edition coloured vinyl. Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets have already been released (in November, December and January respectively) and …And Justice For All is scheduled for early Feb, with Metallica/’The Black Album’ following in March. …And Justice For All is offered as a 2LP set pressed on 180g ‘Dyers Green’ limited coloured vinyl. This release uses the 2018 remastering. It will be released on 2 February 2024, via UMC/Mercury. These coloured vinyl pressings are not available in North America.
