Record Theatre and other Silver estate properties up for bid: The former flagship Record Theatre store is one of several properties up for sale to settle the estate of Leonard Silver, the store’s late owner who died in March. In all, five properties at the corner of Main Street and Lafayette Avenue will be sold at private auction. Included are the iconic, 28,560-square-foot store at 1768 Main St., a 5,470-square-foot former garage and apartment located behind the store at 1040 Lafayette Ave., and the .19-acre former Record Theatre parking lot at 1774 Main St…Record Theatre is credited as one of the longest-running, independently owned record stores in the country. Its final location, the flagship on Main Street, closed in August. Transcontinent Record Sales, which includes Amherst Records, has moved its offices to Williamsville.
10 new reissues to add to your collection in early 2018: While January tends to be filled with promises to embrace the future, look towards new horizons – and generally make yourself feel bad for falling short of those promises – we also very much believe it’s a good moment to look back with fresh eyes. With such a wealth of incredible reissues last year, we’re moving into 2018 with another ten you need to add to your collection in the next few months. Look out for experimental electronics from ’70s Germany, sun-soaked Californian folk funk, Japanese new wave and essential jazz-infused hip-hop from some of our favourite reissue labels.
First Bromsgrove vinyl record fair of 2018 to be held this weekend: The first Bromsgrove vinyl record fair of 2018 will be held this Sunday. The event, organised by the Midlands Records Fair, will take place from 10am to 4pm at Bromsgrove Hotel and Spa, formerly the Hilton Hotel, Birmingham Road. There will be free parking for buyers and sellers. Admission for buyers is £1 from 10am to 1pm and then free entry afterwards. There are also ‘early bird’ passes for £5 which admit people from 9am. Prices will suit bargain hunters and keen collectors alike. Visit www.midlandsrecordfairs.co.uk for more information.
Birthplace of Country Music Museum wants to restore old recording: Housed deep within the museum’s bowels is a cracked, deteriorating lacquer disc of an early performance by the Stanley Brothers & the Clinch Mountain Boys, donated by Glen Harlow. Now flaked into a dozen pieces, it is too damaged to ever play. But technology exists to scan images of the grooves and recreate the recording, according to Emily Robinson, the BCMM’s collections manager. “It’s not like a vinyl disc. It has an aluminum core and this lacquer coating where the grooves were recorded on. Over time, the lacquer becomes really brittle and, with temperature and hu-midity fluctuations, the lacquer expands and contracts while the aluminum doesn’t and pieces are breaking away. It looks like a puzzle,” Robinson said Monday.
Over 200,000 rare vinyl records are being digitized and released to the public by the Boston Library: For decades, the basement of the Boston Public Library was hiding something pretty amazing. A collection of nearly 200,000 rarely heard, unseen-by-the-public vinyl LPs and shellac 78s were tucked away in storage in the library’s central branch. Now, through a partnership with the digital library Internet Archive, these records are about to get a second life. First up are the library’s collection of 78s. These records, which date from about 1898 to the 1950s, will be digitized as part of the Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project, an initiative to digitize, preserve, and study these rare records. The BPL has been working with Internet Archive since 2007, and has a scanner on-site, which has helped them digitize many of the library’s books. “We have a long history of partnering with Internet Archive,” says Laura Irmscher, the library’s chief of collections.
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry to sign copies of new solo album at Boston record store this week: Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry will return to his hometown of Boston this Thursday, January 25, for a special in-store signing session promoting his new solo album, Sweetzerland Manifesto. The event will take place at the Newbury Comics store on Newbury St. in Boston, and will begin at 6 p.m. ET. To attend the event, fans must have a wristband, which will be handed out to those purchasing a copy of Sweetzerland Manifesto at the store. To receive an autograph from Perry, you must buy a CD. As previously reported, the album, which was released on Friday, is a 10-track collection featuring nine songs written or co-written by Perry, as well as a cover of the 1960s protest anthem “Eve of Destruction.”
