Zed Records and the Birth of SoCal Punk, The first store in Southern California to solely stock punk and hardcore, Zed Records became a beloved epicenter of the emerging scene: For brothers Mike and Danny Zampelli, being musically adventurous in the seaside town of Long Beach, California during the early 1970s was no easy task…“We either had to drive an hour to Hollywood to a store that was catty-corner from the Whisky A Go Go called Sound Spectrum, or down to a place in Laguna Beach to get the import records we wanted back then,” says Mike, reminiscing on his vinyl-buying woes. In time, the brothers’ feverish pursuit of the arcane and unusual would lead to the opening of Zed Records, the first record store in Southern California to solely stock punk rock.
Dining: 5 hot new restaurants to try this fall: The Vinyl Room—At the crossroads of music and craft beer is The Vinyl Room, a hybrid record store and bar in Wappingers Falls. The business may cover two bases but it does not skimp as a bar or as a music shop. Records such as King Crimson’s “The Court of the Crimson King,” James Brown’s soundtrack to “Black Caesar,” and Elvis Presley’s eponymous album line the walls of the store, and that’s before searching through the shelves and bins filled with vinyl throughout the store. And the craft beer selection is impressive with rotating options such as Chatham Brewing’s Raspberry Wheat Ale and Industrial Arts’s Week 52 India Pale Ale. What it lacks in a kitchen, it makes up with fresh pizza delivered from the Wagon Wheel.
Toronto Reference Library Record Swap! Have you camped out overnight before Record Store Day? Are the words “diggin’ in the crates” and “dusty fingers” part of your personal manifesto? When you close your eyes do you see spinning black circles? If any of these are the case, then you’re probably a record fanatic. Well, I am too, and on Monday, Oct. 16, the Arts department of the Toronto Reference Library is hosting a record swap; whether you’ve been collecting wax since the dawn of the LP or are new to the record game, we hope you’ll join us up on the fifth floor to trade an album or two with other fans (sorry, I won’t be swapping records from the library’s collection!), or just chat about the latest happenings in the vinyl revival.
Despite technology, vinyl continues to thrive: As streaming services and online music stores have become the new standard for listening to music, some people, old and young, are embracing vinyl records. “We’ve been pretty amazed that the bubble has not popped, year after year we are saying, ‘Wow, it’s still going,’” Jon Howard, manager of Flat, Black & Circular, said. Flat, Black & Circular celebrates its 40th anniversary in East Lansing this year. The 1970s and 80s were the golden age for records. 1978 was the highest-grossing year, with over $2.3 billion in sales. However, as time went on and new media took over, sales started to drop. Record sales averaged around $20 million per year across the 90s and early 2000s.
WaxWork Records Announces Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Soundtrack On Vinyl! Waxwork Records has done an glorious job of releasing the first three Friday The 13th films scores on vinyl over the last couple of years and we know that the fans should expect at least three more soundtracks from surging record company. Back in January, the record label teased an new release for the franchise and today they have officially announced Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter! The vinyl soundtrack will be available this Friday. No other details are available as of yet, but keep an eye for more info as it is released. In the mean time, check out the cover art for the label below, posted on the company’s Twitter account. It looks awesome!
