Canandaigua, NY | ‘Come hang out, listen to music, talk music.’ Record store finds new home in Canandaigua: The harmonies of The Beatles are that much sweeter and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar riffs are that much nastier on vinyl, better than they sound on cassette or compact disc, anyway. That can be true, said Jon Cooley, the owner of the Canandaigua Record Exchange, relaxing on a chair underneath the store logo in the lounge area of his new location on Coy Street. Cooley moved the record store from one side of Canandaigua’s Main Street to the other, gaining extra floor space in the process, partly for him or anyone else to be able to talk music and importantly, listen to it. As a shopper flips through records ranging in taste from 1980s rockers Def Leppard to William Shatner – yes, that William Shatner and his Christmas album – Cooley opines on Taylor Swift, the difference between collecting records and listening to them, and, reluctantly, his band growing up. Bamboozled played the Strawberry Festival in Canandaigua and another show at a defunct coffee shop
Mold, UK | Mold to embrace music for annual Record Store Day 2023: This month sees the return of an annual celebration of vinyl, and all things music. Popular event Record Store Day take place on Saturday, April 22, and one Flintshire store is happy to be taking part again. More than 260 independent record shops are participating, with VOD Music, in Mold, the only one representing North Wales this year. Owner Colin Trueman, who just celebrated the record shop’s 14th anniversary, has plenty on offer music lovers and collectors on the day, starting from 8am. Hundreds of vinyl limited editions are released for the day on a first come first served basis, in store. There will also be giveaways for the first few customers and live music by The Boy With The Greyhound Tattoo. There will be a record fair at the Daniel Owen Community Centre in Mold (free entry 9am-4pm) and a vinyl night at the Queens Head pub, on Chester Road from 8pm. Record Store Day is the one day of the year when hundreds of independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture.
Princeton, NJ | Record Shopping in New Jersey: A Playlist From a Fresh Haul: Thumbing through the crates at the Princeton Record Exchange, and rediscovering albums by Stevie Wonder, Linda Ronstadt, Broadcast and Merle Haggard. I love the unpredictability of walking into a record store with a regularly replenished New Arrivals section. You never know what you’ll find: maybe that obscure rarity you’ve spent years hunting down, maybe a familiar classic discounted too low to resist, maybe a chance purchase that sends you down a rabbit hole of related artists. To honor this spirit of musical serendipity, here’s the first of a recurring Amplifier segment, My Record Haul, featuring playlists from my recent finds at brick-and-mortar record shops. I’m going to begin close to home, with a visit to one of my favorite record stores in the world (maybe one of my favorite places in the world, full stop) the Princeton Record Exchange: a vast 4,300-square-foot music lover’s paradise tucked down a side street near Princeton U’s campus.
Sheboygan, WI | Local music stores ride renewed vinyl interest: When John Selak started with Music Boxx Records in 2004, compact disc and movies were the bread and butter of the business. Almost 20 years later, he’s the owner and the stock in the store has shifted. “Around 2009 was the first year we had records,” Selak said. “It’s now two-thirds records compared to CD. If not even slightly more than that.” Consumers are buying an increasing number of records on vinyl. That has record companies releasing — and re-releasing — more titles on the medium. “I’ve been noticing a lot more hip-hop albums released on vinyl and a younger demographic embracing the records,” Selak said. “I’m talking about teenagers to young adults. Probably that 13 to 24 group. I’ve also noticed older people who grew up with records are getting back into it, too.” Events like April’s annual Record Store Day have helped put a spotlight on independent music stores around the state and nation.
St. Petersburg, FL | Vinyl is back: Browse more than 3 million records at Bananas in St. Pete: If you’re over 50 years old, you may have had a record collection at one time, but now, those old LP’s are back, and they are making new records. The younger generation is discovering music on vinyl. “My grandparents sort of started my record collection off,” says 19-year-old Kayla Cuva. “They gave me like the Mamas and Papas, Fleetwood Mac, Elton john, David Bowie.” Records are hot, and not just old school Beatles, Beach Boys and Pink Floyd Albums. Modern artists like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and many others have new releases on vinyl. “Our sales have increased more than 50% in just the last three or four years,” says John Allen, whose family owns Bananas Records on 22nd Avenue North in St. Petersburg. It’s one of the biggest record stores anywhere, with an estimated 3 million records—old and new. John has all kinds of records, including 1950s jazz records. They can be valuable, depending on how rare they are and their condition. “Anywhere from $20 to $30 to $1,000,” says John.
Milwaukee, WI | The Beat Goes On Records celebrates one-year anniversary: The Beat Goes On Records and More in Downtown West Bend celebrated its one-year anniversary on Thursday. When The Exclusive Company announced it would be closing its location in downtown West Bend last year, Joe and Mary Zaremba swooped in to purchase the record store and keep music sales alive in downtown West Bend. They called their new store The Beat Goes On Records & More. “It’s a historic location,” said Zaremba. “It’s been my passion forever. I’ve been a big music head my whole life, so taking this over was a passion project. There’s a personal passion, but there’s also a real desire to keep something like this, this cool place, in this cool downtown area.” Even the name, The Beat Goes On Records, represents the continuation of the long tradition that Exclusive Company left on the West Bend community. The West Bend location was Exclusive Company’s first ever record store, according to Zaremba, and it opened in 1956. “And we opened on exactly the same date, on April 6, however many years later,” said Zaremba.
Newfoundland, CA | Record Fair NL Returns Amid Growing Popularity: Vinyl records seem to be making a comeback in recent years as organizers of a local record fair say demand continues to grow. Longtime collectors Doug Jones and Melisa Penney-Jones founded Record Fair NL after groups full of collectors looking to buy and sell began taking off on social media. What started out as a small event 4 years ago has now blossomed into a main event at the St. John’s Farmers Market held twice a year. The couple says their last event in November 2022 was their largest one yet with over 1,000 people coming out to browse through over 20,000 albums. Jones says the vendors always bring in a variety of albums for the events to provide something for everyone. “If you’re a new collector, you can find that $1 essential album, or if you’re a seasoned collector, there might be something there that you’ve been looking for for years,” says Jones. Besides buying and selling records, the venue allows people the opportunity to socialize with others who share a similar interest.
The Teardrop Explodes / Culture Bunker 1978-82: 6CD and 7LP box sets with scores of unreleased tracks: Massive new box sets dive deep into Julian Cope’s archive for detailed examination of The Teardrop Explodes recordings. Universal Music Recordings will release Culture Bunker 1978-82 in June a new The Teardrop Explodes box set available as a 6CD package or a 7LP vinyl offering. The Teardrop Explodes originated as a critical band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, which included Echo & The Bunnymen, their former manager Bill Drummond of The JAMS/KLF, The Mighty WAH! and future pop stars Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and The Lightning Seeds Ian Broudie, who would also produce many bands from the scene. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope and keyboard player David Balfe, who later founded Food Records and signed and mentored Blur. Culture Bunker 1978-82 compiles all the band’s singles and B-sides as well as four CDs / five LPs of unreleased studio outtakes, a wealth of unheard live recordings and several tracks taken from ‘Zoology’, the Teardrop Explodes compilation that Cope released himself in 2004.
Suicide’s ‘A Way Of Life’ to receive 35th anniversary reissue: A Way Of Life, the 1988 album by Suicide, the New York duo comprised of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, is getting a reissue for its 35th anniversary. The album has been remastered for the new and updated release. It will be available on transparent blue vinyl, CD and a variety of digital formats. The latest version also comes with previously unheard bonus tracks, all of which were discovered by The Vacant Lots member Jared Artaud when he was exploring the record vaults of Suicide’s late frontman, Alan Vega. A Way Of Life arrived 11 years after Suicide released their influential self-titled debut. Their third album features fan favourites such as ‘Surrender’, ‘Dominic Christ’ and ‘Jukebox Baby 96’. It was produced by both band members alongside The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek. Chapter 22 Records first distributed the album before it received wider global distribution through Wax Trax! Records the following year.
