Los Angeles, CA | Amoeba Music seeks $400,000 on GoFundMe to keep neon lights on: Amoeba Music, which calls itself “the world’s largest independent record store,” has launched a GoFundMe campaign to ride out the novel coronavirus pandemic. The independent music chain’s three stores, in Hollywood, Berkeley and San Francisco, are bastions of new and vintage vinyl records, turntables, cleaning kits, CDs, hard-to-find and international DVDs, and used Blu-ray discs. They have also been a venue for free concerts and meet-and-greets by both up-and-coming artists and bona-fide legends such as Paul McCartney and Ozzy Osbourne. But they have been closed since March 18 amid the spread of COVID-19. “Without the physical manifestation of music, we are one electromagnetic storm away from having our culture wiped out,” the GoFundMe pitch attributed to co-founders Marc Weinstein and Dave Prinz reads. “We will not let that happen. We are the keepers of that flame; as are you.” The pitch said Amoeba Music needs $400,000 to keep the vinyl spinning and 400 people employed.
Canberra, AU | ‘Frog’s’ a softy for the romance of record stores: Record Store Day is normally the busiest of the year for Brian “Frog” Harris and his Weston Creek store – Songland – when long lines of vinyl lovers snake through Cooleman Court Shopping Centre, from as early as 5am, eager to snag something special. But this year, like most everything else in the world today, it’s going to take a little longer to get your hands on those rare, vinyl treasures because the April event has been postponed until at least June 20. Harris, who has successfully navigated his bricks-and-mortar record store through the ups and downs of independent retailing, remains positive about the future of the one-day sale, from which he devotes the proceeds to the RSPCA Canberra. Like a walking encyclopedia of all things music, Harris has successfully turned his passion for music into a 40-year long career, 25 of those running his record store. Some big names have stepped foot inside such as Lee Kernaghan, Suzi Quatro, Wendy Matthews, Normie Rowe, Leo Sayer, Jon English and Jimmy Barnes.
Kutztown, PA | Kutztown record shop fundraising and paying it forward: When you’ve been running a college town record shop for just short of three decades, it’s tough to pick one band. “I listen to so many different things. There isn’t one thing that I would focus on,” said Chris Holt, a co-owner of Young Ones record shop on South Whiteoak Street in Kutztown. The same goes for the college music fans and locals who would normally be seen roaming the aisles of Young Ones. “That’s when people are exploring, discovering new music, so and, of course, they’re being turned on to new music by their friends, so they need somewhere to go get it,” Holt said. Many would make the argument that music is essential, especially during this time, but the store is closed and depending heavily on online sales. The owners considered fundraising. “I know there’s people that don’t have a job and people having trouble feeding their families and things like that, and I didn’t know if it was the right time to do such a thing,” he said. But then, they heard about the small business relief initiative through GoFundMe and QuickBooks and had an idea: Raise money that would be matched by the initiative of up to $500, buy vouchers from Mamma’s Pizza up the street and then donate the vouchers to the food pantry in town, Friend Inc.
Long Beach, CA | Returning the Favor: Indie Band Donates COVID-Inspired Song to Help Record Store Through Crisis: When Rand Foster opened unselfconsciously hip Fingerprints Music in 1993, Amazon was only a South American river, and the first digital download (Duran Duran’s “Electric Barbarella,” says Billboard) was still four years away. And streaming, what the fuck is streaming? Since then, while brick-and-mortar mainstays like Virgin Megastores and Tower Records have gone to watery graves from the sea-change brought by Amazon, Walmart, and the digital revolution, Fingerprints has managed to stay afloat, providing music-lovers with physical product and a broad array of in-store experiences. Foo Fighters, Sparklehorse, Jack Johnson, and Yo La Tengo have graced the stage, while luminaries like of Brian Wilson and Lou Reed have done in-store signings. The Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne spent no less than 12 hours with fans ― and enjoyed the experience enough to spend 45 minutes afterwards with staff…In the midst of searching for partial answers from a litany of possible loans and a new, full-service online store. Foster was buoyed by a touching gesture from De Lux, a post-disco dance-punk DIY five-piece who have played Fingerprints in support of each of their three albums. On April 1, De Lux released the COVID-19-inspired ““Dancing Is Dangerous in L.A,” with all proceeds earmarked to help Fingerprints weather the storm.
UK | Billie Eilish proves that vinyl works for new acts, says BPI research: Billie Eilish is among a number of new acts maximising vinyl, according to new BPI research. New BPI data in the 2020 edition of its All About The Music yearbook reveals that Eilish was the seventh biggest seller of vinyl LPs in 2019. Queen topped the list, selling more than 75,000 LPs last year, with the film soundtrack for Bohemian Rhapsody boosting sales alongside the likes of News Of The World. The Beatles took second place after reissuing Abbey Road, with David Bowie in third spot. Fellow heritage acts Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac also made the Top 10, while Eilish and Liam Gallagher finished seventh and ninth respectively, thanks to their 2019 releases. Gallagher’s Why Me? Why Not was the most popular individual title, selling more than 29,000 vinyl copies. Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi were behind the other contemporary releases in the individual Top 10, alongside catalogue records including Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures and Oasis’ Definitely Maybe. With more than 4.3 million records sold, Vinyl LP sales increased by 4.1% in 2019, and have now grown for 12 consecutive years.
Spend lockdown by cutting your own vinyl records with Yuri Suzuki’s ingenious new affordable creation: …Designed with universal usability in mind, the compact unit has a simple interface and is able to cut blank vinyl discs and play them back instantly. This is the first time a record cutting machine has been readily available to purchase at a consumer level and is aimed at both the seasoned record collector, as well as those first venturing into the world of vinyl. After ordering the machine, the package comes with ten blank five-inch discs. The device also allows the user to plug in the audio source from any device including a computer or phone. From there, you simply “engrave sound directly from the recording stylus,” Suzuki told Design Week. You can then instantly playback sound using the tone arm and in-built speaker.” Detailing further, he explained: “You simply plug in your iPhone, computer, audio player – any sound source – through the mini audio jack to supply sound to record your own record,” in a separate interview with Dezeen. “Put the stylus down on the surface and start making the record.”
Baltimore, MD | Dentist and record store owner Dr. Anton Grobani dies from coronavirus: The contrast between Dr. Anton Grobani’s two careers often took people by surprise. The day after Keith Moon died, the Annapolis dentist took out the 1975 record “Two Sides of the Moon” and put it on prominent display in his record shop. “Dr. Grobani would not be the first guess as the sort of person to pay homage to a member of the band that regularly smashed its equipment at the end of performances,” a Sun writer remarked in 1978. A father of five, Dr. Grobani was a dentist by trade as well as a music lover who ran record stores in Maryland and Virginia. A longtime baseball fan, he wrote a book on the sport some refer to as “The Grobani Bible.” His friends call him a “Renaissance Mensch.” …Dr. Grobani’s career as a record shop owner began in the 1970s, when he purchased The Record Exchange in Annapolis. He later branched out to shops in College Park, Bowie, and Fairfax. On Facebook, former employees remembered at first writing him off as a grouchy old man, only later discovering his vast knowledge of and appreciation for music. One former employee remembered how he drove a vintage car with a license plate, “Cpl593h.” It was a reference to a song by Roxy Music, one of his favorite bands. “I remember being really young, in my late teens or early 20s, and just thinking ‘Wow, that old man is cooler than I ever will be,’ ” the employee wrote.
Ghostbusters soundtrack getting limited edition marshmallow colored vinyl: Walmart is back again with yet ANOTHER exclusive, this time a limited edition marshmallow colored vinyl record! The vinyl is the standard soundtrack that we all know in love, featuring tracks from Ray Parker Jr., Thompson Twins, Air Supply, The Bus Boys, and more! Release is expected for April 30th, 2020 and can be pre-ordered. The marshmallow colored vinyl adds to a long list of Ghostbusters themed items now hitting Walmart stores that include a new Monopoly game, Real Ghostbusters figures, and both a PKE meter and ghost trap. Special thanks to our friends at Ghostbusters World Hub for the heads up!
