Nashville, TN | Community Tries To Save Randy’s Record Shop: A Sumner County staple, Randy’s Record Shop, is in jeopardy of being torn down, but the community has come together to try to save it. Randy’s Record Shop opened in the 1940’s by Randy Wood. It quickly became the world’s largest mail-order record company. The vinyl shop also became a hangout spot for residents of all ages. It closed in 1991, but the building still stands — barely. Neighbors are afraid it’ll be torn down. Lifetime Gallatin resident Johnny Griffin is trying to drum up support to help save the historic spot. “It means so much to people. We’re here in a small town, there’s no putting it back. So I’m just trying my best to help it,” said Johnny Griffin. Griffin is working to contact the owner and possibly start a Gofundme page to save the building. Griffin said he would love to see it open as a revived record store.
Chicago, IL | Val Camilletti dies at 78; ran Oak Park record store loved by music fans: Music lovers would walk into her Val’s halla Records store and say, “I heard this song I love, and it goes like this” — and start humming. Owner Val Camilletti could usually figure out the artist, the label and the pressing — sometimes, instantly. She died in hospice care early Tuesday at the British Home in Brookfield, about two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Joanne Busiel, her friend since they attended Chicago’s Austin High School. Ms. Camilletti, who lived in Cicero, was 78. For 46 years, Val’s halla Records — overflowing with thousands of CDs, LPs, cassette tapes, eight-tracks, 78s and 45s, from Abba to ZZ Top – has been an audiophile’s portal to another world…Her devoted customers, who preferred “Auntie Val” to Amazon, sometimes included three and four generations of families.
GameStop Should Consider Selling Vinyl Records: According to The Revenge of Analog (citing a record store owner in Cincinnati, Ohio), profit margins on a new record can be as high as around 40%, while the margins are even fatter on a used record – which can sell for double their cost. The price of used records is increasing as well, as new vinyl users “invest” in new turntables and go out looking for more records. This would likely match up favorably with the margins found on GameStop’s current new and used video game sales…Older records, especially rare ones, also carry a “collectibility” factor. Collectors also apparently flock to exclusive new releases. Both these seem to fit right into GameStop’s business model, and I think it’s something they should pursue aggressively.
Gizmo Geek: The sound that you can touch: There is a photograph often circulated on social media of a cassette tape and a pencil lying side by side. The caption says something to the effect that kids today have no clue about the connection between the two. Yet for those of us above a certain age, the image never fails to elicit a smile. For true audiophiles, though, analogue sound is no smiling matter—sales of vinyl records have never been higher over the past few decades, and there are whispers that even the cassette might nudge its way back. Analogue sound and magnetic tapes are serious business because nothing else can replicate the experience of “being there”. As Roland Schneider of Ballfinger said, “Digital media is great, but experiencing music is more than just listening to a sound file—it’s sensual, it’s reels that turn and can be touched.”
Comparison: Vintage and modern record players: Record players have been around for a very long time. A few decades ago, when cassette and other forms of music players were invented, record players went out of fashion and eventually became a collectors’ item. However, with time they are modernized and brought back to the world as turntables and simple record players. They are a great option for people that have vinyl records and for people who like mixing up live music like DJs. A few of the most popular record players in 2018 have more than simply music player features. They can edit soundtracks and users find more play time with music in these record players. In this article, you will find a great comparison between the vintage and the new record players. We can decipher which ones are actually the best and what sort of differences can be found.
First known David Bowie recording which was rejected by a record label to be sold at auction. The demo was rejected by a record label six years before he found worldwide success. Fancy owning a piece of music history? David Bowie’s first known studio recording is going up for auction. A demo from 1963 featuring a 16 year old Bowie singing I Never Dreamed with his band The Konrads is up for sale after it was rediscovered by the band’s drummer David Hadfield in a bread basket in his loft. The group were turned down by major label Decca and the tape was never released. The tape is expected to fetch £10,000 (€11,220) when it goes up for auction along with Hadfield’s other music memorabilia in September. It is widely believed to be Bowie’s first ever recording. Bowie quit The Konrads shortly after their label rejection, with Bowie citing artistic differences. It would take another six years for Bowie to emerge as a successful solo artist with Space Oddity.
