Vinyl record store called ‘Sunday Records’ to open in Riverhead: An East Moriches couple’s love of records is culminating in a plan to bring a new record store to downtown Riverhead. “A good old fashioned record store like you used to walk into back in the ’70s and early ’80s,” said Brian Volkman of his plans. “Just records. There aren’t any CDs or anything else.” Mr. Volkman and his wife Deborah are planning to open “Sunday Records” on 125 Roanoke Ave. They own the building, and they’ve been doing most of the work of assembling the record store themselves and with family members. They’re hoping to have it open by the Country Fair in October. But it will only be open one day per week — Sunday. At least initially.
The kings of spin! Vinyl record enthusiasts can browse through an extensive collection and enjoy food and drink at a new store in York. The coffee shop and record store, FortyFive Vinyl Café, opened its doors in Micklegate on Bank Holiday Monday. It offers an eclectic selection of vinyl records, coffee sourced from Bradford, simple snacks and sandwiches. The café is co-owned by three entrepreneurial friends Dom White, Steve McNichol and Dan Kentley. Dom said: “The aim of FortyFive Vinyl Café, is to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where our customers can enjoy fantastic coffee without fuss and frills, good quality music, whether live or on vinyl, and a selection of simple, honest and tasty food.”
The success story behind Plymouth’s newest vinyl record store, Tony Gilliam’s city market store has proved very popular with music fans: A vinyl record store in the City Market has proved so popular it has doubled in size in just three months of trading. Tony Gilliam opened Just For The Record in May and in less than three months his new business venture has expanded to fill the space of two stalls. “It’s taken me by surprise,” Tony said of his success. “It was a bit of a gamble for me initially and I wondered if I would end up with egg on my face, but I figured I would give it a go. The first day was unbelievable, it was very big. The singles sell phenomenally. People will go through them for ages. A lot of people want a copy of the single that was number one when they were born.”
The world’s best record shops #078: Stranded, San Francisco: Stranded opened in 2012 as the retail arm for Superior Viaduct, the reissue label responsible for bringing some of the 20th century’s most interesting releases from the periphery into the spotlight, from the soundtrack to Tarkovsky’s epic Solaris, to John and Alice Coltrane’s Cosmic Music. Following the label’s aesthetic to focus modestly on records you wouldn’t generally find in every store, Stranded covers both new and used vinyl from classic avant-garde to post-punk, experimental and ambient, to free jazz. Named after William Eggleston’s 1974 film Stranded In Canton, which follows the photographer’s documentation of soul in Memphis and New Orleans, the shop has since expanded to San Francisco, where it took over the legendary Aquarius Records in 2016.
Remember This: Every trip to Wizard Records was a magical mystery tour of its own, Crates of LPs, rock stars, the epicenter of vibe: Musicians from throughout the land, both world-famous and struggling locals, would visit. Music lovers and “crate diggers” — treasure hunters who loved rifling through peach crates of old vinyl LPs – frequented it. Wizened city dwellers searched for gold alongside wide-eyed suburban teens making their first trip into “the big city.” This place was in a land called Corryville, and even its name conveyed the sense of sorcery its many fans felt it deserved: Wizard. Or, more precisely, Wizard Records & Tapes. “We lived in magical times,” said John James, former owner. “There was something so magical about Wizard. Bands playing at Bogart’s would do sound checks and then come hang out. We’d have their stuff displayed in the window.”
