"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

My Vinyl Weighs a Ton

Over at Buzzfeed, check out 40 sad portraits of closed record stores.

11 comments

1 NoamSane   ~  Apr 25, 2011 1:26 pm

Shopped at a handful of those. Worked for over 2 years at #25 (Tower Records, San Fran). That group of photos hit me stronger than I thought it would.

2 YankeeAbby   ~  Apr 25, 2011 1:31 pm

I miss the Tower Records on B'way & W. 4th. There was also a store out on Long Island in a local mall in Levittown called Music Trends that I used to frequent to get my Duran Duran import EP's back in my teens and my brother used to shop at a place in Valley Stream called Slip Disc (closed in 2008)

3 NoamSane   ~  Apr 25, 2011 1:35 pm

Tower @ 4th and B'way was the Mecca. Even for jaded Tower employees like me!

4 Alex Belth   ~  Apr 25, 2011 1:39 pm

2) Yup! I remember buying 45s at the one uptown too (featured in "Hannah and Her Sisters"). For hip hop, BEAT STREET in Fulton Mall was a paradise.

5 thelarmis   ~  Apr 25, 2011 2:34 pm

my brother sent me this list last week. yeah, it's really sad. i worked at record world on long island, as a teen and a few other record stores during and after college. and i'm a *huge* cd collector (tape & vinyl, too)

of course, there are many stores missing from the list. most notable, Slipped Disc - the biggest (and best!) rock/metal/new wave/et al - record store on long island.

arboria, was a penn state staple when i was in school there. that store front was their 2nd location and really nice. i believe those guys are on ebay... i used to shop at the vinyl fever in tallahassee. not sure if that one's gone...

i did a ton of shopping at the Tower on Laffayette, in the village. and the Tower Annex. also, the one in Roosevelt Field.

luckily, we still have a handful of rather excellent stores here in Atlanta, but at this point, my needs are so specialized and the discs i search for are so rare, that it's easier for me to shop online...

that said, i just released my debut solo percussion cd, so everyone should buy it!!! ; )

6 Bluenatic   ~  Apr 25, 2011 2:45 pm

Losing Mooncurser Records (City Island) hurt my heart. That store and its owner can never be replaced. Luckily, there are still lots of places to cop vinyl in NYC, most notably the downstairs room at Bleecker Street Records, Fat Beats, and the annual (and unfuckwithable) WFMU Record Fair. If only Rock N' Soul hadn't cut their inventory by 80%.

7 Bluenatic   ~  Apr 25, 2011 2:46 pm

Oh, I almost forgot. The basement at Norman's Sound & Vision still has the good as well. I've found many a gem in their stacks. Gotta give it up.

8 thelarmis   ~  Apr 25, 2011 2:49 pm

[7] yeah, i've found some gems at norman's, but it's not that easy to navigate. if i'm correct, they're Ion Records at ebay/amazon. they've got some rare jazz discs, but it's generally pricey and the condition isn't great.

when i first started collecting cd's, i loved going to Sound's, across the street and upstairs. tons of great finds there, back in the day!

9 Bluenatic   ~  Apr 25, 2011 2:56 pm

[8] I remember Sounds on St. Marks. They used to have some quality used hip hop down in their basement. Alas, like Kim's down the block (which carried our records on consignment), they are no longer. St. Marks is slowly turning into the Mall of America. *Sigh*

10 thelarmis   ~  Apr 25, 2011 3:06 pm

[9] i haven't been to st. marks in many years. and i was always shopping for heavy metal and jazz fusion! : )

my brother and i went to the Record Riot in Brooklyn (at the Warsaw) 2 years ago and to Record Store Day out on Long Island this past Turkey Day. nothing special at either one, but i still managed to come away with some good finds, and some excellent cheap Classical music this past time around.

11 Alex Belth   ~  Apr 25, 2011 3:14 pm

And back WAY when there was King Carroll's too.

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