Tampa Calling

Vinyl Fever is part of a coalition of about 30 other stores like ours all across the country. It has improved the kind of attention we get from record labels (like all the free samplers and 7″ers we get on such a regular basis, and more access to bands for in-stores). The best part of it is that we share ideas amongst ourselves without concern about sharing secrets, like there’d be if we were actual competitors. With all the hoopla that has taken place in the music industry the past 10 years, it has been quite a saving grace and we’ve made some great friends with some of the best damn record stores in the U.S.

What I love most about this alliance is when the conversations and ideas move beyond music industry junk and into a more universal realm.

Read the rest of this entry »

Record stores have been a big part of my life almost as long as I can remember. The closing of great shops like the Boogie Woogie locations, which I frequented during my Sarasota/Bradenton days, saddens and scares me. I don’t like to imagine a world without places like Vinyl Fever, Sound Exchange and Sensuous Sound Systems (the three Tampa locations I’ve visit the most). For me, there are few things more relaxing and uplifting than spending several hours going through racks of CDs, looking at the artwork, searching for good deals on classic discs not already included in my collection, which numbers around 1,500 these days and will not be replaced by digital files any time soon. Music without physical liner notes? I don’t think so. Plus, many of the CDs have sentimental value, like the copy of Radiohead’s OK Computer I waited in line to purchase the day it came out when I went to school in Gainesville.

I woke up groggy Saturday thanks to the Have Gun, Will Travel show at Crowbar, which wrapped around 3 a.m. the night before. Yeah, I was hurting, but not so bad that I couldn’t make it over to Vinyl Fever to join in the National Record Store Day festivities, which included a slew of $.99 CDs, “goodie bags” of promo compilation discs and live soul music spun by the Business Casual DJs. I hit up the “3 for $25″ CD shelves (all brand new) and bought six used VHS tapes (3 for $.99) — because who knows when you simply must watch a grainy copy of The Natural or Bull Durham again? My total for the day: $55.24. Money well spent. Here’s the music I grabbed:

Love: Forever Change (Elektra/Rhino, reissue with bonus tracks, 1967/2001)

Dire Straits: Making Movies (Warner Bros/Warner Remasters, 1980/1996)

Otis Redding: Otis Blue (Atlantic/Atco, 1965/1991)

The J. Geils Band: Blow Your Face Out (Atlantic/Rhino, 1976/1993)

Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead (Warner Bros/Rhino, reissue, 1970/2003)

Various Artists: New Orleans Party Music (Rhino)