The day the music died
April 18th, 2008 by Amanda Schurr in Music, News
“The record store. Where true fandom begins. It’s the soul of discovery, and the place where you can always return for that mighty buzz. The posters. The imports. The magazines. The discerning clerks, paid in vinyl, professors of the groove. Long live that first step inside, when the music envelopes you and you can’t help it. You walk up to the counter and ask the question that begins the journey — “what is that you’re playing?” Long live the record store, and the guys and girls who turn the key, and unlock those dreams, every day.” – Cameron Crowe
Tomorrow, April 19, is Record Store Day, when hundreds of independently owned record stores nationwide celebrate themselves. And why not? You never forget your first one.
For me, it was Boogie Woogie on Clark Road — the antithesis of the Camelot Music, Specs, even Best Buy of my youth. The place where I bought umpteen copies of Jeff Buckley’s Grace — because I’d given mine away, again. Where I first OD’d on Otis, scoured for Coltrane and had a friendly debate with a fellow customer as to why I dug Digable Planets more than De La Soul. The sanctuary where I found that Japanese Radiohead import, and that Italian bootleg of Live’s 1995 performance on Unplugged (back when they were cool).
The High Fidelity-esque staffers were discriminating, intimidating, but a source of comfort nonetheless. They knew their shit (except for that girl who referred to a certain Clash frontman as John Strummer — I still cringe when I recall it). That WAS, in fact, a good Chet Baker compilation, Christopher. Thanks for the suggestion, man, not to mention that out-of-print Dweezil Zappa disc.
Yep, Boogie Woogie was my blueprint, and I suspect a few others out there feel the same. Tomorrow would be the perfect day to get off your ass, let the iTunes be for the moment and show your local indie music store some love.
Except Boogie Woogie — at both its Sarasota and Bradenton locations — shut its doors for good on Thursday. There wasn’t enough love to sustain business, as it turns out.
How’s that for timing?
April 21st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
This is sad news. Spent much time, especially at the Bradenton location, perusing for deals during my years at The Herald. Luckily, in Tampa we have Vinyl Fever, Sound Exchange, Sensuous Sounds (and probably a few others I’m forgetting). I couldn’t imagine living in a town without an indie record store. Damn those MP3s!