April 17, 2011

'Cause you're gonna go to the record store, you're gonna give 'em all your money.

I'm linking up with FTLOB today :-)



In honor of yesterday being National Record Store Day, I wanted to share a few memories I have of record stores.

First and foremost, I can't really think of record stores, or music in general most times, without thinking of my dad. When I was younger, we would go downtown on Saturdays and check out the used record stores, especially Wazoo.

He would look through the crates upon crates of discs and I would stand on my tip toes to even see most of them. Usually, I spent most of the time looking at all the old posters on the wall-they were so intricate and interesting. After he got done and picked out his discs, we would go to the coffee shop downstairs so he could get his coffee and I could get steamed milk and honey.

The record store we used to go to also bought/traded in cd's. I had a few that I didn't listen to anymore and decided I was going to trade them in. The guy working the counter was a college student who we'd seen pretty much every week we went there so he recognized my dad and me alongside him. I showed him my cd's for trade-in, which were probably a few kids music compilations and some classical music, and looking back on it, I can tell he didn't really want to give me any money back because he probably wasn't going to sell them, but he did anyway. I'm not even sure what I ended up getting, but I thought it was just the coolest.



We also used to stop by Tower Records and I would browse the used cd's there, too. One time, I bought Savage Garden but when I took it home, the cd was broke in half! I took it back and exchanged it for No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, which ended up changing a lot of my musical taste. I'm thoroughly convinced that the music god's played some divine intervention on that one.

When I was in middle school, a record store, Rubber Sole, opened up in Ypsi, so my dad went there a few times a week and became pretty good friends with the owners (we still see them around town even though the shop closed a few years ago). Upstairs from store, they had a space that they used for performaces. One day when I was there, they were playing a local musician's album, names Brandon Wiard. I was in love at first listen (and it's still one of my favorite albums). He was playing a show a few weeks later and my dad brought me to watch him. I can so clearly remember standing in the corner, staring at him while he played. I was in awe and just so impressed. I had a crush on him for years-bought all his albums, saw him play, wore his tee shirts and merch. I ended up seeing him at a concert last fall and I still got all smile-y, even almost 10 years later.

I have lots of great memories, but these are just a few of my favorites :-)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What fantastic memories of music and your father. Don't you love how a song can carry you back to a moment in time? I loved No Doubt. My daughter is named Gwen ;)

Katherines Corner said...

I love this post. I have over 100 record albums. Isn't it wonderful how a song can bring back memories.I enjoyed my visit to your lovely blog. Wishing you happiness, Katherine. P.S. new giveaway posted on my blog today. I hope you;ll stop by.

Becky @ Rub Some Dirt On It said...

Great memory weaved in to a great post. I just read about National Record Store day and I think it's a great idea. Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere so I can't participate!! Glad I came by from Comment Love Day, and now I have Reel Big Fish in my head ;)

Anonymous said...

I've never really been into a record store. Just a CD store a couple times when I was younger and the CD section of my favorite stores nearly every time I go to them.

That's great that these places bring up memories of your dad. Memories with parents are great, especially if you did a lot of fun activities with them.


Sarah the Writer
Hopping over from Comment Love Day on FTLOB!
This Writer's Journey

Ross said...

I remember record stores as that place I would go every weekend. We would look at everything we wanted and make that mental checklist of what we wanted. Now the record store is one of those lost businesses. Great memory you have. Great site to. I'll be back again to read more.

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