as a customer, these days the only time i'm tempted to grumble a snarky comment is when i'm in the biggest vinyl shop in my city, where aside from the owner the staff is all hip kids in their 20s. and literally every time i'm in there, i can see that they're listening to Spotify over the store PA, not records. i'm not a fascist about formats but i always want to say "seriously? you cant find a few records you might want to play in this big ol store?"
― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Friday, 7 July 2023 19:35 (ten months ago) link
wow I was under the impression that rule #1 of a store was "never play anything that's not there for sale"
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 7 July 2023 19:36 (ten months ago) link
"FREE YOURSELF! You don't actually have to stand next to him while he shops for records. There is a park down the street. A lovely boutique next door. And around the corner is the saturday farmer's market! Lots of things to see. He can call you when he's done. Just please promise that you won't let him hand you records to hold for him while he shops. Because I might have to actually pop the next guy who does that in the snoot. He doesn't hold your stuff for you at your favorite...uh...lady store, does he? I should say not. We have books here. Look at some books! Here is one about relationships in the 21st century. Kidding. On second thought, just RUN!"
― scott seward, Saturday, 8 July 2023 15:17 (ten months ago) link
Why do you have so few used records and so many reissues of widely available records?
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:36 (ten months ago) link
I took my mom to Amoeba once. As I was paying she asked the clerk if I had good taste. What's he gonna say? "Nah this stuff sucks"
― official representative of Roku's Basketshit in at least one alternate u (lukas), Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:37 (ten months ago) link
lol
― The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Elektra) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:58 (ten months ago) link
DId she ask your friends about you when you were growing up?
― The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Elektra) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:59 (ten months ago) link
my window is all books now. just felt like it. it's summer! that's how you know a record store is cool. when their window is full of books.
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/358559602_10161322340302137_7299805846433994304_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=9LHna5i9KfAAX_HtzHc&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfD8qyX9TvKHPm-k1qPatcToRiiBMFL3kKsyBlT9R0fdiQ&oe=64AF58FB
https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/359325041_10161322340542137_7680356592623422350_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=FB0a5dnAB2IAX831uqJ&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AfAnWk5kRXmYN0E6zzTfFEZ-zEb7TXWj3YwNDgOzrUbXvQ&oe=64AE2371
https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/358529043_10161322340742137_1378366645273324171_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=kMC9ECCkIdAAX8tv1-I&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AfBv2TUhVMQ6GZ1pqjNSbMynv969B2SOG-TY1MtrHarf0Q&oe=64AE59CB
― scott seward, Saturday, 8 July 2023 18:03 (ten months ago) link
"you should put that record down and look at the records in the racks with two hands. its way easier that way. one-handed with a full row of records is kind of a dumb way to see things. in my opinion."
there. needed to get that off my chest.
― scott seward, Saturday, 8 July 2023 18:06 (ten months ago) link
my partner INSISTS on holding my records for me when we’re record shopping and I feel like such a poop
― brimstead, Saturday, 8 July 2023 18:22 (ten months ago) link
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR)
because used records (especially desirable ones) are increasingly hard to find, afaict
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 8 July 2023 18:29 (ten months ago) link
this is something i'm not supposed to say to people. here goes. i LOVE being in my store when nobody is here. hahaha! i am worst capitalist!
https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/358683431_10161322472032137_8743356136386483654_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=idzdyQsIMksAX_GJ6Ti&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AfDOOeTwExVDgIxyBqZSKz_FrQoSuMMnDx_Ye9olkQoeEw&oe=64AE3F4A
― scott seward, Saturday, 8 July 2023 19:23 (ten months ago) link
i bet so many dudes have farted in that little place
― ꙮ (map), Saturday, 8 July 2023 20:09 (ten months ago) link
cute girl bought a youth of today record today. #connecticutstraightedgehardcorewillneverdie
― scott seward, Saturday, 8 July 2023 20:42 (ten months ago) link
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 7 July 2023 20:36 bookmarkflaglink
hate this! I was in a record shop last year and they were playing a Yummy Fur LP. I was like oh how much is this I want this record and they were like oh this our copy sorry. don't play it in the shop then you bastards lol
― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 8 July 2023 23:06 (ten months ago) link
“I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by the Beta Band.”
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, 9 July 2023 01:55 (ten months ago) link
i still listen to beta band but i take it off in the store if someone comes in. i used to get self-conscious if someone came in and i was playing cliche record store stuff. velvet underground. beach boys. or the two most revered rock bands in the world according to the lame-ass people who come into my store: zed lep and fink ployd.
sometimes i will get caught playing something that is actually mine and very rarely someone will ask me if its for sale and i just make up a really high price. sold a few good records that way! they called my bluff!
― scott seward, Sunday, 9 July 2023 17:03 (ten months ago) link
hi scott please don't stop posting, I very much enjoy this thread and your revived presence on the board, don't let one person's misplaced anger put you off
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 16 July 2023 23:53 (ten months ago) link
I learned about I Was the President's Mistress!! from this fantastic thread
― New No-No Bettencourt (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 17 July 2023 03:28 (ten months ago) link
xpost - agreed!
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 17 July 2023 03:44 (ten months ago) link
yes
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 17 July 2023 09:03 (ten months ago) link
guy comes in and stands in front of me and says: "Jazz".
and i say: "uhhhhhhhh, okay. you want some?"
"Jazz".
"Dude, what the..."
"Bill Evans. Steve Allen. Got any? Chet Baker. I have lots of records. I'll probably just give them to you. I'm getting old. I don't listen to jazz anymore. Got any Steve Allen?"
"Wait, you have records with you?"
"No, I live in New York State..."
"Our jazz is by the window there."
He looks for one minute then turns and says really loudly: "WELP, NOTHIN'!" And then he shrugs his shoulders in a really exaggerated and broad way like he's in a silent movie.
He leaves without another word and then I say: "What the fuck?" "Fuck you, you fucking weirdo."
Then I go about my business.
― scott seward, Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:57 (ten months ago) link
ShopGPT
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:06 (ten months ago) link
I feel I need to make a pilgrimage to this store and ask you where the 90's IDM section is and watch you twitch
― octobeard, Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:17 (ten months ago) link
some of these stories remind me of Daffer, this beloved Minneapolis record store dude. Daffer was, you know, a little different and also suffered from severe narcolepsy.
he was forever going through the bargain records (which were in bins on the floor underneath the main racks) and delivering his signature catch phrase "Why so expensive?", then his narcolepsy would kick in and he would take a snooze on the floor of the store. Everyone know the deal so you'd just gingerly step around him and let him take a little nap. then, he'd wake up like nothing happened and keep browsing.
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:21 (ten months ago) link
(this was at Treehouse Records mostly, which was the newer name of the legendary Replacement/Husker daze institution Oar Folkjokeapus)
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:22 (ten months ago) link
i think you both made a little jazz there
― New No-No Bettencourt (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:22 (ten months ago) link
You know how they say music is largely the notes you don't play?
Maybe the moral of the story is that a record store is largely the records you don't have
― Some people call me Maurice Chevalier (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:47 (ten months ago) link
Lol
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:00 (ten months ago) link
i have a guy now who has just been reeling off names of things i don't have for the last hour and a half. "You know what I don't see? Parliament. Parliament/Funkadelic? Huh. Is it somewhere that I'm not seeing?"
Yes, some other store!
does anyone do this in any other kind of store?
i have about 4 to 5 thousand records in the store at any given time. there will be a few missing...
― scott seward, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:31 (ten months ago) link
(also when anyone tells me about terrible experiences they had with a multitude of record stores and dealers over decades of time i say to myself: "uh oh i'm probably next. what terrible new story will i give this guy to tell to other record store people in the future?")
― scott seward, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:41 (ten months ago) link
damn, sounds like someone from michelin was at your store
― New No-No Bettencourt (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:42 (ten months ago) link
I worked in a record store in Boulder, Colorado in the 80s. We had an endless parade of insufferable dudes like this.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 27 July 2023 18:31 (ten months ago) link
Scott, you’d probably have some Parliament-Funkadelic if you priced them NOT to sell! You ever consider that? How are you gonna have any good records in your store if you keep selling them?
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 27 July 2023 22:55 (ten months ago) link
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 27 July 2023 23:19 (ten months ago) link
Running the record store might be described as “an endless parade of insufferable dudes”
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Friday, 28 July 2023 01:01 (ten months ago) link
its actually not that bad! my corner of the world is sleepy. at least they only come in one at a time. i like to complain but i can't complain. it used to bug me when people would say "It must be nice to sit and listen to records all day" because i know how hard i hustle to keep a full store of decent stuff all the time - let alone for 14 years - but now i'm like: uh, you know what, it IS nice to listen to records all day.
meanwhile , i just bought 30,000 records so i'll see you in...january.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 2 August 2023 12:33 (ten months ago) link
<3
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, 2 August 2023 13:36 (ten months ago) link
new name. new bags. only took 14 years. i always raise an eyebrow when people start selling shirts for their record store before they actually open. i wanted to make sure i was ready.
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/365465155_10161373913462137_3791527539330556956_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=s63mnYQ2cu0AX_pjT4L&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfAvWCTkVXs436yDYammUtLnOQqTLRduxUCMiHxoUODAIw&oe=64CFE55A
― scott seward, Thursday, 3 August 2023 14:55 (ten months ago) link
nice merch! really dig the logo
― sknybrg, Thursday, 3 August 2023 16:43 (ten months ago) link
"are the prices hard?"
"uhhhhh, huh? the prices are the prices..."
"what's with all these different prices...5...10...15...??"
"uhhhhh, yeah, things have different prices...?? Do you wish they were the same...? i don't understand.."
― scott seward, Friday, 4 August 2023 19:42 (ten months ago) link
do you know what store is...
― scott seward, Friday, 4 August 2023 19:43 (ten months ago) link
sometimes i don't get it. i guess they wondered how i came up with prices? they also mentioned that there was no condition on the record...
like i'm gonna put the condition on every record?
people baffle me.
then some guy said "i don't see any bargain cd area..."
and i said "like dollar CDs? no, there is a salvation army around the corner though. i think those are $1.99 plus tax..."
― scott seward, Friday, 4 August 2023 19:45 (ten months ago) link
then my pal willie lane came in and everything was alright again. willie is an excellent musician who puts out his own records in small batches and then he never reissues them. though feeding tube did actually reissue an old one recently. he doesn't reissue them himself though.
― scott seward, Friday, 4 August 2023 19:46 (ten months ago) link
i'm in the back working and maria is up front listening to sadness and responding in kind: "oh wow yeah your family loves the beatles..."
last parting quote from sadness: "i don't have any money..."
thanks for stopping by.
― scott seward, Thursday, 10 August 2023 15:14 (nine months ago) link
Willie Lane is great! tell him good job
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 10 August 2023 15:16 (nine months ago) link
i will!
― scott seward, Thursday, 10 August 2023 15:29 (nine months ago) link
tooooooooooooooooo many copies around here of:
david bromberg (jesus, so many. holy shit. you couldn't pay me to listen to one. same with leo kottke and leo sayer.)
joan armatrading (love you joan but you rival national geographics in sheer land mass in the great commonwealth of massachusetts)
the roches (weeeeee are maggie, terre, and we are friggin' everywhere...)
mccggarrigglle sisters (you wish roches our records actually mate and give birth to more of our records forever......)
sweet honey in the...(okay you get the picture.)
i refuse all records by: tom rush, fogeldork, kenny dorkins, dorkins & logorrhea, wet willie, les dudek, chi-raqo, muddy blahs...so many more.
― scott seward, Thursday, 10 August 2023 16:48 (nine months ago) link
really no Moody Blues? I would think those would sell?
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 10 August 2023 17:19 (nine months ago) link
with u on the rest tho
Ha, "are these all your records" is definitely one of the top questions asked by "dads walking around the store like its a museum" types.
Twice in the last few weeks young-ish (like late teens, early 20s) customers have asked me where they can get a "record player with one of those big horn things on top" to play their records on. I had to explain an antique gramophone is probably not the best option. But then I googled and saw amazon sells some shitty new version of them so I'll probably just walk into the ocean later.
― fasmackhead, Monday, 6 November 2023 14:06 (seven months ago) link
“I played my new T Swift album on my gramophone and it sounds all scratchy and hyperpop. How can I stop this from happening.”
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Monday, 6 November 2023 17:29 (seven months ago) link
it's the next vaporwave
― Evan, Monday, 6 November 2023 17:30 (seven months ago) link
record stores should offer overnight lock-ins with a turntable, a comfy chair and a couple of bottles of wine. charge a fee, set a minimum spend amount. would totally get stuck into those crates of 45s that no-one ever has the time to go through― blazin' squab (NickB), Monday, October 30, 2023 10:22 PM (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
― blazin' squab (NickB), Monday, October 30, 2023 10:22 PM (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
I saw a news story about a record store that does exactly this! Crazy days...
― Mark G, Wednesday, 29 November 2023 07:56 (six months ago) link
indeed! was a bit of chat about that on this thread...
Shady scams and other silly business ideas to take advantage of earnest new vinyl collectors
― blazin' squab (NickB), Wednesday, 29 November 2023 08:23 (six months ago) link
i had a nice chat with mark from the old record peddler shop in manchester uk. he came in with some friends. and yes i did grill him pretty good for Factory artist stories. i always want more vini reilly tidbits. it must have been so cool to get FAC releases hot off the press for your shop in the 80s!
https://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/gfx/7061/400-1.jpg
― scott seward, Thursday, 30 November 2023 18:41 (six months ago) link
penn jillette came in the other day. he's really nice. he was bugging out over the weird stuff i have. and he was very complimentary. said really nice stuff about the store. he bought a huge box of comedy records from us 10 years ago or so and we shipped them to him in las vegas and he said he was still getting through them all. but he's a busy guy. no time to listen to records! he's from Greenfield. i forgot to give him a t-shirt. he's so damn tall. i also forgot to ask him if he had checked out the new Cheech & Chong pot dispensary down the street a block. speaking of comedy.
― scott seward, Friday, 8 December 2023 21:08 (five months ago) link
You ever listen to this? I was always curious myself...
https://i.discogs.com/fNMqpkbYh3oC7hBqZS5wOVIozKbPK9lDxrveVknFhXA/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:597/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE5MDI5/OTUtMTI1MTMwNDg0/NC5qcGVn.jpeg
― Evan, Friday, 8 December 2023 21:15 (five months ago) link
way too obvious things you find in records...
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/411637381_10161633782097137_7926552940571295852_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=RtiLLQr6tvUAX9BETb3&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfBVqOYKn1Y0G_Ecu3uHGGTw_jWkvS4gZnyxx_bgfCRAyA&oe=65896FF0
― scott seward, Thursday, 21 December 2023 19:23 (five months ago) link
That’s oregano brah
― calstars, Thursday, 21 December 2023 20:27 (five months ago) link
Scott to clarify I was legitimately asking if you knew about that "Captain Howdy" project, cause that's really Penn
― Evan, Thursday, 21 December 2023 20:55 (five months ago) link
oh yeah sure i remember the captain howdy but i don't recall offhand what it sounds like. i know i heard it in my days of listening to shimmy disc stuff. i almost brought it up to him at the store!
― scott seward, Thursday, 21 December 2023 23:36 (five months ago) link
I've always hoped to find a pot leaf or a 10-strip of acid or something, but the only drugs I've found in a record was a single stem in a copy of Goody Goody.
https://i.discogs.com/goKcSTC5bF9q_gRaITx9lGkoQnaDtCWXGUu4ezmdsc8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1Mzgy/MjAwLTE2NzAzMDYw/MjQtNzcwNy5wbmc.jpeg
― peace, man, Friday, 22 December 2023 16:28 (five months ago) link
If this is a dumb question I know Scott will say so (and possibly save me some embarrassment), so here it goes: I’ve thankfully made it to the stage of my life where I can afford the records I love but buying from Discogs has been a nightmare (e.g., the two common issues are unreported hairline scratches and sending me the wrong pressing). Is there a service (or maybe record shops do this) where I give someone a list of the several hundred records I want and they track them down and ship them to me? Maybe they’d get 10% of the cost or something?
― Allen (etaeoe), Thursday, 11 April 2024 17:48 (one month ago) link
you could post a list link here, ILX might not have all but I bet we have some. see also:
selling my fucking records
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Thursday, 11 April 2024 18:00 (one month ago) link
https://medium.com/@scottseward68/open-for-business-confessions-of-a-used-record-dealer-in-new-england-42985dbca372
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, 21 April 2024 18:25 (one month ago) link
Feeling this. The folks who come in and tell you about the records they own, wanting you to be impressed. No details, just … that they have a record collection. Ooooooh! No fucking shit? You have over a hundred records? Please tell me about it. Or that they USED to have one, and sold it or dumped it like everyone else did. So do you wanna buy them all back, then? No? You don’t have a record player anymore? What the fuck are you doing in my store preventing me from doing something useful like helping the other customers or picking my hangnails?
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, 21 April 2024 18:32 (one month ago) link
Thanks for this piece, Scott. It’s therapeutic.
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, 21 April 2024 18:33 (one month ago) link
haha, no problem!
― scott seward, Sunday, 21 April 2024 21:23 (one month ago) link
Is there a service (or maybe record shops do this) where I give someone a list of the several hundred records I want and they track them down and ship them to me? Maybe they’d get 10% of the cost or something?
Basically no. That's a tremendous amount of work you're asking already-busy shop owners/employees to do for like $3 per record. Especially for a picky buyer ("unreported hairline scratches").
― Reeves Gabrels' Funko Pop (majorairbro), Tuesday, 23 April 2024 00:38 (one month ago) link
I’ve all but given up trying to sell the wonderful Martha & the Muffins and Doug & the Slugs records.
fwiw I would buy all your Martha & The Muffins records (except This Is The Ice Age because I've already got that one) but I suspect you are too far away for that to be worthwhile
― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 23 April 2024 13:46 (one month ago) link
Postage is pretty cheap! I think at this point I’ve given up on even trying to flog M&M so I dunno if I even have good copies anymore but I can put ‘em aside for you when they come in & bundle them off for practically nothing.
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Tuesday, 23 April 2024 23:20 (one month ago) link
Pretty cheap when sending multiple records, that is.
is it any better now? the UK<->US rates have sucked for a while
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 00:34 (one month ago) link
I can usually send stuff to Europe for $30 or so, up to a certain point where it all of a sudden turns into $100
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 04:13 (one month ago) link
it's ok, it's not worth paying $20-30 postage when I can buy those records here. thanks anyway. found a VG+ copy of Trance & Dance for £4.50. Metro Music goes for a bit more
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 07:49 (one month ago) link
I am driving out to Greenfield tomorrow. 😎
― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, 17 May 2024 17:47 (two weeks ago) link
Scott I saw your note on what to say/not to say to non-record ppl and, considering I ambushed you with a surprise visit to the shop and multiple ppl in tow, you were great! Not that I'm a non-record person just saying. I don't think you need the note! ❤️ Allen - stop by! SS is greay. Oh, I miss MA. sigh.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Friday, 17 May 2024 17:53 (two weeks ago) link
We miss you too. :(
― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, 17 May 2024 17:58 (two weeks ago) link
Snagged some KLF singles!
― Allen (etaeoe), Sunday, 19 May 2024 14:45 (two weeks ago) link