So This Really Is The End....
Hi All,
Just thought I'd take a minute to share. Since 1976, I've been a customer of a record store in the University of Cincinnati area called Mole's Records. The store has been in existence for over forty five years. Tonight I've just come home from the party celebrating its final day. I'm sure the party is still happening but I decided to exit, as a flood of memories leaves me with the need to pause and reflect. Whenever I would catch a show at a small venue called Bogarts (Todd Rundgren, Butthole Surfers, Warren Zevon, etc...) I'd first stop in and B.S. with the owner. As a teenager, I never really had any money so I wasn't buying records or CD's until the mid 1980's but that was all -right by the owner and I know I was just one of many who would do the same thing. The store was small but they had a good distributor and I could buy boutique audiophile CD's and vinyl like; Audio Fidelity, MOFI, Analogue Productions, record store day releases, and used originals. If they didn't have it, then I could typically place an order and get it within a couple of weeks. My last purchase was the Analogue Productions Hybrid SACD of Steely Dan's 'Two Against Nature'. Great sounding mix by the way! Of course, we still have record stores in this relatively small mid-western town but Mole's was the oldest store still in existence. And I have to honestly say, I'm not exactly sure how these other record stores can financially make a go of it. I'm now at a place where I'm totally relying on downloads, internet orders and Qobuz. Anyway, just feeling sentimental so thanks!
I was thinking 1972 .... 😁 It seems you are a young mind in an old body... In the opposite i am an old mind in a young body... at least i felt so... But i may be wrong and it could be the opposite... Anyway we are magnets and you are south and me North or perhaps the opposite...
«We are always two minus one»-Groucho Marx 🤓 |
Yeah, old timer here as well. Definitely miss the olden days of walking into record stores and having at it. I’ve bought a lot of stuff over the years. But.... I find I don’t care as much since starting with Roon. Much more efficient and cost effective way to extensively explore the enormous world of music that is out there already and keeps on growing. Gotta get with the times. I’d hate to have to make a living selling records in a B&M store these days. Still some things I find that I do not yet own but would like to. CDs and records are still good for that. Records for the whole package and makes for nice wall art framed but not stream-able unless you convert it yourself, which I still do quite regularly. Doesn’t make sense to buy albums and just stash them away on a shelf 99.99999% of the time anymore. Old habits are sometimes not easy to change. Lots of cool old records still out there that can be had for not much at Goodwill, etc.
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@mapman One thing Qobuz or Tidal doesn't offer are those boutique audiophile remasters from companies like Analogue Productions, MOFI, etc...Anyway, given my current set up, my local file storage sounds better than streaming. I tried Roon but my streamer/renderer internal software sounds better and I couldn't get Roon to recognize DSD. Roon is easily the best organizer of files, I just wish it sounded more like Audirvana. So given that, I'm still in the market for tangible CD's and at times, newly remastered or original vinyl. Moles Records was my anchor in this sense so now, I'll have to make determinations about certain title selections on my own. I'm likely in the minority but I still believe there are many record collectors out there who are finding themselves in the same circumstance. |
I think the title of the post says an awful lot. When Jim Morrison sang “….MUSIC is your ONLY friend….” In The Doors song “The End” I felt he was speaking directly to me. In high school I thought that more than once. Flipping through the record stacks, drifting along, checking out the foxy girl one row over, listening to something new playing on the store stereo…..that was many a weekend days pleasure for me. Browsing Discogs, or Amazon, etc. will never be a substitute. As always, as the song goes, these are the good old days. |
@mahgister ...*g* Yeah, we can be North/South and be civil about, for sure.... *fist bump/hand jive/brobodbump/(and, of course) handshake.... ;) The 'polarity shift' you've noted, the young/old~old/young thing gets one by the ears too often of late.... "..should I stay or should I go..." is less of a question and more of a choice that'll get made regardless of how one feels about it... In the meanwhile, I'll work at finishing that which will never be completely completed... Best, J |
