Vinyl-Wax Nostalgic
One year ago today.
We took our family to Tokyo for spring break. With all the culture and beauty of that amazing city, there was one destination that I was adamant we visit - Tower Records.
Growing up in the suburbs of Boston in the 1980s, the third of four children of Mary and Jack, there was an unbelievably diverse array of music in my house. In the car, my mom would always listen to hymns, classical or if she really wanted to get down, Julio Iglesias. My father listened to anything from Motown to Big Band, all the way to Van Halen. My sister would wake us up every morning with "The Reflex, flex flex flex flex" blaring from her bedroom, and would continue on with more Duran Duran followed by Heart and Aerosmith, "Toys in the Attic". My older brother would have Anthrax and Metallica, "Kill Em ALL" screaming from the basement or NWA blasting from his 77' Cutlass. My younger brother listened to whatever was on at the time as he had no say in things :). I was more fortunate than I realized at the time to be exposed to it all. It set me on a path that ultimately led me to seek out music anywhere and everywhere I could.
There were three music stores that defined my youth.
The first was Needham Music, our local shop where you could buy everything from a saxophone to a double live Derek and the Dominos album on vinyl. We would walk there almost every day after school before heading over to the town common to hang for the afternoon. The owner, Bill, was the nicest guy and would talk shop with a 14-year-old kid as if we were best friends. He would tell you why the album you were buying was different from an artist's previous work or where a guitarist or drummer showed up, uncredited in other artist's work. It was a masterclass long before I knew that was a thing. This is the shop that I associate with my hometown and being so fortunate to be raised where I was, in the time that I was.
Newbury Comics was next. It always had the coolest new music laid out in front of the store. The location in "The Garage" in Harvard Square was where Bill Wilson and I would go when we should have been in school. We would take the T into town and Bill would comb through some of the most obscure titles. He introduced me to The Flaming Lips, The Pipes, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. This is the shop that I associate with my lifelong friendships, with freedom, with drugs and with a twinge of maybe I should have gone to school those days...?
Lastly, there was Tower Records. That store was a behemoth, literally towering over the Mass Turnpike as you headed into the city from the west. It stood on the corner of Mass Ave and Newbury and the sidewalk outside was covered in gold stars featuring the names of Boston music royalty. It occupied 5 floors of the 8 story building that housed it, and you could find anything there from vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and even the occasional Donnie Wahlberg. Tower Records was like going to a library for music. Tower was where you went after you stopped borrowing* (*stealing) from your parents. When you had a job and wanted to make a careful selection of how you spent your hard-earned cash. For me, it meant driving int the city, circling Newbury Street 400 times to find a spot and walking around at night. It was where I would start my night before hitting the bars so that I made sure I didn't blow all my money on drinks. The $9.99 yellow sale stickers were a beacon to finally get the album I didn't have to have but wanted; I just wasn't going to pay $13.99!! for it. This is the shop that I associate the end and the beginning. A new phase of life.
As the years have passed, so much in the way of how music is consumed has changed. Vinyl went by the wayside and CDs became digital downloads. People began to listen more but BUY less. Many record stores could not keep up with the times. Some of them changed gears, others folded.
Needham Music was sold and now sells only sheet music and instruments.
Newbury Comics is still going strong but has shifted heavily away from albums and instead focuses on comics, toys, and clothing. I stop into the various locations when I see one but have rarely found the same magic.
Tower Records closed all of its locations across the United States. Boston became a Virgin Megastore in 2002 and eventually closed in 2007.
Things change in life. Places from our past close and new ones take their place. We can now push a button and hear any song we feel like when we feel like it. The way we consume now is different, the love of music, however, remains.
Like everything in life though, things have a way of coming full circle. After years of only finding records at Goodwill and yard sales, vinyl has made a huge comeback, bringing with it the opening of new shops throughout the country that evokes that same sense of magic.
Locally, in Maine, The Record Connection in Waterville is likely my favorite shop ever, with rooms filled from end to end with books and vinyl. Bob, the owner has the deep musical knowledge, the same easy-going demeanor that brings me right back to my days at Needham Music. To see the way he interacts with my 14-year-old, talking to her, LISTENING to her, gives me a sense of Deja Vu.
Bull Moose Music is always at the top of their game at every location across northern New England and keeps the shelves stocked with everything old and new. My children have spent hours with me, and waiting for me, as I comb through it all. They have humored me as I tell my "when I was your age" stories and rolled their eyes to tales of days past on the hunt for music as they listen to their's on their phones.
One year ago today, I was fortunate to receive a rare gift. I was given a chance to SHOW THEM the magnificence of a music store, rising high above Tokyo. 8 floors of everything from books to cassettes to vinyl. I was able to give them a glimpse of my music history live and in-person. I am pretty sure there was even a Wahlberg there.