Pining (Again) For Record Store Days
Here’s an article about another record store closing: Cutler’s record store in New Haven closing after 64 years in business. It’s not necessarily news anymore when a record store closes, but this seems to have been a pretty popular store. The real news would be a record store opening. Not much chance of that, is there? I’ve never been to Cutler’s in New Haven, but I’ve been to many record stores in my day, all around the U.S. and a bit in Europe as well. Of all the things I love about collecting, the think I miss the most is being able to go into a record store and going through the bins searching for that one record or two or even, hopefully, many more that are sitting there with great music, great covers and an affordable price. You know that feeling of rifling through the bins, record by record, passing all of the Herb Alperts and George Bensons and Al Jarreaus and, boom, there it is, an original Fats Navarro on Savoy or Stan Getz on Verve or, on the best days, a Jackie McLean or Lou Donaldson or anyone else on Blue Note. The business of collectible buying and selling has moved to eBay, with good reason (at least for the sellers), but it’s certainly not nearly as much fun. Is it?