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Record Gripping Stylee...Yesteryear!!!

Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
edited January 2015 in Strut Central
Hey,

Yesterday, my wife and I were discussing the old-school ways that DJs and others gripped records. I got really nostalgic about my uncles DJ-ing, being in record pools (remember those?), and passing on exclusive, white label 12" promo disco singles to me and my brother (late 70s/early 80s). I thought about my old spot in Fayetteville, Paradise Music (RIP), had the crazy selection of limited release, white label 12" hip-hop singles (mid 80s era). It used to be cool to get a hold of the exclusive shizznits on the regular, as it was a lot easier back in the day (if you were plugged into the proper channels). I miss having 'back-room status' at my regular record spots (Muzik Hut in Fayetteville, Record Hole in Chapel Hill, Nice Price in Raleigh, etc.; late 80s to the mid 90s), where the dealer would put back stuff for me that he knew I'd like. Now, I have to be on some scavenger shit to find the good stuff (other than my NYC and PA spots), or hit the stores while traveling out-of-town. Do any you guys remember the record gripping stylee from yesteryear? Please add on.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

  Comments

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    At Sound Exchange (RIP) in Austin, the turnover in the New Arrival bin was a daily affair. For a few years, I worked just down the street from there on campus, so it was always a priority on my lunch break to get to the shop before a rush ensued.
  • BallzDeepBallzDeep 612 Posts
    I miss when '180 GRAM' was nowhere to be seen in a record store!
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I was in DC summer '82.
    Once or twice a week I walk past a NE liquor store that had a rack of cut outs.
    Not a record rack, a wire rack that you could turn.
    I was broke, so I only spent a dollar or 2 each time.
    Smokey - Quite Storm, Parlement, Funkadelic, Lyn Collins, Richard Pryor...
    Who knows what I left behind.

    In 1974 a store in Silver Spring, maybe Roadhouse, had blues 78s. Lots of them, pre war, I would go in and drool, but I didn't have the $3, $5, $10 they wanted for them.

    In the early 90s, in Portland, the record stores placed little value on soul records. Funk, jazz fusion, break beats. There was no internet to tell them what they were worth. Price guides either didn't bother to list them, or gave them no value. I scored daily. I'm sure it was the same for HC in Eugene.


  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    BallzDeep said:
    I miss when '180 GRAM' was nowhere to be seen in a record store!

    Truth.
    Used record stores didn't stock new reissues, bitd.
    If it was sealed, it was old stock.
  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,906 Posts
    In the mid-90s in Houston we'd order jungle/drum and bass off the distributor faxes each week. All of the DJs would initial next to the 12" releases they wanted and pick up the records ordered the previous week every Tuesday.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    billbradley said:
    In the mid-90s in Houston we'd order jungle/drum and bass off the distributor faxes each week. All of the DJs would initial next to the 12" releases they wanted and pick up the records ordered the previous week every Tuesday.

    I miss Infinite, Record Rack, and the og Sound Exchange on Westheimer. I also miss Soundwaves on South Main. And shoot, while I'm at it, I even miss the Sound Warehouse that was next to Baybrook Mall.
  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,906 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    billbradley said:
    In the mid-90s in Houston we'd order jungle/drum and bass off the distributor faxes each week. All of the DJs would initial next to the 12" releases they wanted and pick up the records ordered the previous week every Tuesday.

    I miss Infinite, Record Rack, and the og Sound Exchange on Westheimer. I also miss Soundwaves on South Main. And shoot, while I'm at it, I even miss the Sound Warehouse that was next to Baybrook Mall.

    The faxes I was referring to were at Sound Plus (at "The Curve" on Westheimer). The OG Sound Exchange on Westheimer was great though. I bought so many good records there for cheap.
  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    BallzDeep said:
    I miss when '180 GRAM' was nowhere to be seen in a record store!

    Truth.
    Used record stores didn't stock new reissues, bitd.
    If it was sealed, it was old stock.

    This. Now I always double check I'm not picking up a re-issue...
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    mad Dr. York records in the record pool
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    It's a new era.

    I'm thankful I put in my years... '96 to maybe '09. I put in a lot of tireless work hitting up a circuit of clueless CD shops (with records), flea markets, thrift shops, record fairs, ads in the paper... I'm proud of my record collection and I didn't have to spend tons of $$$ to acquire it. I still come up once in a blue moon, but If I'm acquiring heat, I'm using paying for it. I make a decent living... don't really need to scrounge. BUT the treasure hunt and the rush was part of the fun.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    Another thing that occurred to me is that some much ILL SHIT would be in the bins back then. In the 80s, it was just a bunch of old hippies, b-boys, and Stinkie Steve in the record store. Dealers weren't squirreling the good shit to put up on Ebay because it didn't exist (yay!). I remember racks and racks of ridiculous records, virtually untouched. Now, the everyday, non-boutique dealer doesn't even place the good shit on the shelves. Plus, there wasn't so much information about the value, so you could get the raers for 50 cents.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
  • deezleedeezlee 298 Posts
    Big_Stacks said:
    Plus, there wasn't so much information about the value, so you could get the raers for 50 cents.

    Yeah that's real. Some spots do still have random 45 boxes with $1 gems in them no sleeves or whatever.
    >>> "I think I have some 45s around here somewhere".
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Yeah. There are deals in the 45s, if you know them well enough and are strong enough to dig through piles of junk.

    Emerging trends are another place to find gems.

    In the early 90s I would trade with the rock guys, they didn't want soul, I didn't want rock. Classical guys too. But Discogs/ebay makes it easy for anyone to sell any genre.
  • LokoOneLokoOne 1,823 Posts
    During the mid 90s there was a great spot called Lazy Daze on the outskirts of Sydney - most diggers where city based and didnt go out there cause it was about 2hrs away. But me and my crew back then used to be there all the time picking up lots of heavy stuff diry cheap. The owner was an old jazz head (spoke with that hep cat slang and all) so he used to give us heaps of pointers/advice. There was another spot in Blacktown (outer Syd suburbs) that most city dudes didnt know about. There dollar bin was a goldmine cause they had no love for black music so youd pull mint soul/funk stuff on the reg. I used to stop in on the way to uni and sometimes id grab a massive haul and be lugging 40 lps around all day hehehe.
  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    I scored daily. I'm sure it was the same for HC in Eugene.

    Eugene was ridiculous back in those days. Mr. Mike's records over behind the Safeway near South Eugene couldn't give away records cheap enough. Then there was the place that only existed for a little while (or at least was only on my radar for a little while before it closed) over on Franklin Boulevard. The dude was crusty as hell, and would yell at us kids for putting back the records "too hard." I have no idea where his stock came from but there are records that I saw in there that I couldn't afford because they were seven bucks that I have never seen anywhere since.

    There are still some nice stores in Missouri, where I find myself now, but they all maintain some kind of eBay presence for something or other. And just recently the spot in JC has started stocking new reissues. Times have changed. And now I sound like that crusty old dude complaining about the kids back in the day.

    JRoot

    PS Can someone tell me where to file DisinHairited in an A to Z LP organization? Generally soundtracks go with their titles in my system, so under D? But since this is a Hair spinoff, maybe it should be under H? Or maybe I should eschew the soundtrack alpha and go with MacDermot and file it under M? HELP.
  • kalakala 3,361 Posts
    fella's
    as dour as i appear .....i am forever the optimist cuzzzz.........
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    JRoot said:
    LaserWolf said:
    I scored daily. I'm sure it was the same for HC in Eugene.
    PS Can someone tell me where to file DisinHairited in an A to Z LP organization? Generally soundtracks go with their titles in my system, so under D? But since this is a Hair spinoff, maybe it should be under H? Or maybe I should eschew the soundtrack alpha and go with MacDermot and file it under M? HELP.

    Under D for Dermot. Win win.
  • BallzDeepBallzDeep 612 Posts
    I miss when record stores had huge ZAPPA sections packed with hammered shit for $20+.
    Wait, they still do?
    My bad.
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