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what would you do? (record store clerk related)

KNOWKNAIMEKNOWKNAIME 51 Posts
edited August 2007 in Strut Central
I was working as a clerk for store credit at my local record shop, I'm not an ethnomusicologist or whatever, I read Wax Poetics. I'm very new to sampling and the construction of beats. Let's face it, I'm a rookie. I live in an area where the record scene is still aging hipsters that collect the music for collecting's sake. I've found really cheap, quality stuff and have the local shop on lock down. So, when a young guy comes in to the used record store asking for the current rap 12" singles and saying things like "Do you have any sample reocrds?" I felt like saying " Do your homework, Kid!" What do you do?

  Comments

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,127 Posts
    I would shoot them.
  • KineticKinetic 3,739 Posts
    Without question, this is the most appropriate response.
  • CosmophonicCosmophonic 1,172 Posts
    Fredfaded and I were in a store in Oslo not too long ago, talking about records, and some nerd 13-year old kid comes over asking "Breaks? Got any breaks? Where are the breaks? Hvor er breaksa?" I struggled to supress a smile and pointed at the corner with the Country pile and said "in there somewhere!"

    - J
  • fredfadesfredfades 584 Posts
    Fredfaded and I were in a store in Oslo not too long ago, talking about records, and some nerd 13-year old kid comes over asking "Breaks? Got any breaks? Where are the breaks? Hvor er breaksa?" I struggled to supress a smile and pointed at the corner with the Country pile and said "in there somewhere!"

    - J

    haha, and the guy was laughing nervously and sweating at the same time when he found out that we were pulling a joke on him.

    cosmo: fant masse heat i g??r. legger opp bilde p?? weekend finds greia etterp??. var messe i oslo i g??r, my billig psych og prog.

    -F
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    So, when a young guy comes in to the used record store asking for the current rap 12" singles and saying things like "Do you have any sample reocrds?"


    I don't understand - you work at the store, and have a
    stake in it's success as a business ... so wouldn't you
    just try to help him and sell him some records? Especially
    if it's a young kid, why not give him a hand? Is asking for
    stuff to sample really such a transgression?
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    So, when a young guy comes in to the used record store asking for the current rap 12" singles and saying things like "Do you have any sample reocrds?"


    I don't understand - you work at the store, and have a
    stake in it's success as a business ... so wouldn't you
    just try to help him and sell him some records? Especially
    if it's a young kid, why not give him a hand? Is asking for
    stuff to sample really such a transgression?

    Seriously, why would you not direct him to whatever you have in abundance? No Les McCann dollar bin goodness on hand? No Bob James turds to sell him? No Curtis or Marvin or jeff lorber stuff you need to move? I tell new kids 3 web sites, this one, the-breaks, and dustygroove.com, if they are into breaks, they have plenty of reading to do. I can't tell if you are trying to protect your stash or irritated that little dude is trying to sponge off your hard-earned knowledge. Either way, grip less and earn more!
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    So, when a young guy comes in to the used record store asking for the current rap 12" singles and saying things like "Do you have any sample reocrds?"


    I don't understand - you work at the store, and have a
    stake in it's success as a business ... so wouldn't you
    just try to help him and sell him some records? Especially
    if it's a young kid, why not give him a hand? Is asking for
    stuff to sample really such a transgression?

    Seriously, why would you not direct him to whatever you have in abundance? No Les McCann dollar bin goodness on hand? No Bob James turds to sell him? No Curtis or Marvin or jeff lorber stuff you need to move? I tell new kids 3 web sites, this one, the-breaks, and dustygroove.com, if they are into breaks, they have plenty of reading to do. I can't tell if you are trying to protect your stash or irritated that little dude is trying to sponge off your hard-earned knowledge. Either way, grip less and earn more!

    Seriously--I would think that anybody that actually works in a record store would have long since tired of the tepid fuzack terds that the little dude obviously seeks and wouldn't be gripping them so hard.
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    Also--this is classic:

    I'm not an ethnomusicologist or whatever, I read Wax Poetics. I'm very new to sampling and the construction of beats.
  • aleitaleit 1,915 Posts
    Tell us what store you work at.
    I want to find out whether it is truly on lock down.

    give the kid a $1 copy of Scorpio on 45 and give him a break
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    Tell us what store you work at.
    I want to find out whether it is truly on lock down.

    I don't think you are sufficiently deep in the game to be able to tell whether or not a spot is truly on lock.
  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    "Do you have any sample reocrds?" I felt like saying " Do your homework, Kid!" What do you do?

    if i owned the store you'd be fired... plain and simple

    its your job to sell records man.

    its no differant than if anybody comes up to you and asks you "i like X band what would you recomend to me?"

    or "is the new X BAND record any good?" you need to sell them that record whether you dig it or not...

    its called customer service
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    You guys can clown this dude all you want but his actions here are in accordance with THA CODE OF BEAT DIGGAS (as outlined in Wax Poetic #2). I personally would never divulge info about BREAKZ, SAMPLES, LOOPS, STABZ, SWEATY NUGGETZ, etc, etc even under the pain of torture. And honestly, this kid's whole MO is probably to just get in with as many record shop workers as possible, gain their trust, and ultimately discover THEIR SECRET BREAK. I've seen it happen too many times. Nip it in the bud, I say.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    I'm betting every single person on this board had some older, more knowledgable dude help them along the way.

    To not return the favor is bad record karma.
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    Let's face it, he's a rookie.
  • bass_feverbass_fever 974 Posts
    I have no problem with passing on some info to the next generation of break diggers...Hook 'em up with the essentially common stuff you were discovering a decade ago, no fault in that...It will take the young bucks years of research to anyway...might as well help 'em out a little, hard telling if anyone will be digging breaks 10 years from now anyway...
  • shooteralishooterali 1,591 Posts
    I have no problem with passing on some info to the next generation of break diggers...Hook 'em up with the essentially common stuff you were discovering a decade ago, no fault in that...It will take the young bucks years of research to anyway...might as well help 'em out a little, hard telling if anyone will be digging breaks 10 years from now anyway...

    So true, This one shop up the street from where I live has it so hard they asked ,my boy to come in and set up a "Breaks Section" just to generate some buzz.
    In turn when he asked for a return favor " some free records" they were like no. Record Karma my ass!!
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    You guys can clown this dude all you want but his actions here are in accordance with THA CODE OF BEAT DIGGAS (as outlined in Wax Poetic #2). I personally would never divulge info about BREAKZ, SAMPLES, LOOPS, STABZ, SWEATY NUGGETZ, etc, etc even under the pain of torture. And honestly, this kid's whole MO is probably to just get in with as many record shop workers as possible, gain their trust, and ultimately discover THEIR SECRET BREAK. I've seen it happen too many times. Nip it in the bud, I say.

    Yes, as dude mentioned, he is new to the science of beat construction and may not have picked up on all the warning signs.

    This is clearly a thirty-eight year old man disguised as a "kid" on some squirrel schitt trying to surreptitiously obtain his secret break nutz.
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    The unscrupulous are always out there on the hunt to gain intimate knowledge of your sweatiest nuggets. One casual conversation with this "kid" will in all likelihood lead to your SECRET BREAK being exposed, being tracked down, made available in quantity, sampled by JOSH... the whole snowball... and where does this leave you, my friends? Please to familiarize yourselves with HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED.
  • noznoz 3,625 Posts
    This is clearly a thirty-eight year old man disguised as a "kid" on some squirrel schitt trying to surreptitiously obtain his secret break nutz.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    This is clearly a thirty-eight year old man disguised as a "kid" on some squirrel schitt trying to surreptitiously obtain his secret break nutz.


    It's a dirty game and I see you know it well.
  • gravelheadwrapgravelheadwrap corn 948 Posts
    anyone ever get asked: "what CDs have the good samples on them?"


    i worked at a used CD/DVD store in college for awhile and would get people asking me this. once a couple kids from high school came in and asked me because they knew i djed. yeah, we had a zapp and roger disc in so i sold them that haha.

    dont know why these guys were interested in sampling, they make keyboard beats it seems. check their site, pretty funny: Big Bang DBT hahaha
  • KineticKinetic 3,739 Posts
    You guys can clown this dude all you want but his actions here are in accordance with THA CODE OF BEAT DIGGAS (as outlined in Wax Poetic #2). I personally would never divulge info about BREAKZ, SAMPLES, LOOPS, STABZ, SWEATY NUGGETZ, etc, etc even under the pain of torture. And honestly, this kid's whole MO is probably to just get in with as many record shop workers as possible, gain their trust, and ultimately discover THEIR SECRET BREAK. I've seen it happen too many times. Nip it in the bud, I say.

    But what about MOODY LOOPZ?
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    You guys can clown this dude all you want but his actions here are in accordance with THA CODE OF BEAT DIGGAS (as outlined in Wax Poetic #2). I personally would never divulge info about BREAKZ, SAMPLES, LOOPS, STABZ, SWEATY NUGGETZ, etc, etc even under the pain of torture. And honestly, this kid's whole MO is probably to just get in with as many record shop workers as possible, gain their trust, and ultimately discover THEIR SECRET BREAK. I've seen it happen too many times. Nip it in the bud, I say.

    But what about MOODY LOOPZ?

    To be treated as a LOOP with distinction.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'm betting every single person on this board had some younger[/b], more knowledgable dude help them along the way.

    To not return the favor is bad record karma.
  • djsheepdjsheep 3,620 Posts
    This is a true story, sadly...

    me and a friend were shopping for records on the Gold Coast, this was around DMC time when people would recognize me in the street still, this dude comes running up... SHEEEEEP! whats up, im like cool, he's like "i need some help, you dig for records right?".... I'm like "yeah"... he was like, I'm looking for some "red bone breaks", "simon harris" or "chick coreas innner space, cuz I'm just a beginner"... dude was DEAD SERIOUS.

    See what Quasimoto done did to kids?

    But for real, I'm all about the kids (no michael jackson), hip him to some CTI terdery and all those $1 bin rock joints that are cool... one day dude will turn around and look out for you when he's a BIG DUDE (no homo).
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    As a aged record store clerk (I only work for cash) I would much rather talk to a 13 year old about breaks than a 30 year old about Greek Sun Ra pressings or a 60 year old about mono Beach Boys. The 13 year old is going to spend more money on more records in the next year than the other 2 ever sill. Plus the 13 year old is bound to be much more enthusiastic about MUSIC and much less pompus or righteous.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    I would much rather talk to a 13 year old about breaks than a 30 year old about Greek Sun Ra pressings or a 60 year old about mono Beach Boys.

    You said a mouthful there!
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