The Record Shop Around the Corner

The recent demise of Tower Records represented the end of an era for many, particularly those of us in the baby boomer generation. Tower Records seemed to represent the last all-purpose software entertainment store, or as many of us called them, the record store.

For decades Tower Records and other chain stores, both local and national, had been the place to browse or shop for vinyl records, and many smaller mom and pop music shops flourished throughout main streets across the U.S. In an era when the 45rpm single was king, the trek down to the local record shop to pick up the latest release climbing the charts was a weekly ritual for many American teens. And for those whose tastes ran to the LP, there were plenty of 12-inch vinyl records filling the bins down the usually dusty store aisles. In the 1980s, with the introduction of home video on a mass scale and the portable compact disc, the record store became an all-purpose entertainment outlet for all forms of music and movie software, eventually, like Tower Records, incorporating magazine stands, video games, T-shirts and numerous other forms of entertainment paraphernalia into their inventory to boost sales.

Of course, with the advent of the Internet in the '90s, things began to change as retailers took their trade online and buying music or movies on video became as easy as a few clicks of the computer mouse. The ease of online shopping and the ability to track down and purchase even the most elusive of titles was to be celebrated. But it seemed like we'd lost something in the process. Gone was the notion of just dropping in and browsing around a well-stocked record store with thousands of shrink-wrapped CDs, video cassettes or DVDs at your fingertips. Gone were the hipper than thou store clerks, many of whom seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and movies. Maybe it was just the joy of the hunt, relentlessly snooping the store aisles for that hard to find title and scooping it out of the bargain bin after you'd located it at a not to be missed price.

Sure, in the era of mp3's, video-on-demand, pay-per-view and online gaming, something as simple as actually driving to a store and purchasing a vinyl record or even a CD now seems like an almost antiquated notion. And of course you can still head to a Best Buy, Circuit City or any other mega mart to pick up a DVD or CD. And a few die hard mom and pop shops still exist. But the online experience and digital revolution just seem to be lacking in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Or maybe that's just it. With all this technological triumph, it may be the physical sense of actually standing in the middle of a record store and holding those records I'd been waiting weeks or even longer to buy. I'm not really sure. But I am sure that the way we purchase our entertainment software has changed irrevocably.

But somehow I think as the years roll by I'm still gonna miss that old record shop around the corner, a place where you could almost feel the air resonate with music and movies. A place where my friends and I could gather to listen and discuss the latest Rolling Stones album or just hang out. That's something that the digital revolution will never replace and is probably lost for future generations.