St Louis Record Store Crawl
March 20th, 2013 by chocko
VINTAGE VINYL (6610 Delmar)
On a recent trip to St. Louis, MO to go hang out with Julie of Waves On The Sea at a Tegan and Sara show, Chocko made a short list of record stores to check out while in town. Before going to the concert at Pageant in a neighborhood known as The Loop, I walked to Vintage Vinyl located among an eclectic mix of thrift shops, restaurants and a comic book shop. Vintage Vinyl is a very overwhelming place with seemingly endless aisles of records and CDs. There’s a lot to soak in…lots of great signage, Steve Keene paintings, movies and posters. I was strapped for time, so I picked up a few things. One of the albums I picked up was “The Grimy Awards” by ILL BILL (me and the clerk geeked out just a bit) – highly recommended hip hop with lots of guest vocals including Jedi Mind Tricks and HR of Bad Brains. “Inner City Rockers” by THE RETROS on BDR Records – this album blew me away…punk rock from the St. Louis circa 1979. Loaded with catchy tunes. These guys were like the Buzzcocks of the Midwest! I listened to this nonstop after I bought it and now I have to track down every BDR Record for more independent music from the 70’s and 80’s straight outta St. Louis. I also picked up 1990:The Bronx Warriors on DVD, a movie from 1982 which stars 70’s Blaxploitation icon, Fred Williamson. I started watching it and looks pretty dreadful-cheesy Rambo looking characters, bad acting, all set in a bizarre future where the Bronx is overrun by motorcycle riding gangs on a rampage.
EUCLID RECORDS (601 East Lockwood)
The following day I drove to Euclid Records and after stepping in, was instantly greeted by the friendly clerks behind the counter. I gravitated towards the bargain bins along the windows and afterwards zig-zagged around two huge rooms of records, CDs, movies, magazines and limited edition concert posters. Euclid puts out their own music including a live in-store/45 rpm series which features music recorded at the store. Euclid Records has another location in New Orleans and in two months, their present St Louis store will be moving about a mile away to 19 N. Gore Ave. in Old Webster. This place is a highly recommended place to shop. I dug into the Used DVDs Bin and grabbed 2 movies: Laura – Classic Film Noir starring Gene Tierney and Donkey Skin – A French fairy tale movie filmed in 1970 starring Catherine Deneuve. I also picked up some Used CDs including a compilation of Rockabilly Classics and one by The Pristeens – a female fronted band Mr. C and I saw many times back in the day at NYC’s Coney Island High and Continental. I picked up another BDR Records release (the obsession continues!), The Welders 4-song 7″. The Welders (1975-1981) were an all girl punk band from St. Louis influenced by bands such as the NY Dolls and The Runaways. They looked like The Switchblade Sister with guitars. Hot Stuff! They reunited in 2009 for a 30th Anniversary show. They still got it…hope they play again soon!
RECORD EXCHANGE (5320 Hampton Ave)
Next up was Record Exchange which is home to 10,000 square feet of music and memorabilia, in an old building which was formerly a library. This store is the place to be for used records and so much more…movies on DVD and VHS, used CDs, cassette tapes and even 8-tracks. Vinyl collectors will have their minds blown but don’t expect new stuff at the store…second-hand items reign supreme at Record Exchange. The woman behind the counter was very helpful, shared stories and showed me a photo album of the store in its many incarnations. Many of the photos feature Jean Haffner who founded The Record Exchange in 1977 with his own personal record collection. The record store is a labyrinth of fun with surprises and dusty relics around every corner. I picked up a stack of $1 singles by the register including Promo singles by Killer Mike, Capone-N-Noreaga and “Touring” by The Ramones. I only learned about it later, but hiding behind an army of Elvis cut-outs, there is a 45 room on the second floor…nothing but 7″ singles (Shangri-La!). I shall return!
APOP RECORDS (2831 Cherokee St)
Apop Records is a hip record store located on a cool street in the Benton Park West neighborhood. There are a lot of Mexican storefronts and places to eat in the immediate area of the store including a bakery and a bicycle shop on the same block. As soon as I walked in I started digging in the punk music shelves and worked my way to the ‘zines and local music section. There are lots of records and books to look through but don’t expect to find a lot of mainstream music here. Apop specializes in the bizarre, indie and underground scene for sure. There are two pinball machines in the back of the store, obscure Blowfly and punk records on the wall, magazines and books…I could be in that shop for hours just browsing and hanging out. I picked up a local ‘zine After Hours which features lots of deep thoughts and poems by Matt Questionmark and illustrations by Lauren B. I also picked up an old issue of another local ‘zine Freezerburn which features cartoons and manifestos by Mister Ben. Issue 19 comes out later this month! As far as local music, I picked up an album by STL hardcore savages, Shaved Women. Holy sheet these guys rule. Brutal, crushing cinderblock-to-the-face hardcore punk! Chocko likes!
TED DREWES (6726 Chippewa St.)
Ted Drewes is a highly recommended spot for frozen custard, regardless of the weather. I got a Christy which is a sundae with a warm brownie on the bottom with custard, caramel and hot fudge on the top. Before dropping off the rental car and hopping on a plane, I stopped by the Loop one more time. I ate a quick meal at Seoul Taco. Damn good! Then paid my respects to the St. Louis native son and Rock and Roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Took a quick photo of the 8 ft. bronze statue on Delmar and ran into Vintage Vinyl one more time for some Chuck Berry music and more BDR Records. I wish I was in town for Chuck Berry’s concert at Blueberry Hill. Long may he rock and duck walk! Hope to be back in STL again soon.
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Tags: apop records, bdr records, chuck berry, euclid records, record exchange, record stores, st. louis, stl, ted drewes, the retros, the welders, vintage vinyl
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