Records – Page 20 – The Kirkham Report

A Visit to BookSmith MusicSmith, Orleans MA

December 8, 2017 TC Kirkham Book Stores, Books, Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

Waaaay back in September 2016, during our annual vacation on Cape Cod, we took a trip out to Orleans to visit what’s touted on their Facebook page as the “largest independent book and music store on Cape Cod”. It was quite a ride on the bus – nearly 2.5 hours from Hyannis because of the constant stops – but we finally made it to BookSmith MusicSmith. Nestled away in the Orleans Marketplace (which looks a lot larger and less a strip mall when looking at their website), this homey little store was one of those delights you have to search

A Visit To Spinnakers, Hyannis MA

September 26, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

We’ve spent the past week vacationing on Cape Cod, and yesterday, I finally found the time to drop by Spinnaker CD, an independent record store in Hyannis. I first fell for the store when we first visited it two years ago; it’s an “old school” record store, with half the music area filled with vinyl, the other half with CDs. And I wish I had the time and money to spend a whole day perusing the incredible amount of stock they have. Because we’re on vacation, I didn’t have time to actually pick up any music, although I did pick

Today’s music buyers will never know the joys of a good “Cut-Out” bin…

September 24, 2015 TC Kirkham Cutout Bins, Musicians, Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

I’ve always loved buying records. My record collection is large (though not as large as some, I’m sure), and about 80 percent of it were purchased at regular prices. But I’d say a good 10-12% of it came from cut-out bins. According to the Wikipedia entry, “In the recording industry, a cut-out refers to a deeply discounted or remaindered copy of an LP, 45 RPM single, cassette tape, Compact Disc, or other item.” Yes, you can still occasionally find cut-outs of CD’s or DVD’s, but most of the time, you’re more likely to find used copies than actual cut-outs. Cut-outs

Ye Gods…what WERE we (the 70s generation) ever thinking?

September 23, 2015 TC Kirkham Goofy Items, Planet BiblioMusica, Records

I had one of these…not proud of it…I begged and begged for a K-Tel Record Selector for Christmas in…1972? 1973? I can’t remember which year…but boy oh boy…I loved it. Even though I already had way more albums than one of these doofy devices could hold…but I made the best use of it – right up through my high school graduation in 1981 – my most current, most played albums were kept in it… I look back on this commercial for it, and just go “What was I thinking? And…what f**kin’ doofus would actually WANT one? Ye Gods…the times, they

The Rack Jobber Rumble

September 23, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

From Business Dictionary: Rack Jobber: Wholesaler that provides racks of merchandise for retail locations and split the profits obtained from sales between the two parties. Many of the smaller stores I frequented as a child and teenager had record bins serviced by “rack jobbers”. The store wanted to sell records but didn’t want the hassle of doing the ordering and inventory themselves, so they hired a third party vendor to do it. When I was a grade schooler, we lived in the small berg of Utica, Ohio, population about 2000. It was situated at the intersection of US Route 62

The Downtown Spokane Skywalk Record-Buying Circuit

September 22, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

In the mid-1970’s, downtown Spokane got a huge boost from the city playing host to the 1974 World’s Fair. They renovated quite a bit for this event, and when we moved back to Washington from Ohio, I saw that the dank, dingy downtown area had become a shopping mecca. Before I found The Music Box (and after as well), my first stop whenever we’d hit “the big city”, was the circuit of mostly large department stores that were all interlinked by the city’s new “Skywalk” system – these were (mostly) enclosed bridges which connected most of the major stores on

OMG – Vinyl really IS on the way back…

September 21, 2015 TC Kirkham Book Stores, Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

We’re currently vacationing on Cape Cod, and we stopped by the Cape Cod Mall on Saturday. We went over to look around, do some shopping, have a nice dinner, and check things out. The mall is one of the few left that has a large Barnes and Noble with a mall entrance – most of them are free-standing stores these days – and imagine my shock when I saw a bin as we approached the escalator proclaiming “BN now has Vinyl!” But there in the middle of the store, below the big sign, was a large rack with ALBUMS. Not

As The Eucalyptus Turns…

September 2, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

I don’t think they’re still in business anymore, but Eucalyptus Records and Tapes was a store in Spokane, WA that I had heard about and wanted to check out. By this point, The Music Box was still around, but I needed to try out more of the stores in the area. One afternoon in the mid-summer of 1979, I made a trip to Spokane to spend my money, and headed up to north Division St, almost up to the Northtown Shopping Center. I pulled into the store, a free standing store, the first I’d ever been in that wasn’t part

My “last farewell” in a Tacoma record store…

July 11, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records, Songs

I’m repurposing this from one of my old “Song Of The Day” entries on “The Kirkham Report“, but the story has to be told here as well…because…well…it just FITS, you know? Roger Whittaker is known throughout the world as one of the most popular crooners of the 1970’s. Yet in America, he was virtually unknown until his song “The Last Farewell” catapulted him to the top of the MOR/AC charts here in the States. Got a Mom story for you, if you weel….heh heh heh…picture a twelve year old TC in the summer of 1975. (Or maybe not…don’t want you

My own personal “Music Box” dancer…

July 8, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

Although I’ve been listening to music since I can remember, and buying records since I was about three, for the most part from that time until my teen years, I purchased records in regular stores. There was a large bin for records at a number of local stores when I was growing up in Ohio – Ben Franklin in Utica, Twin Fair and Seaway in Newark, Kings and Arro in Heath, and others. And while I went to a few stores devoted to records as a child, including one in Tacoma WA that I can’t remember the name of (though