Things are apt to change, and New York City is no exception.
This past Friday, I was in lower Manhattan over by City Hall. On a whim, I
decided to walk up a block north from J&R to check out Bondy's, a record
store I used to love going into. It was a grey day, full of light rain and chilly
wind. I find myself in front of Bondy's and my jaw dropped.
'Closed?!!! Aw man...' In the midst of tourists, college students and others on
their lunch breaks, I stood in front of the empty storefront, its old facade
still intact. I stared into the dark interior, covered with dust. Verizon was
taking over; the neon sign in the window and giant banner hanging from
the storefront seemed to lean towards overkill. Walking away, I began to
remember hanging out in Bondy's when I used to work in the area. They
were one of the few stores in the city that had albums in stores BEFORE
the advertised release date. And usually at good prices. It had an aged
atmosphere, from the radio station that played '60's hits to the scuffed
fake wood flooring. Bondy's was one of those record stores that also had
some choice vinyl for grabs as well. I remember seeing someone walk
out with a couple of vinyl LPs stashed under his arm, looking as if he
just took Bloomberg's lunch money. Seeing Bondy's closed brought it all
home for me: the record store scene in New York City is on the verge
of being extinct.
Melodramatic? Maybe so, but in the last year, Bondy's was one of four
notable music stores to close in the five boroughs. Beat Street Records,
an icon of music in downtown Brooklyn in the Fulton Street(or for the
true-schoolers, Albee Square)Mall closed with a whimper. Hot Waxx, one
of my high-school hangout spots on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, had
to relocate to Hollis and soon closed down afterwards. And perhaps the
biggest shock was Virgin Megastores' closing of both their Times Square
and Union Square locations, leaving huge holes in the landscape of
both areas. A lot of this is due to music being in the digital age. Who
wants to pay 14 bucks for a new album when you can get it for five
dollars less online? That makes even more sense now considering the
struggling economy. But when you also add the countless amount of
blogs and websites that make music available to anyone with a good
connection and a decent computer, you can see how stores suffer. It's
become a trivia contest of sorts when you bring up the names of
record stores and chains that have gone under(remember The Wiz?)
and you find yourself nominating stores that will end up on the same
path.
"...they made a difference beyond dollars."
For New Yorkers(and I suspect people all over the country as well), the
loss of these stores marks a painful passage of time. It's not as if
you can't get the music at all. But going to the record stores was
a total experience. You could sift through a bin and find a copy of
an album you used to cherish until it got stolen from you. Or you'd
take a look at a cover and it would compel you to buy it. There
was one time when I went into Hot Waxx to buy the newest Pete
Rock & CL Smooth single on tape and I heard this real mellow track
that had some knock to it playing on the speakers. It turned out
to be The Artifacts' first single. I took that home with me as well.
You got more of a connection with your favorite artists there. Beat
Street and Hot Waxx and other stores lived for that extra press
that brought more people in. It was the music that brought people
in and brought them together. I mean, Hip Hop as we know it would
never have been born without these small record stores. Sure, they were
mostly independent businesses trying to compete with superstores
who boast cheap prices and rebates. But they were part of the community.
Part of this country's lifeblood. And they made a difference beyond
dollars.
I am grateful for those few record stores that have managed to thrive
in these days and times, because they manage to give me that
opportunity to really comprehend why I love music so much every
time I hear a new song or get the chance to run my fingers along
a 12 inch B-side or a 45. Let's hope that the winds of change don't
completely blow them away.