Getting back to our more regularly scheduled blogging, it dawned on me today that I've neglected to praise Silver Spring, MD's own CD/Game Exchange enough in this blog. The story of how I came to realize this ends with me returning home after a day of work with the albums above from Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Grateful Dead, Doobie Brothers, Lou Reed and Jimi Hendrix, but there's more to it than that.
Monday night, I saw on
the store's Twitter account that it had gotten some new 70s rock vinyl in stock. I inquired, natch, and was told there was some 60s rock as well, including Beatles, Hendrix and Doors. Well, that peaked my interest. Unfortunately, I had to work the next day -- it's a give-and-take relationship, with work funding the collection while work gets in the way of the collecting. So Sam at the store made an offer: he'd hold back some of the new arrivals if I could come in some time that day before 8 p.m.. My response? Absolutely.
I eventually made it to the store after work, and there was a glorious stack of vinyl waiting there. And there were some great finds, some of which I bought (listed above) and more that I'm sure would've disappeared rather quickly if just thrown out there. While looking and buying the records, I got to talk with Sam there a bit. I mentioned how I was from Minneapolis, just once, when he'd been to First Ave. as a roadie. He added that since everything closed earlier, they later went to a "huge gay club" -- "they served beer, so it was good" -- which I assume was the city's (in)famous Gay 90s.
But it was nice experience, and first time I really got a sense for the people behind the counter, so to speak, even though I'd been to this shop a handful of times. The stores I frequented in Minneapolis were big, with a lot of employees and customers and I never really met anyone working there, and that's understandable. But this little shop right outside the District of Columbia has some great records there, especially if you follow its updates on Twitter and/or Facebook and get in on some of the early stuff.
It's especially impressive considering records aren't even what they specialize in -- by that I mean they sell all kinds of stuff. I heard someone ask if they sell Sega Dreamcast games today (yup, Dreamcast, man), and I'm fairly certain I've seen some Super Nintendo games/hardware around. There are also used CDs, tapes, skateboards, T-shirts, stickers, books... and it goes on.
Really, it's just a great place in my mind, and I always appreciate a store willing to let customers know what's in stock before you head over -- something that's especially unusual when it comes to used records, since stores aren't the best on keeping updated inventory. D.C.'s
Crooked Beat Records is probably the best I've seen (and they ship!). Oh, and that store's Twitter page is
here.
Anyway, as much as I enjoy an hour or two on a Saturday hanging out at record stores, it's great to hear from the store when some new stuff comes in and just swing by too. Being able to hear from the people who run it is an added -- and equal -- bonus, and I look forward to getting to know more about the store and the people. In the short-term, though, I'll be checking CD/Game Exchange's updates on new merchandise, and I'd recommend you do the same.
