A Magical Mystery Tour: Record Store Day this year provided a proud moment for us here at South Jersey Local, as we can now say we are truly a “family business.” What you’re about to read came out of a day-long road trip across South Jersey during Record Store Day, on Saturday, April 12. We stopped at nine local record shops in three counties, to see how they were marking the day. Some stores were participating in the official celebration, some made up their own events, and some were just doing what they always do – selling great records.
But what made the day extra special for us is that we took our kids along for the ride to introduce them to what it is we’re trying to do with this little paper of ours. Our daughter Hannah, 17, and her 14-year-old brother Ben joined the crew and we put them to work. They’re both big music fans and already on their way to having their own sizeable vinyl collections, so it was the perfect introductory assignment. Hannah did the interviews throughout the day, while Ben was her videographer. Hannah then edited all the clips together for the video you’ll see below, and she also wrote the story you’re about to read.
We survived the Record Store Day marathon, met so many great people and even managed to have a little fun aloing the way. It was a great introduction for the kids to the kind of storytelling we’re trying to do, and all it took to get them to participate was a little bribery and a few new records coming home to their collections. So we hope you enjoy what we’ve made here, and do yourself a favor – get out there and see some of these incredible shops for yourself!
Let There Be Rock
In recent years, the popularity of collecting vinyl records has seen a resurgence.
Record stores, which were disappearing, now dot the South Jersey landscape once again. It seems everyone, from teenagers experiencing the hobby for the first time to older people nostalgic for times gone by, are embracing the tradition of collecting records.
Saturday, April 12 was Record Store Day, a biannual event where local shops celebrate with special events, giveaways and sales of exclusive record releases.
The large crowd on hand for the event was nothing new for Chuck Miller at Sky Valley Records, who saw a line wrapped around their building in Somerdale for the event.
“We usually have about 250 in line,” Miller said about previous Record Store Day events. “If there’s a Taylor (Swift) record on the list you can jack that number up every year.”
Many shop owners interviewed throughout the day agreed with Miller’s take on the effect of Swift’s popularity. Her special release for the event, featuring Post Malone was cited as one of the records most sought after by younger buyers.
Miller’s South Jersey gem has been in the Record Store Day game for the past 12 years, but the shop owner said his beginnings in vinyl go all the way back to his teenage years, when he started Sky Valley Records as a punk label when he was 17.
London Calling
Another long-time veteran of the vinyl music scene in South Jersey is John Chrambanis, owner of The Record Collector, who has been keeping the music culture alive in Bordentown for over 40 years.
Chrambanis provided a wealth of insight on the progression of vinyl collecting over the years. For instance, when the shop was just starting out, Chrambanis said he saw an interesting influx of record enthusiasts from the UK who would buy rare American records, and then bring them back to England’s DJ scene.
Go It Alone
At Tunes record store in Voorhees, another South Jersey classic, they also saw a line around the building on Record Store Day. Evan Lynch, co-owner of the store, detailed Tunes’ history, which may be representative of the industry as a whole.
Tunes, he said, had previously been part of a larger chain with multiple locations, but the Voorhees store, which was purchased outright by former employees of the chain, now stands as a solo outlet.
“Now it’s just an indie store, and we made a lot of changes when we took it over and tried to revamp it right at the height of vinyl,” Lynch said.
Start Me Up
Record Store Day began in 2008, when nearly 300 independently-owned record stores around the country participated. Since then, thousands of record stores across the globe have joined in on the celebration. The event is actually held twice each year, once in April and again the day after Thanksgiving to coincide with Black Friday sales.
While many of the stores we stopped in during the event did participate fully, other shops either chose not to or weren’t eligible to be official Record Store Day locations.
Off The Wall
The newly-opened Wall-to-Wall Sound and Video in Franklinville was buzzing with customers the second they opened their doors that day, but because they only started the shop in January, owner Eric Wilkinson explained, they were not yet allowed to become an official Record Store Day distributor.
However, Wall-to-Wall’s lack of official releases did not stop Wilkinson from celebrating the community that has “..welcomed him with open arms,” as he told us himself.
Their day was filled with live music from emerging local band Polaroid Fade and musician Jefferey Gaines.
Wilkinson released selections of rare vintage vinyl for customers to peruse while they listened to the live performances, and said he is hoping to carry the new releases next year, once they are more established.
Hello in There
At On The Record in Woodbury, owner Tim Zatzariny, Jr. also opted for vintage records instead of the new releases.
While eligible to participate, Zatzariny said he simply prefers to not participate in the official Record Store Day event. His store also featured live music and sales of rare older records he had held onto especially for the celebration.
In Burlington City, couple Jamie O’Brien and Lee Stefanko told us about the varied demographics of their customers at Creepella’s Posh Pit & Dizzy Edge Records. They said they see all kinds of people, with even their young ones browsing the alternative record collection.
When asked what was most important to know about their shop, Lee said it’s about more than just sales.
“We’re here because it’s really important for us to be here right now, just to give people an alternative,” Stefanko said. “I think people need an alternative now more than ever.”
Everyday People
Similar to the crowd coming into Creepella’s, the people at many other stores told us that they see a wide variety of customers fueling their hobbies.
Jim Corso at Phidelity Records in Haddon Township told us that he also sees a wide range of age groups come through his doors. As a parent himself, he said he experienced his children getting into physical media with the rise of the trend.
A few minutes away in Collingswood, Steve Maygers of Inner Groove Records, said their shop also sees a diverse customer base, but that he was most encouraged by the enthusiasm of a new generation of record lovers.
“It’s really been exciting because the younger people are breathing new life into the whole collecting thing,” Maygers said.
Hey Hey, My My
The Record Museum is a multi-generational business that has amassed a loyal following over the years in West Berlin, sharing space inside Kepple’s Carpet and Flooring, and growing from owner Doug Kepple’s love of collecting Neil Young records.
“Then he got into other albums, which became a hobby, which became the basement, which became partially at the store, which became the upstairs is now a record store,” said Kepple’s son Scotti, who was working in the shop on Record Store Day. “That’s been 15 years now.”
Forever Young
At every store we stopped at along the way, we asked the shop owners and collectors the same question – what is it that makes collecting vinyl so appealing?
Bill “Doc” Dougherty, owner of Doc’s Finds in Haddon Heights put it into words perfectly. Dougherty told us that his youngest customer just turned 11, and he first bought himself a Bob Dylan record with his allowance. His oldest buyer is a Grateful Dead fan in his nineties. We asked him what he thought it was that kept people interested in physical media.
“You hold it in your hand, you get to see the art up close,” Dougherty said. A lot of times they’ll come with lyrics, and you get to actually play what you want to hear and you get to feel it. There’s more emotion attached to this.”
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