The record store

In 1984 there were two record stores that I got to go to on occasion. Both were Sound Waves which was a fairly big chain around here then. One was 20 minutes away in a shopping center and the other was 30 minutes away in a mall. Then in spring of 1985 I couldn't believe it when an independent record store opened just 10 minutes from where I lived. The guy who owned was there most of the time and he was a real fan of the music. Unfortunately I think he was more a music fan than he was a businessman. Going into that store between 85 and 87 was a great time as the owner was a metal fan and he tried to cater to that audience. You could go there and buy indie metal albums, band shirts, buttons, black light posters or those big tapestries. I spent a lot of time and money there as a teenager. You would walk in and they would have incense burning, something like Grim Reaper or Accept would be playing on the stereo and the owner would tell you about what new releases were cool. You wouldn't get that at Sound Waves that's for sure. You go to Sound Waves and if you looked for too long then a snooty college age kid would come and ask if you needed help. Really I think this meant "You look too young to have a job so please don't try to steal any albums or I will call the cops".Unfortunately around the fall of 87 the owner of the indie record store moved his store into part of his father's gas station because he was having problems paying the rent. The new mall had opened in Spring of 87 and it was not far away and they had a Record World and a Tape World. The feel just wasn't the same in the new place because it was kind of crammed and they didn't play the stereo or burn incense any more. A year later the owner of the record store opened a biker clothing shop in another location. His father tried running the record store by himself for maybe another year and a half before giving up on it. It was a shame to see it go, but I got some good albums there and I remember it very well.