The Arizona getaway came to an end in 2013. with plenty of stops along the way at Hastings at Arizona, but afterward, the only time I stopped at a Hastings was in Kirkwood Missouri in 2014. A year later, the St Louis trip would be my last going to FYE before Trans World closed just about every FYE in this time zone. Which meant the FYE at my old haunts in Mesa is no more either. I don't feel like driving all the way across the state to go to Sioux City or six hours to Quincy or three hours to Peoria. Chances are, being a Mall store, FYE wouldn't be worth a trip to stop in for 10 minutes and deal with pushy sales associates who probably wouldn't be there after a month or so anyway.
I became a hoarder after Jerry Scott, the former Relics' owner got tired of me buying the same tired classic rock stuff and he didn't have much for used CDs product and I wasn't about to pay 8 dollars for Eat Me In St Louis by It Bites and he told me to open up my closed mind. Which I wanted to remind him about getting pennies on the dollar for a used Sidewinders album that I came back from Arizona with. Had I known that Auntie Ramos Pool Hall was going to be a hard finding LP, I would have held on to that album.
So I decided to see what the pawnshops had for CDs, since in 1995, they took Cds on a regular basis. And from 1995 till the the death of Bruce Stanley, I frequented the pawnshops in town, plus the Mr. Money stores in Davenport and Iowa City. The Cds that I found at the Quad Cities Mr Money, nobody bought those. So I discovered Treat Her Right, 54-40, Blue Rodeo, Lush and Ride. Turns out there was more to life than classic rock. With that and cut outs from Camelot Music and Sam Goody/FYE, I discovered more bands than ever before. And became a big fan of Swinging Steaks, who managed to use my tribute to them on their website for a few years.
But as the 90s drew to a close, the internet begin to take over people's livelihood. All of a sudden with a tap of the keyboard, you can order a cds from Second Spin or Music Boulevard and get it sooner than what the record stores could get it. With that, we begin to lose the record stores, Relics got new ownership and struggled on till 2003, Rock n bach closed their doors around 1999 and then the domino effect took over. All of a sudden Trans World purchased all of the Wherehouse Music and Sam Goody and turned them into FYE and then in 2010 started closing the stores, Coralville in 2010. Hastings was mostly for college towns and the west coast but Ames had one till ten years ago, on a trip only to discover the for sale signs and getting there three weeks too late, the last time I've been in that area. BTW.
The pawnshops begin to turn away CD buying around 2002. And the 2005 Rootkit problem was the death knell for CDs and by then you can stream the album online. Vinyl was not the cool thing and I begin to find great albums for a dollar at the thrift stores. Half Price Books came into town in 2005 and since then, they have been the go to place for music, including the clearance bins of two dollar cds. For the unabashed collector like me, I look for certain cds from certain labels, One Way, Wounded Bird, Collectors Choice Music, Rhino in particular. And then the imports such as Bear Family, Ace UK, Cherry Red had better choice of music I was looking for. Rock Candy, Fantastic Voyage had surprises, imagine my surprise of finding The Godz S/T 1978 on Rock Candy at the local Goodwill. The closing of Hastings and FYE stores took away the anticipation of going to such stores and knowing they will have some decent bargain bin music is now history. The bottom line was that mergers didn't do shit for anybody but shareholders and CEOs Best Buy quit selling CDs, Borders, Virgin Music Mart and Tower Records were history. Like Woolworth's and Arlens and K Mart, the music hunter had to resort the kindness of strangers donating their collection to the thrift stores.
In reality, I never gave up hope of ever finding music. Believe me, I think the music finds me more than I do them in going to second hand stores. Goodwill can be hit and miss but this weekend I managed to find new releases from Todd Snider and Santana for 75 cents used and not played at all. A collector or a hoarder has a open mind and will buy anything that looks interesting or perhaps finding an sealed extra copy of Donald Fagen's Night fly for 2 dollars at Mad City Music X. And for somebody that has it all, what does it mean going to Stuff Etc and seeing Bob Luman' Lets Think About Living on CD for a dollar. Or Money Jungle from Duke Ellington? It's this open mindedness that keeps me searching on a regular basis. 45s, LPs, CDs. anything is fair game as long it's playable and not chewed up.
In theory, I have always been open-minded ever since discovering the four for a dollar Woolworth's 45 back in 1964 and whatever I found at the cheap stores. The Vinyl Revival was a double edge sword, it was great to have people rediscovering the LP but at the same time, new vinyl is outrageously expensive. For myself, I still prefer the CD format, so I can play it in the car over streaming and (ha ha) satellite radio. But the best CD store for new music is still in Dubuque so I have to take a every other month trip to see what's new. But I do and still support a Ragged Records or Analog Vault if and when they get something of value in. I continue to keep an open mind but at the same time not reveal all my secrets of what I'm looking for. You can't afford all of my secrets. ;)
(To Be Continued)
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