It’s been reported that vinyl records are making a comeback these days, but threre’s a store in Greenwich Village where it never went away. The House of Oldies had been selling vinyl and only vinyl on Carmine Street just off Bleecker for over 50 years. So today I thought we’d take a trip to this house that vinyl built.
And here we are on Carmine Street at the House Of Oldies. That name could also be used for a cool senior citizens home.
Wow, this store is jam-packed with vinyl. No CD's, no records, just vinyl, vinyl and more vinyl.
Here's the owner of House of Oldies, Bob Abramson. The store was originally located around the corner on Bleecker Street when it opened in 1962. Bob took it over in 1968 and in 1980 moved it to this location on Carmine Street. Bob's a really nice guy and told me that with the records stored below the store, The House of Oldies has around 750,000 records in stock. You can shop online and the link is directly below this post.
Check out the wall of 45's! If it's not in stock here, most likely it doesn't exist.
Vinyl albums are packed in bins and there's piles of them below the bins.
And here's more of them packed around the vintage cash register.
There's boxes of three very different genres of music stacked in the front window.
And there's albums lining the corkboard wall. Let's take a look at some of them.
I love this Eldorados' cover. Album cover art is something I could look at forever, it's something you don't get when you download music.
Here's The Teenagers featuring little Frankie Lymon.
Jan and Dean meet Batman. I guess Robin liked the Beach Boys better.
Here's a great Yardbirds album, Over Under Sideways Down. One of these days I have to write about going to Memphis with The Yardbirds drummer, Jim McCarty.
Okay, enough of the wall, let's browse and flip through the bins for a real record store experience.
I think this is the only place where Nancy and Frank are sandwiched between U2 and The Clash. And speaking of Nancy...
I always have to check to see if they've got my favorite Nancy Sinatra album cover. I spent countless hours staring at this as a kid!
Here's a cool and diverse mix of musicians!
Beatle oddities, let's check this out.
George Martin's Off The Beatle Track, I forgot this album even existed!
This album cover is great, it looks like something out of Mad magazine!
The albums aren't cheap in here, most of them range between twenty to forty bucks and there's a good chunk priced higher than that, but they do have several rows of ten buck bargain bin albums.
I love this tune tote bag!
I decided to get this Ronnie Spector 45. Nice legs!
And here she is hanging around in my apartment. From One House of Oldies to another!
If somebody told me as a kid that record stores would be in danger of going extinct, I’d have thought they were flat-out nuts. But sadly, record stores, along with book stores, are being greatly hurt by the internet. The majority of young kids would rather download their music and listen to their iPods rather than going out and graze through records and compact discs at a store. I can’t begin to tell you the number of hours I’ve logged in at record stores throughout my life, flipping through albums, looking at covers, reading liner notes and talking to the people that work there. Record stores can be a real social experience of finding new and old music and meeting like-minded people. So it’s sad to see record stores shrinking.
In the last couple weeks there’s been news that two well-known record stores were leaving their retail spaces. On January 26th Ken Mac reported from his great photo blog, GVDP, that the word on the street was saying that iconic record store, Bleecker Bob’s was closing and that a Starbucks was moving in. Luckily, this turned out to be somewhat wrong. What is happening is Bleecker Bob’s is looking for a place in the East Village due to the crazy-ass rents in the West Village. They’re not planning on closing, but they are definitely moving out of this space that they’ve inhabited for over thirty years. After that news, Jeremiah Moss reported four days later that East Village Rockit Scientist Records was closing it’s location on St. Marks, where they’ve been since 2002 (the shop was first opened on Carmine St. in 1996.) Their lease is ending and owner John Kioussis tried for a rent reduction, but the landlord won’t budge. So it’s closing on March 31st. John’s going to mail order for awhile and continue to look for a new spot for his fine record store.
So, hopefully these two places will live on, but I wanted to get photos and document both of them before they left the spaces they were in. And so, it’s off we go.
I thought we'd first travel over to the East Village and check out Rockit Scientist Records. I've always loved the name of that shop. The gate is open, let's go inside.
As you can see, it's a long narrow railroad space in here.
Here's the front counter, Aaron was showing long-time customer John an album.
As you can see, the store has a great selection of compact discs, one's you won't find on Amazon or at a Barnes and Noble.
And there's also a lot of albums in here, definitely something you won't find at Barnes & Noble or at a Best Buy. One of my favorite things to do in record stores is to look at album covers, let's check out a few.
A classic cover, The New York Dolls first album. I remember listening to this in Peoria when I was in high school. Never dreamed I'd be looking at it in New York City decades later.
I've never seen this Bo Diddley record before. That's what's so fun about going to record shops, you always see something you've never seen before. Now I'm thinking about the New York Doll's cover of "Pills."
Here's the Rolling Stones "Satanic Majesties Request" with the original 3-D cover. I had this as a kid and traded it for a bag of pot when I was around 15-years-old. This one's going for 75 bucks! I should've held on to it, as I remember it was kind of shitty weed that I got for it!
I love the hand-lettered record dividers in here!
Owner John Kioussis holds up my purchase of the Dave Clark Five to shield himself from the TMW camera! The first 45 I ever got was "Catch Us If You Can," by the Dave Clark Five and it's on this album. I never got it back when I was a kid, but I have it now. Thanks to John for letting me come in and take photos. He's a great guy and has a lot of entertaining stories about owning a record store in New York. I told him he should pitch it as a movie idea. If you want to check out and find some cool records and compact discs here, the clock is running, Rockit Scientist Records is closing on March 31st. Stop in and make a purchase while you can.
Joey sells records out in front of the store. He's a nice, soft-spoken fellow who says he's been doing this for 22 years. I asked him what he thought about what was happening to the neighborhood and he thought about it and then said with a shake of his head, "It sure is changing." Those four words pretty much sum it all up. Okay over to Bleecker Bob's.
And here we are at Bleecker Bob's on Third Street in the West Village.
Bleecker Bob opened his first record store here in New York in 1968 on Bleecker St. It's been in this location for over thirty years.
I love old cash registers and this one's a beauty.
Here's something you don't see much of these days, vintage vinyl 45's.
And here's something you pretty much only see in Bleecker Bob's, 8 track tapes!
A poster of The Ramones from the late '70's. Hard to believe that Tommy Ramone is the only one still alive.
There's a huge selection of CD's available here.
And row after row of vinyl to peruse.
Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. The Hawks later evolved into The Band.
More hand-lettered dividers in here. Hey, The Yardbirds are in the back.
I've never seen this Yardbirds compilation, so that's my purchase from Bleecker Bob's for the day. I've always loved them and I traveled to Memphis with their drummer, Jim McCarty back in the early '90's. A story I need to write up one of these days.
There's a place in Bleecker Bob's where you can leave flyers and cards...hey, looky there! If you know of a space in the East Village, feel free to call Bleecker Bob's and let them know, the phone number is below. I wish them good luck with the move and will be anxious to see the new store. For now, I'm glad the old one is still there, you should check it out while you can.
It’s been reported that vinyl records are making a comeback these days, but threre’s a store in Greenwich Village where it never went away. The House of Oldies had been selling vinyl and only vinyl on Carmine Street just off Bleecker for over 50 years. So today I thought we’d take a trip to this house that vinyl built.
And here we are on Carmine Street at the House Of Oldies. That name could also be used for a cool senior citizens home.
This sign says it all.
I wonder if Diane and Paul Prianti shop here?
Wow, this store is jam-packed with vinyl. No CD's, no records, just vinyl, vinyl and more vinyl.
Here's the owner of House of Oldies, Bob Abramson. The store was originally located around the corner on Bleecker Street when it opened in 1962. Bob took it over in 1968 and in 1980 moved it to this location on Carmine Street. Bob's a really nice guy and told me that with the records stored below the store, The House of Oldies has around 750,000 records in stock. You can shop online and the link is directly below this post.
Check out the wall of 45's! If it's not in stock here, most likely it doesn't exist.
Vinyl albums are packed in bins and there's piles of them below the bins.
And here's more of them packed around the vintage cash register.
There's boxes of three very different genres of music stacked in the front window.
And there's albums lining the corkboard wall. Let's take a look at some of them.
I love this Eldorados' cover. Album cover art is something I could look at forever, it's something you don't get when you download music.
Here's The Teenagers featuring little Frankie Lymon.
Jan and Dean meet Batman. I guess Robin liked the Beach Boys better.
Here's a great Yardbirds album, Over Under Sideways Down. One of these days I have to write about going to Memphis with The Yardbirds drummer, Jim McCarty.
Okay, enough of the wall, let's browse and flip through the bins for a real record store experience.
I think this is the only place where Nancy and Frank are sandwiched between U2 and The Clash. And speaking of Nancy...
I always have to check to see if they've got my favorite Nancy Sinatra album cover. I spent countless hours staring at this as a kid!
Here's a cool and diverse mix of musicians!
Beatle oddities, let's check this out.
George Martin's Off The Beatle Track, I forgot this album even existed!
This album cover is great, it looks like something out of Mad magazine!
The albums aren't cheap in here, most of them range between twenty to forty bucks and there's a good chunk priced higher than that, but they do have several rows of ten buck bargain bin albums.
I love this tune tote bag!
I decided to get this Ronnie Spector 45. Nice legs!
And here she is hanging around in my apartment. From One House of Oldies to another!
Greenwich Village, 
