This past week, my personal Record Store Day Black Friday took place at Guestroom Records – Oklahoma City’s premier record store.
Of course, I overspent my budget, again, necessitating a diet of tuna fish casserole for the next couple of weeks. As always, it's totally worth it.
As I left to go home, I made a prompt U-turn to check out a new vinyl kid on the block – 39th Street Records.
Located at 2124 NW 39th Street, in the heart of the vibrant Gayborhood, it is – to my knowledge – the first record shop for the 39th Street community.
With vibrant multi-colored frontage, this record store has a bit of everything. This is first displayed with the creative window dressings, including a very creepy mannequin imploring you to come inside. But as I walked through the door, I was immediately hit by the vibrant splash of sexy colors along the walls.
After looking at the non-music memorabilia of years past, I peered through the stacks of wax and immediately found some long-playing Bananarama maxi-singles. While I know many people ignore their fruitful work, I am a huge fan and I liberally let that freak flag fly. Score!
As I flipped through the nearby compact discs, I noticed the art lining the walls next to the Velvet Underground and their big banana. Looking momentarily at the shirts and other vintage clothing, I discovered a second room with even more records.
As I found more maxi-singles of Prince’s “Batdance” and U2’s “Even Better Than the Real Thing (Remixes)," I noticed that while 39th Street had little-to-no new product, it is the metro's maxi-single headquarters and, to be sure, their selection is quite insane.
Winding down, I looked through the trinkets and such in the glass cases. Feeling accomplished, I brought my purchases to the counter, with the records all being in the $5-to-$10 range.
As I was about to pay with my credit card, from the corner of my eye I noticed something—or someone—that I completely forgot about: Jordy.
A pint-sized small-time recording star from the south of France in the early 90s, Jordy’s “Dur dur d'être bébé!” was considered lost to time, for both my brother and the architects of bad club music. I had to pick it up for my brother for a $5 Christmas gift, convinced we are the only people left to enjoy this Euro-trash.
Overall, 39th Street Records is a truly happening store with earworms from long ago. I plan on stopping by every few months for some gently used singles and unabashed kitsch art. And, really, that’s all I want in a record store. Approved!
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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.
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