Deaf Ear Records in Downtown LaCrosse Wisconsin
A month ago I had the pleasure of visiting a music store for the first time in many, many moons. I stopped in at one of my old favorites, Deaf Ear Records in LaCrosse Wisconsin, and realized how much I missed the experience and thought I would share it with you either to reminisce or for you younger set, try to capture some of what you are missing out on.
Back in the day (the late 80's and much of the 90's to be exact) I was the guy that could go into the record store and easily lose a few hours thumbing through albums, CD's, cassettes and much of the other merch. For a geek there is a mild buzz associated with this (I would compare it to the buzz wild game hunters get when tracking a wild animal minus the blood and guts or the shopaholic gets when looking for their 400 pair of shoes).
One by one I would fingertip my way through hundreds of titles looking for something to pop out at me. Maybe the album art was cool. Maybe the artist sounded familiar since friend mentioned them once or maybe the used section provided a few long lost or hard to find favorites. Pure bliss!
This type of experience wasn't for the non-geek. There were only a handful of friends that could even hang and enjoy these situations as much as myself. Most people could only last about a half hour max.
Anyway, I had about 4-5 albums that I wanted but I could only allow myself to leave with two. I decided to test my Musicgoat ways and go with music that I was compeltely unfamiliar with. The only criteria I had was – since I am on a songwriting kick – that it needed to be something that was sonically different and had songwriting that was great at producing both mental imagery and emotion (the record store is one of the few places you can ask for something like that and get an answer…gottta love it).
In the end I went with the recommendations of the staff for one of my purchases and another based on curiosity built up from years of word of mouth. I took one of the staff recommendation and bought the The Decemberists “the Crane Wife”. It definitely fits the criteria I outlined for the staff – especially the imagery part…very poetic. I am not in love with the CD but I think it is decent and it is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I would typically listen to and that's a good thing.
For my other selection, I went with Wilco and Billy Bragg “Mermaid Avenue” I always wanted to check out Wilco and Woodie Guthrie so I figured it would be a great place to start. The album is made up of songs with music written by Wilco and Bragg backing Woodie Guthrie lyrics (cool concept). Again not in love with it but it is growing on me.
Overall though – and maybe I am just too old school – the music store experience is something that just can't be duplicated online (yet anyway). From the exhilaration of the hands on with the merch to the interaction with the staffers to the obscure staff pick humming in the background I just dig it. And if you haven't had the chance yourself I recommend you get on it.
What about you? Do you have any fond or not so fond memories of records stores? When s the last time you went? Lets get conversation started and let some of the iTunes download generation see what they are missing out on.
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My last record store experience was just a few days ago – I was looking for some Nirvana actually, on vinyl, but was unable to find it there. Instead, I ended up doing something similar to you, the endless process of flipping through records. I had subtly mentioned something about buying a Kansas album last time I was there, and within minutes the owner/sole employee had put “Carry on my Wayward Son” on the store speakers. He continued to do this for every other album I spent a fair amount of time looking at or had noted, it was sweet really. While flipping through, I came across a few Depeche Mode albums, and decided upon Some Great Reward. I then hit up the Journey albums, getting Departure and another one whose title escapes me at the moment. When I went to have this rung up, the owner remarked that he was surprised I hadn’t gotten Infinity by Journey as well. He suggested I go grab it, and look at it, and I did so. I brought it up to the front, rather confused, not wanting to buy another album. He just tucked it in the pile and gave it to me, free of charge. How I love record stores!
Record stores will allways cick ass,im a bit of a ghost of record stores past.i have haunted many of them,back in the early 80s i worked as a tram driver in Melbourne Australia ,and wouldnt you know it right next door of the depot was a record store,and yours truly and a couple of other friends would spend our free time and a lot of our wage in that store.the stores name was Pet Sounds and was renown for its quality imports,and helpful staff .You could argue with them about why you liked what they disliked,and vice versa ,and some times you would walk in and they would wave a record in you face and tell you you need to hear this ,or this just came in ive been saving it for you . And yes i have been known to buy something on instinct,liked the pacaging or the blurb on the back sleeve ,some of my favourite records were bought like that.Now that im older and no wiser i can still walk in to a record store and blow a couple of hundred bucks ,so to keep up with my addiction i go to second hand stores ,which i find are a great value you get more for your bucks .how about you….B
Thanks Melissa,
First, I have to say I am impressed with your versatility; Nirvana, Depeche Mode and Journey. You are one of us…a Musicgoat! 🙂
Next, I really appreciate you sharing your story, I really enjoyed it. That record store dude was a pretty
nicesmart guy giving you the free merch. Where is he at and whats the store? Maybe you should give him some props and spread the good word in case a reader happens to be in the neighborhood – they could stop in and say hi.Thanks Bechir,
I really enjoyed your story as well (I am gld I did this post…good stuff). That is WAY cool – and smart on their part – that they knew what you liked. Kinda like the bartender at your favorite pub having your drink ready the second you wlk in the bar. GOD STUFF! It was also cool you were able to debate music. Not many things are better than shoot the you know what about anything music.
As far as second hand stores, I hear of a few once in awhile. In fact, one of the surprises, I heard that Goodwill was a good place to find vintage vinyl for cheap. Unfortunately I don’t get to visit them very often due to my busy, busy schedule BUT then I don’t need to look for music as much as I used. I get a ton of music mailed right to my door thanks to this blog. There’s alot of artists looking for reviews.
Thanks again for stopping and don’t be a stranger!
Goodwill is a good place to go if you are willing to flip through a hundred or two hundred broadway musicals, gospel records and polka party albums, until you MAY find that one piece of treasure. My wife found George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass that way, and she also found Revolver. It was either Goodwill or Savers which is very close to the same thing.
I dearly relate to this article and the comments here. The last time I was in an actual music store, I recall, back in 1989 in Memphis TN, at a store called Looney Tune Records. As a kid, I would visit there just about every day and as regular routine, would pick out Motley Crue’s “Girls Girls Girls” album and play it on a small player at the front desk. The staff grew to know me pretty well and eventually I bought my first self-owned cassette of the Motley Crue single “Wild Side”. Although it was so long ago, I remember it all very vividly. Since then, I’ve yet to have found a store around here with the same essence that the store back in 89 gave.
Thank you for this post.
– G. E. Marrs (MusiciansDojo.com)
Thanks for stopping GE!
Wow! It has been awhile for you. Funny you should mention Girls, Girls, Girls. I remember saving all my lunch money for the week – basically starving myself – to save up for that release. The things we’ll do for music.
Stop again!