Record Store Day 2013's Tragic Success

Photo by Jolie Ruben.

The sixth annual Record Store Day took place last Saturday on April 20 and experienced its most successful year yet.

Vinyl record sales in the United States during the week of Record Store Day reached 244,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Sales increased 36 percent from last year's event.

Each year, exclusive releases are made available for purchase in participating record stores across the U.S. Some of this year's artists included Flaming Lips, White Stripes and Notorious B.I.G.

Spin sent out photographers to independent record shops in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to capture the turnout, but what they uncovered something else—the fallout of one of New York's most famous record stores.

Kory Grow's article following the finals days of Bleecker Bob's is amazing from start to finish. If you love vinyl records, reading the article is like watching a loved one die on their deathbed.

Grow begins his article with an incredible lede anecdote:

"The aromas of must and dust were what stuck with you when you exited Bleecker Bob's Golden Oldies Record Shop, the dumpy yet iconic LP store in New York City's mercurial post-boho Greenwich Village. The scents wafted out the door, where they lingered in that no-man's-land between Ben's Pizza and Village Psychic. The collected fetor of decades-old cardboard, vinyl, and plastic all comingling, the whiff of oldies begging to be rediscovered."

Bleecker Bob's holds more history than just being your typical attempt of reviving record collecting as a trend. Fred Armisen filmed his Saturday Night Live intro of him flipping through Sex Pistols and Style Council LPs. Joey Ramone showcased the shop as a part of New York magazine's 1994 "Where to Find It" issue. Hell, even Robert Plant and Jimmy Page visited the shop.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Bleecker Bob's. Photo by Bleecker Bob's.

The most insulting part of the story, however, is that Bob's is being shut down to make way for a frozen yogurt joint—as if New York doesn't have enough of those.

The story of Bleecker Bob's is typical of any small business in Greenwich Village. Frozen yogurt is in; record collecting is out.

Chris Jones Reflects on Ebert Feature

Esquire's Chris Jones looks back at his experience writing a feature about legendary film critic Roger Ebert, which appeared in the "Essentials" issue of Esquire in March 2010.

Jones' blog post contains honesty and straight-forwardness, giving readers access to several Post-It Notes that Ebert, due to his inability to speak, scribbled to Jones during their many conversations.

Ebert underwent surgery for his thyroid cancer in 2006 where doctors removed a large portion of his lower jaw, resulting in both the loss of Ebert's ability to speak, eat and drink.

In the opening paragraph of his blog post, Jones explains what he learned through Ebert: taking for granted what many consider small trivial things like making phone calls and the ability to drink a beer.

Fearing what Ebert may think of his blog post if he were still alive, Jones explains, "I’m terrified that he’s reading this somehow and will send me an email telling me how much he hated it. So rather than f**k this up and trip all over myself trying to find the right words, I’ll let Roger do the talking."

A Post-It Note written by Ebert to Jones

Jones' quote is ironic. How can Ebert do the talking if he can't speak? One of Ebert's Post-It Notes (pictured above) demonstrates the power of writing and the importance of written communication.

Up until his death on April 4, 2013, Ebert continued to write reviews for the Chicago-Sun Times with the same journalistic prowess he had possessed for 46 years with the newspaper. Ebert's last review was for "The Host," based on the Stephanie Meyer novel of the same title. He gave the film two and a half out of five stars.

Gone but never forgotten, Roger Ebert will forever be the epitome of film reviews and critiques. Ebert's writing made readers feel as if he was an ordinary guy sitting next to them at the theater.

Remember, please be quiet and courteous to others, and silence your cell phones now. Enjoy the movie.