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| From | synchro1 <synchro1@ix.netcom.com> |
| Subject | Re: Vinyl Purchase Memories |
| Date | Sat, 19 Jul 2003 00:18:01 -0700 |
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At 12:05 AM 07/19/2003 -0400, Mark Eichelberger wrote:
>This post brought back memories of my first vinyl purchases in my
>teens. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia and during the mid to late
>1970's, my friends and I would go to a large discount store called
>Korvettes in the recently opened King Of Prussia Mall. Korvettes had the
>best prices and a pretty decent selection. As I remember, everything else
>they sold in the store was basically junk, but the Record department did
>really brisk business, particularly on the weekends.
>
>Korvettes went out of business years ago and the King of Prussia Mall has
>quadrupled in size and has gone pretty upscale ---Bloomingdale's,
>Nordstrom's, Nieman Marcus...or as my partner likes to call it, Needless
>Markup---but if you mention Korvettes to anyone who grew up in that era
>and who loved music, a smile will surely come to their face....
Yes, E. J. Korvettes - supposedly the name came from E(ight) J(ewish)
Kor(ean) Vet(eran)s who decided to form the first store while in the
trenches overseas, perhaps a model for the Bubba Gump Shrimp
Company? Urban legend or true? There were a number of Korvettes in the
tri-state area and I also recall them having an interesting record department.
My first vinyl purchases were made at the FMC (Farmers Market Cooperative)
department store on Route 10 in Morris Plains, NJ, just down the street
from the Morris Plains Lanes Bowling Alley and across from the Morris
Plains Drive-In Theater (where I explored budding breasts in the flesh for
the first time while my parents watched the film Hawaii in the front seat).
I received a 45 RPM player for my birthday, the kind with the solid steel
stylus and the speaker on the tone arm itself. I took my birthday funds,
walked to FMC (it was a mark of maturity to be allowed to cross the
highway) and bought: Second Hand Rose by Barbra Streisand, Ballad of The
Green Berets by Sgt. Barry Sadler, and No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's
In) by The T-Bones. I played them all into oblivion within weeks.
First vinyl LPs purchased several years later: Zapped (Warner sampler),
Waiting For The Electrician (Firesign Theater), and Broken
Barricades (Procol Harum). Prior to that I had stolen copies of
Cricklewood Green (10 Years After) and Led Zep II from the school library
(I have since sent generous donations to the music department as atonement).
In between the 45s and LPs, I started collecting cassettes recorded by
friends and had a large sampling of Nazz, Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, Beatles,
early Mott, 10 Years After, Canned Heat, Cat Mother & The All-Night
Newsboys (anyone remember these guys - I really liked 'em), and James Gang.
To this day, anytime I inaugurate a new piece of stereo equipment, I always
play a mint mono copy of Wild Honey first.
I still enjoy digging through the 45 collection to explore nostalgia more
than any other medium. The picture sleeves alone beat anything a modern CD
could offer. Now where is that copy of Stoney End I had out just the other
day...........
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