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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Michael Coxe" <audities@gmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Greatest record store proprietor/clerk |
| Date | Mon, 15 May 2006 14:44:34 -0700 |
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Don!
Fantastic to hear from another Auditier who knew John. He opened that store
after I moved to the Bay Area, a big change from his flea market booth. I was
only there twice while visiting my mom. Like most of these guys (where are the
gals?), he was nothing if not a *character*, that's for sure :> My remembrances
of energy and engagement could certainly appear abrasive with a turn of the
screw. He was a bit of a hard liver, which eventually claimed him.
- michael
Don Stroud wrote:
> Way back in the mid-80s, down Hillsborough Ave. from North Carolina State
> Univesity, in Raleigh North Carolina, there was a fantastic place called The
> Record Hole, owned and run by the one and only John Swain.
>
> He was in his late 40s/early 50s, wore Buddy Holly glasses, smoked like a
> chimney, and was abrasive as hell. But the man knew records like nobody's
> business. The store was just a big room, with cardboard box after cardboard
> box filled with vinyl: LPs, 45s, 10", you name it. John would sit in his
> chair behind the checkout counter, and either read newspapers or go on
> extended "High Fidelity"-style rants about musicians, history, etc. He got
> me and my friends tons of bootlegs and imports.
>
> My favorite story about Swain involved finding a birthday present for one of
> my friends. This friend of mine, a transplant from Pakistan, had the
> weirdest collection of remembered songs in his head. One he would hum/sing
> all the time was "doo-doo-DOO-doo-doo/love is in the air/everywhere I turn
> around"... and that was all he knew. When he moved off campus, he threw
> himself a birthday party at his new apartment. So as a gift, I decided to
> find this song for him.
>
> I walked down to the Record Hole, walked in the front door, and there was
> Swain behind the counter. I said, "Hey, John, I'm looking for a 45 for 'Love
> Is In The Air'..."
>
> Before I could finish my sentence, he hauled himself out of his chair with a
> smokey wheeze, walked around two tables, and stopped in front of a
> nondescript cardboard box that looked like every single other box in the
> room. He stuck his thumb and index fingers into the box of records, and
> without flipping through them, pulled out a white 7" sleeve with a record in
> it, tossed it on the box in front of me, and grumbled, "Here." He then
> walked back to his chair, and picked up his paper, and kept reading. Yes, it
> was "Love Is In The Air" by John Paul Young. I was flabbergasted. And the
> record was a big hit, too.
>
> Unfortunately, Record Hole and Swain have been gone for many, many years.
> But I loved that place, and John's encyclopedic knowledge of all things
> vinyl.
>
> Don
> http://www.noceanstudios.com
>
> NP: Lilys - "A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns"
>
>
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