Right on the heels of my previous post, some news that hits closer to my (current) home....
Gem City Records Officially Closes Doors
Gem City Records Officially Closes Doors
2.16.2010
2.13.2010
ear X-tacy
ear X-tacy is the store. I spent many days and nights and dollars searching through the racks from the time I first discovered it, shortly after it opened, in the mid-eighties until I moved away from Louisville (for good) in '96, still popping in when time and finances permitted. I envied the people who were lucky enough to work there (although I admit now I never had the guts to ask for, yet alone fill out, a job application). I remember special ordering cassettes back at the original, shoebox sized store (Klark Kent comes to mind) as well as buying The Joshua Tree on the day of it's release in 1987 (St. Patrick's Day). It was the store to go to in order to find anything remotely off the wall, and before the mid-90's melting pot that consumed "alternative music" into the top 40, there was a lot of it about.
I even remember how when owner John Timmons began his own record label, X-static, I went and bought release #1 in no small part to a genuine sense of obligation to John and the store for helping turn me on to music. I can't name how many hours I spent in that store or how many tapes and CD's (and occasionally vinyl) I bought from there. Though the location of the store moved a few times and other independent record stores have been about, there's just something about ear X-tacy. Plus, they've got one of the coolest bumper stickers around. It's one of the things I truly miss most about Louisville, and one of the things, I hope, will be able to endure.
I know that the economy is a mess and the music industry is a trainwreck on its own, but there is one, and only one, hope that ear X-tacy can survive: people must spend money there. I'll admit that I didn't know anything about the troubles the store is facing were it not for a Facebook page, and the fact that there are over 20,000 fans to it is testament to how many people are concerned, but really, how many of these 20,000 have been supporting the store lately? I don't live in Louisville anymore, so I can't go there multiple times a week (that ,and my discretionary spending is now spent on clothes and food for my family). But could I pop in sometime when I do get to Louisville? Probably. Could I buy one of the few CD's I buy per year now (gee, that's depressing) at earX-tacy.com? Sure. At the same time, though, it's got to be the people of Louisville that save ear X-tacy. Not with benefits, not with Facebook pages, not with blog posts, but with cold hard cash....
(In my old man voice) When I was young, it was the kids who shopped there. Punks and preppies alike. It was those kids with their first jobs and first paychecks and money burning holes in their pockets. It was the kids who were looking for (and finding) the music that inspired them, spoke to them, empathized with them, and pissed off their parents.
Yo, people of Louisville, get off yer iPod asses and buy some music....
I even remember how when owner John Timmons began his own record label, X-static, I went and bought release #1 in no small part to a genuine sense of obligation to John and the store for helping turn me on to music. I can't name how many hours I spent in that store or how many tapes and CD's (and occasionally vinyl) I bought from there. Though the location of the store moved a few times and other independent record stores have been about, there's just something about ear X-tacy. Plus, they've got one of the coolest bumper stickers around. It's one of the things I truly miss most about Louisville, and one of the things, I hope, will be able to endure.
I know that the economy is a mess and the music industry is a trainwreck on its own, but there is one, and only one, hope that ear X-tacy can survive: people must spend money there. I'll admit that I didn't know anything about the troubles the store is facing were it not for a Facebook page, and the fact that there are over 20,000 fans to it is testament to how many people are concerned, but really, how many of these 20,000 have been supporting the store lately? I don't live in Louisville anymore, so I can't go there multiple times a week (that ,and my discretionary spending is now spent on clothes and food for my family). But could I pop in sometime when I do get to Louisville? Probably. Could I buy one of the few CD's I buy per year now (gee, that's depressing) at earX-tacy.com? Sure. At the same time, though, it's got to be the people of Louisville that save ear X-tacy. Not with benefits, not with Facebook pages, not with blog posts, but with cold hard cash....
(In my old man voice) When I was young, it was the kids who shopped there. Punks and preppies alike. It was those kids with their first jobs and first paychecks and money burning holes in their pockets. It was the kids who were looking for (and finding) the music that inspired them, spoke to them, empathized with them, and pissed off their parents.
Yo, people of Louisville, get off yer iPod asses and buy some music....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)