Metroland Online - Local Music

Albany’s Blue Note Record Shop, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has earned a reputation as the store to go to for vinyl. More likely than not, they’ll have that special—and rare—record you can’t find anywhere else. If they don’t have it in stock, they’ll find it. Owner Biff Pock has heard the same comment from customers over and over: “I’ve looked everywhere, and everyone told me to come to you.”

Pock remembers a case in point, when a woman called looking for a copy of the Bobby Darin song “Amy.” It seems the customer had heard the song while she was in labor, on the way to give birth, loved it, and had named her daughter after the song. Her Amy, all grown up, was getting married and she wanted to play the tune at the wedding.

Darin had a lot of hits, but this song was an obscure “B” side. All the other places she called didn’t have it. This particular recording dated to his folk-rock years in the late 1960s, and Blue Note tracked it down for her.

“She was moved to tears,” Pock remembers.

“Music,” Pock says smiling, “is the soundtrack of your life.”

The Blue Note specializes in selling that soundtrack, in the form of records—45s and LPs—and cassette tapes (new/unused—never used). In the beginning, they sold cameras, too; they still sell replacement needles for your turntable. They never got into the business of reel-to-reel tapes (because they were strictly for audiophiles) or 8-track tapes (because that was a poor format). They’ve got many of the No. 1 records of the pop era in stock, along with records by overlooked or regional artists, and out-of-print titles.

Nestled between a meticulously maintained 19th-century brick building and a church on the block of Central Avenue between Lexington Avenue and Robin Street, the perfectly maintained store looks like it hasn’t changed a bit since 1948. A sign in the window lists some of the national and world events that happened in that long-ago year, including the introduction of the products that sounded death knell for shellac 78 RPM records: RCA Victor’s 45 RPM records and Columbia’s long-playing, 33 RPM discs, both on vinyl.

Central Avenue has changed around the Blue Note, however. On a bright recent afternoon, Pock remembered how it used to be: The offices across the street were a Woolworth’s; there were a host of name-brand retail shops, now gone; and there’s a parking lot where Grand Union used to be. Today’s avenue could probably use a facelift.

Inside, however, the feel is cozy and decidedly retro. The Blue Note Record Shop is old school: It isn’t a self-service retail store. The records and tapes are behind the counter, and Pock serves you. Opposite the main counter, you can see the shelves lining the walls, each containing row upon row of neatly filed 45’s. The counters have big three-ring binders listing records and song hits; the walls are decorated with lists of every Top 10 hit from 1948 to 1998, from Frankie Laine to Madonna. In between these lists, there are shorter, amusingly idiosyncratic lists posted—like the tally of death songs (“Last Kiss,” “Tell Laura I Love Her”).

This may be the age of the Internet, but Pock does not sell records on the Web. The Blue Note has customers all over the world, but their business is by mail and over the phone.

“We want you to know us,” he says, “and we want to know you.”

One of the stranger commercial phenomena of the last few years has been the vinyl record revival. All the major labels still issue records on vinyl, even if, Pock says, they’d rather not emphasize this fact. There is a nostalgia factor, but there is also an appreciation for the warm sound of records. And it can’t be just the older set buying records: Pock just sold out of a shipment of the new James Bond theme, by Jack White and Alicia Keys, on 45.

There is, Pock says, something about records that people love. Think of the picture sleeves on 45s, and the detailed artwork on LP jackets. In a world where most music is sold or stolen or swapped in a digital format that has no tangible form, there’s still a market for this mechanical technology.

And as long as this market exists, the Blue Note Record Shop hopes to serve it: “It’ll keep chugging along.”

>> Back to 2008 Local Music Guide

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