April 18, 2011
First off I’d like to announce that my pals, Karen McBurnie and Jon Hammer have published a new edition of their ultra-cool internet publication, Grade “A” Fancy. The feature story is an interview with the Manhattan (the drink, not the city.) Plus there’s recipes, cool artwork and layout, cherries and the phrase: “Diluted, quaggy mess.” I’m thinking about stealing that asking permission from Karen and Jon to use that as the title of my biography. Anyhoo, check out the fun here: Manhattan Confidential.
Okay, I’m writing this introduction after the fact. The place I was originally going to shut me down and said I would have to ask the manager if I could take photos in there. So just like last year on the bar crawl I started off on a lonely walk. But, also like last year, when one place would shut me down, I’d find a better place in my travels. And that’s just what happened tonight. Check it out.?
Before I even started out tonight, I ventured out in the daytime to get that Gumby bag at Forbidden Planet. A second after I shot this picture I froze with nervous fright that maybe the Gumby bag would be gone. Scared out of my wits I went in to see if the treasured Gumby bag was still in stock.
Yes! They still have them. Gumby!
And now I have the Gumby Messenger Bag. World domination next. Nothing can stop me now!
Okay, on my way to tonight's destination I ran along this discarded cardboard box that had a face staring at me. It kind of freaked me out and I stared at it for over five minutes. Yikes!
There's a full moon out tonight and it's kind of spooky out here.
Okay, the place I was originally going to wouldn't let me take pictures of their store until I talked to the manager. So let's check out this place.
It's a small space, let's see what's inside here.
Holy Moley! It's like Tower Records barfed into a phone booth in here. There's piles of stuff everywhere!
Here's a fellow browsing in the back, which is only a few feet from the front. Let's go say hi.
His name is Barry and he told me he's a regular in here. He said he stops by almost every night of the week to check out the specials in the store.
For those of you that still have a Walkman, we salute you!
Stacks of VHS tapes. It's a little bit of a time warp in here, which is a good thing.
Swing softly with Steve. Just don't tell Eydie!
There's piles of vinyl to sift through in here.
There's a nice selection of Iggy Pop offerings on the racks.
Here's a signed Hyun Michelle Kim piano CD!
There's bags on the floor stuffed with...
Cassettes. You won't find no stinking iPods in here!
The Clash at Shea Stadium are neighbors with Neil Diamond on one Hot August Night in NYC.
A stool doubles for a display rack in here.
A shot from the back of the store.
Here's me with my purchases and clutching my Gumby bag. Are you jealous? I don't blame you.
On the way home I was glad to see that frightening cardboard box man was gone.
Home, sweet home. Hey, what's that on my futon?
AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I Bought
I got the signed Hyun Michelle Kim CD and the Clash at Shea Stadium.
Rainbow Music 2002 Ltd.
130 First Ave. (Near 9th St.)
212-505-1774
Further reading: Google page, NYC Metblogs, Citizen Jazz (fifth bulleted entry down) and Epigee.
You might also like: Beavers, Cleavers and Larry Mondello.
Six Ed Wood Movies
Glen or Glenda
Jailbait
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Bride of the Monster
Fugitive Girls
Ed Wood
I could never find a chance to choose,
Between a way to win or a thing to lose.
44 Comments
Reader Comments (44)
The Grade "A" Fancy article made me wish I liked alcohol. Holy crap that place looks like a hoarders version of a store! How are you supposed to buy something in there? I would have loved to see you walking down the street with your Gumby bag caring mr cardboard face man. Or maybe he fit inside. And a Hyun Michelle Kim cd? That is quite the musical taste variety there.
Goddamn! How do you walk in there! I agree with Kari, Hoarders needs to do an episode in here! The ending to this one was great! And the best Byrds tune ever, great selection! Always love your nightcaps.
Thanks for the hookup to Karen's Grade A,,,hey she mentioned Malachy's as one of the places to get a good Manhattan, (one of my favorite bars). That store is a mess but you know I still have my cassette walkman, its about 30 years old, still works perfectly. Hard for me to watch VHS when DVD is so much better and now Blu Ray is incredible with 1080p format. Steve Lawrence cd is a good one, he is a classy guy. Michelle Kim Cd, I have never heard but just saw a movie about the Clash.
I want the Gumby bag!
right now!
this coming from the chick with the jack skellington laptop bag:)
that store might give me claustraphobia but i'd at least like to try it...
@kari: It's really hard to move around in there. I knocked over a bunch of stuff. It's cool inside though and tons of things to look at.
@Barfly: Glad you liked the Nightcap. It's one of my favorite Byrds songs ever. Gene Clark: R.I.P.
@Al: Very cool you still have a Walkman! What Clash movie did you watch?
@Gidgie: The Gumby bag rules! The store is claustrophobic, but worth going into for all the cool finds in there.
love love love the gumby bag! i'm totally jealous! and the cardboard man is too scary! lol!
Holy shit! James Galway! And Belinda Carlisle! That store's a blast from the past. Speaking of which, I just read that Tiffany and Debbie Gibson are going on tour together, so better be sure to stock up on earplugs now so you're not caught unprepared when they come to a town near you.
Boy, running into cardboard box man must have been pretty scary...almost as scary as turning a corner and finding yourself face to face with Tor Johnson as the undead detective from 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', with Vampira strolling along by his side. TO ED WOOD!
Wowzer! That was just like a Twilight Zone. More posts with the O.Henry ending, please.
And as always, thanks for the plugeroo! You remain The Man!
I absolutely LOVE the Gumby Messenger Bag!!!
@rita r: The cardboard man is terrifying!
@Biff: Thanks for the Tiffany/Debbie Gibson warning! I always thought that Tiffany's parents should've been locked up for giving their daughter a stripper/hooker name.
@Jaws: TO ED WOOD! I just ordered "Fugitive Girls." Look for it on an upcoming midnight movie!
@Ned Sparks: You are quite welcome! Loved the new Grade "A" Fancy edition, great work!
@meleah: I love anything Gumby!
"Joe Strummer the Future is unwritten" an excellent documentary,,,,link http://www.amazon.com/Future-Unwritten-Joe-Strummer/dp/B0017WI5W0
Wow, Hyun Michelle Kim and the Clash live at Shea Stadium. One was one of the most successful and iconic acts from the first wave of punk in the 1970s, incorporating rock and roll, reggae, rockabilly, and eventually many other music styles into the repertoire, legendary for uncommonly intense stage performances. The other was the Clash.
I recommend throwing that Cyberman right the fuck out before it activates.
Oh, Marty. Now I will need to rename my interior design book, "It's like Tower Records barfed into a phone booth "
Thanks for the kind words! And did you notice that Neil Diamond looks a heckuva lot like Joe Strummer in that shot? Coincidence?
The freaky cardboard box man looks like Gumby's arch nemesis the Block heads! I walked past this store and it scared the shit out of me. Can you actually run a business thats that disorganised?....or is it organised chaos?
rianbow music is awesome. long live the birdman! that place is REAL new york! nevermind what it looks like - you ask him for anything, i mena, ANYTHING - and he knows exactly where it is. and you cant beat the prices. great post.
@Al: I watched that Joe Strummer documentary last month, it's great!
@csp: Your link was perfect, but it scared me as well! Nice to see you back from your self-imposed exile!
@Grade "A" Karen: The only time Neil Diamond has looked angrier is when he read the reviews of "The Jazz Singer."
@Clacky: It is somewhat organized chaos, but the owner, The Birdman is happy to assist customers. He was super nice to me. What's wrong with your foot?
@glamma: The Birdman is a great guy, I'll be going back for sure!
'Fugitive Girls'..."Four Gold Stars! An instant classic!"- Says the drunk ass no-account trailer park white trash flilm lovers association..." I watch my DVD copy every every night before I beat my wife in a drunken rage an' rape my eldest daughter".....
So glad you got the Gumby bag!!
@Jaws: Ha ha ha! I just ordered a copy!
@onemorefoldedsunset: Thanks, I love it!
@Marty: hahahaha...I've been boozing it up on my dad's farm in Bundaberg, Queensland for the past 5 days for his 60th birthday. Living it up, eating spit roast beef and drinking ice cold buds. In my relaxed Jimmy Buffet-esqe state, I must have been bitten by some ant like creature. It's not too sore now, but it's starting to itch.
Score on the gumby bag! That store gives me anxiety with how crowded and cluttered it is. But it has character, and that's what counts!
MAD bounces back just as 365 always did (and we did not have to endure rick)...nice "little" stop after dark...could probably get lost there for awhile...looks like one could find a couple diamonds in that coal mine—queue lee dorsey—Grade A did a bang up conversation....
If you have a heart, Gumby's a part of ***YOU!***
-Theme song
rr
@Clacky: "it's not too sore now, but it's starting to itch." You sure that's your foot you're talking about? You don't have an STD do you?
@SuzRocks: It's loaded with character!
@rr: Definitely some diamonds in those piles. The Gumby theme song! Perfect, as always!
@ MAD; Yeeeehawww! Catch yersef a beer bwah, an' knock yersef out...hot DAMN...white trash prison babes in heat....hoooowie!!!
@ Clacky; I'd watch that ant bite if I were you...since everything in your neck of the woods that has less than two legs or more than four is probably leathal as hell...
GUMBY MESSENGER BAG--YES!!!!!!!!!
@Melanie: That's what I said when I saw it!
@Marty: I couldn't possibly have an STD. If I do, I must have been foot fucking what ever it was that I got it from!
@Jaws: It's pretty safe up there this time of year. Too wet for the snakes and no spiders around. Plenty of ants and other flying insects...
@Clacky: Two words: Foot condom. Just throwing that out there, like you've apparently been doing with your foot! I'm not judging though, whatever floats your boat, mate!
@Marty: You've reminded me of a New York seller of socks. A man of Pakistani descent.
Good to see "Grade A" again!
What a great stop!
I would literally get lost in there for days or until
the crew from "Hoarders" would come in to extract me.
I can only imagine all the cool stuff I would find in there.
When I come to town we are going back there and a few of the other Record/"Graphic Novel" Shops.
Rest assured, Gumby could kick that cardboard box's ass.
"This shit's "rrruff" Son!"
@Boris: The Cybermen are not amused.
@MAD Get rid of that box before you have Cybermen, for the record, this is how it starts.
I'm serious Marty, your new Gumby bag is in mortal danger.
Git rid of that box before something insidious climbs into your loft with you.
I want @csp's little cardboard people at the curb to come live at my house.
@Clacky: Ha ha ha! The seller of socks! I forgot all about that guy!
@"Boris:" You'd love this place, a truly one-of-a-kind joint. And you're right, this shit is ruff, son!
@csp: That last link is the best!
The box is one of the Block Heads looking to destroy your New Gumby Bag !!!
@JHwang: Nothing will destroy my new Gumby bag!
I saw the Clash open for The Who at Shea, what a great night. You just brought back some great memories , thanks Marty after Dark.!
The Card Board Man, don't trust him. See the way he just keeps looking at you, I would keep an eye on him.
@Knuckles Tiki Bar: That was a historic concert! Wasn't David Johansen on the bill too?
I'm not jealous about that Gumby bag! I'm not jealous about that Gumby bag! I'm not jealous about that Gumby bag! I'm not jealous about that Gumby bag! I'm not jealous about that Gumby bag!
anyway.... I've got my gumby toy in my bag everyday!
@Zioum Zioum: Tell Jason to buy you one! I bet there's still some left!
YES I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT DAVID WAS THERE TOO..
@Knuckles Tiki Bar: I thought so, historic concert!