March 14, 2011

Bleecker Bob’s Records / 8:45 pm
Greenwich Village
One of the many things that the internet is killing is the record store. Most people download their music now, thereby eliminating the middleman, the record store. It’s too bad, because I’ve always loved hanging out in record stores and flipping through albums. There’s not that many left in Manhattan, so I thought I’d start spending every Sunday visiting record stores that are still left. Tonight’s destination is one of Manhattan’s more famous record stores, Bleecker Bob’s in the heart of Greenwich Village (though ironically, it’s not on Bleecker St.) It’s been featured in films and in an episode of Seinfeld.

Here we are, Bleecker Bob's records in Greenwich Village.

Let's go inside and check it out.

John was minding the store this night and I asked him to pose with one of his favorite albums. He chose the "Velvet Underground and Nico," which was a nice pick, seeing that the first nightcap video on the blog was the Velvet Underground. John has worked here for twenty years and has seen everyone from Keith Richards to David Bowie to Rick Rubin to Frank Zappa walk through the door. Speaking of Zappa, the owner, Bleecker Bob is Godfather to Zappa's daughter, Moon Zappa.

Okay, let's take a look around Bleecker Bob's.

Here's some posters and records in the front window.

Boxed records are labeled and stacked up on one another behind the counter.

John Lennon's last single, "(Just Like) Starting Over" hangs next to an early Beatles album on the VJ label.

A wall of vinyl.

Separated at birth moment: The cash register at Bleecker Bob's...

And the cash register at the Mars Bar.

I love all the hand-lettering in here.

Yes! Cheap Trick! My heroes!

Cool Little Steven promo poster. Note the cassette offering! That's a great album by the way, Dino Danelli drums on it.

Johnny Thunders and Jayne County, would've loved to have seen that show!

Rachel Sweet! I had this album back in the day, I wonder what ever happened to her?

The very first album I ever bought was "The Best of Herman's Hermits." That's what I love about record stores, all the memories that start coming back.

There's a nice crowd in here on a Sunday night and that's good to see.

Irony at its finest hour. The punk rock section behind "Guitar Heroes!"

Here's the Jacksons with many of their influences stacked behind them.

John's a regular in the store and here he is posing with one of his favorite albums, Cream's Disraeli Gears.

A poster of The Clash hangs on the wall.

Records to get you "in the mood."

Some vintage rock 'n' roll magazines and newspapers.

And on the way out, time to play, spot the MAD card. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

Bleecker Bob's
118 W 3rd St. (Between 6th Ave. and Mac Dougal St.)
212-475-9677

Further reading: TV.com, New York magazine, Turntabling and NY Times.

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Some Things I Did Today
Cursed the idea of Daylight Savings Time.
Opened a Twitpic account.
Ate some Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Beefaroni.
Read a feature article about teen sensation, Justin Bieber in Rolling Stone.
Paid my bills.
Drank two bottles of Dasani Lemon Water.
Got a haircut.
Flipped through the new Best of New York magazine.
Read the Charlie Sheen story in that issue of New York magazine.
Felt bad about wasting more time reading about Charlie Sheen.
Checked Charlie Sheen’s Twitter page.

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Nightcap

I've got no kick against modern jazz,
Unless they try to play it too darn fast.

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