The Vintage Vinyl record store, a St. Louis music scene staple, means a lot to the community, but it also had something to do with my accepting the job as pop music critic for the Post-Dispatch.
The paper's entertainment editor flew me to St. Louis in 1998 in hopes that I would fall in love with the city. He took me to a few locales, including the Delmar Loop, and quickly ushered me into Vintage Vinyl.
Though I don't know that I was immediately hooked on the city, I was instantly in love with Vintage Vinyl, as well as with the sorely missed Streetside Records that was just down the street.
Long done with national chains such as Sam Goody, I enjoyed what Vintage Vinyl offered: rarities, collectibles and out-of-print music far and beyond the major labels, a thriving used-CD trading component and a grungy look that put music over gloss.
On Saturday, Vintage Vinyl and other like-minded stores will be in the spotlight on Record Store Day, which celebrates the classic (we don't dare say dinosaur) that is the independent record store. The day is marked by special activities, sales and performances at the stores.
Big-name artists take part in Record Store Day by releasing exclusive material not available at the Best Buys and Walmarts.
Here's what's happening locally. Get full details at recordstoreday.com.
Record Store Day
• Vintage Vinyl, 6618 Delmar Boulevard, vintagevinyl.com
• Euclid Records, 601 East Lockwood Avenue, euclidrecords.com
• Apop Records, 2831 Cherokee Street, apoprecords.com
At Vintage Vinyl
Saturday DJ spins
• 10 a.m. Travis Wood, 5scorepachyderm.com
• 11 a.m. Annie Zaleski, Riverfront Times music editor
• Noon Jaime Lees, jaimeville.com
• 1 p.m. Eric King, KDHX-FM (88.1)
• 2 p.m. Annie Dave, Jess and Julie, iwenttoashow.com
• 3 p.m. Katie and Jason, speakersincode.com
• 4 p.m. Dean Minderman, stljazznotes.blogspot.com
• 5 p.m. DJ Will Power, the Soulition
• 6 p.m. Steve Smith, the Royale
• 7 p.m. Justin, Berrk, Fernando & Lauren, musicofthehour.com
Saturday performances
• 10:30 a.m. Kelley Hunt
• 11:15 a.m. Richie Callison
• Noon I Hate Punk Rock Records showcase
• 1 p.m. Safety Words
• 1:45 p.m. Mathias
• 2:30 p.m. Pretty Little Empire
• 3:15 p.m. Via Dove
• 4 p.m. Black Spade & Family
• 5 p.m. Beat Street
At Euclid Records
Saturday performances, with DJs in between
• 11 a.m. John Doe & Jill Sobule
• Noon The Deciders
• 1 p.m. TBA
• 2 p.m. Sleepy Kitty
• 3 p.m. Troubadour Dali
• 4 p.m. The Jans Project
• 5 p.m. The Sights
• 6 p.m. The Skeletons
• 7 p.m. The Bottle Rockets
Sunday performances, with DJs in between
• Noon The Pelvic Girdles
• 1 p.m. Warm Jets USA
• 2 p.m. Black Fast
• 3 p.m. Ultraman
• 4 p.m. The R6 Implant
• 5 p.m. Snake Ranch
• 6 p.m. LucaBrasi
• 7 p.m. The Blind Eyes
At Apop Records
Saturday performances
• Noon-8 p.m. with High Life, Shaved Woman, Spelling Bee, Egg Chef, Doom Town, Fister, Frances With Wolves, Bikini Acid, Catholic Guilt, .e and Union Electric
• 9 p.m. After-party/evening show with Canadian Rifles, Defect Defect and Mescalin Journey
Other participants
• Slackers Music Movies Games in Chesterfield, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Peters, O'Fallon, Mo., and O'Fallon, Ill. slackers.com
• Record Exchange St. Louis, 247actionauction.com
• CD Reunion St. Charles, themusicreunion.com/store
• CD Warehouse St. Louis, 314-842-3925
• Webster Records Webster Groves, websterrecords.com
• Phono-Mode St. Louis, 314-489-4567
• Hudson's Embassy St. Louis, 314-537-0296
