The front of Looney Tunes
I was pretty depressed to read in this past Friday's newspaper that my favorite CD store, Looney Tunes, had burned down. "Fire Razes Noted Record Store" read the headline. I was able to clearly recognize the store through all the smoke and flames in the black and white newspaper photo. I have been shopping at the store since before the name changed to Looney Tunes (and they adopted of a Daffy Duck-esque cartoon character mascot rockin' out on a guitar.)
I had begun to shop at the store in the mid 80's, and got to see CD long boxes replace casettes and vinyl records as time progressed. Back in those days, the store was called Cut Corners and was a very small place, jam packed with all the best music. I always liked the store because it was an "independent" store and that meant that I could usually find the music I was into. The chain stores always ignored certain bands I liked because they were not "commercial" enough to sell big. Even back then, the store recognized the value of catering to the specialized tastes of eclectic audiophiles that visited regularly. Anything they didn't have, they would get for you. The staff was always helpful and willing to share stories about bands, concerts, rumors of upcoming album releases, etc. There was always the feeling that this store was the cool place to be.
Photo of the manager inside Looney Tunes
Over the years, the store expanded into neighboring spaces when businesses closed down. The store grew and offered more varied merchandise, nearly overtaking the whole strip of shops on that street. They stayed alive despite huge chains like Tower Records going out of business as they fell victim to online outlets and the electronic file sharing of the MP3 generation. In addition to the novelty of the store's "indie" status, there were always fun things going on at the store. Many popular acts attended in-store appearances where they signed autographs and even performed. In 2001, the band Staind performed a rooftop show attended by 7,500 fans. I was really surprised by the mob scene that day when I went to go by a CD. Needless to say, I bought the CD the next day.
I have a lot of good memories of that store in addition to having purchased some of my most prized audio recordings there - some of which I found in their used bins and took a chance on because the cover art was cool! Let's see... memories... well there was the hot chick that worked there for a long time until she got engaged. There was the time I saw a sale on Master Of Puppets by Metallica and when I came back the next day with my cash, the price was like $3 more. I asked the owner about the price and he said, "Hold on a sec." He came back with a red sharpie, crossed out the price and wrote in a new one $3 cheaper saying, "Here you go." Now that's customer service! There was the time my friend and I bought a Van Halen concert bootleg there (shhhhh don't tell). On another visit to the store, I walked in and the store was empty (a rare occasion) and I heard something cool playing. I asked the guy at the counter what it was and he said it was an instrumental track from the new Van Halen album. I said, "But that doesn't come out for another two weeks?" He replied something like, "Come in tomorrow at 10:00 and you can buy it." I did... nice. I also got to meet Joe Satriani at the store on two occasions and have the autographs to prove it. At one appearance, her performed 10 feet away from me. That was cool.
Joe Satriani and the manager
I feel really bad for the family that runs the store. They were good people and the staff was always helpful. This past weekend I called there inquiring about the Dream Theater in-store appearance and the girl o the phone had me cracking up. It is upsetting to think about all the lost memorabilia including 57 autographed guitars, platinum and gold records, and rare vinyl recordings. The ceiling of the place was covered with hundreds of the "buy 20 get 1 free" punch cards - that gave a sense of just how popular the store was.
After reading the sad article, I had to go check the place out myself. When I got there, the damage didn't look all that bad. Who knows what it looks like inside though. The sign with the store name on it was completely melted and the store front was boarded up. I was encouraged to see "WE WILL REBUILD!" spray painted across the boards. I was also happy to see words of encouragement written on the plywood covering the broken out windows. I guess I'm not the only one who will miss that store.
Check out the photos below... click on them for a larger version.
