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FLEA MARKET FUNK X DUST & GROOVES: RECORD STORE DAY 2011

We celebrate record Store Day with Jamison Harvey at long-time Brooklyn staple Fifth Avenue Records

Flea Market Funk x Dust and Grooves: Record Store Day 2011

J

amison Harvey from www.fleamarketfunk.com and I have come together to do a little something special on Record Store Day. We paid a visit to what we think is a special record store in Brooklyn.

Record Store Day is a day to celebrate everything vinyl. With many national bands releasing limited edition vinyl today to help preserve the medium, we couldn’t have all vinyl sites without mentioning the celebration. It makes us happy, that in light of the many record stores that have closed, there are many who still manage to keep their doors open, and keep the art of the record, the liner notes, and most of all the warm, full, sound of vinyl. While we commend all who take part in this festivity, we do have one thing to say: Everyday is Record Store day over at Flea Market Funk and Dust and Grooves. We make Record Store Day a daily ritual. So today, we’re gonna shout out a guy who has been celebrating Record Store Day for over 41 years in Brooklyn. We’re happy we came upon his shop.
Tony Mignone a.k.a “The Record Man” has had his record shop at 439 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope for over 41 years. Almost evicted twice, his landlord is at it once again to get him out of the building so the store next to him can expand. A native Brooklynite, born on 6th St., his Fifth Avenue Record shop has been a staple in the community for over four decades. With this year’s new threat of eviction, this vinyl time machine of records of all genres may be gone for good this time. Tony has every other format from cassettes and eight tracks, but the plethora of 45 and 33 rpm vinyl is what’s king in this Brooklyn store. One of the last, true, pioneers of the vinyl format here in BK.
With a private collection of more than 25,000 45’s alone, and specializing in 1940’s and 1950’s music specifically, his Lp collection contains “a little bit of everything”. However, Mr. Mignone has a sweet spot for Country music, and will wax poetic about his first love on command. He’ll even sing Ferlin Husky’s “Dear John” and just about anything else out of his immense personal archives.
If there is any reason to celebrate Record Store Day, it’s in a place like Tony’s.

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3 Responses

  1. Great post, E.

    I’m one who believes that the more ways artists can get their work out and compensated for, the better.
    Though it’s great to see new stores open up, it’s even better to see the elder ones celebrated and elevated to a place of their deserved respect.

    Records are literally that: records of time, place and our collective space. People and their stories are gateways to a recording’s significance in history.
    It would be great to see more of the elders acknowledged by the younger generation of store owners, collectors, artists and purveyors.

    However way it happens, Record Store Day, or folk in the Dust & Grooves camp featuring photos and thoughts on their blog, it can’t be a bad thing.

    oS

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