hollaback girl

Part 267: Singing in the Store

MR TROLOLO

RECORD STORE TALES Part 267:  Singing in the Store

What do you think about people singing in public?

Hey, I’ve done it.  I used to sing along to the music in my store.  Inevitably, a co-worker would say, “Hey, who’s singing this?”  I’d answer, “Oh, it’s Van Halen,” or whatever.  The punchline back to me:  “Well then why don’t you let them sing it?”

Hah hah.

I had one customer who used to whistle all the time.  He’d be browsing away, whistling a pleasant melody.  Some hated the sound of Whistling Man.  I’m not sure why, I’d rather listen to somebody whistling happily than the two girls over on Listening Station #3, shrieking “Oooh, that’s my shit, that’s my shit.”

It was always comical to hear people singing along to their headphones on the listening stations. Many were oblivious that anyone could hear them. Others were tapped on the shoulder by embarrassed family members. If I had a camera on my cell phone in those days, I would have been able to create some classic viral videos.

It was a little scary on one occasion. A kid who seemed a little disturbed was listening to some Kid Rock, and started swearing along, quite loudly and angrily. At first I didn’t know what to do; after talking it over with one of the bosses I gently interrupted him and asked him to stop singing along. He said OK, but about 10 minutes later, he was singing again.

I saw this kid a lot. That summer, he was coming in every day, usually in the morning. He often listened to a CD, sometimes two, and usually stayed an hour without buying anything. We didn’t really have any store rules about this kind of non-customer except to use your own discretion.

When he started singing again I had to cut him off. I told him that he’d listened to enough for today and showed him to the door. I think this is probably the only customer I’ve ever had to kick out for singing in the store.

To come back to my original point, I don’t mind a little singing in public as long as it’s unobtrusive and pleasant. I don’t need to know that your “shit is bananas”. But if you have a pleasant little melody in your head, what’s wrong with humming a happy tune?

Part 100: Five Record Store Memories

corsair

RECORD STORE TALES PART 100:  Five Record Store Memories

1. One customer, Captain Jack (so-named because he dressed as a WWII Corsair pilot) once offered to work for us part time, just straightening the discs in the bargain bin so they’d all face in the same direction.  That was all he wanted to be.  Bargain Bin Straightener.

2. Two young girls were listening to Gwen Stefani on the listening stations.  Both of them decided to sing, “This shit is bananas!” at the top of their lungs.  When told to stop, they just said, “But we’re just repeating the words of the song!”  Parents, step up please.

3. Because we had a staff dinner there once, Jack Astor’s popped in one day with a “Jack Attack”:  A bucket of wings and a six-pack of pop.  At first I was going to say, “Sorry man, I didn’t order any food,” until they said it was FREE!  I was working alone, and I managed to eat most of the wings and drink 4 bottles of pop myself!  My boss would have shit if he saw me pigging out in the store…but there was nowhere else to go to eat, when you’re working alone all day.

4. One of the most unique discs we ever saw come in stock was a disc of Russian folk songs, recorded over a century ago.  One employee, Wiseman, liked playing it at closing time because it got people out of the store.

5. Other artists Wiseman enjoyed:  Brushy One-String, a reggae artist so named because he played a one-stringed guitar!  This also received store play, but reportedly was “not very good”.  He would often pair this with Tarkus, by E.L.P.  It was always interesting working nights with Wiseman!