Record Store Nostalgia, Enough Already

A Confession: I do not feel the pain as Tower Records goes down the tubes. The real question is what took so long. The Tower Records that opened on the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave - currently home of the soon-to-close Virgin Superstore - was a very cool place in the days of the Thompson Twins. The Harvard Square store - the local one that's closing - has always been a hacked-together mess.

The New York Times has the latest Tower appreciation.

Is this really worth crying over? I mean, isn't it a lot sadder that the listening booth culture of the '50s (below) eventually died? What about the preponderance of used stores run by hipster kids who played albums like "Hawaiian Hula Blues: Acoustic Steel Guitar Masterpieces 1927-1928." They're almost gone. And I miss the Planet Records in Kenmore Square, where I bought an Elvis Presley box set at exactly the moment the O.J. verdict went down. (No lines!) I longingly remember purchasing my first tape at the Chestnut Hill Mall. (The Cars.) That was purchased at the dead chain Good Vibrations. Or was it Coconuts?. That said, I was quite pleased to come home last night and, within minutes, download the hugely disappointing new Who single. (Did I just admit that?) Maybe, when the wireless Zune arrives, I'll be able to get the song while I'm crossing the Zakim.

The point is... Stop moping. It is going to be okay. And here's a hint for anybody longing for a good classical record store. Try Orpheus, which is just around the corner from the Virgin store. Somehow, I don't think it's going anywhere.