NEW BOOK: Will the future bring a Return of Retail Record Stores? Is the rebirth of Record Players far behind?

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I was JUST at the gym having a conversation about this issue on Thursday. I have always been fascinated with vinyl and record players since I used to DJ my mother’s Avon parties at the age of 3. I knew records by the colors. I’m happy to see that today’s digitally-influenced music buying public is expressing a desire to experience old fashioned record stores again, maybe.   This includes a growing demand for vinyl which means record players, not the digital toys with plastic needles they make today but the box type stereos would have a good chance of returning as well. There is a great story in USA today about some buyer’s needs to have a tangible product instead of a digital download. Not to mention, computers have forced us to become extremely isolated and going in a record store IS an experience.   A new book, ‘Record Store Days,’ showcases a vanishing yet vital component of the American musical land scape.

If a book about record stores sounds like sentimental spin, Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo respectfully suggest: Pull out your ear buds, log off MySpace and rediscover the joys of an old-school networking site.

The authors of Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again (Sterling, $19.95), published to coincide with Saturday’s third nationwide Record Store Day, ponder the past, present and future of record shops through the views of musicians, industry executives, store clerks and fans. The pair discovered that, while record stores have dwindled in the digital age, they remain a vital hub for music fiends and collectors who find the downloading experience a tad lonely.

“I love iTunes, and I’m not fighting the future, but there’s an excitement, a community in record stores,” says Calamar, a DJ at Santa Monica public radio station KCRW and music supervisor for TV’sTrue Blood, House and Dexter. “Clerks are knowledgeable about new music that hasn’t hit the mainstream yet. There are usually pretty girls and boys there. It’s just fun.” [read the whole story]