A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine from the San Fernando valley emailed me asking if I knew where he could get a DVD of Black & Blue1 (another of the greatest concert films ever). I checked around for a couple of days. And, after finding nothing, save for what seemed to be a bootleg on an auction site (for actually more than retail, when you add S&H), I suggested he go down to Rhino Records in West LA.
Well, much to my surprise, I got another email today, saying Rhino Records is closed (along with another called Aron’s, which I’ve heard of, but never been to).
Egad! For the last 25 years or so, Rhino Records has been a SoCal institution. It was the one place where, no matter what your musical tastes, you could get anything. Checking around the web, it seems online music sales have cost them too much business. And founder, Richard Foos, thinks the only future for brick-and-mortar record stores is for small, and highly specialized (niche market), mom-and-pop stores – with a very loyal customer base.
This is a shame. Like so many other products, the convenience of buying music online can’t be denied. But there is something magic about browsing through the bins of a good record store. Although I must admit, much of that has died with the demise of the BVD2.
Notes:
1. It seems the Black & Blue DVD (a 2002 remaster, which I simply must hear) is sold out, but another release is planned this year.
2. BVD: Black Vinyl Disk.