The world's greatest record store might be in Upper Darby

June 25, 2021 10:09 AM

“[Val Shively] has a store called R&B Records in this sketchy neighborhood out past West Philly. ... The building is listing like the Tower of Pisa because he’s got five million records in there. It’s likely the biggest record store in the world and collectors fly in from the U.K., Germany, Japan and wherever else, in order to buy from Val. But if they say something wrong, or he doesn’t like their attitude, he explodes in an unbelievable rage and throws them out of the store.”

(Not my description of Upper Darby)

posted by sepviva (21 comments total)

On par with Brian's Record Option here in Kingston, I'd say.
posted by Kitteh at 10:12 AM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

"No grooves for you!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:22 AM on June 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I feel obligated to stan for Jerry’s Records in PGH.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:45 AM on June 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

Such a charming story, full of little surprises
posted by mumimor at 11:20 AM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Being able to spend all your time on your obsession - that's living the dream.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:26 AM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

As i get older, i'd say a close second to that, underpants, is having a relatively healthy life-long obsession.
posted by maxwelton at 11:39 AM on June 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Boppin' Bob Murret does a show on WWOZ on Wed. nights that features a lot of underloved "group harmony" records. Though according to the website he sold his collection long ago after ripping them to cassette -- FLAC fans must be fainting in the aisles.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:03 PM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also if you like the genre of "obsessed tempremental fan sells you stuff if you behave", this VICE article might interest: Don't Piss Off Bradley, the Parts Seller Keeping Atari Machines Alive
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:09 PM on June 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I lived up the street from there for five years. It was too tight to try to get in there with my wheelchair and leave myself room for a quick escape if needed, so I never tried
posted by angrycat at 1:51 PM on June 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

sure gotta lotta records but it aint no 'Lunch for your Ears!'
posted by From Bklyn at 2:16 PM on June 25, 2021

Then he summarized the Army career of the Van Dykes’ falsetto lead vocalist, Rondalis Tandy, and how the group was formed, who their influences were, the different record labels they were on, their best songs, and how and when they broke up. That segued into a series of stories about accidental improvisations in recording studios that led to big hits, the influence of mobsters in the music business, and singers who were in prison for murder while their hit songs climbed the charts. This amazingly well-informed soliloquy went on for 25 minutes.

Someone get the man a podcast.
posted by acb at 2:17 PM on June 25, 2021 [8 favorites]

mumimor, thank you for saying that - I almost skipped this because I tend to think of people who explode in an unbelievable rage as being assholes. But I enjoyed reading about Shively's love of music and his extraordinary knowledge of all the records he's collected.

I really hope the collection does go to a public institution, when he's no longer around to love it.

I was glad to read this, sepviva - thank you for sharing it with us!
posted by kristi at 2:55 PM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hey, cool. My commute on the 109 bus took me right past there every day back when our office was on Market Street. I always wondered about that shop!
posted by biogeo at 4:10 PM on June 25, 2021

And yeah, this collection should definitely end up at the Library of Congress, hopefully accompanied by detailed recorded interviews with Shively. This is a treasure of 20th century American art.
posted by biogeo at 4:12 PM on June 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

I would love to see a picture of the building showing its lean. I hope it doesn't collapse.
posted by theora55 at 8:19 AM on June 26, 2021

I think the description of the building's "lean" was perhaps slightly exaggerated as a literary flourish: here's a Street View image of the store. A lot of the buildings in that part of Upper Darby right around the 69th Street Transportation Center have a just a little bit of structural... let's say "character." Nothing that seems unsafe, just lots of vertical lines that aren't quite plumb. I haven't noticed R&B Records sticking out as particularly dramatic in its lean.

Fans of architecture might also enjoy this building just around the corner from R&B Records, the John McClatchy Building. The whole area was part of a big development boom about a century ago associated with the construction of the light rail and trolley lines. I'd guess the building that now houses R&B Records was probably built around that time.
posted by biogeo at 10:07 AM on June 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

Cool. This isn't too far from me. I can add even more records to my collection.
posted by caddis at 11:24 AM on June 26, 2021

I swear Todd Rundgren was talking about this place recently in a podcast interview. I want to say it was with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols but not certain.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 3:51 PM on June 26, 2021

It was Questlove's podcast around the 21:25 mark.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 4:01 PM on June 26, 2021

One of his most prized possessions, for which he paid $10,000, is “Can’t Help Loving That Girl of Mine” by the Hide-A-Ways on Ronni Records. “It’s probably the most desirable record in the whole shooting match,” he said. “Not only is it a rare record. It’s a great record and they never made a dime off it.”

Having spent decades trawling record shops for obscurities, I now marvel every day that I have instant access to so much that I once could never have tracked down, let alone afforded. That Hide-A-Ways cover (it's the Jerome Kern/ Oscar Hammerstein number, 'Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly') is available for streaming via Amazon music, which costs me less than ten quid a month.
And if that's too expensive, it's on YouTube.
posted by MinPin at 9:07 AM on June 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

I don't understand record collecting at all. I understand wanting the knowledge -- being able to hear the obscure music, enjoying the research -- but owning a particular pressing of a song on a particular label makes no sense to me at all. I have hobbies other people wouldn't like, and it would be a boring old world if we were all the same; I don't mean to sound judgmental.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:03 PM on June 27, 2021