When Joe Nardone Jr. and Jay Notartomaso talk about Record Store Day, they sing the praises of the vinyl records that gave record stores their name.
“It just gives you a better sound,” said Nardone, who has planned special events for April 13 at Joe Nardone’s Gallery of Sound stores in Wilkes-Barre Township and Dickson City. “Digital music is 0’s and 1’s translated into what sounds like music, but non-digital is not compressed, not changed. It sounds warmer.”
“I’m of a generation were records were the format, what everyone had,” said Nortartomaso, who will expand Record Store Day into a two-day Record Store weekend April 13-14 at Musical Energi in downtown Wilkes-Barre. “I like records because I’ve always had them.
“I had my first record player at age 4 and when I was growing up, I’d call my neighbor and say ‘Come over. It’s raining. Bring a record.’ We’d sit on the floor for hours and play records. It was an event.”
“Younger people who grew up in a digital age, it’s not nostalgia for them. They have no history of records. But they’re saying the same thing,” Notartomaso said. “It’s more personal to play records than to listen to something on your computer or phone.”
Hundreds of new releases are scheduled specifically for Record Store Day and some, but not all, will be available at each participating store.
One new release that Nardone is sure to have on hand will be a commemorative red vinyl, 7-inch record featuring four songs from the ’60s that Joe Nardone (Nardone Jr.’s father) and the All-Stars recorded.
“Shake A Hand,” “Ride Your Pony,” “The Wiggle” and “Pizza Pie” hail from the era when Joe Nardone and the All-Stars would “play four nights a week between Sans Souci and Hanson’s,” Nardone Jr. said, referring to the ballrooms that used to attract crowds to amusement parks in Hanover Township and Harveys Lake.
The commemorative package will include pictures from those dance halls and a list of “everybody who ever played with him, in his bands,” Nardone Jr. said.
In honor of Record Store Day, the local stores are bringing in special entertainment.
The line up on April 13 at the Gallery of Sound’s Mundy Street location includes live music from Esta Coda, Joe Burke & Friends, Alma Mater, Family Animals and Rockology Music Academy student bands as well as Beach Slang, an indie rock group from Philadelphia. The Susquehanna Brewing Co. will also have a beer garden and tent set up.
At the Dickson City location, Nardone Jr. said, you can expect to find James Barrett, Pat McGlynn, American Buffalo Ghost, Huzun, Eibes and Ed Cuozzo.
Musical Energi on South Main Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre, meanwhile, will host DJs Matt R. and Odd Pocket Selector on April 13, followed by live music from Tori V, Brendon Brisk and Simple Doria on April 14.
One week away from Record Store Day releases, Notartomaso said he’s personally looking forward to the “a little irreverent, a little edgy” Hillbillies from Hell volume 8, plus an album by Otis Redding and guitarist Frank Black’s first two solo albums which are “finally being introduced on vinyl.”
“I”m all over the map,” he said. “Rockabilly, alternative rock and R&B.”
If you like those genres — or something else — a traditional record store is a good place to look for anything from Carole King’s “Tapestry” to Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” or Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or perhaps some arias by opera singer Maria Callas or maybe the Harry Mancini soundtrack to the movie “Charade” or even a collection of children’s songs by “Susan” from Sesame Street.
While you’re exploring all the possibilities at any of the local stores, you might even want to celebrate Record Store Day by purchasing a tiny turnable that’s the perfect size for a 3-inch record.
“It’s sort of a collector’s item,” Nardone Jr. said.
“We’re taking some pre-orders,” Notartomaso said, “but we can’t hand them out until (next) Saturday.”
