Okay, so yesterday, I posted the call-out for readers to name the address of Record City, as depicted in 1981's "The Fan" (see above). Honestly, I have no recollection of the place at all (although let's be fair -- 1981 was damn long time ago). It was definitely a genuine shop (if you watch the film, or even go back to Jonathan Hertzberg's latest montage, you can see shots of the interior). Look hard enough and you can spot specific album covers in the window display, notably Peter Gabriel's third eponymous LP from 1980 (the one with "No Self Control" and the melting-face art).
In 1981, I was a 14-year-old living on the Upper East Side. I'd begun exploring downtown by this point, but hadn't yet committed every conceivable record shop to memory.
In any case, shortly after posting, a reader named Allan wrote in. Here's what he had to say:
(Robbie's) Record City was on Broadway just south of Astor Place. I worked at 738 Broadway and he was one or two buildings to the south of us. I briefly worked at his other store in Newark, NJ. The New York store probably closed around 1981 or 82? It was a long time ago and memory fails.
Fascinated by the proximity of this address to my current address (I moved downtown in the mid-90's), I went out this morning to try to divine the exact spot. I've scoured the `net looking for other citations of the store's address, but have come up empty thus far. It appears that Record City might have occupied the space that is currently playing host to Foot Locker in the image below from this morning.
After that, however, I made another fun discovery. Check out this bizarre clip from 1980. I must confess that I've never heard of Colette Justine of Justine and the Victorian Punks, but evidently, she posed in a window display at Record City for a Valentine's Day promotion in 1980. Watch the clip below, and after about a minute and a half, they shoot from the window looking out at Broadway, and you can see Waverly Place and the old deli (that is now a Fresh & Co.) next to Warehouse Wines & Liquors. It's an interesting slice of street life circa 1980.
If you're curious about Justine and the Victorian Punks, you can find out more here.
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