Courtesy Brandt Legg
CULTURE
Prairie Pop
Hole in the Soul
F
Record Collector’s continued COVID closure inspires a longing for record stores past. BY KEMBREW MCLEOD
or those who view music as a vital necessity like food and shelter, being without Iowa City’s longtime institution the Record Collector leaves a gaping hole in the soul. “A record store isn’t really a record store without customers,” said co-owner Alissa Witzke. “It feels empty and sad, like we’re just a warehouse.” The store shifted to online sales and began doing free local deliveries during the COVID-19 lockdown, which was better than nothing but not the same as the real deal. Shops like Record Collector have been a key part of the cultural landscape for decades, gathering places where ideas and musical tastes cross-fertilize. “Honestly, I just miss some of the general human interaction,” said Bobby Larson, the store’s other owner. “Community happens when you get enough of those music-fiend types together and talking, which is why COVID-19 has made things extra hard on businesses that were already troubled by the move to online sales and forums.” This absence has put me in a nostalgic mood, because record shops are in my blood.
28 June 17-30, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV283
I worked in five stores from 1986 to 2000, and despite earning a Ph.D., I learned more from a three-minute record than I ever did in school. My first job was at Cap’n Ben’s Records in Virginia Beach, located just off of the Oceanfront’s seedy main strip in a small duplex building shared with a deli. It had an old school 1970s vibe, with the weather-beaten vertical wood siding common in beach towns. It was originally owned and operated by Benjamin Smith, an eccentric character who claimed to be an actual British naval captain. He sold the store in 1984 to 18-year-old Brandt Legg, a successful Northern Virginia businessman who started a stamp-collecting business at the age of 10. He often visited the beach on vacations. Once, the captain got in touch with Legg to let him know that a record he had special-ordered had arrived. “When he told me the price,” Legg said, “I thought it was too high and jokingly asked how much for the whole store. Turns out he was interested in selling and we agreed on terms.” His older brother Brae was happy to move
