By John Ruch
As Atlanta enters another era of demolishing counterculture centers for assimilation into the condo-block Borg, a lack of books and other resources spotlighting their historical significance is part of the reason developers can get away with it.
So the timing is perfect for “Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History,” a new book from longtime music journalist Chad Radford. While Atlanta often operates on the premise that anything not mega-famous must be outdated and worth mercy-killing for profit, Radford’s book is a reminder that – to paraphrase Faulkner – the past isn’t even past. The city’s counterculture is a DIY torch passed to each generation.
Music journalist and “Atlanta Record Stores” author Chad Radford in a photo from his Facebook page.
As Radford notes, there’s a misconception that record stores have died out, based on the digitization of music and a 1990s plunge in vinyl sales that increasingly looks like a bump in a long road. He told me that torch-passing is part of his goal: “Whatever it takes to keep this tradition a thriving vibrant part of Atlanta, I’m totally down.”
His book, released this month, focuses on legendary shops in Atlanta and (despite the title) Athens that have stood the test of time: Wuxtry in Athens and Decatur, Fantasyland in Buckhead, and Criminal Records and Wax’n’Facts in Little Five Points. But he also introduces the new generation, like the punk-rock purveyor Disorder Vinyl on Edgewood Avenue.
A former music editor of Creative Loafing when that was still a powerhouse and editor of the Smithsonian’s “Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap,” Radford also has done plenty of time working behind the counter at record stores. That insider’s knowledge helped him tease out great stories from an eccentric business that is not always trusting of journalists, to say the least.
Some of the shops were involved in historic cultural efforts that are pretty well-known to scenesters….
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