The staff and customers of Other Music on closing day, June 25, featuring owners Josh Madell (third from left) and Chris Vanderloo (third from right). (Photo: Nick McManus)
Was it the day the music died? It sure seemed like it when two of Manhattan’s last record shops, Other Music and Rebel Rebel, closed their doors on Saturday. Photographer Nick McManus, who’s been shopping at them since he was a teenager, got everyone together for some Parting Shots, above and below.
After Other Music announced last month that it would close after two decades in the East Village (records were “no longer at the heart of how we consume music,” co-owner Josh Madell explained to us), we gathered some of the reactions of shocked and saddened New Yorkers. The tributes, elegies, and words (and billboards!) of thanks have only continued to pour in, and you can read some of them on Other’s twitter page.
The staff and friends of Other Music gather together to say goodbye after closing the store. (Photo: Nick McManus)
Tomorrow, June 28, there’ll be one last in-store performance by 75 Dollar Bill, followed by a second-line parade from Other to Bowery Ballroom, where Janeane Garofalo will host a goodbye party featuring John Zorn, Yo La Tengo, Frankie Cosmos, Juliana Barwick, and more.
Owner David Shebiro (left) and employee James Wiltshire (center) outside of Rebel Rebel on its closing day, June 25. (Photo: Nick McManus)
Meanwhile on Bleecker Street, Rebel Rebel has gone the way of its old neighbor Bleecker Bob’s, which closed a few years ago. Its impending closure was first reported by a Jeremiah’s Vanishing NY tipster who said that “to see a unique and sustainable business for nearly 28 years bite the dust like so many others that give this city soul is a fucking tragedy.” Rebel Rebel’s neighbor, clothing brand Scotch & Soda, is taking over the space after a rent hike.
The interior of Rebel Rebel on its closing day, featuring owner David Shebiro and employee James Wiltshire.
Believe it or not, there are still a few record stores left after this latest round of carnage. Some of them, including Rough Trade, HiFi Records, Bleecker Street Records, and Village Music World, are teaming up for another Record Store Crawl on June 30. The $59.95 ticket price gets you a bus ride that doubles as a Heliotropes show on wheels, an open bar and $1 tacos at Babys All Right, and discounts at the aforementioned stores. If you’re wondering whether that’s worth the ducats, read our writeup of the previous one, back in April.
