well not quite, but we did send our man Carl to check out the shops over Wigan way. Unfortunately he didn’t stop, carried on past Southport and ended up in…er..Delaware. Anyway, Carl texted in this missive from his crate digging travels. There may be more of this to come.
Post Punk icons rarely make an appearance in my holiday travels. I have of course ridden the big wheel at Blackpool with Lydia Lunch but that was the result of too much sun and a bad pint. So here I am in the States digging in a gift shop’s back room and wondering why this place has so much vinyl and good stuff as well , when its suddenly made clear to me; the owner introduces himself as Mr Steve Fallon the legendary proprietor of Maxwell’s in New Jersey.
To those of you with angular, discordant knowledge, this genial man and his venue were the f*cked up heart of US East Coast post Punk and Indie…Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and of course The Feelies all did there thing at Maxwell’s as did Kurt and the gang. Steve also ran the Coyote label…go and dig their full on Indie frenzy back catalogue. So, Steve, thanks for a great afternoon you made a middle aged Mancunian very happy.I left with The Trypes ‘Music for Neighbours’ LP under my arm, superb psych folk, and another great connection made in a *real* shop and not communicated through ones and zeros! Steve’s gift shop and back room record shop, Gidget’s Gadgets, is in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
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