I think more people are into leather than vinyl!

Gould 0738 wrote:
Not persopnally into vinyl, but I recently stumbled across a store in Ballard
with hundreds of thousands of different records for sale. The lower story is
like a warehouse, with rack, after rack, after rack loaded with
old records.

Condition varies from slightly better than junk to still sealed in the original
wrapper.
Priced accordingly. The name of the place is Bop Street Records.

Here's an item about the shop, written by Todd Matthews

(begins)

An Eye-'Bop'-Ing Collection


Article and Photographs by Todd Matthews




The in-store displays are minimal, and lack the flash and sophistication of,
say, Tower Records or a Virgin Megastore. Posters and flyers are stapled to the
walls haphazardly. The floor creaks, and voices carry over the enormous,
warehouse setting that is Seattle's Bop Street Records. But this is not to say
that the store, owned by longtime record collector Dave Voorhees, lacks
credibility and zing in Seattle's community of eclectic and charming
independent record stores. If you are a fan or collector of vinyl, then Bop
Street is a Blarney Stone of sorts for you.

Looking for rare and collectible music from the 20's to the 90's? You should
probably pay a visit to Bop Street. You have never seen so much vinyl. Bop
Street Records has over 700,000 LP's, 45's, and 78's, in addition to music
memorabilia of all varieties. Though Voorhees specializes in 50's and 60's
rock, blues, and rockabilly, he also offers an impressive collection of jazz
LP's.


Bop Street Records
(photograph by Todd Matthews)



"You haven't experienced Bop Street until you've seen this," says Voorhees. He
shuffles enthusiastically down a flight of stairs and into his store's
basement—where he switches on the lights to a 'vault' of vinyl records.

Five thousand square feet.

Seven hundred thousand records.

The scene is amazing . . . overwhelming . . . fanatic.

"This is all jazz here . . . here . . . and I think it starts going around the
corner," Voorhees explains, giving me a tour of his basement collection. "Yes,
it does. Here is more jazz." He starts flipping through shelves of records:
Miles Davis, Tommy Dorsey, Coleman Hawkins, Thelonius Monk—the list is
seemingly endless. "I definitely need to go through these records," Voorhees
adds, pulling out some of the records that he will bring upstairs and sell in
his store.

Where did he get all these records? That's a story dating back to the 1950s. "I
started buying records in 1958, when I was eight years old," Voorhees explains.
"I stayed home from school one day, and my mom said, 'Why don't you listen to
the radio?' I thought, 'What's on the radio?' I had only listened to kids'
shows. I turned it on and there was Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny
Cash, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson—it was a whole new world! I
was eight years old, discovering this music. It was almost like a secret life.
None of my friends knew about this music, unless they had older brothers and
sisters."

Voorhees's interest in vinyl was piqued in the early-1970s, while working at a
used record store near the University of Washington. A customer came in the
store with a shoebox full of blues 45's. He told Voorhees that a brother lived
near Houston, in a little town called Engleton, Texas, where a manufacturer
produced 45's for jukeboxes. With that bit of information, Voorhees headed
south with a friend, and bought three thousand 45's for three-hundred dollars.
He packed the records, bought insurance, and shipped them home. He began
selling the records out of his parents' basement for up to five dollars each.
"I had people coming right and left buying records from me," Voorhees recalls.
In 1979 he opened his own record store across the street from the Oak Tree
Plaza. Two years later he moved to 85th and Greenwood. He later moved to the
Carnegie Library on Ballard's shopper-friendly Market Street. He then moved his
store around a bit in Ballard, finally settling into a huge space on Old
Ballard Avenue, amid the blue-collar bars and music clubs. "It's so much larger
and nicer here," Voorhees says, looking around his spacious store with tall
ceilings and jazz playing on a turntable behind the counter.


Dave Voorhees
(photograph by Todd Matthews)



The word 'collector' has always carried a lot of weight. Collector is
synonymous with fanatic . . . aficionado . . . expert. Voorhees, a long-time
record collector and music fan, is all of these things. But he is more than
just a simple record store owner and music enthusiast. He is also a curator of
sorts—surveying a massive collection. When asked whether he has the largest
record collection in Seattle, Voorhees doesn't hesitate: "Oh, easily." He isn't
postulating. He is speaking from experience—as someone collecting and selling
records far too long. However, whether he is in it for the money or the fandom
is not entirely clear. "I'm obviously not much of a businessman, or else I
would have more money and fewer records," Voorhees says, laughing. "When I
first started out, I was more of a collector. I would take the good stuff and
snag it for myself. Now I will sell just about anything in my collection."

Before he could think of selling records and opening a store, Voorhees had to
build a collection. While he admits that much of his focus has been on
rockabilly and blues, he has always been interested in jazz. "I didn't really
know jazz," Voorhees explains. "People used to ask me what I specialized in,
and I would say '50s and '60s blues, rockabilly, and oldies. About six years
ago, I thought about getting into jazz. I started listening to it to find out
the appeal. Jazz is now what I have the most of besides rock-and-roll."
Moreover, an interest in jazz spread to his customers. Voorhees would buy a
block of jazz records, hoping to build his collection, only to turn around and
sell that same block of records. "People would come in looking for jazz,"
Voorhees adds, "and they would buy most of the records. It took me two or three
years before I got a giant collection." Voorhees's real boon in acquiring jazz
records came when he purchased a collection of 5,000 jazz records from a
would-be record storeowner. The seller was ready to retire from teaching when
he developed a heart condition and could not open the store. Voorhees bought
the collection and integrated the records onto his shelves.

Is there a record that Voorhees doesn't have? Is there something that Voorhees
would like to see on the shelves at Bop Street?

Absolutely. Voorhees would love to get his hands on more ten-inch Blue Note
records. Maybe some early West Coast ten-inch stuff: Chet Baker . . . Stan Getz
. . . Johnny Smith. Perhaps some rare Sun Ra records.

Until he can find those gems, he will continue to 'curate' his collection of
vinyl records. "I love music," Voorhees says. "One of the reasons I am
successful is my enthusiasm. I love helping people find stuff. There's nothing
I enjoy more than having a guy come in and say, 'I've been looking for such and
such for twenty years,' and I can say, 'I've got that record, man!'"

This article originally appeared in Jazz Steps.