It truly was heaven…For the next few weeks the staff will be tying up loose ends. TERRY SNYDER FOOTLIGHT PERCUSSION Condition: Used Sleeve: Near Mint Vinyl: Near Mint Small Scratches and Surface Scratches Label: United Artists Records See.
I marveled at the out-of-print and rare vinyl discs displayed on the walls. Collection of the Museum of the City of New York. Another time I found an odd duck-Jim “Gomer Pyle” Nabors singing songs from “Man of LaMancha,” perfect when I spotlight the cast album of the show and its many incarnations for one of my radio programs.Īt Footlight Records-when they were a brick and mortar site-I spent countless hours rummaging through the used LPs and CDs. Robert Herman, Footlight Records, East Village, New York, 1980 (printed later). For example, there was the little known Harold Rome show, “The Zulu and the Zayda” that appeared in a discount bin one day. I have unearthed many original cast recordings in these environs, a number from musicals I had never heard of before which, for someone with over 800 cast recordings and other show-related music and CDs in their collection, is no small feat. There just aren’t enough of us to keep these places in business. Those of us that could think of nothing better to do than wile away the time browsing through racks and racks of undiscovered treasures are of a bygone era. Simply, those outlets that traffic in used and/or virgin vinyl are a vanishing breed. Yet the seeds of Footlight’s demise began years ago and has affected all record stores with significant vinyl inventory. Look at Tower Records, once the mecca for the music buying public in New York City-gone! CD sales are off which makes it harder for all types of record stores to keep their doors open. “This has probably cut into about 40% of our sales in cast CDs.” But maybe the most significant factor is the reality of today’s marketplace-more and more music is downloaded. There was also the problem “that many smaller companies that produce cast recordings pre-sell their recordings at a discount price,” again as stated on their website. Astronomical rent increases, according to the store’s website, pushed the company further into debt. Long a fixture in the East Village on 12th Street, then moving to Brooklyn, and finally becoming an Internet-only company, Footlight Records was THE place for aficionados of original cast recordings, especially rare and hard-to-find vinyl LPs.Ī number of factors went into the decision by ownership. On July 4th Footlight Records, the quintessential record store for musical theater enthusiasts, will close its cyber-doors. But there is one closing that is more heartbreaking than all the others combined.
This year it seemed an unusually high number of Broadway productions ended their runs during this time. For weeks after the Tony Award ceremony, poorly performing shows shutter their doors and extinguish their glittering marquees. I had to shake my head and smile when I walked into Footlight Records yesterday and saw the 1951 original cast album of Flahooley prominently displayed.
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