Record Store Stars

I mentioned somewhere in an earlier post that I'm a complete sucker for movies about musicians, both fictional and actual. That's because I'm a sucker for movies with bitchin' sountracks. But after seeing (for the nth time!) the 90's movie "Empire Records", I remembered that I'm also a big fan of movies whose lead characters work in record stores! Why? Because they also tend to have kick-ass soundtracks!

I don't think I've seen that many films where the star (or stars) work in good old-fashioned vinyl record stores. But I do recall three of 'em.

1. Empire Records

Like I mentioned earlier, this 90's classic (well, as far as I'm concerned, it's already one) looks at a day in the life of eight kids who work in a record store called --- you guessed it --- Empire Records, which is under the management of Joe, an ex-musician who still keeps his drum kit in his office. On this particular day, Rex Manning Day (as dubbed by the kids themselves because it's the day when faded TV and recording star Rex Manning was coming to Empire Records to promote his new album and sign autographs for his dwindling fans), the gang of Lucas, A.J., Mark, Eddie, Birko, Debbie, Gina, and Corey go through all the thrills, heartaches, fun, and disappointments that are part of being young in a pace that makes you wonder halfway in the movie if everything that was happening really did happen all in just one day. Man, all the stress that everybody went through on Rex Manning Day could kill an ordinary mortal. But, hey, we're talkin' about the employees of Empire Records here. They're hip, they're cool, they're young, they're resilient, and they still manage to look good even with all the heavy drama that periodically interrupts the movie!

Like I said, this movie features music from a lot of great acts that came out in the 90's to kick up its coolness quotient: Gin Blossoms, The Cranberries, The Buggles. I strongly recommend you get a copy of Empire Records for your collection. (Hey, shouldn't the producers be paying me for promoting their movie on my blog?)

2. High Fidelity

Where Empire Records dealt with the life of teenage record store employees, High Fidelity (starring John Cusack) looks at the life of record store employees who're already done worrying about zits and puppy love. In this movie, Cusack plays a guy who owns and runs a vinyl record store, Champion Records. He has two odd employees whom he says just kept showing up for work after he hired them. One of them is the fiercely opinionated rock snob Barry (played to the hilt by Jack Black), and the other is Dick (sorry, can't remember the actor's name).

This movie is absolutely fun to watch as it features three grown (albeit immature) men bickering incessantly about even the most miniscule piece of rock trivia and Top Whatever Lists. Who was it who had the car accident, Jan or Dean? Green Day is obviously most influenced by which two bands? Name your Top Five songs about death. Stuff like that. And, they (especially Black's Barry) would mercilessly pound on somebody who just happens to make the mistake of not having enough knowledge of rock trivia and folklore and displaying such ignorance. Fuck, I love those guys!

The movie's soundtrack is more eclectic as it features music from different genres: punk, new wave, 60's sould, rap-rock, and pop. For the guy who likes his rock snobs over 21, this one's for you.

3. Pretty In Pink

Now how'd this get in here? Well, actually, while this movie does have a great soundtrack, its protagonist --- 80's everygirl Molly Ringwald playing Andie Walsh --- also works in a record store. Although that part of Ringwald's Andie is not given any significant attention at all, I guess it still qualifies Pretty In Pink for this short list.

You know, I wish all record store employees are as knowledgeable about the records they sell as the characters from these movies. It just kills me when I ask a record store clerk about a record and they'll just say "It's on aisle number 8"! Well, I guess only the fictional record stores get the best workers.