Music Machine

That last post reminds me of another really cool record buying experience that I had. When the first Beatles Anthology came out in 1995, I contacted a local record store called Music Machine to pre-order the double LP. They took the order, no problem. Then I waited for the release. A few days before the release, the owner of Music Machine (I believe his name was Howie) called me. Demand was greater than expected and his distributor couldn't make good on the number of LPs promised. Howie offered two solutions, he could sell me an import copy for a couple dollars more or I could get the LP from another store. But the cool part is what he said next, "It's more important that you get the album than that you get it from me." Now, I knew Music Machine was a cool store. It was the kind of store that would hold records for you without a deposit. They used to take trips to England a couple times a year and you could give them a list of the imports you were looking for. It was a record store for music geeks. Later, Music Machine moved and got more into the mailorder business with limited store hours. Sadly, I'm not even sure they're still in business.