A year
ago I heard terrible news. A staple in my life and in Bayside, Queens, NY was
lost. The long lived store of almost 27 years, Breakdown Records closed its doors to vinyl record heaven for good.
It felt like a piece of my life was lost. My father introduced me to
this haven when I was a toddler. This was when they were in a smaller store located
across 48th avenue were a fish market currently stands now I
believe. It was a cramped little shop, dark and dusty, but my father would dig
through the bins while I stood next to him staring up in amazement. Then he
would take his treasures of Frank Zappa records and others up to the front to
pay. I was so small I could not see into the bins of vinyl record paradise. It
would not be until about twenty years later would I truly learn the pleasures
of listening to vinyl records, but that’s another story.
Over the years my father and I
would return to this store after they moved into a larger store on Bell Boulevard
and 48th avenue. Their place of residence until their unfortunate
end. I would always find something there. Whether
it be an old Jimi Hendrix poster or a collection of Tommy Dorsey records, I
would treasure my finds.
Breakdown Records was a haven for
my father and I. Unfortunately he passed on almost two years ago and it seems
he took his beloved Breakdown Records with him. I laughed when I thought of it
that way. My wish was to eventually maybe pass on Breakdown Records to my
children, but I have the memories and a very good video I found on YouTube of a
tour of the shop from 2012 done by DJ Funktual. I was pleased to have found
this video tour of Breakdown Records. Now I can visit the shop virtually whenever
I want. Thanks to DJ Funktual for preserving this shop at least in a digital
form. And thanks to Anthony Cascella, the owner of Breakdown Records for
staying around for so long and giving my father and I a place to hang out and
escape modern life. Breakdown Records was a time machine. For an hour or two we
could forget what year it was. Thank you. Breakdown Reocrds, you will be
missed.
Here is the video tour of Breakdown Records:
Note: Breakdown
Records still has their Ebay store running. You can check them out at http://stores.ebay.com/Breakdown-Records
And if you would like to read more about Breakdown Records
check out these articles:
The Bayside-Douglaston
Patch:
Iwantmorefood.com : Queens
Qustodian:
A Forgotten NY article on Bayside Hills that
mentions Breakdown Records:
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