Tom at The Bop Shop in Rochester, NY was my initiation into exquisite vinyl. Bop Arts has been responsible for every jazz act that came to the city for the last 35 years, and they're still going strong.
The staff are genuine article music gurus and provide a wealth of information for those looking to build their libraries of 20th century music. The day Tom learned I hadn't heard Stockhausen he pulled a five-alarm fire and sent a dude running to the DG section for an original press of Kontakte / Gesang der Jünglinge.
My greatest score ever from the Shop - my legendary Tom Waits haul of nearly every Waits record in NM condition, all original pressings.
I wouldn't have the musical chops I have today without The Bop Shop.
I'll also throw in a good word for Bruised Apple Books & Music in stupidly-expensive Peekskill, NY. Two gents run a cozy little bookstore with a killer used vinyl section with titles like Captain Beefheart's Grow Fins rarities 3-volume set and the self-titled monumental record by The Last Poets. That shop was my lifeline for my time in Peekskill.
