Topper & Topper are back in Belgium. Topper Pete spent one more night in New York and Topper Michel stayed another week in the city he’s religious about, home sweet home! Some sight seeing, bar hopping visiting record stores and flea markets. And the WFMU show, pure vinyl heaven! A lot of dealers, all kinds of music, good DJ’s and generally nice deals, this place rocked! Last but not least, our contact in New York kept a bunch of great records aside for us. Thanks! That’s it for this trip. A tiring, instructive and satisfying experience in good company! You’ll hear from us next time.
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

No more internet the last couple of days, which means no more new addresses to spot. Then lady fortune took over and brought us to Jerry’s Records. Topper Michel had already visited this place four years ago, but still this was an experience! Such a big store! And yet so well organized. Hours passed, digging and crawling, and before we knew the shop was about to close. We decided to stay another night in Pittsburgh because there was still too much vinyl to go through. Next morning we looked for another couple of hours and we found a nice stack. That’s it for Jerry’s! By the way, Jerry and his son Willie rule! Since time was running out, we head further east and while we drove on interstate 80, we passed the 4000 miles. Yep, that’s the distance Topper Pete spend behind the wheel.
Stay cool,
Topper and Topper.

Another early day and ok records to be found, this time in South Bend, Indiana. We filled another box. Last show for Topper Pete. We clearly start to feel the heavy load driving the car. We’re running out of time so we finally drove a couple of hundred miles, direction Pittsburgh. We’ll see what this city brings tomorrow.
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

Early day! Still an advantage, you can find better stuff on a show as an early bird. It was Topper Michel’s second time at this show, there were more dealers and better records to find. We left before noon and went to Mr. Peabody Records. Good move because all records were $3.99 this weekend. We dug through a couple of hundred 33’s and left with two boxes. Nice and groovy owner by the way, stay cool man! Bye Chicago, time for the next show in South Bend, Indiana. The coolest thing was still to happen. All of a sudden a patrol car showed up from the middle of the interstate. Yep, Topper Pete was speeding (again). No worries, officer ’strange mouth’ only gave us a warning. Let’s call it a day.
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

Best breakfast so far. We checked Von’s in Lafayette, a big store, all kinds of gadgets to be found and also a small vinyl section, too bad they only sold new stuff. Time to head for Chicago. This city is something else by car. The first spot where we parked, we immediately got a ticket, 125 bucks, assholes! Topper Michel remembered from the past this isn’t the best town for used vinyl, or too crappy or too expensive. Time to check out Night and Day, a really good vintage store. Nothing special among the records, but we left with some vintage shirts, jackets and shoes. Later that evening we met Jimmy Sutton, known as the bass player for the Four Charms and the Mighty Blue Kings. Check out ‘blue black hair’ by his newest band, the Del Moroccos. He showed Topper Pete the town and later on we went for a drink in the Green Mill, one of the oldest and finest jazz bars in the city. When we reached our motel, it was already past 3.00 pm and the show is about to start at 8.00 am. Damn!
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

Title: WFMU Record and CD Fair
Location: New York
Link out: Click here
Description: By for the best vinyl fair in NY
Start Date: 2008-10-24
End Date: 2008-10-26

After the first rain, we got up with the first temperature drop. First we checked the internet for shops in and around Indianapolis and Missing Link Records caught our eye. All records half price? The cool and helpful employee of the store made sure his boss wasn’t bulshitting. We dug for a couple of hours, no waist of time, we found quite some. The store itself was well organized, even without the reduction, the prices were ok. A couple of blocks further we entered Vibes, where you can find records and music instruments. Bad condition! While we were looking for our next shop, Luna Music, we checked Half Priced Books, we don’t have a good experience with this chain but we found a descent pile. Enough records for today, let’s find a Motel 6.
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

We started the day at Pop’s Resale in Lexington. A big store with a lot of records and clothing. This guy had a good offer of records, too bad a lot of them were damaged, still we found a stack of excellent copies and a few shirts. Then we drove a couple of hours to Bloomington, Indiana, a beautiful colourfull trip through the mountains. But the shop we were looking for was closed down for five years. A bummer. Nearby, we stopped at Shack and TD’s, the first one too expensive and his goods in general in poor condition, the other dude had a nice small basement shop, mostly new records. When we were about leaving the city, we bumped into Landmarked Music, a cool shop, the one you like to own, new and used vinyl were mixed and very honest pricing. Next city, Indianapolis. By the way, first rain we’ve seen.
Stay cool,
Topper & Topper.

Title: record show
Location: Alsip, IL
Date: 2008-10-18