Third Street Jazz (first floor) and Rock (basement) was the world's greatest record store. It was open from 1972 to 1987 here, and then under different ownership at 20 North Third Street. People visited it from around the world. If I remember correctly, Pete Townshend would stop in when the Who were in Philly. Jonathan Demme would shop there. It was the place to buy punk and new wave records in the late 70s, early 80s. It carried the rarest jazz recordings. The bulletin board on the wall out front was where you would see the wheat-pasted posters of the bands who were playing around town.
Publication date | Jun 24, 2018 |
Neighborhood |
Third Street Jazz (first floor) and Rock (basement) was the world's greatest record store. It was open from 1972 to 1987 here, and then under different ownership at 20 North Third Street. People visited it from around the world. If I remember correctly, Pete Townshend would stop in when the Who were in Philly. Jonathan Demme would shop there. It was the place to buy punk and new wave records in the late 70s, early 80s. It carried the rarest jazz recordings. The bulletin board on the wall out front was where you would see the wheat-pasted posters of the bands who were playing around town.
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Comments : Good article about the store at Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/8/85, p. C1. The store came under new ownership in 1987 and existed for a time at 20 N. 3rd St., see Philadelphia Daily News, 8/8/90, at p. 33. The original store was one of the few places to find the small pressings of Sun Ra records, see, for ex., Billboard, 8/19/00, at p. 78 (founder/owner Jerry Gordon started the Evidence label which features Sun Ra). Pete Townshend (The Who), Bruce Springsteen and Sun Ra himself would shop at the original location.
Date : 2017-06-06