美国国家公共电台 NPR--One of the country's oldest independent record stores is going out of business

One of the country's oldest independent record stores is going out of business

Transcript¹

After more than 50 years in business, Record Revolution, a beloved record store in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is closing its doors for good.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

One of the country's oldest independent record stores is going out of business. Record Revolution has been a fixture² in the music scene around Cleveland for more than five decades. It has seen the changes in music production from vinyl to cassettes and CD's, to streaming and back to vinyl. Kabir Bhatia from member station WKSU reports that there are just a few days left for its customers to visit.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BEATLES SONG, "SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND")

KABIR BHATIA, BYLINE³: It was 1967. The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" was turning listeners on and turning the music business on its ear. For almost a century, records had been sold mostly through appliance stores, drug stores and musical instrument shops. But as boomers came of age, independent stores like Cleveland's Record Revolution offered a new experience, with clerks who lived and breathed the latest music. For 15 years, one of them was Rob Love. And he became a co-owner in 2004.

ROB LOVE: We were career music enthusiasts⁴. You know what I mean? Like, I can't think of anybody that wasn't also a musician or also involved in music in some other aspect of their life.

BHATIA: Today, dusty stacks of 45s line a few shelves in the basement during Record Revolutions' big going-out-of-business sale. There's also a bargain bin⁵ with albums by Dan Fogelberg and Barbra Streisand and one wall of new and rare LPs awaiting a new home. For years, it's been the go-to music stop for Stacy Cohen (ph), who found the store in the 1980s.

STACY COHEN: I remember buying Madonna and Cyndi Lauper buttons and tapes and stuff like that. I remember when the "True Blue" Madonna album came out, coming here to buy that. And we were really excited about that and putting the buttons on our jean jackets.

BHATIA: Despite vinyl's comeback over the past decade, sales at Record Revolution have still been slow. One big factor is the music industry's shift to streaming music. Joey Deane (ph) and Ellie Montenegro (ph), both in their 20s, do download their favorite music. But they frequently spend date night vinyl hunting. They both like the experience that comes with buying records at a brick-and-mortar store.

ELLIE MONTENEGRO: It's more personal because you kind of collect them. And then you can pull them out and be like, oh, I remember we found this at wherever. Or, like, when you find a really good one, when you've been, like, browsing⁶ for an hour, it's a really fun experience.

JOEY DEANE: Oh, because it's so much better to just flip⁷ through the records and go stand by stand and talk to people that are here.

BHATIA: Rob Love says that sales have been, quote, "tremendous" since he announced last month that they're closing.

LOVE: The bump in interest of (laughter) - and the bump in foot traffic, if we could have done consistently a quarter or a third of this kind of business, you know, of course, I would keep it going. But, you know, it's not. (Laughter) That's not the case. You know, everybody loves you when you're dead.

BHATIA: Record Revolution will close its doors on December 31. Love says he'll miss his customers. And he'll really miss the thrill of introducing people to new music.

For NPR News, I'm Kabir Bhatia in Cleveland.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。