A lifelong passion fuels conversation: Northport Records looks to connect with all generations
Karen Anzalone, owner of Northport Records on Main Street in Northport Village, which opened on October 31 to a warm community welcome.
Karen Anzalone wants to talk. Luckily, so do her customers.
The Northport resident opened the doors to her Main Street record shop this past Saturday, October 31. Since word broke of her plans to launch the business in Northport Village, Anzalone has been met with encouragement, praise and so many stories.
The first record someone bought.
Their first concert.
What music was playing in the background during life’s best moments.
What songs encouraged them when things got tough.
“Music is such a passion, because it has that ability to evoke such personal connections with other people and the larger community,” she told the Journal in one of a few conversations at the record shop since mid-September. “I just love talking to people. The connection I make with them is invaluable.”
While prepping the storefront at 121 Main Street to become Northport Records, Anzalone spent a lot of her time getting close and personal with local residents. One man she crossed paths with was amazed at how much she knew about ’50s music. They talked for an hour.
A former store manager for Barnes & Noble, Anzalone said it’s been a lifelong dream to open up a record shop. With her son Brian graduating college in December to pursue an MBA, “I have the time and the ability to do it,” she said.
“For a girl from the ’80s, I have such a love and appreciation for the music from the ’50s all the way on,” Anzalone said. Northport Records will be stocked with music from all of those decades, from doo-wop to Olivia Dean, Motown to Metallica and everything in between.
When reflecting on how music shaped her life, Anzalone recounts listening to the radio – an experience many from her generation can relate to, including catching 660 AM (WNBC), CBS-FM and Cousin Brucie in the car; from records to cassettes to CDs and now streaming, music is an ever-present element in so many of our stories.
Now an official part of the vinyl revival, Anzalone is hoping to continue touching the lives of all generations, the old way.
A movement back to records, which started around 2007, presented a shift in how people consume music, ushering in a whole new era of vinyl fans. What initially appeared to be a nostalgic niche interest gradually became a full-fledged resurgence, fueled by longtime collectors and a younger generation discovering records for the first time.
Local record stores across the country, and right here in Northport – think Record Reserve, Permanent Records and Trax on Wax – were important community hubs for record lovers. Presently, an up-the-stairs side-yard space overlooking Woodbine Avenue, run (in the warmer months) by Red Balloon Records, continues to draw in lucky passersby and people in the know whenever the street sign is out front.
Today, vinyl is attracting people who grew up with records, people who remember shopping for them with their parents, and teenagers who have never known music consumption without streaming.
“The whole nostalgia thing is so important, I think, especially in the community. Because, people want to go back,” Anzalone said. She’s aware too of the younger generation’s interest in records – and says some of them are going back even further than their predecessors and truly connecting with bands like The Beatles and, via the British Invasion, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks.
That younger group is especially interesting, Anzalone said. Vinyl isn’t necessarily competing with streaming. For many younger listeners, streaming is how they discover music, while buying a record is how they express their connection to an artist or album.
Her son Brian came home to Northport for the record shop’s official opening – he and his friends are truly excited to have a place to come hang out again, Anzalone said, and are advising her on what music is trending with their generation, old and new. There’s even a box in the shop, on a coffee table next to the couch, where people of all ages can leave their suggestions and wish lists, so that the store can continue to serve everyone.
“Opening our doors and sharing the love of vinyl with others was an incredible feeling,” Anzalone told the Journal on Sunday. “The support from the community was truly amazing, and we couldn’t have asked for a better first day!”
Here’s a bit of Anzalone’s most musically charged memories (and just part of her story), as shared with the Journal:
First record played: “Party Doll” by Buddy Knox (her parents had it).
First LP bought: The Doors’ Greatest Hits, purchased at a shop in Astoria, where she grew up, when she was about 10 years old.
First 45 bought: “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone.
Another early purchase: Freeze-Frame by The J. Geils Band.
First concert: Foreigner.
Concerts she’s taken her son Brian to: Think Bruce Springsteen and Judas Priest.
Music she, her husband Lou, and Brian bond over: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rush, Pink Floyd.
An artist she and Brian listened to while driving to 5am swim practice: Looking Glass. The song? “Brandy.”
How many 45s she has in her personal collection: 8,000.
How many LPs and 45s are currently in store: 2,400 LPs and 1,200 45s, with more coming in every day.
Is she buying used records (and will she look at yours)? Absolutely. Just come on in and start a conversation.
For its launch, Northport Records will be open seven days a week, with the following hours: Sunday, 11am to 5pm; Monday through Friday 10am to 7pm; and Saturday 10am to 8pm. Follow the shop on Instagram here.
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