Record stores ready for Record Store Day

Boris the Spider (so-named after The Who’s song), Tracii Gun’s signed guitar and stacks of Beatles memorabilia are iconic but typical sights when entering JL, a West Lafayette record store.

What wasn’t so typical was the veiled cardboard boxes lining the counter. Inside, exclusive records awaited release for Saturday.

Inaugurated in 2007, Record Store Day spotlights independent record stores by providing them with limited printings of vinyl records. Beyond deals, Record Store Day celebrates small businesses and pass on a love for vinyl records and music from generation to generation.

In the Lafayette area, those interested in Record Store Day have two options: JL and Black Wax.

JL Records

For Record Store Day, Teresa Padasch, owner of JL Records, recommended interested people show up at 8 a.m. or earlier.

“Last year the line went around the building, run that into building to the dumpsters behind us before we open,” she said. “That was the Swifties waiting.”

Taylor Swift was the biggest seller last year, she said. The copies of her Record Store Day exclusive sold out in the first half hour of opening.

“People come from other parts of the state,” Padasch said. “People drive from records stores in Indy or Bloomington, Indiana…especially if there's like something they wanted and the store they first went to didn't have it.”

This year, Padasch anticipates many people interested in Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan’s special edition vinyl: Olivia Rodrigo covering “Stick Season” on one side, and Noah Kahan covering “Lacy” on the other.

But JL doesn’t only carry pop music; their store features a wide variety of artists and genres.

“We listen to our customers and what they want,” Padasch said. “Yeah, we try to have everything, but every day we hear from the band or not heard before which is great.”

The people who work there also listen to a wide-range of music.

“Well all of us have our favorite artists,” she said. She herself enjoys Prince, but other employees are metalheads and “Deadheads” (fans of the Grateful Dead).

Additionally, JL carries other mediums of music-listening, including a maze of CDs filling an entire room.

“My husband Jim passed away last July. So we have a lot of Beatles around (and) behind,” she said. “They're several rows of Beatles CDs.”

Padasch said JL gets a variety of customers, from Purdue students to rock and roll artists like Shannon Hoon, Axl Rose and Tracii Gun. Some of their memorabilia are from those visits, she said.

“The thing people remember about Axl, you had to watch him…shoplifting,” she said.

She said when Gun visited, he was looking to buy reel tape.

“We had some empty and he didn't tell us who it was he just called. ‘Did you have any real drill tape?’ and we have like, I don't know one or two spools and we have to sell it to him,” she said. “He came in and I’m like, he looks like a rock musician.”

During that visit, Padasch said Gun took a guitar from his car’s trunk, signed it and gave it to them.

She also mentioned Zach Edey recently visited the store.

“We see people of all ages. People who like classic rock, (people) who never quit listening to records,” she said.

Black Wax

Downtown in Lafayette, Black Wax is a tucked away hidden gem. Macy Ropes, daughter of the owner and designer of the tie-dye clothing racks, said the store opened in 2018.

In 2022, they added the adjacent store which doubled their size.

As far as Record Store Day goes, Ropes said she’s excited for new George Harrison and live Talking Heads pressings.

“I've done a lot of record store days and record store days tend to be hit or miss,” Ropes said.

She said they get a decent amount of the Record Store Day exclusives, but because of limited pressings and high demand, some deals go to bigger stores.

“We do get some stuff that is rare that not a lot of other stores get,” she said. “But we don’t know what it’s going to be until it comes in.”

Like JL, Black Wax has its own unique vibe.

“I personally feel like we have a killer Pink Floyd collection as far as a used collection goes,” Ropes said.

One side of the store carries new pressings, while the other carries used and hand-dyed tie-dye clothing in all sizes.

“You're going to find Frank Zappa here,” she said. “You're probably going to find the Grateful Dead stuff like jam bands.”

The muppet Animal sits behind the counter. He’s a customer favorite, Ropes said.

Another Black Wax quirk is their store dog, Marley. He especially loves to greet customers when they enter, Ropes said.

“He actually has his own following (that) comes in and visits,” she joked.

In a back corner, Black Wax has a jam space set up for guitar lessons. Everyone who works there knows at least one instrument, to varying degrees of skill, Ropes said.

“If you come in, you could find anybody playing at any given time, but we do do live music sometimes,” she said.