In August 2009, I moved right into a three-bedroom on Clark just a few blocks north of Fullerton, with no clue about Lincoln Park’s cultural place in Chicago. I had grad-school courses in Evanston and the Loop, so the neighborhood appeared to make sense—it was kind of in between the 2. I felt misplaced amid the faculty soccer followers crammed into sports activities bars alongside Clark, the drunk DePaul college students stampeding 5 Guys and the Wieners Circle after midnight, and the tony white-collar staff of their million-dollar houses. I lived in an affordable, shabby residence, and I cherished something subversive that survived within the cracks within the neighborhood’s facade.
That December, I found the storefront home windows of a close-by report store. In an eclectic show of Christmas-themed album covers, I noticed a report by King Diamond, who was pictured in his trademark corpsepaint, thumbing his nostril, protruding his tongue, and cozying as much as a reindeer with ribbons in its antlers. The disc was a 1985 12-inch referred to as “No Presents for Christmas,” and the store was Dave’s Information. Nothing else within the neighborhood spoke to me the way in which it did.
Dave Crain opened his store at 2604 N. Clark on Labor Day in 2002. Since day one, Crain offered solely vinyl, which was by no means a straightforward proposition. By the early 2000s the format had been in a decades-long decline, and in accordance with RIAA figures, vinyl gross sales in 2002 had been roughly 0.36 p.c of the music business’s whole income—a $45.4 million sliver of a $12.6 billion haul. Earlier than File Retailer Day helped alert main business gamers to the newfound area of interest worth of wax, folks shopping for vinyl had been collaborating in a subculture, whether or not they considered it that manner or not. Dave’s Information provided these true believers a world to discover.
On election day 2022, when Crain introduced he was closing the shop, he hadn’t but chosen a ultimate day. He knew he needed to take away all proof of the store’s existence from the house by January 1, when his lease could be over. After I first reported on the tip of Dave’s Information in mid-November, I requested Crain if the Reader might doc the shop’s ultimate day, at any time when that turned out to be. I needed to know who would journey from far and vast to pay their respects and who may casually wander in off the road. One factor I like about brick-and-mortar report outlets is that you simply by no means know who you’ll meet and the way they may reshape your world as a listener, even when all they do is advocate a seven-inch you’ll play just a few instances after which overlook. The opportunity of these interactions, as a lot because the vinyl itself, retains me invested in report outlets.
Dave’s Information closed for good Sunday, December 18. I swung by on the Friday earlier than to choose up just a few information and chat with Crain, however I couldn’t make it out that final day. Happily, photographer and Reader contributor Kathleen Hinkel was free, and she or he went to Dave’s to seize the scene throughout its ultimate hours. She emerged with a touching doc of the unfastened neighborhood that coalesced round Dave’s Information, the place all types of parents—younger mother and father, native music legends, former Chicagoans visiting for the vacations—navigated the tight aisles seeking buried treasure. The shop is gone, however we nonetheless have our information—and Hinkel’s report of its farewell. —Leor Galil
Photograph captions by Kathleen Hinkel
An indication on the door at beloved Lincoln Park report retailer Dave’s Information bears a quote from the Tom Waits music “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You,” from his 1973 album Closing Time. “Now it’s closing time, the music’s fading out / Final name for drinks, I’ll have one other stout.”
Sixty-three-year-old Dave Crain, the store’s proprietor, poses for a portrait simply after closing its door for the ultimate time on Sunday, December 18, 2022. The store had been open since 2002.
“There’s nothing quieter than a report retailer with no music on,” Crain mentioned earlier that day. A report had simply ended, so he instantly marched to the turntable and placed on “Le Freak” by Stylish. 7:19 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago Reader
Dave Crain poses along with his son, 31-year-old Sam Crain, simply after closing the door of Dave’s Information for the ultimate time. Sam mentioned it was “touching to see how many individuals got here out” for the shop’s final day. 7:20 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain shares the 2014 album Say Sure to Love by punk band Excellent Pussy within the hardcore part at Dave’s Information, simply earlier than the shop opened at midday on its ultimate day. 11:47 AMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderOne other signal on the door at Dave’s Information reads, “NO CD’S: NEVER HAD ’EM! NEVER WILL!!” Proprietor Dave Crain, pictured right here stocking information within the window of the store, was utterly dedicated to vinyl. 2:51 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave’s Information is packed simply after opening for the ultimate time on Sunday, December 18, 2022. 12:27 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave’s Information stands empty shortly earlier than opening on its final day. 11:36 AMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago Reader“I knew that this place was closing, and that is the final day, so I’m seeing if there’s any offers earlier than these [records] go to different outlets,” mentioned 25-year-old Marley, a former Chicago resident visiting from Los Angeles. 12:22 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave’s Information was busy all day when it opened for the ultimate time on Sunday, December 18, 2022. 2:26 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderWhen requested how he got here to be looking the stacks at Dave’s Information throughout its ultimate hour on Sunday evening, honored Chicago-based producer the Twilite Tone, 53, responded: “It’s historical past and legacy, tradition. It’s indigenous and impactful to who and what I’m.” 6:17 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderTwenty-six-year-old Zanthia Dwight (proper) and 50-year-old Lisa Schrader (left) browse through the ultimate day at Dave’s Information. 2:20 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderZanthia Dwight flips by way of the vinyl at Dave’s Information. 2:20 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderEven earlier than the official opening time of midday, Dave Crain had already began letting prospects into Dave’s Information on its ultimate day. One such buyer was 38-year-old Ryan Carlsen, left, who got here seeking jazz and blues. 11:41 AMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderA buyer flips by way of vinyl at Dave’s Information. 2:33 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderProprietor Dave Crain works along with his son, Sam Crain, behind the counter of Dave’s Information. 12:55 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderForty-three-year-old Chris Gibson leaves Dave’s Information with a stack of information he purchased on the store’s ultimate day. “I’ve lived in Chicago eight years, and I’ve been coming right here for six or seven,” he mentioned. “That is my fourth go to since I discovered they had been closing.” 12:57 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain works the register at Dave’s Information on the shop’s final day. 2:37 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain on the register 2:12 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderWhen requested what introduced them to Dave’s Information on the shop’s ultimate day, 25-year-old Madison Smith mentioned, “I’ve been coming right here for a pair years. Each time I are available, it’s a private expertise.” 2:12 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderProprietor Dave Crain works along with his son, Sam Crain, behind the counter of Dave’s Information through the store’s ultimate hour. 6:09 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderVinyl at Dave’s Information, together with a duplicate of the 2022 Roky Erickson & the Explosives launch Halloween II: Reside 20076:09 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderA stack of vinyl at Dave’s Information, together with a Cellular Constancy Sound Lab version of Elvis Costello’s My Intention Is True6:09 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderA Dave’s Information buyer holds a duplicate of the 1985 Neil Younger single “Get Again to the Nation” b/w “Misfits.” 12:44 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderChicago musician John Perrin, 30, has performed drums in NRBQ since 2015. He mentioned he’s been coming to Dave’s Information for a decade, and he got here to browse the shop within the first hour of its ultimate day. 12:59 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderJohn Perrin talks to Dave’s Information proprietor Dave Crain whereas holding a duplicate of the Tom Waits album Alice, which got here out in 2002—the yr Dave’s opened. 12:16 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain checks the cabinets at Dave’s Information. 2:12 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderTwenty-five-year-old Zac Veitch browses information whereas his two-year-old, Tomás, watches a video on his cellphone on his dad’s shoulders. 2:42 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago Reader“I like information,” mentioned 46-year-old Nick Neitzman, looking Dave’s Information on its ultimate day. “I used to dwell within the neighborhood, and I spent many hours shopping for information right here. It’s a bummer.” 2:53 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderThirty-two-year-old Arthur Tylka mentioned he was “out for beers with my buddy, and he knew this place was closing, so we each got here by.” He’s holding a duplicate of Seth MacFarlane’s 2011 debut album, Music Is Higher Than Phrases. 6:02 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago Reader“I’ve been coming right here since I used to be a child,” mentioned 21-year-old Jack Ioizzo, who lives within the neighborhood. 12:41 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderThe outside of Dave’s Information on Sunday, December 18, 2022 1:03 PM Credit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderFifty-year-old Lisa Scrader’s haul at Dave’s Information included Walt Whitman poetry information in addition to David Bowie vinyl. 12:41 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain at work 6:07 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderTwenty-six-year-old Tyler Hunt moved to Chicago just a few weeks in the past and occurred to drop into Dave’s whereas report purchasing on the shop’s ultimate day. 6:07 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain talks with musicians DJ Impolite One, left, and the Twilite Tone, proper. The Twilite Tone might be most well-known as Widespread’s DJ and producer through the 90s, however he was already an essential driver in Chicago’s hip-hop scene as a young person within the late 80s. 7:04 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain proper after closing his beloved Lincoln Park report store, Dave’s Information, for the ultimate time 7:05 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain shakes fingers with a buyer, 41-year-old Sarah Hamilton, at closing time. 7:11 PM Credit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain simply after closing time 7:18 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderDave Crain provides his son, Sam Crain, a kiss on the cheek after closing the door of his beloved Lincoln Park report store for the ultimate time. 7:20 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago ReaderThe valedictory Tom Waits quote on the door at Dave’s Information took on a particular that means on Sunday, December 18, 2022, when the store closed for good after 20 years in enterprise. 7:56 PMCredit score: Kathleen Hinkel for Chicago Reader
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