52nd City

Byron Kerman on Apop

I'd been kicking around the idea of writing up a blip on Apop Records, only to find an e-mail this morning from Byron Kerman, which summed up pretty much everything I'd have to say about this wunnerful place. Here's Byron's e-mail:

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Hey, I have a new favorite store in St. Louis, and I want to encourage y'all to check it out. It is called APOP RECORDS and as soon as I walked in I knew it was the sort of headquarters for all things cult that makes me drool. They have:

-obscure vinyl, CDs & cassettes--in fact, they have a lot of cassettes
-obscure VHS & DVD, especially horror
-'zines! Yes, despite the apparent superiority of the internet, 'zines are still alive & well--'zines on grindhouse movies, art, personal journals, angry youth, punk rock and so on
-bigger-budget magazines, also on fringe topics
-obscure books, including plenty on mind control, drugs, anarchy, crime,
Loompanics how-to titles on not necessarily legal subjects and all manner of
fringe stuff

In short, this is St. Louis' new clearinghouse for weirdness, specializing in a lot of stuff you would otherwise have to mail-order to get, at best.

Similar stores might include Quimby's in Chicago and the late Amok bookstore in L.A., if you're familiar--I love(d) those stores, too.

(And I sure do miss punk record/magazine store Tensionhead, also on Cherokee, which closed not so long ago, along with the late, lamented Whiz Bam Video, Twentieth Century Ephemera, All-Around Collectibles, Decades of Toys, Bijou Video, Comics Universe, Silver Screen poster shop and many other great shops in the area that are no longer.)

APOP is at: 2831 Cherokee between Grand & Jefferson

their web site:
http://www.apoprecords.com

Give them some of your cash so they will stick around for a long time.

And yes, if you are getting this e-mail because we're on the same list, I
realize it belongs in the "shameless commerce" division, and I'm sorry, but
too many wonderful stores such as those listed above closed too soon. Make a
special trip to this place, even if you live nowhere near it, and you'll see what I mean. People who love oddball culture need to know about this store.

Have fun,

-byron k.