As memorable music duos go, they went together like Lennon and McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel, Ike and Tina.
Record Service on one side of Green Street, Record Swap on the other.
You couldn’t go in one without swinging by the other, says Champaign County Associate Judge Brett Olmstead (BA ’90, JD ’94).
“Their stock did not exactly overlap and it gave me the opportunity to hear what music was playing in both,” he says. “I could walk in and hear something new, see flyers for live shows coming up, flip through the latest recordings from new bands, old favorites, local bands, bootleg live recordings, imports that often contained songs not released in the U.S., and it was all an experience that included actual human contact, with other people in the store that I could talk to and knowledgeable staff that could give suggestions for something I might like.
“I discovered all kinds of new music, met Graham Chapman (of ‘Monty Python’), saw They Might Be Giants perform, and routinely bumped elbows with musicians and fellow fans from the local music scene and beyond, all at two locally-owned and operated stores right on campus.
“Today’s impersonal world of iTunes and streaming services can’t compare, and I’ll always treasure those memories.”
