Rewinding 35 years of memories from Tempe’s legendary Eastside Records. the Valley have an Eastside story, including tales of wild shows, weird characters, or rare finds. Many were willing to share them with Phoenix New Times for a compilation of memories in celebration of the store’s 35th anniver- sary this month. Back in the mid-’80s, Eastside Records co-founders Ben Wood and the late Clayton Agent were working for the Valley’s growing Zia Record Exchange retail chain along with Michael Pawlicki. By early 1987, though, Wood and Agent left the company. In July, they opened Eastside. I t’s a blazing afternoon in July and temperatures are hot enough to melt the thousands of LPs inside The Ghost of Eastside Records in Tempe. With the A/C going full- blast, though, the vinyl platters are managing to keep it together. The same can’t be said for the store’s owner, Michael Pawlicki, who looks sweaty, disheveled, and wiped out by the heat. At the moment, he’s all smiles and doing what he loves: talking music and selling records. As the 60-year-old is ringing up a customer’s stack of records, Pawlicki pauses to comment on one of the selec- tions. “Michael Bolton, huh? An inspired choice,” he says dryly. The customer, a local DJ, shrugs and says the singer’s 1989 album, Soul Provider, is perfect for his Sunday brunchtime session at a CenPho eatery. “I spin Bloody Mary music, so it’s going to fit right in,” he says. Pawlicki’s seen countless question- able choices cross his register in the four decades he’s been selling music. For the last 35 years, it’s been behind the counter of the Ghost of Eastside Records, formerly known as just Eastside Records. The now-legendary store was launched in July 1987 by co-founders (and former Zia employees) Ben Wood and the late Clayton Agent at small Tempe plaza on University Drive and Ash Avenue. Pawlicki, also a Zia alum, came on board soon after. Over the next two decades, Eastside Records became beloved by vinyl geeks, punks, and music fans for its diverse selection of music, knowledgeable staff, and laidback vibe. During the ’90s and A crowd outside of Eastside Records during one of the closing night parties of its original location in December 2010. Benjamin Leatherman 2000s, it was a cultural hub and meeting ground for many, a source of under- ground culture, and a scrappy alternative to spots like Stinkweeds or chains like Zia. The heart and soul of the store has been Pawlicki, who started as a clerk and became its owner. The store has been through death and rebirth, having closed its original location in 2010 before being reincarnated as The Ghost of Eastside Records as a series of pop-ups before settling down in Tempe’s Danelle Plaza in 2013 as a part of the Double Nickels retail cooperative. Music fans and vinyl junkies across Michael Pawlicki, owner of The Ghost of Eastside Records: We were managing the three separate Zia stores at one point. [The late Brad Signer, Zia’s founder] was grooming me for more of a [general] managerial person, which was not me. I was more of an underground person who didn’t want to manage a chain. Ben and Clayton split off and started Eastside. Ben Wood, co-founder of Eastside Records (in 2010): Michael and I worked at Zia together. And he’s such a smart and nice guy, we wanted to bring him on. Pawlicki: They called and asked if I’d wanted to work for them and offered me double my Zia salary. Wood: I wanted it to be a fun place to work. That was super important to me. When you’re selling a beloved art form, you should have a comfortable, fun environment. Pawlicki: There wasn’t much to the space. It was small [with] wood paneling everywhere. It was very catch-as-catch- can. Most of what was inside had been donated by other stores. The bins were from Tower [Records]. Divider cards were from other places. Bob Schriner, patron and former employee: When I first went in, it was primarily vinyl. The bins [for 7-inch] records were always in that same place. I remember making my way through seven-inches first and The B-side of an Eastside Records release with the Coop-drawn logo. then to the [LPs]. Those days, there weren’t really genre sections either. Everything was just put together so you might flip from Maceo Parker to Pere Ubu. Pawlicki: Zia and Tower Records were also nearby and Roads to Moscow was still around on Mill [Avenue], but prob- ably on its last legs. They’d been princi- pally a punk place. We had punk but we were also selling lots of reggae and ordering a zillion Grateful Dead CDs. Clayton was a big Deadhead. Kevin Daly, guitarist, Grave Danger: Each of the record stores around >> p 16 15 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JULY 28TH–AUG 3RD, 2022 J a m e s B e n n e t t
