February 21, 2016
When I decided to move from mountainous Utah to an unfamiliar Ann Arbor, I subleased an apartment downtown based on the proximity to record stores. I know to many that may sound cliche or boring, but it’s the truth. Ann Arbor is lucky to have four living record stores, three of them within a couple of blocks of one another. After living in a variety of cities, I know how rare that is, and took the opportunity to live among such a supportive community.
Throughout the summer of 2012, I developed a strong preference and love for Wazoo Records. Wazoo Records is exactly what you hope for in a record store—it is no wonder that the shop has come up as a recommendation (more than once) from various Ann Arborites. After climbing the steps off of State street, patrons are welcomed by crates of records stretching from the counter to the windows and CDs lining the walls. Cassette tapes are stuffed in their slots, and VHS tapes are placed in their own corner—welcoming those of us who like the search for a diamond in the rough.
Over time, my partner and I were able get to know the shop owner, John Kerr, as we discussed new releases and rare material we were able to snag by sifting through the variety of music the shop continues to offer. After doing a bit of my own research, I found that John Kerr has been working at Wazoo since 1978. With that much street cred, I jumped at the opportunity to interview John for Unpublished: Discovering Ann Arbor.
“I enjoy living (in Ann Arbor) very much. It’s difficult to be objective since I grew up here. I’m not sure what part of my attachment is all of the memories and familiarity or the town itself. I’ve visited and enjoyed many other places, but I have always come back here to live,” John explains. With so much Wazoo time under his belt, I ask John why people I’ve interviewed have coined Wazoo as an “underrated” gem in the community. “Perhaps our location on the second floor and lack of visibility contributes to that perception. I don’t hype the store too much, preferring to put my energies toward finding interesting inventory and keeping up with new material to bring in. I’ve come to accept a bit of obscurity. It’s more of a word of mouth thing.” John explains that if he were new to Ann Arbor, he would quickly find out about and visit every record store in the area and return to the ones he thought were worth going back to, “In the end I don’t think the location is much of a detriment and it helps with keeping the overhead low,” he concludes.
It’s no secret that downtown Ann Arbor businesses come and go. With extremely high rent costs, it is not irregular to see a shop open and close within a single season. Wazoo Records just celebrated 40 years of business, and many have noted that the actual appearance of Wazoo has not changed much in the interim. When I asked John what has changed, he mentions the clientele, “Pre-internet, there were obviously fewer options for music consumers. You could listen to the radio, or go buy records at the store, borrow records form a sibling or friend. The advent of cassettes made copying music easier and friends could share it without paying. There were overblown fears about this ‘destroying the industry’ but I don't think the sales numbers supported this notion.
When file sharing became widespread in the nineties, there was a frenzy to accumulate thousands of songs on a hard drive. After a while it seemed this proved unsatisfying. I can only speculate that this is because it was just too abstract and nebulous a relationship to one's music—not to mention the sacrifice in sonic quality. Young people who'd grown up with this convenience and cost-free access to music, became willing to devote some resources to acquiring an actual object, and surprisingly, vinyl was suddenly cool again.
The DJ/Hip Hop culture should probably be given credit for starting this movement, but fascination with vinyl has long ago surpassed that limited cult.” John notices that people seem to be excited about buying records again, and has seen that there are many more women who share the enthusiasm that was once held by “sweaty bearded guys.” He concludes that it is nice to see a previous imbalance readdressed, “It is admittedly a smaller group of people willing to go through the hassle—of parking and stairs, etc.—to come in now that there are more convenient options. However, those that do still go to the trouble to visit us are all the more devoted and thus more interesting to interact with since they share my passion. I think it's fair to say that anyone still in this business has to be here for aesthetic rather than financial reasons.”
With much of his adult life devoted to music, I wondered what he might be doing if he hadn’t taken over Wazoo, “the ethos in the mid-seventies was very much—for better or worse— ‘do your own thing,’ ‘don’t work for The Man,’ and ‘don’t join the Rat Race,’ so I was determined, at any cost, to get involved in something I truly loved. Within two years of graduation—after traveling and various odd jobs—I ended up here.”
While John has been devoted to Wazoo since the seventies, he has been devoted to music even longer. When he was eight years old, John started buying 45s. In high school, he began selling LPs at the U Cellar (a collectively-run bookstore at the Michigan Union), “it gave me a sense of the market value of LPs and how to price them. I held record sales on campus during college, and was Music Director at the campus radio station all four years I was there. My senior thesis—(for) sociology and anthropology—was a look at how African American roots music, popular music and the recording industry had coexisted and influenced each other in the 20th century.”
It is because of John’s experience and expertise that I found it incredibly valuable to get his take on the Ann Arbor music scene today. After interviewing a variety of locals, I have come to find that many people are disappointed by the lack of venues in the area. While John has been in the area for the majority of his life, it was important to me to hear his views on the state of things, “I can only compare Ann Arbor to a place like Austin, where there are many more bars and places for musicians to hone their chops. Ann Arbor effectively has one “rock" club at this point. I think—due to a concentrated downtown and high rents—clubs historically have not been able to make a go of it. It's a tough job to keep a venue open around here. Musicians seem to slog through, however, with coffee houses and basement shows. Places like Arbor Vitae (Facebook) above us provide and interesting performance space, though it's pretty sporadic,” John is surprised by the lack of breakout artists from Ann Arbor since the sixties and seventies.
While many discussed the issues with the A2 music scene presented in previous articles, I asked John what he thought about the lack of activity among musicians in the area. John admits that he is not the best person to speak on the subject, “I rarely get out to see local music anymore. When I was more in touch with the local scene, I did occasionally feel that there was a certain cliquishness and inbreeding.” John jokingly mentions the “Ann Arbor: 23 square miles surrounded by Reality” saying but is sure to include that he attends Top of the Park to see local music each summer and really enjoys it.
Vinyl sales continue to be the most significant (in numbers and dollar-wise), but most of us are aware that musical formats and their popularity are ever-evolving. “Most times, the industry supports (the evolution) because it is an opportunity to sell the public the same music over again in a ‘new and improved’ form. I did not anticipate a large scale return to interest in vinyl, nor did I hear anybody call that one at the turn of the millennium when it (roughly) took off. In the era where there is an app for everything and technology is sold as able to to make one’s life easier, it is surprising that people consciously choose an antiquated and inconvenient format,” John attributes this to a real cultural shift that points to a devotion to a ritualized and focused listening experience.
“I think it tickles anyone around my age who found CDs somewhat of a relief from the inherent problems presented by the vinyl format. I won’t pretend to understand it entirely. I am often amused speaking to customers who are sold on the appeal of vinyl but have no clue about the audio equipment needed to really take advantage of what it has to offer—at least sonically.”
John hones in on the corporate wing of the business and explains that the resurgence of vinyl is not something that these people are thrilled about in terms of warehousing and packaging, “I’m sure they were relieved when CDs dominated in the nineties and something smaller and lighter took over…this reduced their costs, and now that they’ve realized vinyl is the only physical format that is growing in sales, they’ve decided to jack up prices dramatically and make what money they can.” John—and I, honestly—are fearful that these people may screw up again and “kill the goose that laid the golden egg” by getting greedier and pricing vinyl too high so that young people cannot build a collection.
When it comes to cassettes, John explains that he is a little clueless around the mindset of the revival, “I like to be able to carry cassettes since they are the cheapest format and thus offer customers a low cost, if limited, alternative way to own music. I will continue to expand the selection if the demand continues,” he says.
Nearly everyone I know has said that working in a record store would be a “dream job.” After spending 38 years of his life in the record store, I ask John Kerr what his favorite part of working at Wazoo Records is, “Getting to devote the day listening to, exploring and discovering new music, firstly. Our customers are knowledgeable and it is a pleasure to discuss the music with them, learn about new things and make selected recommendations once I get an idea of someone’s taste. It’s also just a challenge to see if I can make this work as an enterprise in the current environment, without having to do too much that I don’t enjoy,” he explains.
I knew before moving here that it was incredible to have a 40 year old record store in a busy and evolving downtown. While Wazoo Records would not be what it is without John Kerr, its success is also due, in part, to the community that it lives in. In the nineties, there were twelve record stores in this town — what is it about Wazoo that our people continue to love and support? While John explains that many people come in and wax nostalgic about time and money spent in the record store while they attended the University of Michigan, he feels a little uncomfortable feeling like the store is a remnant of some bygone era, “I would hope people come in more because we have an interesting and well-priced selection of music and movies and a staff that can talk about it knowledgeably.”
While John explains that record stores’ business is down from its peak in the 90s, he hopes people come in not because there is some museum aspect to the space, but more because “we are still relevant and cutting edge…it’s about finding ways to do more things I like and less that I don’t at this stage. It may be more of a hobby than a career now but it has been a good time for me.”
When I decided to move from mountainous Utah to an unfamiliar Ann Arbor, I subleased an apartment downtown based on the proximity to record stores. I know to many that may sound cliche or boring, but it’s the truth. Ann Arbor is lucky to have four living record stores, three of them within a couple of blocks of one another. After living in a variety of cities, I know how rare that is, and took the opportunity to live among such a supportive community.
Throughout the summer of 2012, I developed a strong preference and love for Wazoo Records. Wazoo Records is exactly what you hope for in a record store—it is no wonder that the shop has come up as a recommendation (more than once) from various Ann Arborites. After climbing the steps off of State street, patrons are welcomed by crates of records stretching from the counter to the windows and CDs lining the walls. Cassette tapes are stuffed in their slots, and VHS tapes are placed in their own corner—welcoming those of us who like the search for a diamond in the rough.
Over time, my partner and I were able get to know the shop owner, John Kerr, as we discussed new releases and rare material we were able to snag by sifting through the variety of music the shop continues to offer. After doing a bit of my own research, I found that John Kerr has been working at Wazoo since 1978. With that much street cred, I jumped at the opportunity to interview John for Unpublished: Discovering Ann Arbor.
“I enjoy living (in Ann Arbor) very much. It’s difficult to be objective since I grew up here. I’m not sure what part of my attachment is all of the memories and familiarity or the town itself. I’ve visited and enjoyed many other places, but I have always come back here to live,” John explains. With so much Wazoo time under his belt, I ask John why people I’ve interviewed have coined Wazoo as an “underrated” gem in the community. “Perhaps our location on the second floor and lack of visibility contributes to that perception. I don’t hype the store too much, preferring to put my energies toward finding interesting inventory and keeping up with new material to bring in. I’ve come to accept a bit of obscurity. It’s more of a word of mouth thing.” John explains that if he were new to Ann Arbor, he would quickly find out about and visit every record store in the area and return to the ones he thought were worth going back to, “In the end I don’t think the location is much of a detriment and it helps with keeping the overhead low,” he concludes.
It’s no secret that downtown Ann Arbor businesses come and go. With extremely high rent costs, it is not irregular to see a shop open and close within a single season. Wazoo Records just celebrated 40 years of business, and many have noted that the actual appearance of Wazoo has not changed much in the interim. When I asked John what has changed, he mentions the clientele, “Pre-internet, there were obviously fewer options for music consumers. You could listen to the radio, or go buy records at the store, borrow records form a sibling or friend. The advent of cassettes made copying music easier and friends could share it without paying. There were overblown fears about this ‘destroying the industry’ but I don't think the sales numbers supported this notion.
When file sharing became widespread in the nineties, there was a frenzy to accumulate thousands of songs on a hard drive. After a while it seemed this proved unsatisfying. I can only speculate that this is because it was just too abstract and nebulous a relationship to one's music—not to mention the sacrifice in sonic quality. Young people who'd grown up with this convenience and cost-free access to music, became willing to devote some resources to acquiring an actual object, and surprisingly, vinyl was suddenly cool again.
The DJ/Hip Hop culture should probably be given credit for starting this movement, but fascination with vinyl has long ago surpassed that limited cult.” John notices that people seem to be excited about buying records again, and has seen that there are many more women who share the enthusiasm that was once held by “sweaty bearded guys.” He concludes that it is nice to see a previous imbalance readdressed, “It is admittedly a smaller group of people willing to go through the hassle—of parking and stairs, etc.—to come in now that there are more convenient options. However, those that do still go to the trouble to visit us are all the more devoted and thus more interesting to interact with since they share my passion. I think it's fair to say that anyone still in this business has to be here for aesthetic rather than financial reasons.”
With much of his adult life devoted to music, I wondered what he might be doing if he hadn’t taken over Wazoo, “the ethos in the mid-seventies was very much—for better or worse— ‘do your own thing,’ ‘don’t work for The Man,’ and ‘don’t join the Rat Race,’ so I was determined, at any cost, to get involved in something I truly loved. Within two years of graduation—after traveling and various odd jobs—I ended up here.”
While John has been devoted to Wazoo since the seventies, he has been devoted to music even longer. When he was eight years old, John started buying 45s. In high school, he began selling LPs at the U Cellar (a collectively-run bookstore at the Michigan Union), “it gave me a sense of the market value of LPs and how to price them. I held record sales on campus during college, and was Music Director at the campus radio station all four years I was there. My senior thesis—(for) sociology and anthropology—was a look at how African American roots music, popular music and the recording industry had coexisted and influenced each other in the 20th century.”
It is because of John’s experience and expertise that I found it incredibly valuable to get his take on the Ann Arbor music scene today. After interviewing a variety of locals, I have come to find that many people are disappointed by the lack of venues in the area. While John has been in the area for the majority of his life, it was important to me to hear his views on the state of things, “I can only compare Ann Arbor to a place like Austin, where there are many more bars and places for musicians to hone their chops. Ann Arbor effectively has one “rock" club at this point. I think—due to a concentrated downtown and high rents—clubs historically have not been able to make a go of it. It's a tough job to keep a venue open around here. Musicians seem to slog through, however, with coffee houses and basement shows. Places like Arbor Vitae (Facebook) above us provide and interesting performance space, though it's pretty sporadic,” John is surprised by the lack of breakout artists from Ann Arbor since the sixties and seventies.
While many discussed the issues with the A2 music scene presented in previous articles, I asked John what he thought about the lack of activity among musicians in the area. John admits that he is not the best person to speak on the subject, “I rarely get out to see local music anymore. When I was more in touch with the local scene, I did occasionally feel that there was a certain cliquishness and inbreeding.” John jokingly mentions the “Ann Arbor: 23 square miles surrounded by Reality” saying but is sure to include that he attends Top of the Park to see local music each summer and really enjoys it.
Vinyl sales continue to be the most significant (in numbers and dollar-wise), but most of us are aware that musical formats and their popularity are ever-evolving. “Most times, the industry supports (the evolution) because it is an opportunity to sell the public the same music over again in a ‘new and improved’ form. I did not anticipate a large scale return to interest in vinyl, nor did I hear anybody call that one at the turn of the millennium when it (roughly) took off. In the era where there is an app for everything and technology is sold as able to to make one’s life easier, it is surprising that people consciously choose an antiquated and inconvenient format,” John attributes this to a real cultural shift that points to a devotion to a ritualized and focused listening experience.
“I think it tickles anyone around my age who found CDs somewhat of a relief from the inherent problems presented by the vinyl format. I won’t pretend to understand it entirely. I am often amused speaking to customers who are sold on the appeal of vinyl but have no clue about the audio equipment needed to really take advantage of what it has to offer—at least sonically.”
John hones in on the corporate wing of the business and explains that the resurgence of vinyl is not something that these people are thrilled about in terms of warehousing and packaging, “I’m sure they were relieved when CDs dominated in the nineties and something smaller and lighter took over…this reduced their costs, and now that they’ve realized vinyl is the only physical format that is growing in sales, they’ve decided to jack up prices dramatically and make what money they can.” John—and I, honestly—are fearful that these people may screw up again and “kill the goose that laid the golden egg” by getting greedier and pricing vinyl too high so that young people cannot build a collection.
When it comes to cassettes, John explains that he is a little clueless around the mindset of the revival, “I like to be able to carry cassettes since they are the cheapest format and thus offer customers a low cost, if limited, alternative way to own music. I will continue to expand the selection if the demand continues,” he says.
Nearly everyone I know has said that working in a record store would be a “dream job.” After spending 38 years of his life in the record store, I ask John Kerr what his favorite part of working at Wazoo Records is, “Getting to devote the day listening to, exploring and discovering new music, firstly. Our customers are knowledgeable and it is a pleasure to discuss the music with them, learn about new things and make selected recommendations once I get an idea of someone’s taste. It’s also just a challenge to see if I can make this work as an enterprise in the current environment, without having to do too much that I don’t enjoy,” he explains.
I knew before moving here that it was incredible to have a 40 year old record store in a busy and evolving downtown. While Wazoo Records would not be what it is without John Kerr, its success is also due, in part, to the community that it lives in. In the nineties, there were twelve record stores in this town — what is it about Wazoo that our people continue to love and support? While John explains that many people come in and wax nostalgic about time and money spent in the record store while they attended the University of Michigan, he feels a little uncomfortable feeling like the store is a remnant of some bygone era, “I would hope people come in more because we have an interesting and well-priced selection of music and movies and a staff that can talk about it knowledgeably.”
While John explains that record stores’ business is down from its peak in the 90s, he hopes people come in not because there is some museum aspect to the space, but more because “we are still relevant and cutting edge…it’s about finding ways to do more things I like and less that I don’t at this stage. It may be more of a hobby than a career now but it has been a good time for me.”
Wazoo Records is located at 336 1/2 S. State in Ann Arbor, and is open daily from 12-6 PM (except Wednesdays).
