Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Zig Zag Redux

After 35 years in business, Zig Zag Records closed this past December. As Sheepshead Bites reported, "We believe it was the last vinyl merchant in all of Southern Brooklyn."


photo: Arthur Borko

Last week, Zig Zag came back to life--sort of. On his Facebook page, Howard Fein snapped some shots of the Men in Black 3 set in Downtown Brooklyn. Zig Zag was included--with a nearly identical replica of the original sign.


photo: Howard Fein

Like the Birdbath Vesuvio or the fake storefront signage at the Chelsea Hotel or the ironic mom-and-pop facade at Urban Outfitters, as so much of the city becomes a "theme park of the past," what we will have left to remind us of what New York once was will be movie sets and miniature models.

And all that is solid melts into air.
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10 comments:

  1. Shek BakerMay 31, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    Did Rhythm Records close up shop? They're on Ave. S near the Kings Hwy N stop. Last I heard, say about a year ago, they were still open a few days a week. Specializing in Doo Wop 45s, but you could find all kinds of stuff in there if you could climb over the old neighborhood guys crowding in shooting the shit.

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  2. VisuaLingualMay 31, 2011 at 9:50 AM

    This is a beyond bizarre. Why would the set designer do the amount of research required to stumble onto the signage for this shuttered shop and recreate it on the set of a film? Seriously, it's weird, although I guess it's a little Easter egg for those of us who would recognize it.

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  3. --------mMay 31, 2011 at 11:09 AM

    jeremiah - your last paragraph encapsulates the state of our city perfectly
    yet so sad to say

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  4. Marty WombacherMay 31, 2011 at 12:39 PM

    Last year in a bar I had a discussion with two young kids about how the internet is killing a lot of businesses and cited the record store as an example. One of them said that the internet has created the world's largest record store, iTunes. I told them that iTunes is not a record store because you can't mingle with other people and talk about records with the people that work there. The kid said that you can leave customer reviews on iTunes, so it's the same thing. Sad.

    Hate to see record stores becoming extinct.

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  5. Grand St.May 31, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Last couple of times I wanted to purchase a new CD on the day of its release, and not wanting to suffer through a visit to Best Buy or a mugging at B&N, I walked all the way down to J & R.

    Not that long ago, there were dozens of options in lower Manhattan. Now, excepting the above, you can hope Other Music thinks your band is cool enough to stock, or that the CD will 'fall off a truck' and land at the last Disc-O-Rama...

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  6. chummy's mumMay 31, 2011 at 3:45 PM

    ZigZag. Our childhood vinyl haunt. I wonder if they painted over the mural of The Funhouse's Clown on the E.23rd St side of the store?

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  7. Jeremiah MossMay 31, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    the Murrays just added a nice shot of the shop to their blog today:

    http://urbanimagephotography.com/wordpress/?p=3384

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  8. AnonymousJune 1, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    Me and my best friend were shoppers at Zig-Zag during the late 80's. Even then it seemed like it was someplace from a different time. It was run by a body builder metal head. He was as salty as they come. They also sold tickets for concerts at local venues if my memory serves me correctly. Maybe a ticketmaster outpost? Bought my first Soundgarden and Janes Addiction albums here. Also a lot of Zappa, Frampton, King Crimson, and Hendrix.It was a magical place where you could easily spend hours. Tons of magazines and ephemera under the vinyl racks to search through as well.Anyone out there know what happened to the owner?

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  9. VinnyJune 1, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    The Original owner Arnie sold the store to one of his workers Phil, who expanded to Staten Island. The body building body builder (Stan) was absolutely not a metal head but a long time worker who eventually purchased the Brooklyn store from Phil. Phil moved the very succesful Staten Island store to Atlantic Highlands, NJ where due to lack of interest he was forced to close in 2009. I am one of Phil's closest friends who also happened to work on weekends in both stores for over 22 years!

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  10. AnonymousJune 3, 2011 at 10:02 PM

    Thanks for the info Vinny. I just remember being fifteen or sixteen and being really intimidated by Stan. He was definitely a presence. Stan was almost always playing hard rock or heavy metal when I was in there, however, I do remember one time he was playing "The Concert For Bangladesh" and talking to his friend at the counter. He asked his friend if he recognized who the guitarist was playing on one of the songs. I had never heard the album before, but could recognize it was Clapton soloing from a mile away, and desperately wanted to yell his name out, but if I was wrong I would have been mortified. I was a shy kid. Stan's friend never guessed correctly and he just had to give away the answer. It's funny which memories linger so many years later.

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