It was lunchtime. Sal had one hour to grab a hot dog and a Coke on his walk to the record store, where he might be lucky to find a rare classic album before returning to the office.

The sign hanging over the stained brass-trimmed old wooden door of Nostalgia Records looked like a blast from the past with its psychedelic font surrounded by dayglo orange, green, and yellow swirls.

Entering the store was like embarking on a trip into 60s Hippyville. Giant posters of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Jefferson Airplane, and Cream adorned the yellowing plaster walls of the shop, which was formerly a dry goods store in the 1800s, then a grocery store in the 1920s, a meat market in the 1940s, and hardware store in the 1950s. There were also several Fillmore East posters of The Grateful Dead, Santana, and The Yardbirds.

The proprietor was a grubby individualist with long, unkempt red hair and a matching gnarly beard. He had small, beady eyes that seemed to follow the comings and goings of anyone who entered his domain. He wore the same black and red plaid shirt every day except during the warmer months when he sported a ubiquitous variety of black t-shirts extolling various rock bands like The Who, Ultimate Spinach, and Judas Priest.

Although the décor emphasized the psychedelic era of the 1960s, the shopkeeper was not averse to any musical genre from which he might profit. Records ranged from Adam Ant to ZZ Top. If your taste was Jerry Vale, Connie Francis, or Louis Prima, there was a section of Italian heritage music. Maybe you preferred African drums, Indian sitar, Baroque organ, or 17th-century choir music. It seemed there was nothing Zack didn't have – for a price.

A locked glass case in the back of the store secured the most prized vinyl treasures – a 45 featuring Tony Sheridan with The Beatles, a rare butcher cover version of the Beatles' Yesterday and Today album, and a boxed set of LPs by the Pet Shop Boys among countless other items.

This afternoon, Sal was especially interested in finding the somewhat obscure eponymous album by the group The United States of America. Being pressed for time, he went directly to the counter and asked Zack if he had one.

"Did you look in the bin?" grumbled Zack while looking downward at a crossword puzzle on the back page of a music magazine, indicating he couldn't be troubled by a customer, let alone a stupid trivial album for which he had no concern.

"Well, I thought you might..."

"Yeah, well, why don't you go look for yourself? I'm a little busy right now. Besides, you can't expect me to know every record I have here. And why the heck do you want that album anyway?"

"I just want it. That's all," Sal embarrassingly confessed.

"Yeah, but why that album?"

"Never mind," replied Sal as he discouragingly headed toward the exit while opening the eBay app on his phone.

Story and Cover Illustration Copyright © 2024 by Michael DeFrancesco

The title and name of the store (Nostalgia Records) and the characters in the story are purely fictional and in no way represent or refer to any specific persons or establishment.