VINTAGE SNEAKER VAULT UNCOVERED!

During the first couple of weeks of October 1999, I was fortunate enough to experience something that may make certain others green with envy. Whilst on holiday in New York I was granted access along with another pal to scour the shelves and stockroom of one of the most prolific record emporiums in the world before it opened for trade, the Sound Library on Avenue A in Manhattan. If you have a passion for collecting vinyl then you’ll know this shop, period!

My buddy and I had been hangin’ out with another friend who knew one of the owners and he generously offered to give us a tour. He asked us if we’d like to have a snoop round before the shop opened and we headed back to our hometown of London the following day. We naturally jumped at the chance.

The memories of trawling through the racks that day are still clear in my mind as is the fragrance of the last few licks of paint that were being applied around us.

The excitement I get when thinking back to the redolent air in that basement as we hot-stepped down the stairs is also there. The vinyl was racked sky high. Bulk quantities of rarities that I still haven’t seen to this day were fastidiously propped against walls and flicking through the overflowing crates of classics that were screaming out to be bought was almost too much to withstand. The experience was a humbling one, and the same emotions came back to me recently when I experienced a find of a similar magnitude.

BY CRAIG LECKIE


This article appeared in Issue 6 of Sneaker Freaker - buy it here.