{"id":240229,"date":"2022-10-31T12:04:56","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=240229"},"modified":"2022-11-02T21:57:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T02:57:37","slug":"why-elton-john-loves-this-las-vegas-record-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-elton-john-loves-this-las-vegas-record-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Elton John Can’t Get Enough of this Las Vegas Record Store"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Elton John memorabilia at one Las Vegas record store, at times, includes the artist himself. Vinyl collectors make the pilgrimage to Wax Trax Records from around the world whenever they\u2019re in Las Vegas. Usually, they\u2019re in search of a rare favorite record from their childhood while in town on business or vacation.<\/p>\n

\"Elton
Elton John in his happy place, Wax Trax Records in Las Vegas. He’s shown on a recent visit, bookended by coowners Sunny and Rich Rosen and their son, David (left). (Image: Wax Trax Records)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once or twice a year since 2015, these collectors include Captain Fantastic. The rock superstar sold his collection of more than 50K records in 1991 to fund his AIDS foundation. He enlisted the help of Wax Trax to try and get them back. So far, he\u2019s up to about 12K.<\/p>\n

We give him boxes and boxes to go through, and he makes piles of the stuff he wants,\u201d<\/strong> said Sunny Rosen, who coowns Wax Trax with her husband, Rich. \u201cHe\u2019s so knowledgeable. He and Richie talk for hours about the stuff.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John goes through old, ultra-rare Ornette Coleman, John Lee Hooker, and Johnny Burnette LPs while seated on a chair in a corner of the store \u2013 the one usually occupied by the Rosens\u2019 dog, a Shih Tzu named Charley. He\u2019ll spend tens of thousands per visit.<\/p>\n

Last of the Great Mom & Pop Shops<\/b><\/h2>\n

Wax Trax is one of the last great mom & pop record stores in America. It\u2019s a converted 1,500-square-foot, surf-green stucco house on suburban Decatur Boulevard that literally bursts with vintage vinyl and CDs.<\/p>\n

\n

Shelves filled with music occupy every wall, top to bottom, on three floors \u2013 even in the bathroom. All told, there are a half-million pieces. It\u2019s more like an eccentric interstate museum of yarn or bugs than any retail store you\u2019ve ever visited.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cYou know who that singer is on the left?\u201d Sunny Rosen asked while granting Casino.org <\/em>a tour, pointing to a 1956 album called Joyride<\/em> that hangs near the front of the store. \u201cIt\u2019s Frankie Valli in his pre-Four Seasons band, the Four Lovers,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Hospitality<\/b><\/h2>\n

Rich and Sunny are octogenarians who met in temple back home in Brooklyn in 1971. When you walk into their store, they\u2019re as likely to be yelling at one another as they are to greet you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t yell because I\u2019m always right,\u201d Sunny said. \u00a0\u201cBelieve me, you don\u2019t know the half of it!\u201d (Rich hears this and waves his hand in mock disgust.)<\/p>\n

Record chains such as Tower Records and Sam Goody \u2013 where Rich once worked, learning the trade \u2013 began putting the mom & pops permanently out of business in the 1980s. Three decades later, the chains were slowly killed off by Amazon and iTunes.<\/p>\n

Wax Trax avoided the cut-out bin by specializing in collectible vinyl. Not that there weren\u2019t rough patches. For the first five years after relocating from Pennsylvania in 1998, Wax Trax grossed only a few hundred dollars in a good week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSunny said to me a few times, \u2018Maybe we should shut the store and just do mail order,’\u201d<\/strong> Rich recalled. \u201cThat\u2019s how bad it was.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then the collectors started finding the store via ads Rich placed in the local newspaper and national magazines. \u201cNow, vinyl\u2019s a thing again,\u201d Rich said. \u201cThere are so many companies that are making it once again, it\u2019ll never go back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, John emailed Rich that he has no time to drop by before his gig at Allegiant Stadium on November 1, part of his \u201cFinal Tour\u201d campaign. But he sent Rich a two-word email: \u201cTempt Me.\u201d Rich made a list of 20 rare blues records he recently obtained. They weren’t enough to elicit a visit, but John bought half. Since ending his Caesars Palace residency in 2018, most of John\u2019s orders have been by mail order. He signs his emails \u201cExxx.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Sunny and Rich don\u2019t get to see their favorite customer as much anymore, they continue to hear from him, and they have no doubt that they will for some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cA collector is a collector is a collector,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Elton John memorabilia at one Las Vegas record store, at times, includes the artist himself. Vinyl collectors make the pilgrimage to Wax Trax Records from around the world whenever they\u2019re in Las Vegas. Usually, they\u2019re in search of a rare favorite record from their childhood while in town on business or vacation. Once or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":240230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3313,81886],"tags":[83495,23,83497,83496,83498,83499],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Elton John Can't Get Enough of this Las Vegas Record Store - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Elton John memorabilia at one Las Vegas record store, at times, includes the artist himself. 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