This is a diary of sorts chronicling August, 1984 through to December 1985 or somewhere thereabouts. Check back every day or so for new entries.
August 15, 1984. The newspaper has an ad for a new record store, Cat's, which has soft opened with their grand opening at the end of August. I didn't know it yet, but my life would never be the same. It became the place in Murfreesboro to buy records and tapes. Their huge import section was awesome filled with obscure albums. I ended up becoming friends with many of the staff over the years and while I never got a job there, I did end up eventually working in a record store. I still remember the first album I bought at the Murfreesboro Cat's. It was the The Kinks Word of Mouth on tape for my 18th birthday in November of 1984. I would go on to probably spend thousands of dollars there buying pretty much anything that came out on the SST Records label. The late, great Jim Ridley insisted I needed Let It Be by The Replacements and he was right. The Velvet Underground albums were all being reissued at the time and I picked all of them up in 1985. The Murfreesboro location became the place where I would meet my friends on Friday afternoon while we decided what we were going to do that night. Once it became Turtles though, the vibe became so corporate and cookie cutter it would make you sick. Here's to the best record store chain Middle Tennessee ever had. I will never forget browsing through the shelves.
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