Rock and Roll has held an important place in history through the decades. Its major impact can be seen through expressive artists shaping society every day in the past.
Rock and Roll pioneers created a certain magic through their music. Individuals such as Elvis Presley and band members from the Beatles showed how Rock and Roll music could change the world. These members brought a new creative sound to the table that would shape the music world for years to come.
The Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix encouraged their audiences to get wild and loose as they strummed their guitars.
In the 90s, artists such as Kurt Cobain allowed humans to understand that it was okay to not have everything in life completely together. Cobain would bring out the normalcy of youth’s frustration through his music.
These ideas and notions have been expressed by extremely talented individuals and cherished by music lovers from around the world. A store in St. Louis, Missouri has kept these strong and powerful ideas alive.
Music has always held a special place in Jean Haffner’s heart which he shares through his unbelievable masterpiece called The Record Exchange. The store is located at 5320 Hampton Ave in Saint Louis, Missouri which holds millions of records from any genre and time period. It would be impossible to count the amount of records Haffner holds in his store but anyone can buy a piece of history with any amount from $0.50 to $3500.
I sat down one afternoon with Haffner to learn his motives for starting The Record Exchange.
Haffner has carried a hunger for music throughout his life. Both Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley greatly influenced his love for music. In fact, growing up, Jean Haffner lived only 7 miles away from Buddy Holly in the giant state of Texas. He had joined a band that would end up back tracking four of Buddy Holly’s albums. Sadly, Haffner had quit the band by this point but his love for music never died.
As Haffner approached his twenties his father pressured him to go to college so he could experience a better life than he once had. Haffner agreed to his father’s wishes and went on to earn a college degree. He would then go on to join the Navy and get a successful job, yet Haffner still felt like something was missing.
Jean Haffner decided to open his first record store in 1976 just a year before the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley passed away. The central location of St. Louis in the United States made the city a perfect destination to start Haffner's business because of proximity to other large cities in the country. Haffner’s first store would be located in the Delmar Loop. Haffner later decided to make a business move to his current location off of Hampton for more space.
After 40 years of hard work, Jean Haffner has created a store that offers an eye opening experience for any music lover that continues to grow and develop every day. With Haffner’s overwhelming amount of music he explains that he would like to someday open a store three times as big as the warehouse he currently owns.
The Record Exchange stands out amongst other record stores as it is completely built off of a pure passion and love for music. Haffner did not open his store to make money or profit. Haffner simply started The Record Exchange to share his love for music with others around him. He hopes that his store will continue this legacy through the years.
Technology and immediate access has completely changed the music industry from what it once was. The notion of instant gratification and high quality sound will not disappear anytime soon.
Thanks to individuals like Jean Haffner, music lovers are able to value the history of music proving that Rock and Roll is still alive. The Record Exchange allows a cove for all music lovers to explore, browse and relive history through a little thing we love to call vinyl.
For more information visit, http://recordexchangestl.com/
Pictures taken by Drew Rogers
