Bangor, Pennsylvania
Not Just Records
1 Broadway, Bangor, PA 18013
Record shopping in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania built modern soul at Philadelphia International Records, where Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff cut the O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the Spinners, and the Stylistics through the 1970s while MFSB turned out 'TSOP' as Soul Train's theme. Philly's Schoolly D dropped 'P.S.K. What Does It Mean?' in 1985, widely credited as the first gangsta rap record, and Questlove and Black Thought formed the Roots in 1987. Pittsburgh added Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa to the hip-hop map, and modern Philly emo runs from Alex G to Mannequin Pussy. Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill holds 500,000-plus albums after 37 years, Dorsey's in Homewood has operated as a Black-owned business since 1946, Long In The Tooth holds Center City Sansom Street, Philadelphia Record Exchange runs deep on punk and indie, and Repo Records moved to 506 South Street in 2017. George's Song Shop in Johnstown claims America's oldest record store, Val Shively's R & B Records in Upper Darby runs as the 45s legend, and the Exchange's six Pittsburgh-area locations cover the western half. Take 76 east through Harrisburg into Philly, ride 81 down the valley, and see what the Keystone State has been keeping in the bins.
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BEYOND PENNSYLVANIA: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE KEYSTONE STATE
As the last track wraps up in the Keystone State, every shop you flipped through today is just one stop on the bigger I-95 and I-80 corridors. The Delaware River runs east, the Ohio River cuts west out of Pittsburgh, and Pennsylvania's six bordering states put the entire Mid-Atlantic record-shop network within a single weekend reach.
New York Record Stores: Head north into New York, where Manhattan's Generation Records and A1 Records anchor the East Village dig, Brooklyn's Academy and Captured Tracks Shop fuel the borough's indie pulse, and Upstate college towns from Ithaca to Hudson hold the back issues no one else carries.
New Jersey Record Stores: Cross east into New Jersey, where Princeton Record Exchange stays the Northeast's heaviest-traffic used-record stop, Hoboken and Jersey City carry the legacy of Maxwell's-era indie rock, and the Asbury Park boardwalk stores keep the Springsteen pilgrim trade alive year-round.
Delaware Record Stores: Drop southeast into Delaware, where Wonderland Records has been open in Newark since 1972, Rainbow Records and International Groove anchor the same Main Street block for the University of Delaware crowd, and Wilmington's Jupiter and SqueezeBox split soul, indie, and vintage hi-fi across the city.
Maryland Record Stores: Roll south into Maryland, where Baltimore's Sound Garden, Normal's, and the Hampden cluster anchor a deep Mid-Atlantic scene, Silver Spring's Joe's Record Paradise has been a DMV institution since 1974, and Hub City Vinyl runs Hagerstown's largest store with a live-music room attached.
West Virginia Record Stores: Venture southwest into West Virginia, where Morgantown's college shops stock indie and folk, Charleston's downtown stores carry country, bluegrass, and Appalachian gospel, and the New River Gorge towns keep old-time and front-porch music close to the surface.
Ohio Record Stores: Travel west into Ohio, where Akron's Time Traveler Records and Square Records anchor the Devo / Pretenders / Black Keys hometown, Cleveland's My Mind's Eye holds the Rock Hall side of the state, Cincinnati's Shake It Records runs the Northside, and Columbus's Used Kids hits 40 years in 2026.
South Carolina Record Stores: Swing south to South Carolina, where Charleston's downtown shops carry beach music and lowcountry soul, Columbia's college crates hide punk and indie pressings on the cheap, and Myrtle Beach's boardwalk stores reward the long drive south for Pennsylvania families heading to the Grand Strand.
At Record Store Directory, every state line is an invitation to keep exploring. Share your finds, connect with fellow collectors, and chase down that next unforgettable album, because the perfect record is always closer than you think.
Happy hunting, and we'll see you in the next stack!
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