In my last post I talked a lot about working in the Dance Room at Record Time in Roseville, Michigan. My relationship with Record Time goes back much further than that and it’s role in what would become my primary interest for over a decade is pretty huge. I was able to be a part of some cool things at the store both as a customer and as an employee, so I wanted to share some of them and even give a glimpse of some of the cool things that happened well before I even knew about the store (I would have been about 6 years old).





While Mike (the store’s owner) had a passion for Techno that he definitely prioritized, he made it a point to support ALL local music and it would just so happen that a few of those artists he supported in the past would turn out to become massively successful.





In 1990, Detroit rapper Kid Rock released the album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast on Jive, a Major Label. The album sounds absolutely nothing like the Kid Rock that became famous about a decade later, but it was mildly successful and where else would Kid Rock do his first instore autograph signing but Record Time?



Seeing these photos from 1990 shows the older location as well as store owner Mike Himes rocking a Magnum PI-level mustache that I’m sure got him all the chicks back then. At this instore signing, a Detroit rapper who would go on to become legendary in the region named Esham appeared with Kid Rock. Esham is one of my favorite rappers of all time and he was only 16 and already immensely popular at the time these photos were taken. Esham would go on to have an amazing run in the first half of the decade, releasing classic album after classic album while also doing dates with Dr. Dre on The Chronic Tour. Unfortunately his style changed toward the latter part of the decade and I was never as big of a fan of his stylistic change.





My favorite thing about these photos is seeing Harry Bunner, someone who was the other “rap guy” that worked in the Dance Room with myself. In the caption I mention how much Harry knew about music and in addition to that, he was one of the coolest and nicest people I had the fortune of working with. Harry is thanked in the liner notes on Kid Rock’s Devil Without A Cause and Eminem’s Slim Shady LP.



Harry even appeared in a few of those low budget documentaries that were made about Eminem. These documentaries are notorious as they cannot use licensed music and often get many facts wrong. Here’s an interview of Harry talking about Eminem trying to battle Kid Rock during an autograph signing. This video also features some awesome footage of Record Time that was shot when I worked there as well as a bit from DJ Rec, the real life “Cheddar Bob” from 8 Mile.



Harry Bunner is someone who has flown completely under the radar, but was one of the important individuals in Detroit Hip-Hop in the 1990s. Artists like J Dilla, Slum Village, Twiztid and many more had developed relationships with Harry over the years and he made it a point to recommend and hype up Detroit rap that he was into. My favorite thing about Harry was his lifelong hatred of Radiohead, which matched my hatred of Journey and Motley Crue.

The store had many other instore appearances from ODB who charged everyone $2 and urinated on the building to having “midget wrestling” inside the store. One instore appearance stands out from the pack as it occurred at a special time and it was one I was fortunate enough to attend.

In February of 1999, Eminem’s Slim Shady LP was released and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Album Chart. Shortly after this, Eminem would do an instore autograph signing at Record Time that drew what I estimated at the time to be over 1200 people (since then, Mike stated his estimate was closer to 500). At the time I was 14 years old and had spent the previous year getting into Detroit rap like ICP, House Of Krazees, Kid Rock and of course Eminem, so getting to meet him was a big deal at the time.



I was able to get a pretty awesome quote from Mike about the instore signing that I wanted to share here:

“I remember we had approx 500 people, Interscope hired a security guard which I thought was weird, I never looked at Em as a superstar at that point just an average guy who was starting to do well. All the entourage was there, Hush sat behind him, I think Proof also. His attorney and manager were there. It went so fast I didn’t really document it too well, never really knew the importance of the signing until later. He had just bought a new car, a used Ford Explorer and was very proud of it, if I recall he dented it in the parking lot and was pissed. Wish I remembered more, he signed a CD for me and a few flats for my kids. Always had a good relationship with him and always treated him the same even when he blew up, I think he respected that. It was a great time and all involved were happy how it went. I think the first girl in line had her breast signed, at least that was what I was told, there was a loud cheer coming from the signing table, can’t remember much more.” Record Time Owner, Mike Himes

Years later, while working with Harry, he told me a fascinating story that I would love to share here. When the picture seen below was taken, Proof and Eminem had a long chat with Harry and Proof made it a point to say something similar to (I’m paraphrasing) “Without you Harry, Eminem wouldn’t be where he is today, we both realize that and we want you to know that”. When Harry told me this, he seemed very touched that they went out of their way to say that and was super appreciative as not many artists would go out of their way to do something like that.





The 1999 signing wasn’t the last time Eminem would do something with Record Time. I remember him coming into the store to shop one time while I was working. He had someone call ahead to let us know he was coming in as he wanted to be left alone as much as he possibly could. When he came in the store with an assistant, he went through the rap section and basically handed anything he wanted to her so that it could be put in piles up by the register. Eminem almost exclusively stayed in the rap section and just wore regular clothes and a hat, not one single person recognized him or bothered him. He spent over $1000 in music and made it a point to be very thankful and polite (he was always like this, including when I worked for his record label Web Entertainment).

As big as the 1999 event was, it was nothing compared to the next time we collaborated with Eminem in 2009. On an episode of Family Guy that aired on Sunday, May 17th, 2009, an announcement was made that Eminem would be doing a “Secret Show” at the Motor City Casino’s Soundboard venue on Tuesday, May 19th which was the day his album Relapse was released. Tickets were free, but they were only distributed at Record Time the day before the show at 5PM. Needless to say people started lining up for a chance to get a ticket shortly after the announcement was made, and by morning the line was ridiculously long.

The ticket distribution and show both made national press and it was probably the most exposure Record Time had ever received. Oddly enough, this still wasn’t my fondest and most vivid memory of Record Time, that one goes to one of the most unique concerts I have ever seen…

July 2000 was a time when nu-metal was at it’s peak and Limp Bizkit happened to be doing their “guerrilla tour” in which they played smaller venues and gave away free tickets. Their Detroit date happened to occur the same weekend as the also nu-metal-riffic Ozzfest was happening. The Ozzfest lineup had one massive oddity though and that was Queens of the Stone Age. They were a band I was starting to get into and I thought Rated R was an extremely fun album. Almost all of my friends hated them because they didn’t say “jump jump jump” and have moronic lyrics, my ears at the time thought they were very different and interesting which is always a plus. I didn’t attend Ozzfest that year but I heard they received a lukewarm response from the crowd who wanted to see Jncos and spikey dyed hair…. that doesn’t mean I didn’t get a chance to see them however.

Somehow, Record Time was able to cut through the ridiculously stupid red tape that the city of Roseville, Michigan had to get Queens Of The Stone Age to play a free full concert in their rear parking lot! On July 11th, myself and Alan, one of my oldest friends, went to see Queens of the Stone Age at Record Time and it was fantastic and very memorable. There was a grill cooking up free hot dogs for people who came, drinks (of the non-alcoholic sort) were given away for free as well and there were tons of giveaways throughout the day.

The band played a full set of tracks from Rated R and their self-titled debut album, which meant the set was made up of the best material the band ever recorded.

Right before the band played Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret, Josh Homme noticed the giant Costco store that was next to Record Time and made it a point to say:

“This one’s for Costco”

For some reason that line is so vividly ingrained in my memory that to this day I can’t think about QOTSA without then thinking of Costco.

After the set, I got to meet the band and get things signed. Both Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri were very cool and I’m fairly certain that my girlfriend is extremely jealous that I was able to meet Josh as he is one of her biggest celebrity crushes. It was also the first time I was able to get a setlist from the band, which I then got signed and scanned it in to share with the largest QOTSA fanzine at the time (I believe it was The Fade). That setlist is somewhere in Detroit at my mom’s house, I wish I had it here to share with everyone but that is impossible.

Something happened in 2011 that shocked me, a video of their performance of Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret (along with the immortal Costco dedication) showed up on YouTube! To this day it only has 107 hits and I’m fairly certain that I am responsible for at least half of them. This is a great video that I want to encourage everyone to check out, especially for those who are QOTSA fans or grew up in Metro-Detroit with Record Time being a major part of their life.



Some of the events I talked about in this post happened over 15 years ago, but they all were a huge part of what brought me to where I am now. In 2010 I stopped working at Record Time but maintained a great relationship with the owner and everyone that worked at the store. Although i didn’t work there, one more memorable moment happened that sort of brought everything full circle in my mind.

In 2011, Insane Clown Posse shot their first “Psypher” video at Record Time after the store had closed for the day. I had no idea that this filming was happening, but that very day I stopped by the store after I presented at a work event to see some friends and look around. As soon as I walked in I was shocked to see Violent J in full makeup browsing the rap section.

I am fully aware that many reading this loathe ICP but please understand that my fandom originated in an era where Juggalos didn’t exist, instead ICP were just a rap group that was absolutely huge locally and were known for having intense shows and very unique music. I’m a fan of theirs to this day and the community of old school ICP fans has created so many lifelong friendships with some of the coolest, smartest and most interesting people I’ve had the pleasure to know.

Walking in to my former employer’s establishment to see ICP there in full makeup was something that excited me quite a bit. I had no idea why they were there, but I knew that I didn’t want to bother them while they were shopping so I asked Mike if it would be okay to ask for a picture with Violent J. Mike not only said “sure” but he walked me over there to introduce me and take the picture himself. This resulted in a 30 minute conversation about pro wrestling and old school Detroit hip-hop that was fascinating and fun as hell. A lot of people think ICP are stupid, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth as Violent J is a very sharp guy who knows more about business than anyone gives him credit for.



It’s fitting that getting to chat with Violent J in Record Time was one of my final memories of a place that meant a lot to me for over 15 years. Here is the video they shot that night in the store:



In March of 2011, Record Time in Roseville shut it’s doors for good. Local press in the Metro Detroit area covered the closure rather extensively, as it has been over four years and many of the news reports are still active online. The mainstream press coverage had nothing on what blogs were writing about and the discussions on surprisingly high profile forums.

It’s now 2015 and I feel enough time has passed to make a post like this interesting and worthwhile to those who came in the store, bought new music and chatted with the employees and fellow shoppers. Mike has ensured the spirit of Record Time will live on as he consistently updates the store’s Facebook Page and there is also a Facebook Group for the Dance Room that has many influential Detroit artists joining in on the discussion. Stores like UHF and Found Sound are staffed with former Record Time employees and almost every time I make my way back up to Detroit and get to visit one, I run into a former customer that now shops there.

In 2011, WDIV, Detroit’s NBC affiliate did a piece on the closure during their evening news. As I was aware that many of these pieces were posted on the net, only to disappear in the ether after a short period of time, I made it a point to rip the video and put it on my YouTube Channel. I’m closing this with that video and a reminder that nothing is forever, but good memories will always be fun to talk about and share with others.