Trio Of Chicago Record Stores Named Among Rolling Stone's Best

By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 15, 2010 9:40PM

When it comes to having awesome outlets for good music on wax and CD, by Rolling Stone’s estimation, Chicago is doing pretty well. The magazine’s recent list of “The Best Record Stores in the USA: The top 25 spots for unique vinyl and CDs, from San Francisco to Boston” shows Chicago’s record stores snagging three spots on the list. Wicker Park’s Dusty Groove came in at #3, Laurie's Planet of Sound in Lincoln Square landed the #11 spot and Lincoln Park-based Dave’s Records made the cut at #24.

Rolling Stone’s list doesn’t reveal on what criteria they based their rankings, though we were surprised to see some of Chicago’s other excellent stores snubbed, like Permanent Records and the Reckless Records indie franchise. Regardless of who Rolling Stone "lists,” it’s always nice to get props for city’s record shops—especially when the aforementioned “best” shops, along with others like Bridgeport’s Record Breakers and South Shore’s Music Experience remain active in the city’s music scene by participating in Record Store Day or hosting in-store performances by local and national artists.

Of course, we don’t need a list to tell us that Chicago has some of the top places to dig through crates, pick up a new release or score that out-of-print Smith’s B-side, but The Reader’s Miles Raymer hits it on the head nicely by telling Rolling Stone of Laurie’s Planet of Sound, “The fact that they sell dead-stock Pee-Wee Herman fun packs makes me love them.” +1, Miles.