PEOPLE GO TO FIVE POINTS IN DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM FOR ITS FOOD, MUSIC AND ECLECTIC SHOPPING.

CHARLEMAGNE RECORDS IS ONE OF THESE ECLECTIC SHOPS, AND THIS YEAR MARKS THE FORTIETH YEAR SINCE THE USED RECORD STORE OPENED ITS DOORS.

STORE OWNER MARIAN MCKAY SAYS SHE WAS INSPIRED BY A EUROPEAN BOUTIQUE WHILE ON VACATION THERE. SHE THEN CAME HOME AND OPENED CHARLEMAGNE RECORDS.

[SOT- “WE STARTED OUR STORE WITH FIVE PEACH CRATES FULL OF ALBUMS AND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. AND THAT WAS IN 1977. AND HERE, FORTY YEARS LATER, WE’RE STILL DOING THE SAME THING. PEOPLE BRING US ALBUMS EVERY DAY, PEOPLE ARE MOVING, THEY AREN’T USING THAT FORMAT OF MUSIC, PEOPLE INHERIT THEIR RECORDS OR THEY GO TO ESTATE SALES AND GET THEM. THAT’S WHERE WE GET OUR RECORDS FROM.”]

ALTHOUGH THIS SECOND LEVEL STORE IS ITS CURRENT LOCATION, CHARLEMAGNE DIDN’T BEGIN HERE.

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 [SOT- “WE STARTED OVER AT THE GARAGE CAFÉ. IT WAS LIKE A PARISIAN, NEW ORLEANS TYPE COURTYARD.”]

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, BIG NAMES IN MUSIC HAVEN’T JUST BEEN ON THE SHELVES.

[SOT- “WE’VE HAD A LOT OF CELEBRITIES COME THROUGH HERE. WE’VE HAD GENE SIMMONS WITH KISS, CARLOS SANTANA, STEVIE RAY VAUGHN, LAWRENCE E VAUGHN, ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES. I HAVE A WHOLE LIST OF THEM BUT I NEVER REALLY TOOK PICTURES OF THEM.”]

BECAUSE OF ITS CLOSE PROXIMITY TO CAMPUS, THE STORE ALSO BRINGS COLLEGE-AGED PEOPLE.

[SOT- “I’VE BEEN HERE A COUPLE OF TIMES, I’VE BEEN COMING FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW. YOU DON’T JUST COME HERE, YOU COME TO THIS WHOLE LITTLE STREET. SO, IT’S FUN.”]

DESPITE ALL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH MUSIC, PEOPLE WITH A PASSION FOR MUSIC HAVE KEPT CHARLEMAGNE’S DOORS OPEN ALL THESE YEARS.