Back in the day (mid 80s), I was lucky enough to have the coolest job ever – a record store clerk. I started at the more “alternative” Co-Op Records (the company logo featured some ambiguous flora, albums filed in crates, dim lighting, head shop by the register), but then moved to “the big time”: uptown to the Music Den at the mall. Here we had real fixtures, sold skinny ties and pins with band logos and photos by the register, and had a big light-up purple star in the front window to showcase Chicago “17” and “Brothers in Arms.” We were happening.
And it was here, in the too-bright lighting with the scent of burnt KarmelKorn wafting across the hall, that, courtesy of my uber-cool boss, Kat, I was turned on to a new album called “The Best of Gil Scott-Heron.”
Iconic Rock Talk Show 