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jamesmgraham (May 22, 2008 at 3:20 am)
He played a large part of my formative life.I spent many hours with the man and I bought tons of great shit from him.RIP
Knugabug (April 9, 2008 at 5:35 am)
How come all the great record people are dead, broke, or out of it?
manovinyl (February 18, 2008 at 4:16 pm)
Wow, this is a treat! John was such a character. I was set up at this show. In the shot where he blows his nose, I'm in the background. Thanks, Fred, for hipping me to this.
wavebossanova (November 22, 2007 at 6:06 am)
Cool! Really makes me miss "Old Raleigh." I didnt know his name, but I vividly remember being educated by him!
45sGuy (September 30, 2007 at 7:31 pm)
This is the REAL John Swain! He was always like this!
45sGuy (September 30, 2007 at 7:28 pm)
I used to work occasionally at The Record Hole. In fact, I was there when the store first opened. I used to help John by sorting 45's in his first location's basement.John knew EVERYTHING about records and could find almost anything you were looking for.When Marty and his then-wife, Debbie had the memorial party at The Brewery after John died, I supplied the photos of John I took of him over the years I worked at Record Hole.JOHN----you are missed and so is Record Hole.
tonyvideo2000 (September 14, 2007 at 11:45 pm)
Post your favorite John Swain stories. I wrote for The Spectator then. A LOT of "album-rock" LPs ended up for "recycling" at The Hole. John would pick through them, offer me cash, or trade or cash+trade. Then he'd say "how about 5 bucks for the rest of the box?" And out the door I went, free of promos I didn't want!I'll remember the stripper from the Keg who asked John if had ever heard of a song called "Wild Thing."Or "Nah, don't have it. Sold it yesterday. Come back tomorrow."
stillser (September 14, 2007 at 9:52 pm)
John Swain. What a guy. He taught me so much about record collecting. I remember the old store on Sat afternoon in the winter. No heat. Lot of cough syrup! I used to love to hear him BS stupid customers. I really miss him. Peace. john
pollution (September 14, 2007 at 4:40 pm)
I'm so happy to see this. I remember going to the Record Hole when it was where Gumby's Pizza is now and then when he moved it across the street. I could easily listen to him all day rippin' people new assholes or turning people onto great music. Many a paycheck after cashing went right into his pocket, I spent most of it on his records. I can still see him sucking down cough syrup and booze and having a high ol' time behind the counter. He is sadly missed.
astroboy1960 (September 4, 2007 at 12:34 pm)
I met John selling records at the Greensboro Super Flea, just around the time that the Hillsborough shows started. I probably still own a couple of records I bought from him then. What a character, national poster boy for record hounds. Thanks for sharing this! |
