Like the semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal from whom its name was derived, Hadley’s Platterpus Records is a truly an evolutionary wonder. While its fellow endangered species—i.e., brick and mortar record shops—have systematically dropped off the local landscape year in and year out, Platterpus and its owner, Dave Witthaus, managed not only to press on—but somehow to remain all things to all people.
It was a place where audiophiles could still unearth the rarest of rares right alongside John Q. Public, popping in on lunch breaks to quickly snap up the newest single he or she heard on the way into work that morning.
In fact, it was during the Crawler’s last conversation with Witthaus that we reminisced on the glory of Tuesday mornings at the local record store, when people would line up to purchase the latest from Van Halen or Guns ‘N’ Roses and the workers couldn’t seem to knife open the boxes of precious cargo fast enough for the eager masses.
Witthaus recalled that it was perhaps when Limp Bizkit released Chocolate Starfish & The Hot Dog Flavored Water in 2000 that he last noticed the Tuesday phenomena. These days, it’s a particular Wednesday of note that preoccupies him: Wednesday, March 31, to be precise.
For when Witthaus closes the doors of his Hampshire Mall establishment that evening, they will be closed forever.
“It’s sad to walk away from something I’ve done so long,” he said, speaking of his decision to cease operations after some 28 years. “I have to admit that I like being ‘the guy from the record store,’ but it’s time to be more than that.”
Witthaus went on to say that while it would certainly be doable to continue (“The people at the mall have been great and done everything possible to keep me around,” he explains), the prospect of working 60 hours or more a week “just doesn’t have the appeal that it used to.”
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Ironically, more or less simultaneously with Witthaus’ record store closing announcement, CD release parties for area bands seem to be sprouting up in the Valley this weekend like fresh mushrooms after a spring rainstorm.
On Friday, March 26, singer/songwriter/electric-violinist/poet Bitch unveils—and celebrates— her second full length, titled Blasted!, with a 10 p.m. Iron Horse (iheg.com) engagement. The latest labor of love by the artist who will join the Indigo Girls later in the tour was reportedly fueled by a falling out with a loved one.
That same evening up in Brattleboro, the artist alternately known as Sethums/Older Than Hours (sethums.com) plans to pump The Loft with material from his current sonic calling card, When Your Heart Flexes Like A Bicep.
“I consider this batch of songs to be the ‘earnest material,'” he says of the tracks selected from a field of 40 he had amassed over the last half-decade. “For this release, I searched for songs that could be aimed towards film and TV licensing…so they tend to be more serious, lush, brooding and atmospheric. The more sardonic and wacky should surface this summer.”
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Last up, on Saturday, March 27, Adam Ezra Group (adamezra.com) releases its studio debut, View From The Root, at Noho’s Iron Horse. During a similar event earlier this year in its hometown of Boston, the group was joined by none other than legendary Beantown bassist Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith infamy for a rousing version of “All Along The Watchtower.” In light of current events, the band also decided to convert their CD release party into a Haiti relief benefit, raising some $5,000 for the cause in the process.
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