Accelerated Decrepitude: The Arbutus Record Show

Arbutus Volunteer Fire Hall
5200 Southwestern Boulevard, Arbutus MD 21277
Every 3rd Sunday of the Month, 9 am-3 pm

All music lovers become record lovers and many record lovers become collectors. Records approximate Malraux’s museum without walls, offering an inexpensive way to pursue not only masterworks and favorites, but also oddities that fill the side galleries where dilettantes rarely venture. - Gary Giddons, Weather Bird (2004)

(Sunday, February 16, 2025) - Another Sunday, another trip to the ATM, another Arbutus Record & CD Show haul of new and used CDs, vinyl, DVDs, videos, and assorted odds and ends. My wife Amy and I have only been going to the Arbutus Record Show for the last couple of years, but we love the people - both attendees and vendors - we have come to know there.

The 2025 schedule

Today was the 2nd show of the year and the rain and the fact that there were no more football games to watch meant that the Presidents Day weekend edition of the Arbutus Record Show was absolutely teeming with collectors and vendors. All of our favorite regulars (Scott D'Ambrossio, Snackie Hillman, Joe Vaccarino, Charlie Stinchcomb - only Zay Sewell was MIA) and vendors (Bill Martin, Ed from Kensington, James Dean, The God Guy, Dollar Bin Guy) were there, with the exception of Dave "Microdotman" Hoffer and Kelly Groff. Sometimes we even see Trax On Wax hosting a table, but not the last few shows.

Our gracious hosts, Frank & Janet Ruehl

The Arbutus Record Show: It Ruehls!

Thanks go out once again to hosts Frank and Janet Ruehl, who have been organizing these shows at the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Hall for well over three decades now! (If you are interested in being a vendor or to reserve a table, please call Frank and Janet Ruehl at 410.242.4649 or email: arbutusrecshow@gmail.com for more information.)

And while the show is still dominated by what my friend (and sometime vendor there) Scott Wallace Brown jokingly refers to as "smelly old white guys," in recent years there has been an uptick in young hipsters and the occasional female sighting (where were you today, Cody Brownson-Katz?)

"Where all my sisters at?" muses Amy Warner

"What do you mean about the dearth of women here? Chicks obviously dig my table!" says vendor Scott Wallace Brown

Though all are welcome, Arbutus show is mostly for serious record crate-diggers. If you're looking for a hip venue to chat up single women, while quaffing a beer and grabbing grub from a food truck, try the Baltimore Record Bazaar's bi-monthly pop-ups at the Peabody Heights Brewery in Waverly.

Amy and I are still learning about the various vendors there, whose bins we are familiar with, if not all their full names.

There's "Neil" the Philadelphia Eagles fan in the far left corner from the entrance, who always has a good selection of 80's Pop, Punk, Post-punk, and New Wave vinyl. If you ever listened to WHFS and Weasel, this guy's collection is a virtual playlist of tunes from that time. (He even had some Tommy Keene LPs - always a good sign!).
Right across from Neil is "Joe," who has a little bit of everything, especially for bargain-priced old school video tapes and 8-tracks!
Then there's Mr. Category, a young guy on the far left wall near Dave Hoffer's table who labels his bins with helpful and clever genre signs (Spies, Electronic, Space-Age Bachelor, Psychedelic, Stag) that always please this librarian's love of classifications. I've been picking up his reasonably-priced ($2-$5) early Jazz and R&B anthologies released on New World Records, a well-curated, hard-to-find vinyl-only label.
Don't know much about The Doll Lady, except that she's usually one of the only one or two female vendors at the record show and spends her time combing the hair of various dolls. I see mostly Elvis and Bobby Sherman records and novelty 45s in her bins, but was pleasantly surprised to see the stereo demonstration record MAGOO IN HI-FI there today for a mere $2! (I wish I had paid that price!).
And, of course, there's The Dollar Bin Guy, who is always here, as well as at the bi-monthly Baltimore Record Bazaar. There's a lot of dross to sort through, but for those with the patience to flip through his bins, there's always at least one bargain score to be found (in my case, Dan Hicks' It Happened One Bite, Gruppo Sportivo's Mistakes, Best of the Cowsills with a cover by MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis!). And, needless to say, the price is right and well worth the gambit!

That said, following is a partial field spotter's guide to some more of the more familiar vendors and regulars we've seen over the years at the record show:

Janet Ruehl: Hostess with the Most-ess

Amy Warner and Janet Ruehl compliment each other on their stylish eyewear

Janet emcees every show, manning the mic to spotlight vendors and make announcements ("We have someone looking for Ricky Nelson records, so please pull whatever you have for..."). She says hello to everyone, personally thanks each vendor for being a part of the show, collects table fees and verifies attendance for upcoming shows, and even provides pizza (and sometimes birthday cakes) for the regular vendors. On occasion she even has musicians play live at the show. A positive soul and someone who clearly enjoys what she does.

Janet exemplifies the spirit of community involvement here. As Tim Kubura wrote in his Bruiser magazine blog about his 2024 Return to the Arbutus Record Show, "I find these pockets of the world harder and harder to find, places and events of enduring community. They keep keepin’ on, awaiting the next generation to catch this stain of the “gentle madness” and stop on by. They are often connected to Volunteer Fire Departments and Community Centers." Yes, a gathering of like-minded members of the music-loving tribe.

Bill Martin

Bill Martin: The Man in the Black Leather Hat

Bill Martin is a prog & rock lover's dream and his table is our first stop at every Arbutus Record Show, where Bill chats with customers while his grandson acts as cashier and tallies the accounts. There isn't a prog band Bill doesn't know, while his personal faves (among hundreds!) include Caravan, Strawbs, Iain Matthews and any band Dave Bainbridge (Iona, Lifesigns, Celestial Fire and, of course, Strawbs) is in. But to be fair, Bill carries just about every genre (folk, bluegrass, jazz, fusion, etc.) except Dixieland and Hip-Hop (which we both detest!). The Nottingham, MD, native's business is called Thought You Couldn't Find It, and if you can't find it - or can't make it to the record show - send your want list to him at billhatman@gmail.com. Billhatman (he always wears a distinctive black leather hat) is also his ID on Discogs.com.

Ed from Kensington

Ed will write you a 'script for good tunes!

Ed from Kensington we call him, because he has a long, Germanic name we can't remember. A retired pharmacist, Ed has a fantastic collection of the Killer B's (Beatles, Byrds, Bee Gees) on both vinyl and CD. His Beatles, Byrds and Stones boots are extensive and impressive! He's usually playing music from the Byrds Family Tree (McGuinn, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, et al) throughout the day. I keep eyeing his Bee Gees Odessa (original red felt cover!) and To Whom It May Concern stand-up gatefold albums...hmmm, perhaps someday!

Stones' SOME GIRLS outtakes bootleg, CLAUDINE, on "Dead Spider Records" (get it?)

Bee Gees' TO WHOM IT MY CONCERN gatefold LP

James Dean of The James Gang

Long-haired James & Short-haired James Dean

Short-haired James Dean on right (yes that's his real name, but he's A Rebel WITH a Cause - vinyl!) mans a table with his good buddy, Long-haired James. Nobody's records are in better condition (usually in slip cases) or at a better price than Dean's - and he has the best, most instantaneously recognizable laugh in the world! It is the sound of pure, unadulterated joy! Each month, James Dean makes the trek north from his home in Hamilton, Loudoun County VA (where my Warner family has Leesburg roots, by the way) and though he doesn't have a business card, he'll write his address down and invite you down to his homestead to look through his collection anytime you're in the neighborhood.

Most of these LPs are from JD's $1 Big Band/Jazz Sale

What I love about James Dean is, besides his pleasant demeanor, he always varies his wares. And they are priced to move! One month it's all Big Band and Jazz records for $1, the next month it's all Comedy LPs for $1. His comedy collection is amazingly extensive - where else are you going to find rare records by Moms Mabley, Martin Mull, Tom Lehrer, Jonathan Winters, Duck's Breath Theater, and virtually every Firesign Theatre album? (I actually bought a 2nd copy of FT's The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumutra because JD's copy had its original Korvettes price tag on it! Nostalgia!). I think that distinctive laugh of his was cultivated by years of listening to these comedy records!

Jonathan Winters LP with MAD MAD MAD MAD cover art by MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis

Jack the God Guy

Thank you Jack! Jack gets feted on his birthday by Janet Ruehl

The vendor known as Jack (who we call the God Guy) has pious aphorisms adorning his bins, which cover most genres but are especial strong in Jazz and Big Band. He's a very nice, soft-spoken man and good on him for looking out for our souls while we commit the sin of coveting each other's record collections! But his low-budget sticker prices tempt customers to break the 8th Commandment - for at these prices ($2 or $3 bucks a platter) Thou Shalt Steal from this vendor!

Jack is an OG vendor at the record show, a nonagenarian who dates back decades. He originally had nine tables, but is currently down to just three - and here's the most impressive thing about this 90-something music lover: he still unloads and packs up his wares without any assistance. He's such a beloved regular that the Ruehl's even made him a birthday cake last year! (See video here.)

Dave Hoffer

Dave Hoffer has many stocking stuffers for Brave New Weirdos!

Parkville native Dave "Microdotman" Hoffer's business card says he specializes in the "bizarre and stupid," and that's an apt a description of the items on offer at his table, everything from obscure electronic records and old pulp magazines to VHS copies of C.H.U.D. (Cannabalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) and instructional embalming videos.

"Please do not eat this card, it will only make you sick."

In other words, a little bit of everything cool and unusual. It's all the counterculture memorabilia (posters, pins, CDs, records, sheet music, etc) you simply can't live without! Devo, Eno, Zappa, Punk, OHO, Van der Graaf Generator, Hawkwind...the list goes on. And, safe to say, nobody has a more extensive collection of goodies by San Francisco's underground music mysterians The Residents.

We just had to buy Ultravox!'s 2nd LP from Dave because - Ha! Ha! Ha! - it was previously owned by the late great David Wilcox (aka Steptoe T. Magnificent), Dave Hoffer's former bandmate in Baltimore's legendary cult punk band Pooba. Even has his old address label on it - proof of provenance!

Kelly Groff

Kelly Groff carries on her husband's music collecting legacy

Kelly Groff is the widow of DJ/entrepreneur Skip Groff, who passed away from a heart attack in 2019, and whose Yesterday & Today Records in Rockville, MD was the go-to destination for Washington, DC's punk and alternative music lovers from 1977 until the store's closing in 2002. (Before that, Skip ran the Kensington, MD record shop Hit and Run with partner Al Ercolani.) Besides his store, Skip also founded a record label, Limp Records, that produced most of DC's leading punk/indie bands (The Slickee Boys, The Razz, Tommy Keene, Velvet Monkeys, The Nurses, Black Market Baby, Minor Threat).

Y&T had roughly a million 7-inch 45s, thousands of new and used LPs, CDs and cassettes, music magazines, and other memorabilia and now Kelly helps dispense the Y&T collection (including the aforementioned Limp Records artists) online at Yesterday & Today Records, Discogs, and at record shows like Arbutus and the Baltimore Record Bazaar. As she writes on her Y&T web site, "In February 2019, Skip passed, but the records remain. I have decided to continue selling on Discogs and to travel to shows. There are currently over 8000 listings and plenty more records and cds in various genres that will be listed in the future."

Her Punk/New Wave 45s are Kelly's particular collection strength. Luckily, when I lost my 1978 Ebeneezer and the Bludgeons Peer Pressure EP, Kelly Groff came to the rescue with a reissued copy. (Full disclosure: I have since lost this replacement copy! Is the third-time purchase the charm?)

And who else would have a yellow flexi-disc of "Diamond Head" by The Plastics, the Japanese New Wavers who sang "Top Secret Man" on SCTV? One of my wife Amy's all--time favorite scores was finding a Japanese ska collection, Land of the Rising Ska, for $2, sealed! The same day she bought a rare Bill Nelson Orchestra Arcana CD, Optimism, from Kelly.

Nippon Ska Dansu!

More hard-to-find 7-inchers purchased from Kelly Groff

These are just a few of the many vendors on hand at any given show. Hopefully we'll get to know even more on our next trek to Arbutus. Most of these people are really nice and engaging, but punters beware: there is always at least one pushy guy (and it's always a dude) at any record show anywhere who has really crappy merchandise (e.g. scratchy, warped or moldy records; "smooth jazz"; Kenny G and Michael Bolton product) but who plies you with the hard-sell. "Hey don't miss out on this, you gotta buy my records, this is the best stuff, look at this!" I always try to avoid eye contact with these vendors who are either on the spectrum or never learned social skills, but if polite disengagement fails, there's always, "I really have to go to the bathroom right now, but I'll be back!"

And if you know us at all, we will indeed be back!

Some Regular Attendees

Joe Vaccarino and I may be the only two humans who covet the MAGOO IN HI-FI album. The few. The Proud!

Look what the cat dragged in from the rain: BALTIMORE SOUNDS author/archivist Joe Vaccarino and the Mayor of Annapolis Radio, Charlie Stinchcomb (host of WKHS 90.5 FM's Tuesday Night Twofer broadcast "Voices from the Hallway" doo-wop 6-8 pm & the psychedelic/garage "Psyched Out" 8-10 pm) compare their vinyl scores