If FZ is able to shop at Ontario Music in hebben....
Hoodoo
David Allen, Staff Writer
07/15/2010 05:27:09 PM PDT
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15524015
IN ONTARIO, the fabled "day the music died" may turn out to be July 31.
That's the date when Ontario Music, the instrument store founded in
1960, is due to close.
Sigh.
"It's the plight of a business owner in today's economy," owner Todd
Trent told me Wednesday. "We had slower traffic because of downtown's
decline, not enough money because of the economy. Just dried us up."
Founded by James and Wilma Jones, who owned the store for 44 of its 50
years, Ontario Music was a local mainstay.
Generations of students bought or rented band instruments. Budding
guitarists took lessons. Amateurs and professionals alike bought
drumsticks and amplifiers.
A young Frank Zappa is said to have hung out there circa 1963 when he
was living at 314 W. G St., a block from the 215 W. G St. store.
The store's impending demise is a bum note for many reasons, one of
which is that 2010 is the store's 50th anniversary. Instead of striking
up the band, they'll be striking the banners.
John Harrelson, an Ontario-based singer-songwriter who began playing
guitar in the 1960s, said the store was long a meeting place for local
musicians.
"You didn't just walk in and buy a harmonica and walk out. It was like a
bar. You hung out there for a couple of hours, found out what the gossip
was," Harrelson said.
The store was run for many years by George and Wanda Harris, who
extended credit to almost anyone, even a 14-year-old Harrelson.
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"They would rent you an amp, sell you strings and give you a charge
account," Harrelson said. "You could owe for a month and not pay interest."
In the 1960s, bands got gigs around town from the store's bulletin
board. The store even opened a Teen Club at a former auto dealership on
West Holt at Vine where teenage bands played.
Todd Trent is only 46, but he's been associated with the store since
1979. The young drummer, who stopped at the store every day on his walk
home from Chaffey High, persuaded James Jones to hire him as an
afterschool janitor at age 16.
He worked his way up to salesman, manager and vice president before
buying the business in 2004, a year before Jones' death.
"They were like parents to me," Trent said of the couple.
Trent has had success selling supplies to music stars, who ranged, he
said, "from Van Halen to Kiss to Ringo Starr to Garth Brooks." A signed
drumhead on a store wall reads: "Todd, thanks for everything! Alex Van
Halen."
But plugs like that couldn't keep the doors open. On Wednesday
afternoon, salesmen outnumbered customers.
Specialty stores like Ontario Music are hit especially hard in a
recession, Trent said.
"Not everyone plays an instrument, and the ones that do, they're not
rushing out to buy a new one," he said.
Although if you ever wanted one, Ontario Music can probably make you a deal.
Incidentally, I've set aside space on my blog for comments from anyone
who wants to reminisce about Ontario Music or wish them well:
www.dailybulletin.com/davidallenblog.
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck