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John
Moore's Middle Room Records Closes:
Rare Records Store a Philadelphia Institution
Middle Room Records, 8038 Frankford Avenue,
Phila.
(From the Classic urban Harmony Archives)
For those group harmony fans who grew up in Philadelphia, and
for many who visited, we're sure you know of John Moore's Middle Room Records.
John Moore and Charlie Horner are very close friends and co-hosted WXPN's
R&B/Classic Urban Harmony radio show together for many years in the 1980's.
John Moore's collectable and rare record store, Middle Room Records, has been
a Philly institution for almost 29 years. In fact, a large percentage of
the records in our Classic Urban Harmony Archives first passed through Middle
Room Records.
Middle Room Records will officially close its doors forever at
the end February 2013. In fact, all of the 45's are already gone.
This is truly the end of an era.
John Moore was already a well respected group harmony record
collector when he joined his friend Charlie Horner as co-host of WXPN's Rhythm
& Blues radio program in the early 1980's. In addition, John produced a
number of incredible record conventions at the Golden Horse Inn that are still
talked about today. John's dedication to vocal group harmony led him to
hire vocal groups to sing at the record conventions, an unheard of idea at
that time. Groups like the Ecstasies, the Cherokees, Neighbor's
Complaint and Omega 5 Maestros sang downstairs at record conventions that
filled two floors.
Charlie Horner & John Moore with the Dreamlovers
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
From there, John Moore produced acappella concerts at the
Golden Horse Inn that featured groups like the Keystoners (that John helped
reunite), Bobby Thomas' Orioles, the Silhouettes, the Ly-dells and many
others. Charlie Horner and John Moore emceed the concerts, as well as
weekly acappella shows at a small club in Northeast Philly.
Flyer from a Golden Horse Inn show
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Charlie & John emceeing an acappella show in the early 1980's.
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
In March of 1984, John Moore started Middle Room Records at
8338 Frankford Avenue, in Philadelphia. It has been there ever since.
Record collectors regularly came from all over the world to buy rare doo wop
and soul vocal group 45's at Middle Room Records. John's store grew in
reputation as Charlie & John made record hunting trips all over the country
(and even to the UK) to hunt for obscure 45's.
Middle Room Records as it first opened in 1984
(FRom the Classic Urban harmony Archives)
John Moore preparing to open Middle Room Records.
Note the shelves are not yet filled.
They wouldn't stay that way for long!
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Another photo from before the store first opened.
Note the old refrigerator.
"John bought that from my dad for $10 and and we hauled it from my parents'
basement over to the store," recalled Charlie Horner. "It must have
dated from the
1950's then. John used it to supply cold refreshments to some of his
regular customers.
It's still working today. Hard to find modern appliances so durable."
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
John eventually gave up co-hosting the radio show with Charlie
to concentrate on the record store's business. One of the most unique
activities at Middle Room Records was the Friday night sing-fests, where
acappella and doo wop singers would gather weekly to form pick up groups and
harmonize. Many acappella groups first got together as a result of the
Friday night singing at Middle Room Records.
A typical Friday night sing-fest at Middle Room Records
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Friday night harmonizing
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Famous window of Middle Room Records with
painting of Frankie Lymon & Teenagers
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
John Moore was one of the first record collectors to recognize
soul harmony as a collectable genre. In fact, he got Charlie Horner into
collecting sixties and seventies soul group records.
John Moore deserves a world of credit for all that he's done
for vocal group harmony in Philadelphia. It's sad to see Middle Room
Records close it's doors. The store is a part of Philly's music history
that won't be soon forgotten. We wish John all the best in his
retirement as a record seller, and are glad to know he's still an avid fan and
collector of group harmony.
