Record Country in Wesleyville, PA opened July 6, 1978

Mike Lyon standing in front of Record Country at 2905 Buffalo Road in Wesleyville, Erie Co., PA

Mike Lyon opened Record Country at 2905 Buffalo Road in Wesleyville, PA on July 6, 1978. He moved to a bigger location at 3306 Buffalo Road in 1982. Record Country was in business for over 26 years, and eventually suffered the same fate of thousands of record stores across the U.S. 

His love of music started early in life when he listened to his favorite groups on the radio. He began buying records at Murphys, Kresge's, Woolworth's and Grants in Downtown Erie and getting weekly  surveys from WJET, WWGO and WGYN. Mike had an oldies show on WERG-FM when he was a student at Gannon College in 1973.

Mike learned the ropes of the record business while working at the Record Bar in the Liberty Plaza from December of 1970 until 1973. "One time one of the higher-ups came down and I told him that I had thought about opening my own store," said Mike Lyon in an interview with Matthew Rink in the Gannon Knight on March 28, 2003. "I never should have done that." He was let go on September 13, 1973, shortly after this discussion with management. 

Armed with a degree in accounting from Gannon College, Mike next worked at General Electric just long enough to save the $15,000 he needed to start his own store. The rest, as they say, is history.

Record Country evolved from a place where you could buy a 45, album or an 8-track into a hangout for teenagers and musicians looking for the newest metal, punk or hardcore record or CD. The store was know as a tastemaker account amongst major and indie record labels. At its peak in the early nineties, Record Country reported its top record sales weekly to several trade magazines, including Album Network, CMJ, Hits and Billboard, and to local radio stations such as WJET and K104. 

In addition to prerecorded music, Record Country also sold t-shirts, magazines, buttons, bumper stickers, posters and other items. The store sold concert tickets for the Erie County Field House beginning with the Mahogany Rush/Head East show on July 28, 1978 and continuing until the last show there in 1983 (Judas Priest). The store sold tickets to the first few concerts at the new Erie Civic Center before TicketMaster took over ticket sales.   

The store carried tons of local bands on consignment. I will list some of these in a future post.

Record Country shut its doors in December of 2004.

You can read about the Record Bar in the Liberty Plaza here:
http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/06/record-bar-in-liberty-plaza-erie-pa.html

Record Bar in the Liberty Plaza, Erie, PA 1970 to 1976

Record Bar at 3524 Liberty St. circa 1973. Photo ©Mike Lyon 2012.

Record Bar in the Liberty Plaza, Erie, PA 1970 to 1976

Record Bar opened at 3524 Liberty Street in the Liberty Plaza in Erie, Pennsylvania in Dec. of 1970. This was one store in the chain owned by Trans Continent Record Sales. Len Silver was the President of Trans Continent, which was based in Buffalo, NY; they also owned Porter Electronics.

The Liberty Plaza store remained under the name Record Bar until at least 1976. The name was later changed to Record Theatre so all the stores in the chain would have one name (and possibly to avoid confusion with a totally unrelated Record Bar chain based in North Carolina).

Mary Lombardo transferred from the Record Bar on State Street in Downtown Erie to manage the new Liberty Plaza Record Bar, which opened a couple of weeks before Christmas 1970. Early staff members included Steve Juskewycz (the second manager), Mike Lyon (the third manager), Lee Taylor (the fourth manager), Bill Sheely, David VanAmburg (1970-71 and 1973-74), Leo McCabe and Mike Nuber. 

Record Bar at 3524 Liberty St. circa 1973 with David VanAmburg
playing guitar behind the counter. Photo ©Mike Lyon 2012.

Mike Lyon was named manager in 1973 and was fired on Sept. 13, 1973.  He opened his own store, Record Country, in July 1978 on Buffalo Road in Wesleyville, where he was in business for 26.5 years. 

Lee Taylor and Bill Sheely (who both played in the band Lincoln) purchased the Record Theatre locations in Erie shortly after that and changed the name to Razzberrys. They had stores at 3518 Liberty St. and 927 State St. (and one short-lived store in the West Erie Plaza). Lee died Feb. 26, 2000.

Mike Nuber aka Rasta Mike, was the lead singer of Symon Grace and the Tuesday Blues (which also included organist John Novello). They had an East Coast hit with "You Won't Get Me Workin" whose lyrics state: 'You won't get me workin'/Oh no/'Cause I tried workin' before/Let me tell you that workin' is a drag.' Rasta Mike only worked at the Record Bar for a few weeks. He lives in the Edinboro area. 

Other employees of the Liberty Plaza Record Bar include: Wanda Bialorucki (worked there around 1972; she died Oct. 27, 1995), Pam Verity (1972 to 1976), Bob Dobiesz (worked until the fall of 1973), Jimmy Daly, Missy Trocki, Carolyn Weiss, Carol Pollock (drove a yellow Mustang), Cathy Briggs and Bridget Sullivan and RussMarie Johnson (1974). Bob Seaman, Billy Hodak and Richie Kowalczyk (another member of Lincoln) also worked at Record Bar.

Record Bar was so popular that Grants decided to close its record department in the Liberty Plaza location due to dwindling sales.

Enjoy more fun facts about the history of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie