Diana D’mocher and son tend their pink punk alternative record shop.
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
Plastic £lvis doll and UJeirdo magazine— Di ir\ls r\n/nrli
qou must be entering the pinkish malls of ■ VJlllS pUlUUlvC
By DAWN GARCIA
0( the Emerald
'Say I'm mean, and I'll blow your head
off,” wails the record inside the pink
building with the plastic Elvis doll in the
window.
Buddy Holly and the "Bonzo Dog
Band” grin down from the 8-by-10 glos
sies near the ceiling as customers
browse through the record stacks and
Devo-style shades.
"I thought it was time to open up an
alternative record shop,” says Lenny
D'mocher of Diana's Records and Tapes
on 8th and Lincoln streets. “The other
shops seem dull."
That's one thing Diana's isn’t.
Advertising “Eugene's best selection
of imports, new wave, vintage rock, 45s,
blues and reggae," Lenny and his wife,
co-owner Diana, run a record collector’s
paradise.
"Hardly anyone does special orders
and maintains the quality selection of
out-of-print collector’s items like we do,”
Lenny says.
Although they stock all types of
records — mostly new and some used —
new wave music is becoming one of their
biggest sellers.
"New wave was just starting in 1979
when we first opened up our shop in
Eugene, and the shop didn't make it,”
Lenny says.
They re-opened the shop on Diana’s
birthday — March 7 — and have been
surprised with the response.
"Now people come in here requesting
new wave music I’ve never heard of,”
Lenny says.
Even without the records, the shop is
an experience. A magazine rack on one
wall includes publications titled Weirdo,
Wet and Fotopunk, featuring such arti
cles as "Bondage Basics for Beginners."
The shelves of a glass case beneath
the counter are lined with buttons, cer
amic pins and different styles and colors
of punk shades, ranging in price from
$5.95 to $9.95.
Betty Boop, Rocky Horror characters,
Blondie and the B52s grace the faces of
the buttons that sell for $1 to $1.50.
Diana’s collection of 45s overflows on
the back wall shelves with "Are You
Lonesome Tonight” by Donny Osmond,
“I Gotta Get Drunk" by Willie Nelson,
plus other oldie-but-goodie’s.
Selling records is Lenny's main con
cern, but his musical interests don't stop
there
Lenny and friends “Crazy” Carl Stolz
and ‘'Damage" Dave form a band called
"The White Tones.” The group has
played at local taverns such as BJ Kelly’s
and Grand Illusions.
He and his group also put together a
radio program called "Crusin’ ” that
plays on KLCC. That station plays all new
wave music on the first Friday of every
month from 11:30 p.m. to 2 a m.
Lenny and Diana hope to at least make
their shop more well-known by moving it
to 5th and Willamette streets within a few
weeks.
Although the move will make Diana’s
the third record store on the same
corner, Lenny says each store's
specialization will make for variety.
"I think we’ll complement each other,”
Lenny says. "The focus of the record
business of Eugene will be in that
corner."
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