ear X-tacy was a

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

"alternative

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. Per the name, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records. But over the course of the 20th century, record shops sol ...

," owned and operated by John Timmons. The store announced its closing on October 31, 2011, after 26 years in business.

History

ear X-tacy first opened in 1985 in a 500 ft² (46 m²) building stocked with John Timmons' personal records "and a cash advance on his MasterCard." The store name came from the band

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

, of which owner John Timmons is a fan. As the store grew, it changed location three times over a period of sixteen years; it then remained in the same location, in a former bathroom fixtures showroom on

Bardstown Road Bardstown Road is a major road in Louisville, Kentucky. It is known as "Restaurant Row" due to its many restaurants, bakeries, and cafes. It carries U.S. Route 31E and U.S. Route 150, from the intersection of Baxter Avenue (US ...

just south of

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the borough (New York City), New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's fir ...

The Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa *Highlands, Harare, Zimbabw ...

, until late July 2010. It then moved to the

Douglass Loop Douglass may refer to: Surname * Douglass (surname) * Douglass family, family of Frederick Douglass ** Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), noted abolitionist Given name *Douglass Dumbrille (1889–1974), Canadian actor in early Hollywood *Douglas ...

, a former streetcar turnaround point on Bardstown Road about southeast of its previous location but still in The Highlands. ear X-tacy carried a wide variety of CDs, cassettes, and

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

records, and also carried a large stock of

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

s, including many hard-to-find items. In 1995, Timmons launched the ear X-tacy

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, which released records by Louisville-based musicians such as

Tim Krekel Timothy Joseph Krekel (October 10, 1950 – June 24, 2009) was an American rock singer and country music songwriter from Louisville, Kentucky. Early life Krekel was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1950. He became interested in music early i ...

. Due to financial issues, ear X-tacy moved for the final time to a smaller location in 2010, just south of where their previous location was on Bardstown Road. However, the financial issues continued and ear X-tacy owner John Timmons made the decision to permanently close. ear X-tacy officially closed on October 31, 2011, but due to the amount of unsold inventory still remaining after the close, the store held a liquidation sale in December 2011 before officially closing for good. ear X-tacy also operated a second location in the Eastgate Shopping Center in Middletown from 1992 through 1998. The store's signature white-on-black logo stickers spawned a local fad wherein people cut up and reassembled the distinctive letters to form other words or phrases, such as "racy aXe" or "area X." A documentary on ear X-tacy was released in 2012 under the title ''Brick and Mortar and Love.''

References

External links

ear X-tacy Online
{{coord, 38.224, -85.69279, type:landmark, display=title Music retailers of the United States Music of Louisville, Kentucky Defunct companies based in Louisville, Kentucky American companies established in 1985 Retail companies established in 1985 Retail companies disestablished in 2011