David Witter

On the outside, it is like a rock 'n' roll museum. Life-sized cardboard cutouts of Mick Jagger, Deborah Harry, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ozzy Osbourne spring from the roof. As you look closer you can spot the giant, cartooned images of Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Eddie Murphy and a young Madonna in the windows, prancing, preening and picking underneath a psychedelic sign that reads "Rolling Stones Records." The vintage signage and the name Rolling Stones "Records" and "Tapes" is not a retro recreation. Opened in 1970, the golden age of FM radio and album art, Rolling Stones Records has stood as a cultural oasis for almost forty years.

"When we opened we sold vinyl record albums and 8-track tapes, but over the years the mediums have changed like socks," Harry Rohalla, the store's owner, says. "After that the cassettes came in, and the Beta, followed by regular VCR tapes. Then came the CD and DVD."

Like all "record"-store owners, Rohalla is adapting to meet competition from the newest technological innovations including downloading to home-burned CDs and iPods.

"Today there are no more Beatles, no more Rolling Stones," Rohalla says. "In those days groups put out albums that had good songs from beginning to end. Even the covers of the albums were sometimes works of art. Today you are lucky to get one good song, so the kids just download it."

Rolling Stones continues to thrive and survive through its knowledgeable service and custom orders, but also by selling books, incense, T-shirts, candles, smoking supplies and other music paraphernalia. It also gives people something downloading cannot provide--a place to go. In an area known for its ranch houses, plaster statues and plastic Santas on tidy lawns, Rolling Stones has always been a gathering place for everyone from hippies to alternatives, hip-hoppers and punks.

"The mall closes at nine," Rohalla says. "After that, everyone comes here."

Rolling Stones Records, 7300 West Irving Park, Norridge, (708)456-0861

(2006-10-10)

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