Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

When my son was small we were in the cellar poking through some boxes when he pulled a record out of a dusty old album jacket. He said excitedly, “Daddy look! A big CD!” It was my old Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album from 1967.

I bought my first 45 around 1964. Not the gun or the malt liquor (FYI in case you’re too young to recall), but the little round vinyl disc that magically played the music that hypnotized me on my little plastic transistor radio.

I ran down to The Record Shop in Davis Square and bought a recording of the groovy song I heard on WMEX or WRKO. I brought the record home, stuck in the little plastic adapter, and played the ever loving heck out of it. No headphones, just me tucked away in my room, sitting on the edge of my bed, blasting my favorite tunes over and over for hours. I literally wore out my Stones record of ” Satisfaction!” My mother would shout as she banged on my bedroom door, “LOWER THAT THING DOWN!”

Bernie’s Music in neighboring Cambridge is the subject of this week’s story. It all started when my pal Matt posted photos of Porter Square Shopping Center from 1960 on Facebook. Man, did that image bring back memories. One of the first things I noticed in the shot was Bernie’s Music. I posted the photo and, as always, the memories started to … serenade in.

Many Somerville Baby Boomers and beyond got their records at Bernie’s. Here are a few of their memories.

“Loved Bernie’s … bought all my 45s there for 99¢.”

“Porter Square Dodge was across the street.”

“Bought my first 45 there. Let It Be by the Beatles.”

“Bernie was priced slightly higher (than the Record Shop in Davis Sq.) 98 cents for a single (45 rpm) and $3.98 for an album.”

“I still have all my vinyl records and that brings back so many memories.”

“… me too and I’m 75 so you know some are classics!”

“I bought my first 45 at Bernie’s in 1969. Three Dog Night’s One.”

“I used to buy 45’s with my paper route money.”

“My friends and I used to pool our money together and buy a 45!”

“We used to come all the way (to Bernie’s) from Marshall St. for a 45.”

An old Somerville urban legend has it that the guy who owned the Record Shop in Davis Square (who followed me and my friends around the stores and never smiled) … and Bernie were brothers. Maybe someone out there can back this up.

Meanwhile I’m going to listen to some of those tunes I owned when they first came out in the 60’s and 70’s. Today, my favorite songs are on my IPod and my phone. The precious music of my youth are crystal clear and packed with memories. In the old days those same tunes eventually ended up scratched and worn out or broken from continuous playing.

Down in the cellar there is still a box of a few of my old 45 records and albums, purchased decades ago at places like Bernie’s Music.