I’m sitting on the floor of Penny Lane Records digging through bins of 45s while eavesdropping on the other shoppers. It’s busy at around noon on a Saturday and the names dropped are varied. Clairo. Phoebe Bridgers. Crystal Castles. “Have you heard Slowdive?” one person asks. “They’re shoe— there’s a name for it.” A mom, who is probably right around my own age, is hyping up Korn and System of a Down to a disinterested kid. Trust me, this is not a conversation you would have overheard anywhere in 1999. I’m trying not to laugh. Need to concentrate on the old soul records in front of me. Ooh, Ann Peebles!
Back in the ‘90s, there were a lot of Penny Lane record stores in the greater Los Angeles area. In high school, I tagged along with my dad to work so that I could hit up the one that was in Pasadena. In college, we would stop by Penny Lane on Third Street Promenade. Then the new century came and, well, you know what happened to record stores in the ‘00s. Still, there’s one remaining Penny Lane and it’s in Upland.
I had to venture out to the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County borderlands for work and figured a dig at Penny Lane was in order. The record shop is only a block or two away from the Upland Metrolink station, which is extremely convenient if you live around downtown L.A., and it’s located in a neighborhood that’s pretty heavy on indie retailers and alt culture shops.
Penny Lane is small, but there’s a lot packed in it. We were told that the store is in the process of expanding, so the layout might be different than what I describe here when you visit. On this particular trip, the 45s and bargain-priced used vinyl were located under the bins that hold the new releases and other higher-end vinyl. I was mostly interested in the 45s, of which there was a bounty of 1960s and 1970s soul singles from labels like Motown, Tamla, Stax, etc. Score!
I love ‘60s and early ‘70s soul, but my collection is virtually non-existent, mostly because I’ve spent years focused on seeking out 12” singles, an innovation of the disco era, and resisted the urge to fall down the 45 rabbit hole. Since I’m pretty new to the 45 world, there was a lot here that I didn’t have and plenty that piqued my curiosity. I flipped through the alphabetized sections, adding and subtracting items from the small stack that I intended to buy.
Some of the records I knew immediately. “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” from Gladys Knight and the Pips is the source of the vocal sample on DJ Koze’s pre-pandemic massive banger “Pick Up.” The original is a completely different vibe, it’s the kind of slow jam that you might have expected to hear on the late Art Laboe’s radio show sandwiched between requests for Barbara Mason and The Manhattans.
The Ann Peebles song that I dug up, “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” was something I’ve wanted for a minute. The song was a minor hit in its day, but, for the past few decades, it’s been better known as the sample source for Missy Elliot’s 1997 hit “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly.)” You’ll recognize the song as soon as you hear it, but what you might not realize until you hear “I Can’t Stand the Rain” in full is that it’s a heater in its own right, with a Memphis soul groove reminiscent of artists like Otis Redding.
Then there’s the only ‘80s 45 I ended up getting. That was Tracey Ullman’s “They Don’t Know” single, a cover of Kirsty MacColl’s song that’s 100% designed as a throwback to 1960s girl groups. It’s a perfect song that ends up stuck in my head a few times a year. (You can hear “They Don’t Know” at the start of my February Beatique Mix.)
The prices at Penny Lane were quite reasonable. Most of the 45s I saw were $2 or $3, which meant that I could take some chances with my picks. For example, I couldn’t remember if I already had a copy of Freda Payne’s single “Band of Gold,” an early ‘70s hit that was also one of the jams in the soul room at Bang! in the early ‘00s. Whenever I was on my breaks from DJing in the indie room at the same club, I would head over to the soul room and dance my ass off to this, so if I didn’t have it, I should buy it and, even if I did already have a copy, it wouldn’t be the first time I bought something twice, or even thrice. The price was low enough where I couldn’t justify leaving it behind.
I picked up two other Freda Payne singles as well, “Bring the Boys Home,” a Vietnam War protest song that I had heard before was one of them. The other “You Brought the Joy,” was unfamiliar to me, but I instantly loved it. Released in 1971, it was produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who were responsible for a number of Motown’s massive hits, and it has a sound that reflects artists like The Supremes, but also foreshadows disco. There’s a killer break in the song.
Then there was “Boogie on Reggae Woman,” a mid-1970s Stevie Wonder single that I bought because I liked the song title, but I also now dig the Moog on it. Timi Yuro was a singer most active in the 1960s, whose name I know because Morrissey has referenced her quite a bit. (“Interlude,” the duet he did with Siouxsie Sioux in the ‘90s, is actually a Timi Yuro cover.) Her version of the standard “Smile” is great, but I’m more interested in “She Really Loves You,” which, like the Gladys Knight 45 I bought, is a dramatic, ‘60s slow dance number. How has this not been used in a movie?
Finally, I picked up a Jackie Moore 45 that I hadn’t previously heard. Jackie Moore sang one of my disco favorites, “This Time Baby,” but she had been releasing music since the late 1960s. “Dear John,” the 45 that I found at Penny Lane, was her first single. It’s fantastic, with a rhythm that’s like a slow, steady strut and gospel-style vocals. The B-side, “Here I Am,” is closer to what’s considered Northern Soul. It’s upbeat and filled with horns, a real dance floor bop.
While I was focused on the 45s at Penny Lane on this trip, there were a few other features that I noticed. One is the CD section located against the wall near the cash register. If your into ‘90s music, don’t overlook this because that was the dominant format of the decade. There’s also a small DVD/Blu-Ray section by the CDs, near the front window. I picked up a box set of pilates videos for 99 cents because I’m sick of YouTube’s commercials.
Penny Lane is located at 235 E. 9th Street, Upland CA 91786 and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Check the store’s website for further information.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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