Flashbacks And New Experiences Found At Long, Live Vinyl Records

PALOS PARK, IL — Among the preponderance of car washes springing up around the south suburbs is the welcome return of a new/old kind of business – the neighborhood record shop. Mike Keysboe’s Long Live Vinyl Records, that opened this fall in Palos Park, is bringing back the experience of putting a record on the turntable and then getting up from the couch to turn it over.

“I always loved music even as a kid even before I started listening to WLS,” said Keysboe, 62, who grew up in Downers Grove. “My favorite Christmas memory is 1976, when all my brother and I asked for was albums. We each had a stack of 15 to open.”

As a teen growing up in the 1980s, Keysboe haunted JR Records at Yorktown Center in Lombard and Rose Records on Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove. Even Montgomery Ward at Yorktown offered a fine selection of albums. Like any true audiophile, Keysboe landed his first job in the record industry at Sound Warehouse on 75th Street and Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove.

Listen to any used record before you buy it

Keysboe, of Orland Park, spent the next decade in managerial roles for the big chains, including opening “experimental” music stores for Best Buy.

“Best Buy had an entire media store with CDs, video games and movies that would run separately from the rest of Best Buy.” Keysboe said. “The mega store only lasted to 1996, when Best Buy got rid of the music stores.”

After a stint in Corporate America, Keysboe moved on to a teaching career. Graduating from Saint Xavier University in 2010 with an education degree, he was hired the next day to teach a Berwyn elementary school. This is his final year of teaching fourth grade.

“Fourth grade is the year when you start to see how they change from little kids to becoming more independent and developing their critical thinking skills,” he said. “That’s what I love about fourth grade. They still like the teacher, but you see that development, which is rewarding.”

Now in his final year of teaching, the snap, crackle and pop of vinyl has lured him back.

“The thing about vinyl, when LPs were records, you’d get a beautiful warm analog sound. I never understood the draw of CDs. People said it sounded better but it was an illusion. CDs are compressed. You’re not getting the full range of sound that was produced when they created the record. The disc can’t handle all that information.”

Keysboe with some of his heroes.

Long Live Vinyl is a buy-sell-trade store. The shop carries smooth grooves of all genres, which can be sold for cash or traded for store credit. Rare records of greater value are placed above the bins in what Keysboe refers to as the “grail wall.”

Since Keysboe opened the shop, he’s made some interesting finds. One customer brought in a small collection of vinyl that included three out-of-print original pressings by Rush.

“‘Counterparts’ was a small record for them,” Keysboe said. “A tool that most records stores use to price records is based on condition. Although the album was recently reissued, a lot of collectors look for original pressings.”

The guy who brought them in only wanted $112 store credit. The LPs were valued at $225, $160 and $75.

“I put the most valuable of the lot on the grail, and it sold in two days,” he said.

The rarest and most expensive record in the store is a numbered edition recording by Kiss with the Melbourne Symphony, “Kiss Symphony: Alive IV,” one of the most sought after LPs among collectors.

“Only 10,000 were made. I found it going through a pile of records,” Keysboe said. “Mine is brand new and still sealed. It’s going for $350.”

The shop carries all genres of music and merchandise for all budgets, including vintage jackets, plug-and-play turntables and speakers, record sleeves, cleaning solutions, concert T-shirts, posters and more. Younger customers, as well as their parents and grandparents, are buying up heavy metal and classic rock. There is also a wide selection of classical, jazz and hip-hop. Customers can listen to any used record before buying it. Turntables and headphones are available for your listening pleasure.

“Vinyl is being rediscovered by multiple generations,” Keysboe said. “I had a man bring in his 7- and 8-year-old sons. They both wanted turntables and records. They never experienced it, but for others it's a real love and passion.”

Long Live Vinyl Records, 12916 S. LaGrange Road, Palos Park, is open from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 4 to 8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Hours will be extended starting June 2025. Got something good to sell or trade? Bring your records in or email Keysboe at mike@longlivevinylrecords.com or call 464-646-5050.