Record Time was a music shop that was a centerpiece of Detroit’s music scene. It opened its doors in 1983, and has sold CDs and vinyl from a variety of locations since then, settling into its most influential location in Roseville in 1996. Owner Mike Himes opened the independent music shop, Record Time, in May 1983 in what was then East Detroit and moved to Roseville location at 27360 Gratiot Ave. in March 2003. He also had branches in Rochester and Ferndale.
Over the years, Record Time became a Detroit landmark for artists, from DJs in town for Movement Festival (originally DEMF), and celebrities like Dave Grohl and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. It rose to prominence among Detroit record stores that catered to dance music community like Buy Rite on the West Side. It became a hangout where artists congregated and promoted their skills. Himes tells the story that an adolescent Eminem used to stalk the aisles, taunting customers with his freestyle raps (some years he later, drew more than 700 people to the shop for an in-store performance).
One of the things that gave Record Time its global status was the electronic music, which Himes kept separated from the rest of the vinyl the in the now legendary “dance room.” Himes was first exposed to techno in the early ’90s, but didn’t realize how much of it was being made locally. He contacted a few labels to find out where he could get more, and soon artists were bringing their records to the shop personally. Soon the dance room was like a clubhouse for Detroit’s house and techno community. not least in the staff itself; Himes hired the some of the most influential artists in the Motor City with the likes of Mike Huckaby, Rick Wilhite, Magda, Claude Young, Rick Wade and Dan Bell among his former employees.
He said the best years were probably 1990 to 2000, “That’s when everything was happening. The dance room was so huge and influential, we had Record Time distribution going, selling Detroit electronic music universally, throughout the world, it was just crazy. Such a special time because we had a relationship with the people producing that music, and putting it out. It was fun, the golden years in my eyes, just being part of that.”