For the record(s), a fifth-anniversary party at Creme Tangerine
Wearing a distinctive orange sweater, Marty Capune eagerly sifted through boxes of vinyl records, occasionally picking out ones of interest.
The Newport Beach resident worked for United Artists Records in the 1970s and knows his stuff. He’s bought or read more than 350 books on the history of popular music. He’s even accumulated 5,000 to 6,000 records at home — or something like that.
“I’ve never counted them,” Capune said.
Capune was among dozens of music lovers who came to Creme Tangerine’s fifth-anniversary party Friday night, which featured free beer, live music and plenty of records to discover — or re-discover. The tiny store, which opened in March 2011 at The Lab in Costa Mesa, is based out of a parked Airstream trailer. Inside and outside the trailer are boxes and boxes stuffed with cassette tapes and vinyl records.
“I’m very excited,” said Creme Tangerine owner Parker Macy of the anniversary. “A lot of my regulars are walking up.”
Even Macy doesn’t know how many albums he’s sold in the last five years.
“Maybe hundreds of thousands,” he said.
Macy said he didn’t have a particular goal for the party, other than perhaps for his fans to empty the keg of Barley Forge Brewing Co. beer brought in for the occasion.
“I got a keg of beer,” he said. “The goal is for the customers to enjoy it and for it to be gone.”
Macy thanked them too, with discounts on music and raffle prizes.
For Capune, that worked out just fine. He snagged a few dozen records, a pile in one hand and a stack of others tucked into a green Sprouts grocery store tote bag he held with the other.
“The vinyl revival is growing in leaps and bounds,” Capune said before his departure, adding, “They cannot make enough records.”
Creme Tangerine manager Chris Lynch came to the party — on his day off.
“It’s exciting, almost overwhelming right now,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be so busy.”
Alexander Laurence of Huntington Beach has been coming to the store since the beginning. He met Macy before it opened, and has bought about 50 records from him and sold him 500 — a net gain, he said with a smile.
Friday’s party was also a chance for Creme Tangerine to debut Cassandra, the “all-knowing,” albeit electrically powered, fortune teller.
Huntington Beach resident Kathy Cole gave Cassandra a dollar. On a card, which also had a download code to get a local band’s song, Cassandra told Cole that she’ll learn from her mistakes that day and “it’s amazing how much good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
“It’s lovely,” Cole said of her fortune. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Same goes for Macy’s store, she added.
“He makes it fun to buy records,” Cole said.
