Back in the days when I spent half my life playing guitar, I bought all my sheet music from "Colony" at 1619 Broadway on West 49th Street. Before a show, or on a Saturday afternoon killing time, I could spend hours in the place. Not only did they have CDs, albums, posters and old rock magazines, anything you could think of wanting to play you could get the sheet music for.
The store opened in 1948 just around the corner and later moved and survived through the Wild West 1970s through the resurrected 1990s. Always a beacon, always a place for music guys to hang for hours. Michael Jackson is one guy who was a regular. Benny Goodman was another.
But with the prime real estate lease up for renewal to a mindboggling $6M a year, Colony is closing. Co-owner Michael Grossbardt told the New York Post that he was "devastated" and his father was crying in his grave.
The world just dies on us, it disappears and there is nothing that can bring it back. I remember when the Ramones played the Village a coupla days a week for years on end, and that ended. And now the Colony, a New York institution for decade after decade is going as well. Oh well, I am sure we will get a wonderful Chase Bank vestibule in its place.