Year: October 2025

Jack's Music Shoppe - 30 Broad Street

Red Bank, New Jersey

 

From the very first second I stepped foot into Jack's Music Shop, I was greeted by a plethora of records of every kind. The floors were lined with the shelves that house the vinyls and records, and the walls were littered with posters. The main attraction were the vinyls, and the CD's and cassettes were deeper into the Monolith of Jack's Music Store.

What originally drew me to this store was the fact that when I walked out of the Secret Stash comic store (which I hold near and dear to my heart) on the same street and started walking down, was the fact that the timeless green exterior of this store was able to attract my eyes to it like a magnet. So after turning the crosswalk, I went in.

Immediately when I walk through the door, I am greeted by soft music playing through the speakers mounted in the corners of the interior, and a young woman at the register counter. The womans appearance was very monochromatic, as she was in an all black outfit with makeup on, and a very large septum piercing. I guessed it was a five gauge. After complimenting her and asking the size of the gauge, I found out that I guessed right. However, my first thought was how she could even breathe with that in. Apparently, it is a lot easier than it looks.

Upon heading to the RnB section of the vinyl area, I spotted Drunk by Thundercat almost immediately. I love this album, and I amm a huge fan of the man. So seeing this was cool. I was planning to buy it, but my music taste 2 to 3 years ago was not very diverse, so I ended up walking away with an IGOR vinyl later that day.

When I walked up the stairs that sat farther into the store, I found the sheet music section. Here, there was stuff I knew, stuff I could recite in my head, and stuff I have not even seen or heard before. To the right of the stairs was a bookshelf, with a plethora of different books, autobiographies and biographies on musicians, and others who had a lasting impact on music, one of them being the late Quincy Jones.