For those of us who have been hangin’ around Champaign-Urbana for a long while, and those who have also been thinking about music for the duration, we remember Periscope Records and remember it fondly.
It was opened by Jon ‘Cody’ Sokolski, who was a punk rock NYC transplant making a home in central Illinois, in the Old Farm Shops, a suburban-style strip mall on Kirby and Mattis, and it was kind of the alternative to the mainstream “alternative” record shops along Green St.
At the time, there were literally almost a dozen places to buy records in Champaign-Urbana. Record Service (two locations), Streetside (boo! hisssss!), Discount Den, Rose Records, Sam Goody, Coconuts, Musicland, Wright Sound CD Exchange, and there were others, I am sure of it.
But Periscope always stood out to me. I remember the card dividers in the CDs were super playful. For example, next to Primus, it had the words (pree-moo) in parentheses below the name and said “Try saying it” or something.
It was a fun place to shop.
Of course, Cody went on to play in The Delta Kings, and is now a touring solo act going simply by Cody Lee after he put the Gateway Drugs project on hiatus earlier this year.
He also developed One Main and M2 with his partners in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and in a ton of ways, changed the shape of Downtown Champaign forever. And for the better, in my opinion.
In any event, this commercial is epic in so many ways. If you know Cody, it’s just so classic: his delivery, the irreverent humor, the moments where it seems he’s going to trip over his words, and then pulls through, and the way that no matter the genre — even hip hop (Word up!) — seems to be natural for him.
And the line to end them all: “Of course we have the used Garth Brooks CD collection.” Which, for the time, was a total dig and also, a sign of the times and of things to come: used CD stores, giving way to mp3 technology, a resurgence in vinyl sales, and ultimately, streaming services.
And yes, that’s Jeff Brandt, owner of Exile on Main St., behind the counter. In case you were curious about his commitment to the idea of running a record store:
Without further ado: