
Joe Nardone
3/9/2022 | 5m 8sVideo has Closed Captions
The story of Joe Nardone, a man who has changed the face of Music in Northeast PA
The story of Joe Nardone, a man who has changed the face of Music in Northeast Pennsylvania. He gained fame with 50’s rock band “Joe Nardone and the All Stars” and continued on to start the largest chain of record stores in NEPA, Joe Nardone’s Gallery of Sound.
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Short Takes is a local public television program presented by WVIA

Joe Nardone
3/9/2022 | 5m 8sVideo has Closed Captions
The story of Joe Nardone, a man who has changed the face of Music in Northeast Pennsylvania. He gained fame with 50’s rock band “Joe Nardone and the All Stars” and continued on to start the largest chain of record stores in NEPA, Joe Nardone’s Gallery of Sound.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(bright music) - I'm very lucky to be doing what I'm doing.
Been with music all my life.
(bright music) We were lucky enough to have a huge, successful dance at a amusement park called Sans Souci Park.
- There was a venue there, it was like a hall, pavilion basically, that I mean he had Neil Diamond there, I mean early on in his career but he brought in Billy Joel, he brought Kiss to the area, Brach, Queen.
- We would bring in national acts, but also we would have local acts come in and play and appear with us.
And that did help them because now we were there established already attracting huge crowds but it gave them a chance to also be seen and heard.
- Over the years, we promoted a bunch of concerts including stuff that I did at the Kirby Center myself.
My father still does some things at the Kirby Center.
He does mostly nostalgia kind of shows now he's doing Duprees and all these kinds of shows where people get to come out and see some of the people from the past that are still around that still draw, you know, big crowds.
- [Announcer] It's back by popular demand and you don't wanna miss it.
It's coming Saturday, March the 28th, 2020 at 7:00 PM to the F.M Kirby Center.
- I love what I do and since I play once a year, I have to keep up to chops which means I pick up the horn a couple times a year just to get ready for the next time.
Once a year is fine for me.
- [Announcer] Where in the world can you find the music you love at the right price?
Joe Nardone's Gallery of Sound.
- My dad is known for his bands and his music, lifetime music fan, lifetime music business person.
- You know, I go back a long ways with the first store.
When I first started in the music business, record store business, I was selling vinyl.
So I'm pretty familiar with it from those days.
And then it changed of course into 8-tracks and the cassettes and CDs.
It's now made a complete circle where they're now putting out vinyl especially produced vinyl, 180 gram, better sounding.
- Well, I worked in the store my whole life.
You know, growing up, any free time I had I worked in the store.
I went off to college, got a marketing degree and then came back to the store.
Then that's when we expanded quite a bit.
I mean, over the '80s and '90s, I mean we had 10 stores at one point when the record business was booming.
Now we come full circle, we've got two stores and the vinyl business is booming.
We've got vinyl records that are popular with all ages again.
- People are really coming back to vinyl because of the sound.
It's a very warm sound compared to CDs or cassettes or 8-tracks especially (chuckles) - I mean cassettes were huge.
I mean, at one point cassettes were everything.
And then, you know, moved on to CDs and right around then is when they kind of artificially killed LPs the first time.
Wasn't until about 10 or 12 years ago where the vinyl record sort of made a comeback.
- The way it looks right now, it's growing faster than they ever could have imagined.
At this point in time it's out selling CDs, which is saying a lot.
- In fact, it's so popular we're having trouble getting certain things again because there's just not enough capacity.
You know, sometimes you get one pressing and after the one pressing is gone, it might be gone for a year, more, never, depending on how it goes.
(bright music) Growing up in the music industry was really great.
I was pretty young when my father stopped playing with his band the first time but got to see a little bit of that as well.
- My son was instrumental in the formation of Record Store Day.
A Record Store Day is now an international event.
- There was a lot of negativity in the music business, stores were closing, things were going on.
We were just trying to put a positive spin on the stores that were still there.
That's how Record Store Day was sort of formed.
- I'm very proud to say my son was instrumental in forming that Record Store Day and it's become an international event.
- It was sort of based on Free Comic Book Day almost where there's a day of celebration at comic book stores.
And we wanted that day of celebration at record stores.
- [Announcer] Joe Nardone's Gallery of Sound.
- His legacy was built you know basically through all his hard work and dedication to the music, you know, music business.
- I just love coming to this store every day, I enjoy it because I love music.
I've been very blessed to be still able to do this all to this day, I love it.
(bright music)
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Short Takes is a local public television program presented by WVIA