The Top 10 Records Sold Last Week at Record Runner
By Patrick Doyle in Featured, Local Top 10,
Friday, Nov. 6 2009 @ 3:00PM

In 2009, the traditional practice of exchanging physical copies of records for money is a trade that might best be called quixotic. But New Yorkers are stubborn people, and the record store is not dead. Below, the top ten records that actually sold in the last week at a store near you.

​To get into the discreet Record Runner music store on Jones Street, you have to hit the buzzer outside. Owner John Pita leaves his office in the back room to let you in. Once you're inside, the store looks like a teenage pop music obsessive's bedroom circa 1985: stuffy, full of boxes and massive posters of Duran Duran, Madonna, and U2. Pita, 50, has helmed the shop for three decades. In recent years, he's shifted the store's focus from new releases to singles and rare Japanese imports. "My customers are very in tune with 'Did you know the German version has one more song?'" he says. "You have to be up to their knowledge." The store also carries collectibles: it recently acquired a gigantic U2 collection from one of the world's former biggest collectors. There's old crew tour jackets, band calendars, and rare albums. Pinto recently sold a hand-numbered copy of the band's first single, U2 3, for $3000 dollars (only 1000 were ever printed)."We've always tried to find a different route," he says.

The Top 10 Records Sold at Record Runner for the week ending Nov. 6, 2009

1. Erasure: Phantom Bride
2. Lady Gaga: Paparazzi (single)
3. Madonna: Celebration (single)
4. Alison Moyet: Best Of
5. Duran Duran: Hammersmith '82 (DVD/CD edition)
6. U2: I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (vinyl single)
7. Pearl Jam: Backspacer
8. La Roux: La Roux
9. Duran Duran: Rio
10. Pet Shop Boys - Beautiful People (single)

Record Runner is located at 5 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014. Its hours are 12pm-6:30pm, Monday through Saturday.

Courtesy The Village Voice