Mike Vague Records

Kodak 250D AHU / Nikon Coolscan / SmartConvert / Tamron 24-70mm EF Back in January of this year I wrote about the passing of my old friend Steve Mintz and his beloved, Long Beach shop, Bagatelle Records. Last week, while I was in downtown, I drove by and saw the door was open. I stopped in. Inside, I found longtime record dealer Mike Vague cleaning up album covers with brushes, solutions, and formulas on a makeshift workspace in the middle of album stacks. He pulled up a seat for me and we got to know each other. The shop looks the same. The bins are still the bins. The classic Bagatelle price stickers are gone but I already have hundreds of records with a handwritten, "$7.00," in ballpoint pen. I am overjoyed to say that the shop actually FEELS the same. Mike is a different person but he respects the spirit of what Steve brought to the community. It was nice to hear that the landlords felt the same. He offered to grab me a bottle of water and I realized the family knew what there…