It’s appropriate that for over 40 years, NYC’s Rock and Soul DJ Equipment and Records has called the Manhattan neighborhood near the Empire State Building home. As the last record shop standing from the salad days of the city’s dance music revolution, its reputation among music heads looms as tall as Gotham’s signature structure. Store owner and longtime manager Shirley Bechor understood early on that stocking records made popular by pop radio would only take the business so far; carrying titles that the shop’s growing DJ clientele hungered for, however, would keep Rock and Soul steps ahead of the competition. As disco, then hip-hop, electro, dancehall and house all broke, Rock and Soul kept crates across the five boroughs overflowing, with luminaries like Larry Levan, Funkmaster Flex, DJ Premier and Questlove all frequenting its environs.
