Bleecker Bob

Bleecker Bob and Frank Zappa, 1980s.

Bleecker Bob's was second hand record shop in New York, founded on 15 December 1968 and operated by Robert Edward Plotnik (August 28, 1943 - November 29, 2018), nicknamed Bleecker Bob. It was originally located at 149 Bleecker Street, later moving to Macdougal Street and in 1981 to 118 W. Third Street. A Los Angeles branch opened on Melrose Avenue in the mid-1980s.

Bleecker Bob was known for attracting a lot of famous rock musicians, including Patti Smith, Keith Richards, David Bowie, Jimmy Page , The Ramones, Lou Reed, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Prince, Madonna, The Clash and Frank Zappa. The store was appreciated for often already knowing what was "new and current before the other stores did", while local bands were supported by buying their records and merchandise directly from them. Bleecker Bob also had British imports and sometimes very obscure records.

In 2003, Bob Plotnik had a brain aneurysm and was forced into early retirement. The store was kept running until it closed down on 27 November 2013. Bob Plotnik died in 2018.

Frank Zappa

Bleecker Bob once donated a painting of a monster, made by Charles H. Bayly, to Ahmet Zappa, when the boy was 5 or 6 years old. It was auctioned after Gail Zappa's death, when Frank and Gail Zappa's house was sold.

Dr Demento': "Frank, your record collection goes back to the '50s, but are you still actively collecting records?"

Frank Zappa: "I don't actually go out and scoop them up. Well, every once in a while I go to a store and I buy some, but a lot of times people send me things, and some of them are really good and some of them are absolutely disgusting. And then there's this guy in New York that you might know, Bleecker Bob, who occasionally gives me piles of stuff...'50s and new wave...whenever I go to New York. So I manage to keep on top of whatever has been released."

- Quoted from Dr. Demento's interview with Zappa, May 1981.

External links

• Website