Flipside Records

By Lisa Howard

Spinning Tracks & Sharing Tunes

FOR AUDIOPHILES, THERE WAS A MAGICAL TIME WHEN THREE AURAL TECHNOLOGIES OVERLAPPED, AND THAT WAS THE LATE ‘80s-EARLY ‘90s. BACK THEN, RECORD STORES BRIMMED WITH CASSETTES, LPS AND CDS. (THE TIME OF THE 8-TRACK HAD ALREADY PASSED.)

Then cassettes ascended the stairway to audio heaven and LPs dipped in popularity, leaving CDs reigning supreme. But now that equation has shifted again. “Records are selling for more now than they ever have before,” says Todd Fundaro, owner of Flipside Records. The store was in Clawson for nearly 40 years, but Todd and the staff moved its entire contents to its current location on Coolidge in just three-and-a-half days in December of 2021. At one point in its storied history, the store only had two racks of records. Now records make up 90 percent of Flipside’s sales.

TODD’S FATHER ORIGINALLY OPENED THE STORE in the ‘70s and sold stamps and coins. Then he switched to records in 1980 and opened his Clawson location shortly thereafter. Todd took over managing the store in 1987 and never looked back. After brief stint of running Todd’s Tunes & Toys in Birmingham, he bought Flipside from his father in 2009 and threw himself wholeheartedly into the audio trade.

Some of the most sought-after albums today are British rock bands from the 60s. “I can’t keep enough Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Who or Black Sabbath in stock,” Todd says, adding that the really valuable stuff is from the tail end of (previous) record production because not as many records were being pressed – it’s the classic tale of demand-and-supply. But he has plenty of other genres and artists in his selection, from classical to soundtracks to indie metal.

And he offers stereo equipment, too, along with a swath of memorabilia, collectibles and games. “Music is obviously a big thing for me, but I’m a generalist. I’m also into toys and collectibles and videos and Star Trek. I like to think of this as a home entertainment store.” Which it is, because no matter which format customers prefer – VHS, Blu-rays, DVDs – Flipside has it, including LaserDiscs.

3099 Coolidge Hwy, Berkley MI 48072 | 248.585.4090 www.shopflipsiderecords.com | www.facebook.com/shopflipsiderecords