KUSF’s Rock ‘N Swap sells out to San Franciscans
Blasting music, a welcome table of KUSF staff and volunteers and tables upon tables of vendors in the McLaren Conference Center greeted Rock ‘N Swap visitors.
KUSF manager Miranda Morris, who coordinates the student organization and plans the annual Rock ‘N Swap noted the significance of this year’s event, saying “We sold out vendor tables for the first time since before the pandemic.”
The site advertises the event as “free with any school ID”, which brought a wide range of attendees in to browse the collection of records. Non-students and faculty could enter at 7 a.m. for $20, or pay $3 for regular entrance at 10 a.m.
To the left of the entrance was vendor Richard Blackburn, a regular at the Rock ‘N Swap, who has attended the record fair for the last ten years. Blackburn is also an author and co-founder of Bopalacious, a Los Angeles based online shop featuring collectable 1950s and 60s 45 rotations per minute (rpm) records in various musical styles. He only sells 45s records as opposed to 33 ½ rpm records, which are known as LP’s and are the bigger vinyls that are usually on display at Rock ‘N Swap. He joked, “Only 45’s because I’m too old and lazy to truck around with LP’s and they’re lighter… but LPs are 12 inches and these [the 45 rpm records] are seven inches, so to travel as I do to some places, places like this, I can only bring the 45s on a plane.”
Blackburn noted a decrease in the popularity of his specialty. “Most shows, I would say, are not what they used to be because most shows are turning into album or LP shows. When I sell here, it’s not as popular… but after saying that there are people coming in to buy the old 45s too that are younger. That’s interesting, but overall most people are here to buy the LPs,” he said.
On the opposite side of the room, another vendor, Alexei Lecach, a French-American record collector of over 50 years, advertised goods from across the pond. “I go to Europe every year, because I’m from there, and I always bring back records.” He also favored the 45s, “I go there, I look at flea markets, second hand shops, and all that…and I especially like bringing back EPs, you know small records … 45s with four songs.” He also noted that there were differences in EPs between the U.S. and France, “In America, they were mostly singles, meaning there was a song on each side but in France they were EPs that were two songs on each side.”
Smack dab in the middle of McLaren Conference Center was punk rock enthusiast Dan Brady, who has been visiting Rock ‘N Swap since 1998, and has since transitioned from customer to seller. “I specialize in punk rock, it’s what made me start coming here back in the 90s looking for them, but no one ever had them so I got doubles and started to get the ball rolling.” However, he says he was a “collector first,” and likes to make his own scan of the swap before setting up shop.
The room was filled with students focused on their own searches. Some browsed casually, flipping through the records, clothing and books while others were intently and carefully going through boxes of vinyls, probing each and every cover.
Mia Garcia, a sophomore biology major and amateur record collector, recounted her experience as a first-timer at the event. “It’s cool, bigger than I thought it’d be,” said Garcia, who attended the event with a friend, “We were pretty pleased to see how many stands there were.”
“Considering that a lot of these [records] are pretty vintage, very collectible items, you probably couldn’t find half of these anywhere else. So I think it’s pretty cool that people come out here to do this.”
Morris said that the Rock ‘N Swap was her introduction to KUSF. “I kept hearing about the Rock ‘N Swap… then my actual first time coming up here to volunteer was actually in 2007… and I just worked the door and got to know some people.” She continued, “It really helped me get to know people at KUSF and feel more comfortable, and feel like I was contributing to the station. I feel like KUSF’s Rock ‘N Swap still does that, it’s a place for students to meet other KUSFers and get involved and we know that they are interested in KUSF because they’re coming here.”
KUSF’s Rock ‘N Swap will return to McLaren on Nov. 10 2024.
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