Owner of Big Al's Records Dale Brigham inside his North Railway Street shop. (CHAT News Photo)

By Alex McCuaig

Record Man

Medicine Hat’s record man bringing back memories one groove at a time

Feb 23, 2020 | 5:05 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – After the closure of the long-standing Arcade Records in 2013, Medicine Hat was left without a dedicated vinyl music store.

That is until 2016 when Big Al’s Records moved in downtown – first to a location on Third Street and then to its current location on North Railway.

And despite the advent of CDs and digital streaming services, the turntable is still spinning at Big Al’s.

As for the name of the shop, owner Dale Brigham said, “my middle name is Alan and Big Dale’s didn’t sound right.”

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But as for the reason for opening up the hot wax business, Brigham said that had as much to do with the heart as the sound of the music format.

“My wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 50,” said Brigham. “And it’s funny because music is the only thing she remembers. She doesn’t remember her family but play an Aerosmith song – and she is non-verbal – she will spit out the words to an Aerosmith song and tap to the music. . .That’s kind of why I got in it, to bring people back their memories.”

With 60,000 records to choose from spanning decades of recorded music, Brigham said it would be hard for him to pick out a single favourite but there is something he does love.

“It’s like a time capsule,” Brigham said of records. “People come in and pick a record and they’ll go, ‘geez, I bought that in 1972, I was doing math homework that night.’ What they had for dinner last night – no idea – but (records) bring back so many memories.”

However, pushed on the topic of his favourite record, Brigham coughed up his hot pick.

“Buckingham Nicks, before they were Fleetwood Mac,” he said. “They had a special record come out – I think I spent a dollar on it at the time – and it’s still my favourite record. . .But I’ll listen to anything.”

While Big Al’s Records customer Zachary Doble may have been born in this millennium, he says the warm sound of vinyl provides a unique sound and scouring the bins of used-record stores always holds the possibility of coming across something you won’t find online.

“I prefer records because it has a different feeling,” said Doble, a budding musician. “You can access any type of music that you want on the Internet but if you come to a record store that sells used records from 40-, 50-, 60-years ago, it’s more a shot in the dark and I think that’s special.”