Johnny Kass of Go Johnny Go Records has a serious love for vinyl. The passion that started after seeing his cousins’ collections in the mid-1960s has been growing ever since. How does he explain it? “It seemed like [collecting records] was the only thing I was ever really interested in,” says Kass. Even as a kid he was hooked. Kass remembers his disappointment when his mom returned from the dentist’s office where she was “picking up his records” with a file full of papers in her arms instead of a sleeve with vinyl.
As he grew older, Kass found a job that incorporated his passion for music. He worked for a division of Warner Music Group as a sales representative to independent record stores and was more than willing to take these stores’ records when they wanted to make the switch to CDs. Still, with music coming and going, Kass doesn’t have any problem choosing his favorite album: Radios Appear by the ’70s Australian band Radio Birdman.
Now with a storefront in White Bear Lake, Johnny Kass has really let his collection grow—to almost 500,000. If you are looking for a record for your wish list, Kass recommends searching for the albums on the Go Johnny Go website. If you find one you want, send him an email and he can bring it to the store for you. To sell large record collections, give the store a call. Or just bring in your smaller collections and talk to Johnny; he’ll be happy to see you.
