A little feature of “06880”‘s daily Roundup is a song (or three) at the end.
It may be linked to an artist’s birthday. A historic happening, that day in history. Or a random connection to one of the stories in that particular Roundup.
It takes a bit of digging to find those birthdays and historic events. But most of the songs to accompany them pop into my head fairly quickly.
I’m no music expert. But I was fortunate enough to grow up knowing Sally White.
I first met her when I was about 12. Sally ran the record department at Klein’s, the downtown department store located for decades where Banana Republic most recently was.
She had plenty of famous customers — Dave Brubeck and Barry Tashian, to name two. But she always had time for me.
Later, she opened her own shop, a few yards north on Main Street. Because it was hers alone, Sally’s Place was even better than Klein’s.
Her customers were equally famous — Keith Richards and Mary Travers were regulars — but she still always had time for me. And everyone else.
She knew what we liked, and either had it or ordered it. She also knew what we would like, even if we didn’t know it at the time. Casually but insistently, she got it in our hands.
I thought of all that last week, when a photo of Sally surfaced on social media.
Sally White, at Klein’s Department Store. Her customer — Terry Coen — was a Staples High School student who became a noted record promoter. Like so many others, he learned a lot from Sally. (Photo courtesy of Steve Baldwin)
Thank you, Sally. Plenty of people comment on my Roundup selections of the day.
But you were my professor, at the College of Musical Knowledge.
(To read more on the closing of Sally’s Place in 2013, click here. To read tributes after her death in 2017, click here.)