For the last 40 years, West Lawn resident Larry O’Connell has been bringing Record Collector shows to the area. Starting out, his first shows were in the back room of a local bar named the Unicorn Inn, some might also remember it as the Honey Bee, at 65th and Pulaski.
“It was a really hopping place. Bands played there every weekend,” remembers O’Connell. “There was plenty going on in the field of entertainment on the Southwest Side but nothing like this, so I thought I’d try it.”
The first show had five vendors and after a couple of more shows, O’Connell had outgrown the space.
That was in 1985. Since then, he has orchestrated shows in a variety of venues including the Midway Holiday Inn, Harvey Holiday Inn, the Double Tree, the Alsip Holiday Inn, the Orland Park Civic Center and its current home for the last several years: Georgios Banquets – Quality Inn of Orland Park.
At his most recent show, last Saturday, 40 vendor tables held vinyl albums, 45s, 33-1/3 records, cassettes, CDs, memorabilia, archival supplies, posters, magazines and more.
Rare finds were interspersed such as a unique Bruce Springfield record with a silhouette figure of the Boss being much of the main playing space of the disc, Kid’s Book with Record sets, concert T-shirts, picture record sleeves, and in some cases, autographed album covers.
Growing up, O’Connell did not have a record collection, but he loved music. His musical enjoyment centered around his transistor radio, and the three-piece Sears drum set he got for his 13th birthday that he taught himself to play.
Once the record shows became popular, he cultivated a collection of his own and learned about cleaning album covers, removing the stickers without leaving a mark, using archival sleeves for protection, cleaning discs themselves and more. And, while every show is different, some of those supplies can be found for sale as well.
While O’Connell has great memories of lots of the people he has met at the shows over the years, there’s one memory that really stands out. It was at an early show at the Harvey Holiday Inn.
“Two priests walked in. They caught my attention right away because they both were wearing their priestly collars,” remembers O’Connell. “To the best of my memory, it was Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) and his friend Ron, who I remember, commented he was a priest-in-training.”
“The crux of the conversation started with a smiling then-Robert asking if we had any new Blues Brothers. At the time, I thought the Blues Brothers only had one album but he politely corrected me pointing out their debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, which came out in 1978.”
“We had a nice conversation about the Blues Brothers, with Ron pointing out that they filmed the movie right down the street at Dixie Square Mall. They were both very upbeat. I enjoyed talking to them and I think that’s why it stuck out in my mind.”
While we’re not going to call His Holiness to confirm his presence that day, the scenario does seem to fit. At one time in his career, Father Prevost was vocation director at Tolentine Center, which was an Augustinian Seminary in Olympia Fields and his parents lived within five miles of the venue where the show was taking place. While these facts may or may not support His Holiness’ presence several decades ago, it’s fun to speculate, too. Judge for yourself.
O’Connell is proud of the longevity and growth of the record shows. He joked that maybe one day in front of the former Unicorn Inn, a bronze plaque might be placed in the sidewalk declaring ‘This is where it started.”
He continues to host these shows. The next one will be July 18. To become a vendor or for more information, call O’Connell at Record Recovery Productions 773-729-8906.
