Music

A Crying Shame

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Jeff Thames, musician and host of KPFT's Soundawake: "Through it all, Quinn has been a staunch supporter of my (and the station's) exploits. I should mention that you could find the debut CD from Small Craft Advisory -- on which I served as keyboardist -- on sale at Cactus as late as 2000, four years after it was released. A pretty impressive shelf life for a not particularly successful endeavor."

Let's Hear It for the Boy, Part Two: Tributes to George St. Clair, a.k.a. the Video God

John Cramer, musician, occasional Press contributor and Alabama Bookstop employee: "George is the coolest guy in the world, and no brain-dead retard from Blockbuster will ever replace his genius.

"Typical Blockbuster experience:

"Me: 'Uhh…do you guys have the latest documentary from Werner Herzog? Not the grizzly bear one, but the one about the hot-air balloon guy?'

"Blockbuster doofus: 'Is John Leguizamo in it?'

Cactus will be sorely missed."

Ramon Medina, guitarist, Linus Pauling Quartet: "Cactus was the video rental store. What am I gonna do without George!!"

The Cactus Je Ne Sais Quoi

Rob Mahan, songwriter: "Cactus was always a good place to go on an afternoon when you needed to get out of the house but didn't have any place to go or anything to do or much desire to put on a clean shirt or tie your shoes. It was a good place to go when you didn't want to see anybody or be seen by anybody but didn't mind running into someone else in the same condition. It was a good place to gather your thoughts about what really happened the night before. Often you would run into someone you were with the night before and your reaction to seeing them or their reaction to seeing you would help put the pieces together. Then you could pick out a movie at random and pretend you did something with your day."

John Cramer: "Working next door at Bookstop afforded us the dubious honor of being around their stoner asses day in and day out. My fondest memory is of the day I went to lunch and happened to pass a Cactus-mobile filled to the brim with Cactus folk. The car was also filled with a (very noticeable) cloud of what clearly smelled like the devil's weed. It was in broad daylight, mind you, but those guys were clearly professionals. I remember the 'What? We're not doin' nothin'…' look I got as I walked past. Classic Cactus."

Reg Burns, manager, Little Joe Washington: "On a sunny Saturday afternoon…stopping by the West Alabama Ice House for a cold beer (or three) followed by a drop-in to Cactus…"

Sam Smith, Cactus customer: "My sharpest memory was the aesthetic pleasure derived from an in-store with the El Orbits a year ago. They played their Christmas set around noon on a beautiful 75-degree winter Saturday. I was a Yankee spending my first Christmas in the South, and the cool Christmas music, the palm trees along Shepherd and the Demeris sign outlined against the blue, blue sky, the retro-Astros El Orbit T-shirts and Pete's stage rap about RC Colas, Moon Pies and depression-era South all contributed to a feeling of a fleeting moment where such contrasts can create a unique kind of serenity that I feel fortunate to have enjoyed. For real."

Paige Mann, former sales manager, Southwest Wholesale: "You met your idols in Cactus. You met your friends in Cactus. You shopped for music and you listened to music in Cactus. You asked a staff member who the bass player for Wilco is and they would know. Ask a staff member for a music recommendation and listen to them describe with both passion and conviction the perfect record for you!

"Cactus never sold music. Cactus was music. Music wasn't a pastime there. It was a lifeline that, for 30 years, we in the music community were lucky enough to share. And after March 31, 2006, music and music retail in this city will never be the same. My best wishes and eternal gratitude go out to my dear friend Quinn Bishop and the entire staff of Cactus. 'Although these changes have come / with your chrome heart shining in the sun / Long may you run.' "

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