Charlie Grappone
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Charlie Grappone (February 5, 1951 - ) is an Italian-American DJ most notable for his ownership and management of his record store Vinylmania Records, located in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Grappone grew up in the heavily Italian area of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, NY. He is the second oldest sibling of Carmine and Marie Grappone. His sister, Marcia, is older and his three brothers, John and the twins Richard and Raymond, are all younger. As a child, Grappone grew up with a love for music, and most would say his siblings did as well. Every son, at some point in his life, ended up working in some facet of the music industry once they became older. Charlie has his store, Raymond is an experienced drummer, John has worked at various radio stations throughout the country, and Richard has worked for his brother Charlie at Vinylmania and has worked for record labels as well. Charlie married at the age of 20, marrying Debra Colasanto in 1972.
Grappone worked various other jobs before owning Vinylmania. He was also a schoolteacher, a teacher of English to foreign immigrants, and even had a two-day stint as a taxi driver which Grappone has been quoted as saying was the worst 2 days of his life. However in 1978 he opened up his store Vinylmania Records at 60 Carmine St. in Manhattan. A record store that catered to mainly DJ's, Vinylmania didn't initially succeed. It wasn't until the early 80's, when Grappone brought in music enthusiasts Judy Russell and Manny Lehman, that the store truly found success. The success of the store continued throughout the 80's, with Grappone even able to start his own record label in 1986 (The label is now defunct). Vinylmania even saw high-profile celebrities making appearances to greet customers and sign autographs. Guests included Sarah McLachlan, Raquel Welch and even a young Madonna. Grappone was also able to open 4 more Vinylmania stores throughout Manhattan (all of which are now closed).
After having up to 35 employees working for him, Grappone closed the last of his Vinylmania stores on March 17th, 2007 with only one employee left at the time of closing. Vinylmania was one of the longest lasting independent record stores ever, though hadn't seen true success in business since the 1980s, which was Grappone's reason for closing its doors. Grappone and his wife currently reside in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn with their son, Daniel. Their older son Charles Jr. lives in the Astoria section of Queens, New York and works closeby to his father's store.
