Featured Essay: I'll Take Two Slices of Vinyl With Extra Cheese: The Pittsburgh Pizza and Vinyl Crawl

by Vincent T. Ciaramella

In the world of gastronomy there are many pairings that have transcended the table and have become part of the lexicon when describing combinations that complement each other. We are all familiar with “wine and cheese” and “peanut butter and jelly,” now I want to offer the world a new union of sonic bliss and cheesy goodness. Friends, lets welcome “pizza and vinyl.”

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Does this dude expect me to eat my copy of The Heartbreakers L.A.M.F covered with a generous helping of mozzarella?” Well, no but if you do that’s pretty punk rock of you. No, I am talking about a tour that was organized by my friend of 30+ years, Mr. Michael Moats. So, what is it? Well, let me explain. The formula is simple and there is no need to find the Philosopher’s Stone to create your own. All you need is a town with a few vinyl shops and a good mom and pop pizza scene. Pittsburgh has both in spades. If your town is a pizza and vinyl desert, then I suggest a weekend trip to the nearest city that fits the bill. 

The instructions are simple. Pick any vinyl shop to start. Shop, but don’t blow your budget all at once. You have more stops to make! After you make your choice of vinyl, proceed to the first pizza shop on your list for A SLICE. This isn’t about filling up, it’s about sampling. If the pizza place only does whole pies, order a small and split it among your party. If you’re going solo, well, I guess you’ll look like Dave Portnoy in his One Bite Pizza Reviews. After you’ve finished your slice, go to the next vinyl shop on the list and repeat the process until you have completed the crawl. In this, you will get to visit many different record stores and sample many different slices around your city. It’s a great way to get to know a neighborhood you might not be familiar with while supporting small businesses. Let me share our latest pizza and vinyl crawl with you folks. If you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, feel free to copy our route.

Our journey began on Saturday July 26 with a stop at Get Hip Records in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh. This store showcases the artists signed to the Get Hip label as well as a wide variety of national acts and a great used section. Here, I found my Holy Grail, The Heartbreakers L.A.M.F. Yeah, I can order it online but what fun is that? My 9-year-old son and fellow pizza and vinyl crawl veteran, Enzo, grabbed Ozzy Osbourne’s Bark at the Moon, filling in a slot in his growing Ozzy collection. Our two traveling companions Mike and his nephew Wyatt both found treasures as well. Wyatt came away not only with a sweet classic Black Flag t-shirt but also an early birthday present from his buddy Enzo, a copy of Black Flag’s The First Four Years. After that it was off to Rockaway Pizza in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh. After a sweet slice of garlic and caramelized onion, yours truly was ready to hunt vinyl and ward off vampires. Our next stop was Pizza Lupo in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Now you might be saying, “two pizza places back-to-back?” Yep, we try and map out a route without backtracking and in this case, that meant going to two pizza places in a row. There I had one of the best slices of pizza ever fashioned west of Italy. It was like kissing an angel with tangy sauce lipstick. We ate our pizza in the parking lot of a nearby grocery store (there are no seats in Pizza Lupo, keep that in mind if you go) and then moved on to our next stop in the Millvale neighborhood, The Attic. 

Folks, let me tell you about The Attic. This placehas every obscure album you can think of. If Billy the Kid time traveled and recorded a bunch of outlaw country ditties with a Thomas Edison phonograph, they would have it. There, I procured Pailhead’s Trait on purple vinyl while Enzo grabbed Primus’ Tales from the Punchbowl.  It was then a thirty-minute drive to another one of the area’s vinyl hotspots, Preserving Record Shop and Preserving Vinyl. If you read my previous article on Captain Beyond, you may remember the name. To make it simple, Preserving Record Shop is in the old church on 5th Avenue in New Kensington, PA. Preserving Vinyl is about a quarter of a mile down the road also on 5th Avenue in New Kensington, PA in an old “Main St U.S.A” storefront. The difference is that the Preserving Records location has more underground records while Preserving Vinyl has more mainstream and an awesome used section. It was at the latter that I found the latest in my quest for obscure 70’s vinyl, an original copy of Parliament’s Mothership Connection. Talk about a major score! Did I ever tell you I saw Geroge Clinton walking around downtown Pittsburgh back in the 90’s? No? Well, maybe next time. Enzo found two albums, one at each location. At Preserving Vinyl, he grabbed Primus’ Pork Soda (he is on a MAJOR Primus kick) and at the Preserving Record Shop he grabbed a copy of Motörhead’s Deaf Forever single while I grabbed Judge’s Bringin’ It Down. Afterwards, it was off to Gus Franco’s Pizza in Lower Burrell, PA where we were treated to a wood fire sonic boom of flavors. Call ahead as they do timed pizza. What does that mean? That means you call at 4:40 and they tell you your pizza is scheduled to go in at 5:20 as they are a small shop with limited pizza baking space. Trust me, it’s worth the wait! 

With the last bit of crust consumed, the sun set on another pizza and vinyl crawl. Now, we don’t do this often as we’d be broke and 800 lbs. However, we plan these bacchanalian feasts of vinyl, dough, and cheese every four months. So, look out waistlines and wallets, November is just around the corner! 

Vincent T. Ciaramella is a high school Psychology teacher by trade, Vince is also a published author with ten books and multiple articles under his belt including published works through SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), IBRO (International Boxing Research Organization), and History Magazine. His latest book is “A Shooting Star Across the Silver Screen- Olive Thomas: A Biography.” When not writing or teaching, Vince and his vinyl hunting partner and vinyl collector himself, Enzo Ciaramella, are out looking for some more titles to add to their collections.

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