If you’ve bought an album or visited a record store in the area in the last two decades or so, chances are that you’ve encountered a good-natured guy named Manny somewhere along the way. From the moment in 1989 when the diehard music lover started working as a clerk at the Dale Mabry location of indie record mecca Vinyl Fever, Manny Kool was in it for life.
Splitting time between the local store and its Tallahassee sister location as a Florida State University student, Manny (real last name Matalon) had the luxury of working the Tally store during the school year and the South Tampa store during summers and holidays.
He’d soon become a part of the team of Dave Hundley and Tony Rifugiato and their No Clubs! moniker, working shows at St. Pete’s State Theatre as well as the nearby record shop, Daddy Kool. First a runner for shows at the venue, Manny soon made himself more valuable to the duo. “I made myself indispensable: I was cleaning, doing maintenance, doing the ordering, working the bar; I did everything but run lights, sound and security,” he laughs. But he made his presence known, not only as a viable part of that organization, but as an affable figure on the music scene.
Where the records were, and still are, in Tampa Bay
Mr. Kool is happy to be a part of the culture of music: promoting it, selling it, making it more available to all and just relishing in it. Though he doesn’t play music himself, he is deeply affected by it. “It’s been a major influence in my life,” he declares. And he’s glad to be immersed in it every day. Walk into Daddy Kool’s on Central and you’ll more than likely be welcomed by Manny himself, who’s always willing to help out, make suggestions, research a song or an album for you, or just talk to you about great music.
He grew up going to mall record stores; he mentions now-defunct chain stores like Tampa Bay Center’s Musicland and Westshore Plaza’s Record Bar as some of his earliest haunts. Having grown up in that atmosphere, Manny knows the emotional attachment that comes with the territory. It wasn’t that long ago that many record stores were having to shut their doors due to a slumping economy and decreased interest in collecting albums and CDs.
He, like many, took the closures personally and describes the downward turn with one word: “Heartbreaking.”
But this eternal optimist thinks the worst times are behind us. In both this area and on a national level, Kool feels that the tide is turning. He enthusiastically name-drops record stores that have popped up in the area in recent years, like St. Pete’s Planet Retro, Tampa’s Microgroove and Steelworker Records. Whatever the reasons for the shift, Manny is ecstatic that there are more local independent music shops for record lovers to choose from.
Read: Ask the Locals — Manny Kool, record store impresario
He’s jazzed to recall some of the memorable events he’s had the good fortune to be involved in. In-store appearances by Black Angels, a poetry reading by Otep Shamaya, and a meet-and-greet session with outlandish metal band Gwar rank among his favorite experiences. But he seems downright giddy when recalling a performance by alternative band Garbage at the State Theater years ago. And he’s amazed that he survived a Marilyn Manson show at Jannus on a night when police and first responders all vacated the downtown St. Pete area to tend to local rioting that was happening nearby.
“There’ve been so many people before me who set things up for me,” he acknowledges. “I was just in the right place at the right time… I’m the luckiest guy I know.”
If you’ve ever visited Daddy Kool on the annual event Record Store Day, you know how packed and crazy it gets in there. It’s enough to overwhelm anyone, but Manny is as cool and engaging among the confusion as he is on any other day you visit that shop. A record store is only as good as the people who run it. He refers to himself as the “operator” of the store for lack of a more authoritative title.
But he’s more than that; he’s one of the guys who makes the scene strong and vital. And he does that every day he shows up for work.
Read more about the music issue here.
