A lil' history…the Shake It Records Label was started by Jess Hirbe & Doc Kalmus in 1979 as a way to issue records from local no-goods - mainly The Customs. It sat dormant for most of the 1980's until it was revived to issue The Mortals "The One" 7' in 1993. Since then, the label's present owners have released albums, CD's & 7's from The Nomads, Hogscraper, Hasil Adkins, The Cowslingers, Tigerlilies, Long Gones, Man or Astroman? Dalhart Imperials, Eric Kinsey & His Tip-Top Daddies, Customs, Mr. Dibbs, Greenhornes & more. Some remain in print & are available through the label page.

Along the way we began selling other music we liked via the label-related mailorder catalog that eventually evolved into a 1,200 square foot storefront in the Spring of 1999 in the neighborhood of Northside - just outside of downtown Cincinnati, near the University of Cincinnati. In the Summer of 2001 we moved to our present 3,000+ square foot location just a block south of our original site. For a complete tour of our storefront please go to tour the store. If you happen to be passin' through Cincinnati, we are just a few minutes off of both the I-74 & I-75 highways. Click here for directions.

Our current store stocks tens of thousands of titles on compact disc plus approximately 8000 titles on vinyl. In addition, we have well-stocked used cd & lp selections. We carry some mainstream releases, but we specialize in independent labels from the obvious to the obscure - Chicago post-punk art-rock to Ethiopian boog-a-loo and all stops in between - rockabilly, vintage soul, r&b & blues, punk/hardcore, classic country & the best of the new breed, 60's garage & psych, reggae/dub/rocksteady & vintage ska, krautrock, creative hip-hop & electronica, tons of straight ahead rock n' roll & "alternative", plus vintage bop, cool & avant garde jazz, cult soundtracks, Afrobeat/funk, "difficult listening" and much more. In addition we also carry a related selection of video, DVD, books and nearly 600 music & related culture magazines & fanzines. We're introducing new releases and back catalog items every day, so there's always something new in the bins. It would be physically impossible for us to carry every title we would like, so we offer a special order program that gives us access to over 400,000 domestic & import titles at any one time in all genres and on all available formats. Many show up in a couple of days while others, like some imports & microscopic indies, are a bit trickier and take more time.

Our continued growth is due to our commitment to providing quality customer service, striving for the best selection of music in Cincinnati, our enthusiasm for the music we sell & its related culture, involvement in our community and respect for our customers. We know our customers have choices when it comes to fulfilling their music needs and we appreciate the opportunity in trying to meet those needs.