‘Coming out here I started out at the bottom,” recalls Needle to the Groove record store owner Allen Johnson, also known by his DJ moniker, Albert Jenkins.
After relocating to San Jose in the early 2000s from the Midwest with his wife and working stints at Clear Channel radio and Streetlight Records, Johnson says he was looking for something different.
One of the DJ’s favorite shops to buy vinyl from then was the Needle to the Groove record store in Fremont’s Niles District, founded by vinyl enthusiast Dan Bernal.
The store was a place where vinyl thrived and collection culture was celebrated. And it was at that first flagship store bearing the Needle to the Groove name where the idea to open another store in the South Bay came to be. Looking to donate a huge chunk of his and his wife’s vinyl collection, Johnson headed to the record shop.
“Dan and I talked for a while that day. He was like, ‘Man, you’ve got good stuff, you ever thought about opening up your own shop?’”
Johnson suggested they open a shop together, not wanting to compete with the Fremont store. With Bernal’s blessing and encouragement, Johnson broke ground in 2014 on Santa Clara Street in San Jose—only three storefronts away from where it resides today.
“It was hard—I learned a lot the first two years,” Johnson laughs, remembering the difficulties faced in the early years of establishing the brick-and-mortar record store in downtown. “I didn’t do my state taxes right, but then a year later I did. I had a good work ethic. Eventually we just learned how to figure things out.”
Johnson says he attributes the store’s early success to teaming up with Michael Boado, also known as DJ Basura—a fellow Streetlight Records alumnus and music collector—and all of the “blood, sweat and tears” they put in together in the first few years of the record store’s operation. “We were open 10am to 8pm, working 10-hour days with no AC. Summers were sweaty and winters were very cold.”
Both vinyl collectors grew up surrounded by music, working in record shops and DJing in their early 20s. “It’s rare to find someone that grinds just as hard as you, but that was Mike.”
Johnson says a decade later, they both still love the shop so much they “never call in sick.”
Only a few years after opening, Needle to the Groove had outgrown their original space. “In 2018 we were fortunate enough to buy a really large record collection and that inventory helped us succeed,” Johnson says.
A man brought in a sample of his “phenomenal collection”—4,000 vinyls, featuring vintage, grunge and ’80s cuts, including rare, signed records. “He used to work for the Fillmore, selling tickets. Had a lot of signed posters and LPs. My wife and I put up a lot of our money to get that collection at the time and it was so worth it. It was a game changer.”
Following the acquisition, the record shop was able to hire another vinyl enthusiast, Tucker Gootee, and expand into a proper “2,500-square-feet store that had AC,” says Johnson. The move to their current digs downtown was a joyous one, and one of the store’s biggest milestones to date.
“A couple contractor buddies, Tucker, Mike, my wife and I, and Dan were there and it was great being surrounded by my people. We started the label there a little after that and it’s all just been a blessing.”
Their diverse, eclectic namesake label was established six years ago, says hip-hop historian-professor and Needle to the Groove label head David Ma.
“We do limited tape runs, working with local musicians and bands. It’s been a great way to get the community together, throwing events surrounding local projects.”
It’s hard to quantify the impact Needle to the Groove has had on the local music scene, Ma says. It is one of the only record shops in San Jose, and also one of few black-owned record shops in the U.S.
The label is also “POC-ran,” says the journalist, podcaster and historian, and they’re proud of the fact that it releases music that “isn’t always played on the radio.”
In the last decade, Needle to the Groove has cemented its place in local music history with several collaborations, including Music in the Park, record swaps at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and curating a stage at the 2023 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.
“These events and moments really stick with me because they’re the reality of what it’s been to be local,” Johnson says. “We recently had Bill Burr come in and he gave us so much love. … And Peanut Butter Wolf, a Piedmont Hills guy, booked us in LA and he told his bar manager, ‘Hey, this is Allen and he owns my favorite record store!’ It’s very humbling to experience that…I’m not a braggadocious guy. I’m always looking out for my community and I never forget my roots, who I am and where I’m from.”
In the next 10 years, Johnson says he sees the shop “still around and still in business” and still just as committed to collecting and selling vintage vinyl.
“I’ve always tried to keep the store vinyl-centric, specializing in vintage vinyl records. I wanted Needle to the Groove to be a haven—for record collectors, music nerds and just people who come in looking for music that they can’t find anywhere else.”
With a daughter heading off to college in a year or so and a 7-year-old son, Johnson says the hope is that someday they’ll take over the family business. “We kinda groomed them and said, ‘Hey, we want to keep this going. If anything should happen to us, please keep the shop going!’” Johnson says. “We want to stay loyal to our community and be active, always. We want to keep the good vibes going.”
Needle to the Groove’s 10-year anniversary party takes place Aug. 20, 6–10pm, at Still O.G. Hi-Fi Vinyl Bar, 66 S 1st St, San Jose. 21 and over, no cover.
