In contrast to the lake effect clouds darkening the Buffalo skies in the middle of the day, I recognized the radiant turquoise and yellow paint of my destination immediately. The record store stood out next to the rest of the empty, Rust Belt street called Mach Luchey Way, named after the old owner of the record store actually.
Outside it was dark, windy, and by the time I left the store, snowing. But inside Doris Records, it is warm and cheerful. Behind layers of clothes, underwear, CDs, records, and other odd items and products for sale, Sean Carter oversees the store from behind the counter.
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52-year-old Carter –– whose nickname is Big Pete –– is in charge of the store. But he’s not the owner, he insists.
Carter claims that his late father, Mack Luchey, is still the owner to him and that his spirit still lives inside the store. Luchey opened the store in 1962 with his wife at the time, Doris, who the store is named after. Carter says that Luchey and Doris separated before he was born, but the store lived on.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, Carter says that the neighborhood in Buffalo’s East Side where Doris Records is located used to be much busier before economic plight took hold. Back in the day, Rick James, the late funk musician, grew up next door and used to spend time at Doris Records talking with Luchey, who Carter says “encouraged him.” After James made it big, he returned to the store later with a signed plaque that he gifted to Luchey, thanking him for his encouragement along the way. Other prominent artists made a point of stopping by Doris Records while they were in town, including the local group Griselda.
Carter says Doris Records is the oldest business in the neighborhood. He’s dedicated to maintaining it almost like a shrine to his father. He calls it a “museum” where community members and guests come to reminisce about the old days when Luchey was still around.
While many other businesses in the neighborhood have shut down since the early days of Doris Records, Carter says his store was able to survive by “adapting.”
Fighting against the threat of economic failure, Carter turned Doris Records into a “variety store,” finding new ways to make money like selling tickets to events and serving as a UPS drop-off location. There is even a fridge outside where community members can get food for free, which Carter says is about carrying on his dad’s “tradition of being a part of the community.”
“Hopefully that door keeps opening and people keep coming in and just support,” Carter says.
What’s the history of the store?
Back then, everything around here was thriving. My father was a hard-working man. He started when he was young. Him and his wife, she actually worked at a record store on Broadway, and they had an idea and they opened up here and we’ve been thriving ever since.
How’d you manage to stay open?
We still have a few loyal customers that buy CDs and stuff for the ones that are available. We sell used music, more like a variety store now. Events that are coming to town, like book signings, movie premiers, concerts, anywhere from spoken word to sporting events, we sell tickets. We sell tickets ranging from here to Rochester, Syracuse sometimes, Niagara Falls. Any time there is an event, even if we don’t have tickets, you can call here, get the information. It’s like the go-to spot.
We adapted to whatever was going on. Our main thing was a music store but we always had a variety of different things going on. We still sell music, but it’s not the mainstay because everybody’s got the phones now. But there’s still loyal customers and we do a lot with the used records now.
So we get lots of collectors, lots of people from Canada. People come from all over, they hear about us. People be finding gems. Some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure. At one point we were servicing prison facilities, sending them clothes and food packages and music.
Right now it’s actually like a museum. A lot of people still come in here, bring their families that have moved away, their kids and grandkids, and reminisce about how this place was when they were younger.”
What do people come here to see?
They still see the old posters and they come in and get to telling stories about when they were little and how my father used to greet everybody in the neighborhood. The nostalgia of the building is still here.
It’s a place of peace. It’s a sanctuary for the neighborhood.
Tell me about some of the artists that have been in the store.
Rick James. There used to be a building next door, they lived upstairs. He would come in here and study. He would pick up the records and look in the back and write down addresses to the record labels and told my dad one day “I’m gonna be big” and my dad kept encouraging him. And he never stopped coming back. He would come in here and tell that story about how my dad encouraged him.
Anybody you name that came through Buffalo eventually came here. I remember one time Ice Cube came in. He had just left NWA, the Boys in the Hood movie was premiering, and he was in here signing autographs and there was a line around the corner. And of course, they had somewhere else to be. And he looked out there and he said, “You know what, I ain’t leaving until everybody gets an autograph.”
Biggie was in here before he blew up. Jay Z, he was in here back in the day before he took off.
A lot of the local artists, they all come in here, just to get that knowledge. There aren’t too many record stores. When my father was around, there were concerts and shows and a lot of clubs and bars around here in the ‘60s and ‘70s. So my father knew a lot of them personally.
Tell us about the relationship Rick James had with your father.
The building is not here anymore. It was the lot next door, and there was an upstairs apartment that his mom occupied. There was a grocery store next door, Mr. Greens, a bodega. He spent a lot of time in here picking my dad’s brain. And whenever the artists would come he would be right in here just soaking up game. And everything he said he was going to do he did.
Then he got his plaque and came back and gave my dad one and took a picture with him. My dad always encouraged him and said “Stay at it, it’s gonna happen.” And he happened and he never forgot. This was his home, so whenever he was in town, he’d come. His family still comes in here.
They actually got a play, a musical, called The Rick James Story that we’re selling tickets for now. It’s at Sheas.
What’s your relationship with the current Buffalo music scene?
With Griselda, I knew them when they were younger guys. And my cousin, DJ Shay, helped them a lot to stay on the music path. He passed away a couple of years ago due to Covid, God rest his soul, but he was a big anchor in their career. So I watched them progress from figuring it out, trying to figure it out, and writing. I got a lot of their early music that was never released. I was there, like, actually there seeing it.
Buffalo is a very talented town. We just don’t have the reach like other major cities so when people do break out and other places be so surprised. So [we knew Griselda would hit]. Them boys stuck to it and everything they’re getting they deserve. They really worked hard. There were so many obstacles that could have took them another route. They still stuck to what they set out to do. I’m proud of them boys.
As small as Buffalo is, we are influential on a lot of levels as far as music. We have artists on tour with major artists all the time.
It’s a lot of people that sing background, dance for artists. There’s a lot of talent that comes out that’s got ties to Buffalo. A lot of people’s foundation is Buffalo, and we all still keep in touch with each other.
Last words?
Doris Records is here to stay. God is good. We could have shut the doors down, but nah. My father, he wouldn’t be happy with that. As long as we wake up and we have the will to do it, we are gonna do it. Hopefully, that door keeps opening and people keep coming in and just support. We support them, they support us. We work together.
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
