LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Over the last decade, we've seen the resurgence of vinyl records, CDs, and even cassette tapes. With the growing popularity of vintage items, suddenly what's old is new and cool again.
But there's a place here in Little Rock where those relics of the past never went out of style.
If you take a trip down 12th Street, you'll find a piece of living history where one man continues to inspire others to fall in love with the melody of life.
Surrounded by vinyl records, plastic CD cases, and reminders of the past sits a man with a unique name— Ugly Mike.
"Well, I like being ugly. You know, you can't tell who's pretty until you stand somebody ugly up next to them," owner and operator of Ugly Mike's Records, Ugly Mike said jokingly.
Since 1979, Ugly Mike has done it all and become a central Arkansas legend.
"We grew up not having anything. You learn how to hustle, you learn how to go out and get yours because my parents didn't have anything to give us. But I've always been a go-getter," Ugly Mike explained.
Ugly Mike's Records is a two-story building where you can find hits ranging from the Supremes and Barbara Streisand on vinyl pressed in the 70s to new music released just this year.
There's so much music, in fact, that Ugly Mike can barely keep up.
"I come in and I looked at all the albums I had bought, and I say, well, I think I'll put these up later," he said with a laugh.
From day one, the business has been owned and operated by Mr. Ugly Mike. But how did he get his signature nickname?
"The name came from when I was a kid playing football. I was kind of dirty. And one evening, the coach said 'this boy, sho play ugly don't he.' At first, they just started calling me ugly, then they put Mike at the end and it stuck," Ugly Mike said.
The North Little Rock native joined the Navy after Scipio A. Jones High School. During a stint in Massachusetts, he discovered a passion for music and went on to become a DJ for a radio station and comedian.
"I was the lead DJ and I had this raggedy equipment. Every time it broke down, I would get on the mic and I would just talk until I got it fixed. And one night the guy came and asked me if was I a comedian. And I lied and said yeah, he offered me $300 to do a show. Now at that time, I was making maybe $40 a night playing music. I had to go get that $300," Ugly Mike said.
He would eventually return home in 1979 to open his own record shop originally on Wolfe Street and Wright Avenue until he took a trip down 12th Street.
"I returned home in 1979, [like the] the disco hit. And it was hard for me to get the job steady. And I had gotten used to making money then, you know making a few dollars. So I say well, if I can't make any money, maybe I can go home and just open up my own store," he said.
Almost 45 years later, the business at 4710 W 12th St. has become a staple of the community and a place filled with music and memories, especially for people like Felton Singleton.
"I'm from West 12th Street. I grew up in Highland Court," Singleton said. "We used to come over here and, and play Pac-Man. He had to Pac-Man machines. We would come over and he'd have little snacks."
Singleton added that Mike is a living legend to many.
"He's the same guy from way back when. His attitude never changed and he has always been willing to help people," he said. "Mike got a big heart. Now he don't go for you messing over him.”
But it's not just snacks and a place to escape that keeps people coming back. For decades, Ugly Mike used his store to put the spotlight on young artists.
His record label, Cold Heat Records, gave aspiring stars a place to record their music and the counter space to get it out into the community.
"Everybody was the same. That's how I looked at it. You know? Johnny Taylor goes to the bathroom just like you. Put your stuff right there," said Ugly Mike.
Because there's only one rule to being a "hustler".
"The bottom line is I'm in business to make money, period," he said with a laugh. "I cannot sing and if you put a tune in a bucket. I couldn't even carry it. Everybody always said I had the ear for music. I had to listen to something to tell you if I thought it would be a hit. Mostly I say nine out of 10 times that'd be right.”
The shop has also been a stop for many celebrities, from R&B singer Usher to rappers like Coolio.
"I had no idea it would be Usher of today," he said. "And I liked visiting with Coolio. Coolio was good."
But nothing beats the day that Pretty Tony shot his "Down in the Dirty" music video outside the shop.
"14-15,000 people showed up. I go out to Sam's and buy every bottle of water they had. Hey, it was in the summertime and I sold every one of them," Ugly Mike said. "Because a video shoot [is] fine with me, but I'm hoping to make money."
Longtime DJ and Director of Programming at Cumulus Media, Joe Booker of the Broadway Joe Morning Show is an expert at spinning and buying records.
"There used to be Stax Wax and Tapes which was right there beside Philander Smith College. And then there was Soul Brother's Record Shops, and that's where Arkansas Baptist College is now. And then it was Ugly Mike," he described. "And out of all of them, Ugly Mike's is still going."
It's Ugly Mike's durability and friendship that's kept people like Joe coming back.
"I think that's part of why he's still here. Because everybody has to figure out what's the next? What's the next niche? What's this? What's that? And he keeps going in and you don't do stuff like that unless you do good business," Booker said.
Ugly Mike was also involved in his community. For years, he was a coach and sponsor for a little league football team called The Razorbacks and a little league baseball team called the Burns Park Cardinals.
"We were the first predominantly Black baseball team to win a state championship in Arkansas," Ugly Mike said.
Where some may see a place filled with junk and dusty stacks of timeless music, for many, the record shop is a testament to how it pays off to be in tune with the community.
And despite the name, Ugly Mike said he's lived a "pretty" good life.
"That would be my legacy. I was this guy who had this record store, Ugly Mike's Records, and he did all right. He did us alright and he did alright," Ugly Mike said with a smile.