Listen Up! was started in 1996 by lifelong music fan Russell Reitz.  The 1,500-square-foot store is located at 1 South Ave in Natick.   Reitz sells records and CDs to those passionate about music. 

The future for Listen Up! isn't entirely bleak. ``There's a nostalgia factor here,'' says Reitz. ``People will come in and say, `I haven't seen a store like this in years.'

``Also, the Internet is so impersonal. At some point, it's got to go back the other way. People want to come in and ask questions. `I like this group. Who else would you recommend?' `I like this genre. What else in this genre would I like?' It's the personal interaction that's missing, not just in the music business but in business in general.

``(Listen Up!) is a throwback to the old-fashioned store people grew up with. You walk into a chain store and nobody is there to help you. The strength of a store like this is personal interaction. I actually talk to people about their purchases. I'll say, `That's a great CD,' and that invariably gets the customer going. You can end up having a 15-minute conversation. You learn a lot about their musical tastes.

``I take the time to research stuff, too. If a customer is looking for a song but doesn't know who did it, I'll try to find the connection.'' A computer at the counter assists with this task.

Another plus, according to Reitz, are the special orders. ``Chain stores don't want to do it,'' he says. ``They deal directly with the record companies so they'd have to buy in bulk. It's tough to order one CD. I deal with the distributor so it's no problem buying just one CD.''

As if on cue, a customer enters the store looking for a Dinah Washington-Brook Benton album. It's now a special order.

``When people walk in the door, they're expecting to see this little store,'' says Reitz. ``They walk in and they're overwhelmed by the amount of inventory.''

Not all of the inventory has found a home. Filing is an ongoing process as ``new'' material keeps arriving.

Music from the classic rock era of the 1960s and '70s, especially the early '70s, continues to sell, according to Reitz. ``(Jimi) Hendrix, the Beatles, the Doors, they always sell. I'm always replacing that stuff. And it's not just baby boomers buying it. A lot of young people, they see a used Beatles or Doors album and they snap it right up. The Grateful Dead are very popular.''

Reitz likes classic rock, too, but he's also a fan of blues, jazz, folk and new music from such ``less well-known'' bands as Porcupine Tree and ``more well-known'' bands at the White Stripes.

``The music keeps me going,'' says Reitz. ``I'm always looking for something new and different

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