Prime Cuts, with Don Kantor and Cara Polizzi

Attendance Bias

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. And boy, do I have a heck of a show for you today. A few things to note before we get started:

First, I was so excited to talk to today’s guests that I literally forgot to plug in my microphone before I hit record. Yes, really. As a result, the computer mic picked up my voice, and it doesn’t sound as clear as usual. I couldn’t believe it once I noticed, but after about two minutes of listening back to the recording, I barely noticed. I hope that you have the same experience. Sorry about that.

Second, today’s episode features a lot--and I mean a lot--of references and name-checks of locations around Long Island. There are two guests today, and all three of us are from the area. Plus, the focus of today’s episode is a store that was on Long Island, along with a show from the Nassau Coliseum. So if you grew up on or near Long Island--especially in the 80s or 90s, today’s conversation will stir up tons of memories, and put a smile on your face. If you’re not from Long Island, you can either break out a map or you can just nod along as the references come out fast and hard.

All that said, today’s episode completes a full circle for me, and answered questions that I’ve been wondering about for decades. This podcast is a passion project of mine, and speaking to today’s guests is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. As personal as it is, I suspect that it will be meaningful to fans who had a similar upbringing to mine, and especially fans from the northeast, or at least the tri-state area.

Today’s guests are Don Kantor and Cara Polizzi, the owner and manager, respectively, of Prime Cuts, a no-longer-operational head shop that was primarily located in Rockville Center and then Bellmore, Long Island.

You’ll hear me say this in just a few minutes, but soon after I discovered Phish, I discovered Phish tapes. For a young teenager who didn’t have full time access to the internet and not knowing other fans made it pretty difficult to access any unofficial Phish recordings. Through a friend’s sister, I discovered Prime Cuts. And Prime Cuts is where I discovered the world of Phish tapes, as well as tapes from many many other bands.

Prime Cuts was more than a store. It was a discovery, it was a connection to a wider world, it was a community center, and it was an oasis for those who were into the scene and didn’t know how to find like minded fans.

In today’s conversation with Don and Cara, we all go deep into the origins of the store, the nuts and bolts of how the taping process worked and answer the long-debated question of whether or not Prime Cuts’ taping allowance was sanctioned by Phish.

For the Attendance Bias segment of the episode, Don chose to discuss the 2nd set of April 3, 1998 at the Nassau Coliseum, and Cara chose to talk about Fluffhead and You Enjoy Myself from Phish’s 3.0 comeback show on March 6, 2009 at the Hampton Colisum. Both picks are epic highlights of the band’s career and I was also thrilled at how much crossover there was with other Attendance Bias stories from past guests.

Well, enough from me. I hope you can feel the love and joy in this conversation with Don and Cara of Prime Cuts.

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1. Prime Cuts, with Don Kantor and Cara Polizzi (00:00:00)

2. [Ad] Find the next great song for your playlists. (00:11:33)

3. (Cont.) Prime Cuts, with Don Kantor and Cara Polizzi (00:12:21)