Lee Budowsky sat behind the counter at his video store, staring blankly at a blaring monitor. On the screen, a bare-chested giant in a Viking helmet and a fur cloak grimaced and wrenched loud chords from a red-and-white striped guitar.
Budowsky doesn’t carry Top Gun or Rockys I through IV, but if you were itching to get your hands on, say, The Cramps Live at the NAPA State Mental Hospital or Horowitz in London, Budowsky would probably have it or at least know where to find it.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Budowsky opened the Video Beat in June 1985 with only 300 titles. Now he has more than 1,000, divided into broad categories such as rock, jazz, blues, punk, heavy metal, and reggae. The only types of music that haven’t proven popular at the Video Beat are country and classical. There simply aren’t many country and western fans in the area, Budowsky said, and admirers of classical music “tend to be a little intimidated when they come in and see the Butthole Surfers on the wall.”
But d’Budda/Budowsky was the only person in Bohemia married to someone outside of the band. On one of his home visits, in 1983, he learned that his wife was going to have a baby and he decided to leave the group. “It was a major shock to my system, ” said Budowsky, who found himself working as a messenger instead of a musician. I worked like crazy for two years straight, basically to get my mind off of things, and saved money so I could do something with my life. But I didnt know what.”
But the customers keep coming, sometimes from as far away as Flossmoor, Gurnee, Saint Charles, and even South Bend. Despite the shop’s near anonymity on the street, it is doing quite well. “To an accountant, we’d look really good,” Budowsky said. “We’ve done really well for a company that started with less than $20,000. We’ve had some real crucial periods, but the store has always pulled through.”
