Q&A: Baby Cigs & Ice Cream Cones

Tom Noble: "No. My dad had a flying V."

Upon entering Superior Elevation Records, I wasn’t totally prepared for the coiffed putto halfway through his first cig. It was a strangely familiar face, one that struck a power chord in my espresso-fueled skull — a riotous cacophony that sounded a hell of a lot like Van Halen:

Paaaanamuh!

Paaaanamuh-uh!

Van Halen’s sixth studio album, “1984,” — home to “Jump!”, “Hot for Teacher” and, of course, “Panama,” — has been floating around my brain goo ever since I was a little guy, bumping the CD on a boombox in the unfinished side of the family basement — smack dab between the boiler and my dad’s power saw.

I was well under five feet tall, standing in socks on the cool cement floor, taking in the band’s seismic riffs, raunchy background chatter (“fuck, man!”), and insane double bass drum. Burnt out from head-banging, I’d eventually catch my breath and study the glossy photorealistic boy on the cover. I related to the blonde locks, but also his posture, which seemed both curious and naive.

I stared at his birdlike angel wing and the cigarette burning in his chubby little hand. It made me crave something that I couldn’t name — probably freedom.

---

FUN FACT: when the album dropped, the UK used a sticker to censor the cover art, veiling the cigarettes.

---

While I continued to examine the front of this LP on a rainy Wednesday afternoon (somehow, at 30, I’m still in awe), I noticed my head bobbing up and down, then swaying effortlessly from side to side. The sound of a killer dance track, followed by some serious 70s soul, filled the store.

Positioned near the long window in the back, floating between the register and a casual DJ set up, Tom Noble — owner of Superior Elevation — was logging boxes of vinyl and spinning honey-smooth records that made me grateful Van Halen was nowhere near the decks. (Sorry, tastes change…)

Slogging my heap of picks to the register, I ended up introducing myself to Tom and asking him about the first record he ever bought.

Folks, you’ll never guess what he said…

---

Tom Noble holding up Van Halen’s “1984” (1984)

JamJar: What was the first record you ever bought?

Tom: The Van Halen “Jump!” picture sleeve. In 1984. I got it from a shopping mall that had, like, a 45 impulse-buy section.

Van Halen “Jump! / House of Pain” picture sleeve (1983)

I got money to buy it from my parents, because they had an art gallery in the mall. And I was just like, “Oh, a baby smoking a cigarette on the cover? I need it.”

JamJar: How’d you first see it?

Tom: On MTV or something — yeah, Van Halen was still pretty new to me at that time.

JamJar: Where was this mall?

Tom: The Prospect Mall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I don’t think it’s there anymore…

Prospect Mall (1976 - 2006)

JamJar: Did your family have a record collection at home?

Tom: They had like 200 records. And it was good stuff — hippie stuff. But also “A Love Supreme” by Coltrane. Their copy would probably be worth $400 nowadays…

I remember all the covers, like “Hot Rats” by Frank Zappa, and some soul stuff.

Frank Zappa’s “Hot Rats” (1969)

JamJar: Were you shaking things up by buying a Van Halen record?

Tom: No. My dad had a flying V.

I guess we had hip parents to a certain degree.

And, actually, I had gotten one record a few years before that, but I didn't buy it myself.

JamJar: What was it?

Tom: “She’s So Cold” by The Rolling Stones. It was a B-side hit that wasn’t really a hit. It was a single on their “Emotional Rescue” record, which is actually sick.

It’s a catchy throwback rock n’ roll song, but the only reason I wanted it was because they sang, “she’s so cold like an ice cream cone.”

Because I was a fucking baby.

JamJar: How old were you?

Tom: I don’t know, like 3 and a half.

JamJar: Oh, so like an actual baby.

Tom: I was like, “I want the ice cream cone song,” and my mom picked it up from the store. That was the trajectory…

JamJar: Wait, so then you were only about 6 years old when you bought Van Halen?

Tom: Yeah, just about 6.

JamJar: Did you immediately start buying more records, or did it take a while after “Jump!”?

Tom: At that point, I was trying to sell my parents’ Amethyst for quarters so I could play “Dragon Slayer” in the mall — we weren’t buying anything much in those days. I was 6!

---

AFTERTHOUGHTS…

According to a friend of mine who spins records around groovy Brooklyn crowds, Tom Noble “is kind of a legend in the community.”

Tom’s been at the helm of Superior Elevation for a decade and counting, racking the shelves with vintage records that span all genres — soul, disco, house, hip-hop, jazz, funk, rock n’ roll (“fuck, man!”). He’s more than fluent in the art of vinyl treasure hunting, churning up rare gems and personal favs, and recycling them into our ears.

As a DJ who released his own sweet-and-sultry disco record with local dance label Razor-N-Tape in 2024, it’s no surprise Superior Elevation also runs its own DJ School (they recently replaced the store’s cool old horseshoe couch with a full-on studio — “the cube”), offering classes taught by other local legends.

Superior Elevation on a rainy afternoon

All in all, there’s something warm and calming about Tom’s store. Once inside, my restless over-caffeinated work-day brain dissolved into the stacks, drifting to and from the turntable (there are two) to drop the needle and experience the surprising swell of a song I’ve never heard.

If you’re in town, head over to 616 Grand Street in Williamsburg — go see for yourself.

For real, Tom’s record, “House of Spirits,” is a romp — I promise, it’ll get those hips a-shaking.

(Especially this song, which does in fact take me there.)

---

— AND BEFORE YOU GO —

Ladies and gentleman: “JUMP!”

— WARNING: Video might induce labor —