MONTREAL - Before portable MP3 players, before CDs, and long before the Internet, generations grew up dropping the needle and listening to the crackle of vinyl records.

An art exhibit opened in Montreal Sunday that harkened back to those days, and honours a part of the city's cultural past.

Once one of Montreal's most celebrated vinyl institutions, record shop Phantasmagoria opened in 1968 on Park Ave. near Sherbrooke St. at the peak of the 60s counterculture.

Now, a free exhibit called Phantasmagoria: Déjà Vu has opened in the same location, in what is now Nota Bene. It runs until April 20.

Phantasmagoria founder Eric Pressman said the store did more than simply sell records.

"It was a community centre where people went to find out what was new, and because of the living room everyone felt at home," he recalled.

Back then, record stores were run by music lovers, he said.

"The music had a message. It's part of what made it exciting. It wasn't just a product. I always said had I been selling shoes, I wouldn't have done it for 18 years, if at all," said Pressman.

Music fans appreciated the approach.

"You were buying a piece of artwork. You sat and listened, and read the notes on the cover. You didn't need eyeglasses to do it because it wasn't a tiny CD package," said Sheldon Harvey, a vinyl records collection.

Many music lovers still agree that nothing beats the feeling of taking out a vinyl record and dropping the needle carefully, which has led to a revival movement taking place in the U.S. – a small, but growing, niche market.

Still, CDs began to take over in the 1990s, and customer loyalty was fading as music fans sought to buy music from large warehouse stores.

In 1995, just before the dawn of the digital download revolution, the celebrated cultural mecca closed.

Do you have memories of Phantasmagoria? Leave your comments below.