{{short description|American record producer and DJ (1948–2019)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox person |name = Skip Groff |image = Skip Groff (2004).jpg |caption = Groff in 2004 |birth_date = {{birth date|1948|11|20}} |birth_place = Waltham, Massachusetts |death_date = {{death date and age|2019|02|18|1948|11|20}} |death_place = Olney, Maryland |other_names = |known_for = Yesterday and Today Records |occupation = music producer, DJ, record store owner }}
'''Frank "Skip" Groff''' (November 20, 1948 – February 18, 2019) was an American record producer, disc jockey, and owner of Yesterday and Today record store (also known as Y&T) in Rockville, Maryland, at the center of much of Washington D.C.'s punk and alternative music scenes.<ref name="Augenstein 2019">{{Cite web |last=Augenstein |first=Neal |date=February 19, 2019 |title=Record store owner, early DC punk producer Skip Groff dies at 70 |url=https://wtop.com/music/2019/02/record-store-owner-early-dc-punk-producer-skip-groff-dies-at-70/ |access-date=February 27, 2019 |website=WTOP}}</ref><ref name="Wartofsky 2019">{{Cite web |last=Wartofsky |first=Alona |date=February 27, 2019 |title=Skip Groff, 1948-2019 |url=https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/21049055/skip-groff-19482019 |access-date=February 27, 2019 |website=Washington City Paper}}</ref>
Groff was born in Waltham, Massachusetts and moved to Suitland, Maryland, as a child.<ref name="Augenstein 2019" /> He attended the University of Maryland and was a disc jockey at WMUC, the campus radio station.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/42189 |id = Collection 0298-SCPA-GROFF |editor-last1=Davis |editor-first1=John R. |title=Collection: Skip Groff papers |website= University Libraries Archival Collections |publisher=University of Maryland|hdl=1903.1/42189 |hdl-access=free |date=2018 }}</ref>
Groff operated the independent record label Limp Records from 1978 to 1982.<ref name="DC">{{Cite web |title=Limp Records > Discography page 1 |url=http://www.30underdc.com/discogs/limp1.shtml |access-date=February 27, 2019 |website=30 Under DC}}</ref> Called "a respected guru" of the DC punk and indie music scene, Groff was a radio DJ for WINX, WAVA, and WPGC, and did promotional work for RCA, before opening Yesterday and Today in September 1977.<ref name="Augenstein 2019" /><ref name="WP19" /> Groff was credited with helping Dischord Records get started, and his record store was an early retail outlet for their titles.<ref name="Punknews.org 2019">{{Cite web |author= John Gentile |date=February 20, 2019 |title=Skip Groff passes away |url=https://www.punknews.org/article/69206/skip-groff-passes-away |access-date=February 28, 2019 |website=Punknews.org}}</ref>
The store, which was named for the Beatles album ''Yesterday and Today'', accumulated over a million 45s.<ref name="WP19">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Harrison |date=February 21, 2019 |title=Skip Groff, record store owner who presided over a D.C. punk paradise, dies at 70 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/skip-groff-record-store-owner-who-presided-over-a-dc-punk-paradise-dies-at-70/2019/02/20/a812096c-3523-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html |access-date=February 28, 2019 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> It was frequently the site of record signings and performances by local and visiting bands (such as The Damned), and became a hangout for local musicians and music fans.<ref name="Washington City Paper 1997">{{Cite web |last=Nader |first=Elisa |date=September 12, 1997 |title=Yesterday and Today Once More |url=https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/article/13013842/yesterday-and-today-once-more |access-date=February 28, 2019 |website=Washington City Paper}}</ref> Howard Wuelfing of the Slickee Boys, Nurses, and Half Japanese was the store's first employee.<ref name="WP19" /> When the band Minor Threat broke up, its frontman Ian MacKaye worked at the store for five years. Other employees at Yesterday and Today included: Kim Kane of the Slickee Boys, Bert Queiroz and Danny Ingram of Youth Brigade, Brendan Canty and Guy Picciotto of Rites of Spring and Fugazi, Sharon Cheslow of Chalk Circle, Tommy Keene and Ted Niceley of The Razz, Shirley Sexton (later married to Stiff Little Fingers' Jake Burns), Amanda MacKaye who ran Slowdime Records, and Archie Moore and Jim Spellman of Velocity Girl.<ref name="Wartofsky 2019" /><ref name="Augenstein 2017">{{Cite web |last=Augenstein |first=Neal |date=July 21, 2017 |title=Yesterday & Today: Early DC punks shopped, worked at record store |url=https://wtop.com/music/2017/07/yesterday-today-early-dc-punks-shopped-worked-at-record-store/slide/22/ |access-date=February 27, 2019 |website=WTOP}}</ref> Groff met future wife and co-owner Kelly when she was a customer at Yesterday and Today, and their daughter Kirsty was named after British pop star Kirsty MacColl.<ref name="Augenstein 2019" /> The store closed in 2002.<ref name="WP19" />
Groff produced albums for many of the DC area's punk bands including the Slickee Boys, Razz, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, S.O.A., Dark, Nurses, Youth Brigade, Black Market Baby, Velvet Monkeys, and Minor Threat.<ref name="Augenstein 2019" /><ref name="Wartofsky 2019" /><ref name="WP19" /><ref name="Punknews.org 2019" /><ref name="Discogs 2019">{{Cite web |title=Skip Groff: Production |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/271697-Skip-Groff?filter_anv=0&subtype=Production&type=Credits |access-date=February 27, 2019 |website=Discogs}}</ref>
He died at Maryland's MedStar Montgomery Medical Center at the age of 70.<ref name="Augenstein 2019" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.yesterdayandtodayrecords.com/ Yesterday and Today Records] * [http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/42189/ Skip Groff papers, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groff, Skip}} Category:1948 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Record producers from Maryland Category:People from Waltham, Massachusetts Category:People from Rockville, Maryland Category:Record producers from Washington, D.C.