The Best Secondhand Record Shop In The World?.......

Thanks, I sometimes work in Nottingham so might give it a try.

I know where selectadisc is so I guess this is on a road parellel to the road selectadisc is on accessed from a bit further along Upper Parlament St ?

Yes, you've got it.
Turn left out of Selectadisc, up the hill and left again onto Upper Parlament St. Go past the car park and theres a small alley on the left, (can't remember the name) and its down there on the right.

Paul

Hello all,

My favourite all-time best has got to be Amobea situated on Haight/Ashbury district in San Francisco, California.

Really huge with 100,000 LPs and 100,000 more CDs/DVDs. Sells both used and new stuff. A must visit if you're happen to be in SF.

Happy hunting!

Idris Mohammed.

I dropped several hundred dollars in the Haight St. Amoeba just last May.

It is a terrific place, however, I don't think it's anything like the kind of treasure-trove store that tricky has found. While Amoeba has an incredible selection of nice, clean, and carefully chosen LPs, you're not going to find any lost treasures there. Everything in Amoeba is perfectly rationalized; albums are priced at just about exactly what they're worth. I'm not complaining about this, but there's a big difference between this kind of place and the hidden shop where you have to dig, hunt, and root around to find things (and where, by extension, there can be hidden gems).

These places seem to be largely extinct, so maybe there's a reason to visit Boston England after all.

Eric

Nice 1 Mr Tree,

Will try and arrange a trip up there

Already beaten to Amoeba but.....
Amoeba Sunset Bvd, LA has got to be the best of any record/cd shop I've ever been to. Awesome selection of promo & sh cds at low prices plus nice staff plus own parking plus.......well it's in LA

Dear all,

quote:

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These places seem to be largely extinct, so maybe there's a reason to visit Boston England after all.

Eric

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I wouldn't go that far, but while were on the subject of S/H record shops heres a few more to check out.

MARKS. High St. Boston. 01205 369909.....A top rate shop selling CD and Vinyl, including a HUGE selection of 7" singles and picture discs. I use this shop alot as it's so close but he caters for the record collector more than the music fan, so prices can be on the high side. Even so a very worthwhile visit.

STAMFORD MARKET Friday, GRANTHAM MARKET Saturday. Dont know the guys name, but a huge range of Vinyl and some CD's. If he hasn't got it on the stall he's probably got it at home. If not he WILL find it for you, and usualy quite quickly, not cheap though.

LINCOLN. 2 shops here. Ed's Music. Unit 8, The Mall. 01522 531886. Not a big place but not bad.
There is another place way down on High St. but iv'e only been the once and have forgoten the name. It's well worth checking out though.

SKEGNESS. 2 places here but both were closed when I went to check 'em out! CD & Record Station, 01754 611838 is a Northern Soul specialist. The Record Emporium is at the top end of Park Av. and a peep through the window revealed a tantalising selection of lovely Vinyl waiting to be perused, but it will have to wait for another day.


Happy hunting!

Paul

Did anyone ever go to Archive Records in Chertsey High Street ?

That was a long corridor down a side passage that had records EVERYHWERE, on the floor, in racks, in boxes up to the ceiling, at foot, shin, knee, thigh, belly, chest, shoulder and head height. No real classification, but the owner seemed to know where it all was.

I spent a couple of afternoons there scrabbling around, came out with 60-70 albums, being very dirty and a bit smelly. There a a whiff of dampness and mould there.

Two high spots of amusement were watching the records being 'cleaned' by the owner squirting lighter fuel on to a dirty old rag and wiping it around the records, and (even better!) "fixing" a scratch in a record I wanted by repeatedly grinding the stylus back and forward across the offending jump on the sub-Dansette record player - Made me cringe!

Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music / 801 sold his vinyl collection there, so I got some.

It has closed down now, and moved in with the sister shop in Addlestone.

DS

OTD - Danni Minogue & Riva - You do you love now?

The absolute largest Vinyl store here in Seattle is Bop Street Records. Last time I talked to the owner, he claimed 750,000 lps. Most of this is downstairs below the main floor. The cataloging is a work in progress and he is always buying collections and hitting the thrift stores. No price is final, as he seems to prefer to barter with you. I have found some good stuff there, but you really have to pick through alot of stuff. Good way to spend a rainy day.

Max

First, I'll introduce a criterion that is important to me--that the records be reasonably well organized. Ideally, by music category and alphabetically...

Why? Because, for me, one of the critical resources required when shopping for records is TIME. THAT is my most limited commodity. Yes, i also appreciate discovering a dusty gem at a bargain price but it so happens that many of the records I'm interested in are currently "overlooked" by my dealer, hence they're not too expensive.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm somewhat, err, hesitant to share my personal favorites since I run the risk of simply increasing the number of folks who are seeking out the hard-to-find titles I'm always looking for, but, what the heck. It's not like these are actually *unknown* at least here locally.

These are all in St. Louis. And the selections border on the mind-numbing:
1. Record Exchange. All genre's. Deep stock, often excellent condition, moderately high prices. Some bargains but you're more likely to get a good price on a vg understock piece that the m- one that is in the rack. I don't know how many records are in stock but it is probably between 500,000 to 700,000.

2. Euclid Records. This store actually changed how I bought vintage & rare jazz. Used to be, if I found a piece in a store, I bought it. Why? Because they were so few and far between. In Seattle, I'd say the record racks are full, but they're full of 70' & 80's pieces, reissues and stuff I'm not too interested in. At Euclid, in St. Louis, it is all the *really really good* stuff. '50's & 60's classic jazz, original pressings, superb condition. Pretty much priced by the book. Few bargains. Reissues and more modern stuff, too, so if you want the music but don't need a collectors copy, the prices are GREAT. But don't go there thinking "if I see a really good one, I'll buy it". You're going to be overwhelmed because of the depth of their vintage stock. I have no idea how many records. Difficult to count but they're strong in jazz. If you figure 50,000 jazz titles, that's not a lot of records but it is a lot of *classic jazz*.

3. Vintage Vinyl. An absolutely marvelous store. Wide ranging stock, catering more towards the college crowd. The place for indie rock, hip-hop, jazz, and a bit of something for everybody. Amazing. Good prices. No idea how many records, but it is a lot.

Ok, there, I've done it. I HOPE you all don't come and buy out these stores!

The one deficiency, selection-wise, here in St. Louis is that there is no store that is carrying very much cutting-edge, modern, underground stuff like Amoeba carries. If you're interested in history, this is the place. If you're interested in the future, better go to California to shop.

Markus
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Gee, thanks Markus. After reading your post me and all my wealthy classic jazz-loving friends, along with several vintage record store owners and distributors, have booked flights to St. Louis.

How's the weather looking this week? Should we prepare for rain? Snow?

Eric

Oh Eric, glad you asked. The weather for the next 12 months or so is expected to be *unusually BAD*. In fact, they've issued some important travellers advisories, especially for people travelling from Delta Blues country. ;>

All kidding aside, if you want blues, or jazz, this is the place to come. But if you come here and spend $30,000 on records, don't blame it on me!

St. Louis

And I thought all that was there was that arch and frozen custard! Eric, perhaps we can arrange 'group rate' lodging and a shuttle bus?

I'll put in a vote for Amoeba on Telegraph, since obviously there are no record shops at all in the Denver area

cheers

Dan

Amoeba (S.F. and L.A.) are in a class by themselves.

Regarding Record Man in Redwood City, it is well-stocked but waaaaay overpriced. Records are not marked and are priced when you take them to the counter. Last time I was there (1997) he tried to charge me $65 for a common $5 Johnny Cash record (I Walk The Line - Columbia LP).