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| From | "Stephen Thorn" <youngthorn@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | Re: record shops will not vanish/my favorite record shops (long) |
| Date | Sat, 5 Jun 2004 21:59:02 -0700 |
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Off The Record (mid '80s to early '90s): First in Encanitas, CA, which
> is about 30 miles north of San Diego, and then in San Diego proper: This
is
> where I was fully exposed to the wonders that were college radio albums,
of
> which they had many.
This has been quite a week for Audities readers: great posts on record
stores that excelled; record stores led by morons; brushes with the famous
and the infamous, etc..
Some more info on David Bash's fine review of SoCal record shops.
1. Off The Record Encinitas and Off the Record Hillcrest came later in the
OTR saga. The original OTR (late 70s through 90s) was near
San Diego State University. Its visionaries were two vinyl fans--Rich
Horowitz and Larry Farkas. Phil Galloway would start as an employee at this
store (actually two buildings; one for new stuff and one for oldies) and
eventually manage the OTR shops in Encinitas and Hillcrest.
2. When the OTR opened its Encinitas store in the 80s, it faced stiff
competition from the long established Lou's Records. When the dust settled,
Lou's remained in business, and still is the vinyl palace for the "old
Highway 101" crowd. I was just up there for Lou's annual Mem. Day "$1.00
blowout sale." Scored CDs by the Lolas, Phil Angotti, Jill Olson, The Trike
Shop, the Hang Ups, the Tearaways....all a buck each! Lou himself is quite
accessible and I have never heard a negative comment about him--a rarity in
THAT business.
3. Blue Meannie Records (70s to the 90s) in El Cajon had its years of glory.
. Under Gary Shrum's ownership, Blue Meannie had wonderful discs from around
the globe. Ever wanted a Beatles picture sleeve disc from Peru? Blue Meannie
could get it for you. Probably my most prized purchase is the original Left
Banke "Walk Away Renee" LP on the Smash label. What made Blue Meannie
special was that you didn't expect a record store like that to exist in the
El Cajon Valley. Today, the store is still called Blue Meannie but it
unfortunately specializes in metal and caters to a clientele who believe
Spinaltap was a real band. Gary is now living in Batesville, Ark. and keeps
the old spirit of the store alive with an actual walk-in establishment and a
mail order service.
4. Arcade Records (60-80s) was on F St. in downtown San Diego and probably
couldn't exist in the "Gaslamp Quarter" property inflation of today's
market. This was unquestionably the store of my youth in the high school and
college years.
The original owner (a quiet guy we used to call "Jerry Arcade" because we
didn't know his last name) didn't differentiate between a collectable and a
run-of-the mill disc. All used albums and "radio station" promos were $3.98
and two-record sets were $5.98. I found mono-version Beatles and Beach
Boys on the original Capitol label and probably stored away about six copies
of Pet Sounds in case I needed to convert the unconverted at a moment's
notice. All my neighborhood pals would jump into a car and we 'd head to
Arcade. There was a torpedo sandwich around the corner from the store and we
would scarf there before returning to the suburbs and lawns that needed to
be mowed. Ah, the days of contented youth!
Steve Thorn
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