I surely hope that this is true, but just the thought of the demise of the
record store has me waxing nostalgic…

Here are some of my favorite record shops from throughout my record buying
history, in chronological rather than ranked order (the chronology often is
reflected by when I would frequent the shop, not necessarily when it went
into-or out of-business):

1. Farfels Records (late '70s): On 4th Street in Manhattan.  Great selection
of out-of-print stuff, probably my best introduction to the world of record
collecting.  The owner, Spence Wooten, was a good guy.  Didn't know a lot
about obscure rock 'n roll or pop, but knew the value of what he had.

2. Free Being Records (late '70s): On 2nd Ave. and 9th St. in Manhattan.
Excellent selection of used records and new promos (remember how promo
records often had white labels and/or timing strips on the front??).  The
staff was very cool, and helpful.  Most of these people ended up moving on
to...

3. St. Marks Sounds (early '80s): On St. Marks Place, only a couple hundred
feet away from Free Being.  With the move of the best of Free Being's staff,
St. Marks Sounds definitely usurped Free Being as the place in that part of
East Side to find cool records.

4. Titus Oaks (late '70s/early '80s): On Church Street in Brooklyn.  A nice
balance between collectables and new promos.  They had a huge staff, some of
whom were cool and others were kinda "indier than thou", even before indie
became...well...indie.

5. Zig Zag Records (late '70s/early '80s): In Brooklyn, on Avenue U if
memory serves.  Great selection of collectable stuff.  The two owners, Gary
and Arnie, were nice people, and Arnie knew his sh*t.  I believe they also
opened a shop on the upper east side of Manhattan around 1982, when I moved
to California.

6. Mad Platters (late '70s/early '80s): First on 2nd Ave. and 4th Street in
Manhattan, and then moved 20 miles north to Yonkers in 1981.  The best
selection of current imports I'd ever seen!  I remember buying LPs by
Buster, The Rubettes, and many other cool UK pop bands there, and also got
turned on to The dBs there when I heard it being played.  The owner was kind
of sarcastic most of the time but generally ok, and would play stuff for me
that he thought I would like.

7. Rhino Records (late '70s until today): As Wild Man Fischer "sang", "go to
Rhino Records, on Westwood Boulevard", and indeed I did, many times
throughout the '80s and '90s.  A great selection of promos and other used
LPs, with a very good oldies section.  When used CDs came to the forefront
they did a really good job getting them in.  The staff was generally made up
of a lot of "clever grad student types" who would smirk at you if you asked
for something uncool, but if they were on the same page with you they'd be
pretty helpful.  Unfortunately the store has gone steadily downhill over the
years and these days, while it still has its share of cool items from time
to time, I get kind of depressed when I go in there as I remember what once
was.

8.  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.  They also had a great selection of imports, other
indie stuff, as well as a pretty good selection of collectables.  The
manager of the Encinitas shop, Phil Galloway, was a really cool guy, and
seemed to take great joy in picking out stuff that he was sure I'd like.
Every time I'd come in he'd say "ok, you've gotta hear this.  It's really
Bashian", and about 80% of the time, he was right.  Most of the other staff
members were pretty cool as well, and Phil especially was very passionate
about all kinds of music.  I was really thrilled when he was able to put
together the funds to open his own Off The Record in San Diego, which still
operates today.

9. Hyde Park Corner (late '80s/early '90s): In Irvine, CA, about 50 miles
south of Los Angeles.  A very small store which catered to a select
clientele.  This is where I learned a lot about UK indie-pop, Brit-pop,
shoegazer, and other stuff of similar ilk.  It's also where I met Auditeer
Steve "Spaz" Schnee, who was really cool and who turned me on to tons of
great CDs.  The owner, Chuck Zaremba, would get a bit snippy sometimes, but
was generally nice and really did like the kind of music he was selling.

10. Aron's Records (mid ‘80s-today): In the heart of Hollywood in the ‘80s,
moved to LA proper around 1990.  Without doubt, the best balance of used
records, CDs, collectables, and other music related material.  The manager,
Richard Ellis, has always been an extremely cool guy who loves music, and
the staff is generally very helpful.  The used CD section is very customer
friendly as the CDs are arranged horizontally with the spines showing so
that you can scan the stacks, rather than vertically where you have to flip
through each item before you know what it is.  Although Aron’s has (sadly)
been virtually obliterated by the arrival of Amoeba Records, I still love
going there because their used CD section is still very good, as is their
stock of new indies.

11. Rockit Scientist (late ‘90s-today): On Carmine Street in Manhattan.
Smaller than any of our bedrooms, but filled to the brim with a great
selection of ‘60s and ‘60s oriented CDs and LPs.  John the owner is a really
cool guy who will play anything you ask him to.  Everytime I go to New York
for IPO, you can bet the first place I’ll stop is Rockit Scientist, as I’m
sure to find at least a few choice items there.

12. Minus Zero Records: I don’t know when it opened, but I finally had the
chance to go to this fine London-based shop last October on my way to
Liverpool for IPO.  The owner, Bill Forsythe, is the consummate ‘60s and
‘60s oriented fan, and of course Minus Zero has released CDs by The Orgone
Box.  There is also one very interesting and unique feature of Minus Zero,
and please forgive me if I get some of these details wrong: apparently Bill
used to be business partners with another gentleman, and one day they had a
bitter feud which resulted in them dissolving the partnership.  However,
neither of them wanted to move out of that space, so now you’ve got Minus
Zero on the left side of the space and the other gentleman’s shop (I’ve
forgotten the name) on the right side, both selling virtually the same stuff
and neither one of the gents particularly desiring to speak to the other.
It was all very bizarre to see, but apparently it’s working out for both of
them so, more power to them!

13. Grimeys Records: In Nashville; again, I don’t know when it opened (I’m
sure Miles Goosens does), but I visited it last March during IPO, and it was
a great experience.  Small shop, but with a nice selection of across the
board rock, indie rock, pop, and oldies.  Helpful staff as well.

14. Amoeba Records: Has been in San Francisco for a long time, and opened
its doors in LA in October of 2001.  I was ambivalent when I heard the news
that this indie-monolith would be coming down to LA, because while I knew it
was going to have one hellacious selection of music, I also knew that its
proximate location to Aron’s would wreak havoc on the smaller but venerable
shop.  Having said that, I must admit that they have virtually anything one
could want with respect to collectables, CDs, LPs, DVDs, VHS,
etc…etc…etc…The main drawbacks are that it’s so huge that it feels more like
a warehouse than a shop, and it’s very cumbersome to look through their huge
selection of CDs as they’re arranged by the dreaded “CDs in vertical plastic
holders” method, where you have to look through each one to know what it is,
rather than scan the spines.  Also, the ‘60s section of CDs, which when it
opened was wonderful, has been slowly but surely diminshing in quality
selection.

15. Record Emporium: I know there was a recent discussion of this Chicago
record store, and though most of its records aren’t in the best of shape and
their CD selection isn’t anything to write home about, you definitely get
that “vintage record store experience” everytime you go in there.  The
owner, Mike Felten, and his assistant Paul Caporino of the superfun band
M.O.T.O., are both passionate about music and very helpful to the customers.
Supposedly this was the shop for which Championship Records, the record
store featured in High Fidelity was modelled, and although from a physical
standpoint there isn’t much resemblance, one can see where the writers were
coming from as the experience of being able to casually hang out with
collectors and shoot the breeze seems common to both.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten several fine shops of which I’ve had the pleasure of
experiencing, but I’ve probably long bored you by now, anyway.  :-)

--
Record Shops Rule!!!!!
Take Care,
David