Happy to see a classic like that back in the running. Even if they no longer have the amazing L.A. perk of an in-house parking garage. I'm still not interesting in going to a record store yet. I did pick up 1-2 things at my local shop with curbside pickup in the last year. And mail order goods. Anyone else pining for an old school Amoeba experience? Personally, I have only done that sort of thing twice in my life. I live on the East Coast so it was a rare event for me. With my only friend in L.A. deceased now [my last trip was his memorial] I don't see it happening again.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

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For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2021 04:15PM by Post-Punk Monk.

I have been dying to go to Amoeba for years. Never been to L.A., though, and don't anticipate it anytime soon. (Or ever, frankly.) My secret fantasy is to do one of their "What's in my bag" vids, though, of course, I'm not famous, so that ain't happenin', either.

A trip to Amoeba Hollywood almost used to justify the hassle and awfulness of being in L.A. And I say this as someone who was born in L.A.! But it still was not the best record store I ever shopped in! That would be Yesterday + Today in Rockville, MD. R.I.P. Skip Groff! Thankfully, I got to shop there one amazing day in 2002 about a month before they closed up! That shop was so amazing that I experienced the exceedingly rare Prime Record Store Time Dilation Effect®. I can't tell you how many hours I was there. I missed my friend going for a meal and returning. I missed the heavy thunderstorm. I didn't miss the $250 I spent!

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2021 05:28PM by Post-Punk Monk.

Meanwhile in New York, Rough Trade shut down in March and swears that they will move to a new physical location in the summer, but they have not yet announced that location (or even its general neighborhood) or a date. I went out there a few weeks before they closed, but I didn't know they were only open Wed-Sun and arrived on a Monday!

steevee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile in New York, Rough Trade shut down in
> March and swears that they will move to a new
> physical location in the summer, but they have not
> yet announced that location (or even its general
> neighborhood) or a date. I went out there a few
> weeks before they closed, but I didn't know they
> were only open Wed-Sun and arrived on a Monday!

Ouch! That hurts! I remember the first time my friends and I road tripped to Atlanta. We were seeing OMD on a Sunday in 1985 and Wax N' Fats was closed that day, so we stayed an extra day to shop!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2021 05:31PM by Post-Punk Monk.

Back when I was building my vinyl collection and was making frequent pilgrimages to L.A. to scrounge the shops I almost always had my best success at Record Surplus on Santa Monica Blvd not far from UCLA. Amoeba was good too but I preferred Record Surplus for selection and prices.

jothoma Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Back when I was building my vinyl collection and
> was making frequent pilgrimages to L.A. to
> scrounge the shops I almost always had my best
> success at Record Surplus on Santa Monica Blvd not
> far from UCLA. Amoeba was good too but I preferred
> Record Surplus for selection and prices.

I buy primarily CDs, so Amoeba was cheap, on that score. I used to live a few blocks from Record Surplus as a child. Moved away in 1972. Visiting that store was pretty surreal for me. Some good vinyl though!

I've been happy to shop at the Amoeba Music stores in San Francisco and Berkeley, more than once. Haven't ever been to the one in L.A., but several credible sources have told me it's the best of the three -- and based on my experiences, I count that for a lot.

My all-time favorite record store still would have to be Wax Trax in Denver. Granted, it's been years since I've been able to shop there, but I'm told it's still open and still great.

I've only been to the Amoeba store in Berkeley, and it was amazing. They had the Delta 5's major label album, which I've never seen before or since. Their used LP and CD sections on some artists were as thick as most record stores' entire sections on them. I dropped $100 there. I think I bought John Oswald's PLEXURE, and a CD by Czech violinist Iva Bittova, but I can't remember the rest.

I look forward to more "what's in my bag?" videos? Those are really fun.

I went to Amoeba on the two occasions I was in LA. All thanks to Mr Fab who recommended and advised me to go in with a plan.

Ha, yeah, it’s not designed for casual wandering. Like you don’t stroll through an entire department store - you go in with a destination in mind, e.g. jackets, lawnmowers, etc. Or in this case, Jamaican 7”s, or death metal CDs or whatnot.

The re-opening was on the news! FINALLY, the media covering something worthwhile.

Lines round the block so haven’t been yet. The new location is an odd one - Hollywood Blvd, in the heart of the tourist zone. Across from the Broadway-esque Pantages Theatre (so maybe they‘ll keep the showtune soundtracks handy?).

It is no longer America’s Largest Record Store. It’s 23,000 sq ft as opposed to the San Francisco locations’ 24,000 sq ft. But in the waning days of its original location, it was using less and less floor space for music, in favor of an increasing amount of books, videos, clothes, toys etc for sale. A friend of mine who works there said it was because there’s less and less music coming out on a physical format. Customers would come in asking for a new album, they’d look it up, and it would be stream only. So the new Amoeba, at literally half the floor size, might be a lot easier to navigate than the size-of-a-city-block old site.

MrFab Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The re-opening was on the news! FINALLY, the media
> covering something worthwhile.
>
> Lines round the block so haven’t been yet. The new
> location is an odd one - Hollywood Blvd, in the
> heart of the tourist zone. Across from the
> Broadway-esque Pantages Theatre (so maybe they‘ll
> keep the showtune soundtracks handy?).
>
> It is no longer America’s Largest Record Store.
> It’s 23,000 sq ft as opposed to the San Francisco
> locations’ 24,000 sq ft. But in the waning days of
> its original location, it was using less and less
> floor space for music, in favor of an increasing
> amount of books, videos, clothes, toys etc for
> sale. A friend of mine who works there said it was
> because there’s less and less music coming out on
> a physical format. Customers would come in asking
> for a new album, they’d look it up, and it would
> be stream only. So the new Amoeba, at literally
> half the floor size, might be a lot easier to
> navigate than the size-of-a-city-block old site.

So Amoeba SF is biggest? That's a bit sad. The first time I was in Cali in 42 years, I hit all three and the bigger, the better. The last time I was in Amoeba Hollywood was 2018 and it was still very impressive. I don't recall seeing encroachment into music discs. I so deeply resent record stores that give up valuable floor space to non-musical products. But that's been a trend for 20 years now.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2021 09:14PM by Post-Punk Monk.

Never made it near Ameoba but love Mr Fab’s description about focusing on a specific format and genre.

So many of my record store visits in big cities have been with impatient and unsympathetic family in tow...how much more can I push my luck with these people looking for kajagoogoo import 12” singles?

> So many of my record store visits
> in big cities have been with impatient
> and unsympathetic family in tow...

Yeah, I hear ya. I never go to record stores accompanied by anyone, unless I know they're as much of a freak about music-shopping as I am.

I loved the Berkeley Amoeba when I used to visit the Bay Area for work travel. Sigh. Miss both of those things.

Delvin... so true!! I absolutely abhor going to a record store with anybody else.... and avoid it at all costs. But sometimes visiting a different city on vacation, you stumble on a record store... and you are DYING to go in....and you kid yourself you can browse it quickly in ten minutes while your suddenly oppressive family waits... but you KNOW you want at least an hour and a half. Damned family!!

How many times have I been at a local record shop and seen the hipster doofus who brought in his/her significant other and watched them grimace as you hear “oh look, Kenny Loggins!” “...yup” “oh look sonny and Cher!!” “... mmm hmmm” etc etc.

Bip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Delvin... so true!! I absolutely abhor going to a
> record store with anybody else.... and avoid it at
> all costs. But sometimes visiting a different
> city on vacation, you stumble on a record store...
> and you are DYING to go in....and you kid yourself
> you can browse it quickly in ten minutes while
> your suddenly oppressive family waits... but you
> KNOW you want at least an hour and a half. Damned
> family!!
>
> How many times have I been at a local record shop
> and seen the hipster doofus who brought in his/her
> significant other and watched them grimace as you
> hear “oh look, Kenny Loggins!” “...yup” “oh look
> sonny and Cher!!” “... mmm hmmm” etc etc.

That reminds me of when I was seven, and asked my family to take me to the entrancing hippie record store in San Fernando Valley on the way to somewhere else. I asked for a dollar and wanted to buy my first record. I went inside and had only started listening to the AM radio [KHJ] a few months earlier. I had no one to guide me and the scantest of knowledge of Rock at that point. After about 20 minutes my mom came in to prod me and I guess that set the mold pretty early! Biologists call it imprinting.

I love shopping with friends. Even when they beat me to great records. There's nothing I love better than dishing dirt with friends while browsing the bins. The "record psychobabble" as my wife would have it. But shopping with my wife is also groovy! She knows the Record Cell in and out and it's very helpful when we can both cover the territory together in half the time! Sometimes she's down with shopping with me but there are usually other stores nearby if she's not in the mood.

When on vacation we never "stumble " onto record stores. They have all been pre-inspected and mapped out in advance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2021 04:09PM by Post-Punk Monk.

> How many times have I been at a local record shop
> and seen the hipster doofus who brought in his/her
> significant other and watched them grimace as you
> hear “oh look, Kenny Loggins!” “...yup”

What hipster gets excited about Kenny Loggins records?

Well, when they run out of ironic indie yacht rock bands...

Silver Platters is one of the more popular record stores in the Seattle area. The SoDo location is right next door to Ghostfish, a brewery that not only specializes in gluten-free beer but has an entire gluten-free menu for lunch and dinner.

When she realized this, she began to propose a Sunday afternoon plan, pretty regularly: we'd go down to SoDo, where I'd shop for a couple hours at Silver Platters while she'd sit at Ghostfish with a good beer and a good book. Then I'd join her and we'd have dinner and review my purchases before driving home.

Yes, I married very well.

Living the dream!

Speaking of What's in My Bag?...

[www.amoeba.com]

Nice, zoo. If you’re a real geek like myself you stop the video and zoom in on the book shelf and try to see what titles he has.

I considered starting a new topic for this, but sometimes these long threads feel like a real team-building exercise for us. (Ha... when someone at work mentions phrases like ‘team-building’ or ‘thinking outside the box’, I usually have to stop myself from stabbing them with a mechanical pencil).

So...what ARE your typical strategies for visiting a record store?

I’ve already admitted that I prefer to do it unaccompanied.

If there’s a “ just in” section, I probably hit that fairly soon in my visit, thinking I might be the first doofus to find something juicy.

Unless I’m after one particular release, I tend to NOT look in the cards for specific bands.... ie I’ll look through the ‘C’ or ‘S’ section before looking in the Elvis Costello or Slade section.

I have loved blues, folk and jazz, but unless I have no time restrictions I rarely get into those sections as they tend to be large. (If there’s a reggae section I’ll have to look at that... usually it’s small). Usually skip country too though I’ve become more interested in the genre over time. I’ve NEVER perused a classical section.

Most importantly... and it’s taken me MANY YEARS to learn this... if I come across something that I really want and have never seen but it seems a little too expensive, JUST GET IT. I’ve never regretted money spent on a record. But I’ve spent eons bemoaning that record I passed on....then never saw again.

I always go in with a list, whether it's my favorite record store or the Austin Record Convention. If I go in without some idea of what I'm looking for, I'm lost. The list usually consists of stuff I want that I still want to find at a price I consider reasonable, and stuff that's caught my ear on my various wanderings across the internet. It's been my experience that I usually find between 10-20% of what's on my list on any given trip.

That said, I also always check out the used new arrivals sections. As we all know, you never know what you're going to find. "Buried treasure," as Delvin put it. I almost always find something I've been looking for for ages, and it's usually one of those "Holy shit, I can't believe they have this in such good condition for so little money!" moments.

I haven't set foot in a record store since 2019, though. I hadn't been in a while before the pandemic hit. I've bought stuff via mailorder from both Waterloo and End of an Ear, but have not actually crossed either's threshold in over a year. EoaE still isn't allowing in-person shopping, though their e-mail order and curbside pickup operation is on point. Waterloo is open, but only limited hours, with only a certain number of folks, all of whom are temp checked at the door, allowed in. I tried to go there last night, in fact, as I have a gift certificate from Xmas and a bag of records to trade in, but by the time I was able to make it it was two hours before closing (they get testy if you bring in shit to sell or trade that close to closing) and the line to get in was long. Soon, I hope. Maybe I'll go early next weekend.

A good friend of mine once told me that record stores were my church. I'm not sure I fully understand that, but I kind of agree with her.

My approach pretty much matches yours, Bip, except that I don't peruse the blues or folk sections.

I also tend to favor record stores that separate the used merchandise from the new albums. I can understand why some stores choose to mix them together in the bins, but to me, it just makes my treasure-hunting that much more time-consuming.

And oh yeah, I know that regret of not buying the album that seemed too expensive at the time, but never made an appearance in the racks again. Online shopping has taken the sting out of that mistake, but it also seems to take the fun out of the shopping experience, in some ways.

I vary my attack of record stores, depending on mood and what the store is giving back in the first 3 minutes. But there is always ONE ironclad rule: Always make sure that I view the entire "S" section if the store is alphabetized [and they always are]. The fact remains that by far the BIGGEST section in my Record Cell is the "S" section. It just works out that way for whatever reason.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

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For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2021 04:26PM by Post-Punk Monk.

Now that you mention it, S is the biggest block in my record shelves as well.

B is a very close second ... what with the Beatles and Bowie.

Definitely agree that I don’t like when stores mixed the new and used stuff. I pretty much exclusively look for used albums.

Also understand the comparison to church; I’ve certainly visited record stores and found calm and inner-peace on many occasions.

Before I lock my car door to visit any record store, I make sure I have what I call the ‘big 6’:

-Car keys (duh)
-Wallet (ditto)
-Cell phone (I’m embarrassed how useful it is to look up information on unfamiliar albums)
-mask
-my dollar-store reading glasses (the print, especially release year, keeps getting smaller dammit)
-pencil and paper (this is a fairly new development.... but as I go through the store I jot down the records I’d consider grabbing. Once I’ve gone through the store I can whittle down the list based on how much I’m willing to part with. I hate driving home realizing I left something juicy behind).