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Used Record Stores


Charles J. White

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An acquaintance of mine Bob Switzer owned a place called Taz Records, the largest used record store east of Montreal here in the Colony before he killed himself. He had every recording of Jerry Lee Lewis. The whole store was like a scene out of High Fidelity, found another place like it in downtown Phoenix that was near John McCain’s office called either Tracks Wax or Revolver can’t remember now, which has a cool vibe inside as well. I first discovered The Doctors of Madness in the summer of 1987 downtown Ottawa at a place called The Turning Point which is another cool record store - 2 floors in fact! Calgary has a cool place called The Inner Sleave and also Hot Wax. Price Edward Island had a store called Back Ally Discs which I liked. There was a place downtown Moncton which was small but I completed my Dean Martin collection there with a vinyl box set maybe 10 years ago. LA and NY were goldmines at one time. Speaking of goldmines, did anyone ever use Gold Mine to collect stuff? Bedford Nova Scotia has a GREAT place Select Sounds.

What places have spent a ton of dough in?

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There are a number of decent used record stores in Vancouver although, no where near as many as there used to be. Neptoon Records on Main St and Audiopile on Commercial Dr are probably the two I visit the most. Can't say I've spent a ton of dough in either but both are very interesting stores. Especially Neptoon. There always seems to be something rare in stock and their concert poster prints are exceptional. Zulu Records on 4th ave used to be great but I've found them to be a little pricey of late and not as well stocked as they used to be. Wish there hadn't been so many that have shut down. I quite enjoy looking through bins for music

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Rare vinyl or CDs? I can think of different stores for different collectors. Amoeba's the mother lode in LA and San Fran.

San Diego - Off the Record and Lou's.

Long Island - Mr Cheapos and Looney Tunes. Record Stop in Ronkonkoma used to have a great collection but they went mail order.

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There are a number of decent used record stores in Vancouver although, no where near as many as there used to be. Neptoon Records on Main St and Audiopile on Commercial Dr are probably the two I visit the most. Can't say I've spent a ton of dough in either but both are very interesting stores. Especially Neptoon. There always seems to be something rare in stock and their concert poster prints are exceptional. Zulu Records on 4th ave used to be great but I've found them to be a little pricey of late and not as well stocked as they used to be. Wish there hadn't been so many that have shut down. I quite enjoy looking through bins for music

Maybe 10 years ago I was Zulu Records, the place was amazing sad to hear it's not been kept up propertly. For the longest time it was THE place to go in Vancouver

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Maybe 10 years ago I was Zulu Records, the place was amazing sad to hear it's not been kept up propertly. For the longest time it was THE place to go in Vancouver

It still is for many who live in Kitsilano. Not saying it's a bad store by any means. Just think it's not as good as it once was. Mostly due to lease costs, downtown and Kitsilano have seen more used stores close up than anywhere else in the lower mainland. I think with Zulu now having a bit of a monopoly on the west side of the city, they're a bit reflective of it

Two other stores that I like to shop at when in Bellingham are Phantasmagoria and Avalon. Both in the downtown core

Edited by ally
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There are a number of decent used record stores in Vancouver although, no where near as many as there used to be. Neptoon Records on Main St and Audiopile on Commercial Dr are probably the two I visit the most. Can't say I've spent a ton of dough in either but both are very interesting stores. Especially Neptoon. There always seems to be something rare in stock and their concert poster prints are exceptional. Zulu Records on 4th ave used to be great but I've found them to be a little pricey of late and not as well stocked as they used to be. Wish there hadn't been so many that have shut down. I quite enjoy looking through bins for music

Red Cat Records on Main is another good one ally. Usually we go to The Reef for Huevos Rancheros then pop over to the record store afterwards. (:

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Red Cat Records on Main is another good one ally. Usually we go to The Reef for Huevos Rancheros then pop over to the record store afterwards. (:

Forgot about Red Cat ! Good store :) . Heuvos Rancheros at The Reef sounds good too ;)

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Babs, another that slipped my mind is The Beat Merchant in Steveston. Parking can be quite difficult but if your down in Steveston sometime for a nice walk through the village, it's definitely worth checking out. Lot's of old 60's British Beat, and collectables . It's almost like a minature version of the British Beat, Beatles store that used to be at Pender and Seymour . I must be losing it beacause the name of that store is eluding me at the moment. I'm sure you know the one I mean.

Edited by ally
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Babs, another that slipped my mind is The Beat Merchant in Steveston. Parking can be quite difficult but if your down in Steveston sometime for a nice walk through the village, it's definitely worth checking out. Lot's of old 60's British Beat, and collectables . It's almost like a minature version of the British Beat, Beatles store that used to be at Pender and Seymour . I must be losing it beacause the name of that store is eluding me at the moment. I'm sure you know the one I mean.

My tattoo guy opened a shop out there. Sounds like a good idea to get some new ink! Tattoo, record shopping and pick up some fresh fish from the docks. A good day out eh ally?

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My tattoo guy opened a shop out there. Sounds like a good idea to get some new ink! Tattoo, record shopping and pick up some fresh fish from the docks. A good day out eh ally?

Add in a vamp on each arm and some checkered pants and they'll be saying that the Schmemge Brother's paid a visit to Steveston :lol:

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