Stumbled into this topic idea while posting on the off-topic board.
Are there any records in your collection that you got for next to nothing? I ( and a lot of us, I think ) am old enough to remember the "el' cheapo" bin, where you could find all kinds of records dirt cheap. For me, these were usually found at the Parsons, Kansas Wal-Mart ( sadly, the only record store in town ).
Obviously, I'm not talking about stuff that was downloaded for free here.
I mentioned in the other thread that I got my first reggae album this way. I also remember getting stuff like an album by The Yachts ( still a great record ).
More recently, I found the debut album by TSAR ( see the "Great Crusades" topic ) in a "Here's A Bunch Of **** That Didn't Sell" box for $3.99 at a short-lived north Kansas City record store that I don't even remember the name of. And that friggin' record is in my all-time Top 10. For 4 bucks.
I think I bought a third of my Aerosmith cassettes (there's a tip of the hand at my age :P ) for those "nice price" price points of 5.99, 4.99, etc.
Once I bought a ton of oddball metal cassettes for 99 cents each. Most of it was crap though. Got a fair amount of Manowar out of it though.
I won't count used tape/cd stores or pawn shops or yard sales, that doesn't seem to fall into what you are looking for.
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Get the idea cross around the track Underneath the flank of thoroughbred racing chasers. Getting the feel as a river flows. Would you like to go 'n shoot the mountain masses?
Oh I just remembered I got Zooropa and some off the beaten path published David Bowie compilation album from Woolworth for like 4 dollars each
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Get the idea cross around the track Underneath the flank of thoroughbred racing chasers. Getting the feel as a river flows. Would you like to go 'n shoot the mountain masses?
Tapes...I remember the Camelot Music in the mall I worked in around the mid-90's had a 99 cent cassette bin. I got some weird - and good - stuff outta that.
I worked at Record Town (which I think was merged back then with Coconut Music and Sam Goody)
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Get the idea cross around the track Underneath the flank of thoroughbred racing chasers. Getting the feel as a river flows. Would you like to go 'n shoot the mountain masses?
It just recently dawned on me how weird it is that I never worked in a record store. Even that mall I mentioned above had that Camelot AND a Musicland. And I worked at Radio Shack. It makes NO friggin' sense.
I haven't bought physical albums in a long time (except for a few of my all time favorite bands), but I definitely found some great stuff at the numerous indie music stores that had used stuff all the time. I'm pretty sure I got Murmur and Automatic for the People by REM that way for only a few bucks each.
When I was young, I knew I fund an album worth getting in the bargain bin if it was on the Charisma label.
I remember buying all the early Genesis albums, the Monty Python albums, Lindisfarne, Van Der Graaf Generator and more. The label had a Mad Hatter/Alice logo if I remember correctly...
ah, yes the 1.99 bin…. with the hole punched in the side of the cassette or CD. I remember getting a few CDs in probably not the 1.99 bin but the 4.99 bin in the local Caldor (like a Kmart.) I remember getting Robert Palmer/Riptide, Belinda Carlisle/Belinda (a little embarrassed by that one but hey at least I'm honest), The Cars/Door To Door and Asia/Astra. The had like a big knife mark carved out of the cardboard longbox that the CDs used to come in so that inside it would cut into the CD case.
Which leads me to think of the Record Clubs…. we need a whole topic just on that. If you played it right you could scam the hell out of Columbia House and RCA/BMG mail order record clubs. How awesome was it getting that first shipment of all those albums (be it vinyl, cassettes or CDs?)
First - thanks for jumping on board w/post #1, Brad! If I remember right, Charisma was an off-shoot of a bigger label. And when they went under, pretty much the whole catalog hit the "el cheapo" bins.
Second - Smed, I LOVE that record club thread idea. If you don't start it in a day or 2, I'll try to remember to.
Third - JAndresen mentioned above not buying physical product anymore. I still buy a lot, but I'm also a sucker for the impulse buys you can find in the $2-5 range on Amazon MP3. That's kinda like a virtual bargain bin.
I love physical CD's too, but theyre getting harder to find in local stores such as Best Buy. Yesterday the newest Big Head Todd came out and I couldn't find a physical copy anywhere! Best Buy used to be very good for getting new releases at a good price, not no mo' :(
I love physical CD's too, but theyre getting harder to find in local stores such as Best Buy. Yesterday the newest Big Head Todd came out and I couldn't find a physical copy anywhere! Best Buy used to be very good for getting new releases at a good price, not no mo' :(
that sucks Tom. Aren't you in San Fran? I would think there'd be some good, cool Mom & Pop record stores left there. I travelled through Seattle/Portland?San Fran this past summer. Although I didn't go record hunting in San Fran I can tell you Seattle and Portland still have some awesome record stores right in the city. I had to mail back all the used CDs I found cause I couldn't fit them in my backpack. I think where I live in NJ we have 2 record stores that are pretty good left. I work in NYC and even there most of the really good record stores are gone. There's still couple out in Brooklyn that are good. But so many of the cool ones I grew up going to are gone.
I'm about 45 minutes outside of SF. I'll be in SF tomorrow to watch The Nerdist podcast at skecthfest, hopefully I can hit an actual RECORD store beforehand.
This thread has quickly become a lament for the record store. :( I miss it so much. Even here in Birmingham, AL, in '98-'00 we had a great independent store that would have regular in store performances for free (I saw the Toadies as well as a bunch of one hit wonder late 90s bands). However, we went to LA for Pardcastathon '13, and we went to some UCB shows the next night, and it was so nice to go into a great used book and record store on the same block. It took me back 10 years just browsing through everything.
I'm about 45 minutes outside of SF. I'll be in SF tomorrow to watch The Nerdist podcast at skecthfest, hopefully I can hit an actual RECORD store beforehand.
Der I can't believe I forgot I did go record shopping in SF at maybe the greatest record store left in the US... Amoeba in The Haight. I could spend all day in that place. I don't know how I could've forgot. I'm sure you've been there Tom.
I have been there.. amoeba in Berkeley is also great!
I'm sure it is. Been to the SF and the Hollywood and both are awesome. (Bring it back to the topic at hand) When I was in the SF Amoeba they had a huge selection of used CDs for like 2.99, some for 1.99, and I had to stop myself working back from the Z to the S section. Cause I would've been there for a whole day…..
