Late 70s? Well, there were the chains--Music Plus, Licorice Pizza, Peaches, The Wherehouse, Tower (only two locations as I recall), and the mall shops. There were a LOT of independents--Rhino, Aron's, Vogue, Platterpuss, Music Odyssey, Off the Record, The Record Connection, Grammy 'n Granny, Blue Meanie ... I could go on but I'm old and tired.
I've never seen a bootleg at Amoeba. L.A. is a big city like any other, beautiful in some places and ugly in others. On a weekend morning, I can get to Amoeba in about 35 minutes from Pasadena (25 miles) and often find parking in their small lot (they have 2). Plus there's a Metro station not far away. I dig it!
I think that the very low offerings at the trade-in counter finally caught up with Amoeba. The separate your records into stacks, and say these are worth $4 each, these $3, and this one $6, and the remaining (the biggest stack) are .25 each. So what started out as decent offerings, becomes .75 an LP (when you do the real math) they are offering you for fairly nice clean LPs in trade-in. Then you look at the prices they are charging for what they offered you .25 and $1, or $2 for, and you see the $9.99, $14.99, and $18.99 style pricing and you know you are totally being taken.
It's not always the bootlegs which are there if you know how to spot them, it the counterfeits all over the store. You just were not looking for them, they are there.
Oooh, somebody's got a problem with the unwashed masses. I work in Hollywood (and have for the last 25 years) and totally dig it. I love walking Hollywood and Sunset Blvd's (and Melrose). What some see as disgusting third world I see as varied, interesting and freaking awesome. You can stay behind your safe and clean (I almost said white) gates and be happy ... I guess. I on the other hand love this town. Being a Los Angeles native born in the 50's I have seen the city go through lots of changes and of course wish it was the L.A. of my youth when it was a lot less crowded. As far as Amoeba goes their stock turns over pretty quickly. For me half of the fun is the hunt and finding surprises. I have found plenty there. CD Trader and Atomic in Burbank are great too. If you go a little north there is a place in Ventura that is my current favorite called Salzer's.
I have never had any issues with Record Parlour. Of course, we may have different musical tastes. I do not partake in the massive crate diving, but my genre is usually presented in the bins with very competitive prices. Their vintage equipment plus repair work are a definite plus.
Amoeba is still great. I am a local and get in and out with little trouble. Of course I use side streets and try to go at off hours. You can always park at the massive structure where the Arclight is. Things I've noticed about Amoeba lately: 1) CD aisles are sometimes empty of shoppers. Sad. The buzz is kinda gone. 2) Some great finds in the $1 album bins. (Expect to get a bit dirty.) New albums fully priced, or at least there are few deals. 3) The store's buyers are not as careful as in the past. Fingerprints on CDs, hair, that sort of thing. Used to be you could buy used without looking. 4) You get less for CDs and DVDs, but look at third-party-seller prices on Amazon. (They do.) The Amoeba buyers still spend time on your sale and try to give you a (relatively) fair price. One guy I try to avoid, though. 5) They have not embraced SACDs. Very few in stock. Why? This is one of the few exciting areas in physical media. Sometimes you can get a promo SACD as a good deal though. I highly recommend a half day at Amoeba to anyone visiting L.A. (No, it is not "downtown" and you are not required to hang out in front of the store.) I also like Freakbeat (cool, friendly) and CD Trader (nicely curated vinyl selections) in the Valley. Never been a big Rockaway fan, but it's worth checking out.
I definitely have seen "unofficial releases" at Amoeba, though why would it matter? Most decent stores sell grey area stuff.
Poobah records in Pasadena always has an interesting mix of stuff - jazz, hip hop, eclectic and exotic reissues. Plus, the guy behind the counter steps out front to smoke a joint about once an hour... I like his style. I also like Amoeba, and when I lived in echo park a few years ago, I frequented Mono Records on Glendale (not far from Rockaway) because it was new and under the radar... Not sure what it's like today. It's small but they seemed to have a good influx of interesting used records in the new arrival section... Reggae, jazz, etc. But I think the owner is mostly into new wave.
It's more "commercial" and touristy and of course, not as fun, but not nearly to the extent that Hollywood Blvd has become. Tower Records/Video is of course gone, but most of the Sunset strip rock music clubs are still hanging on. To me, what is most shocking and sad is the number of major hi-rise apt and office buildings that have been built and going up right now up in the area around Sunset/Hollywood in a mile square area by the Capitol Records Building. Most alarming is the fact those few blocks are directly on a significant earthquake fault.
I agree about the CD area, especially the used section being somewhat bereft of customers on most days. I am glad they finally made a (very small) section strictly for "audiophile" cds, sacds, dvd-audio titles, etc at the front isle at the beginning of the used rock music bins. Honestly for those looking for deals and rare finds on the used CD format, it's great days for CD hunters vs vinyl seekers, although not necessarily at Amoeba.
As a transplanted New Yorker, I'm mostly happy about the development happening in Hollywood, not to mention downtown. It feels like LA is finally becoming a city, but not so overdeveloped that record stores can't afford the rent!
Hmm. A lot of LA is being overdeveloped (IMO), and many record stores have closed because of high rent. It's becoming more and more rare to find stores in LA with good yet affordable used sections.
Yeah, we all have. Coincidentally, the Wall Street Journal has a big piece today on the (over-)development of Sunset Strip (though confuses it with Sunset Blvd. in general, i.e. including picture of Hollywood Palladium). And finally, Amoeba quite often has 15% coupons for online purchases (and free shipping), so get on their mailing list. PS - The Hollywood Palladium is 5 minutes' walk from Amoeba. Look at the contemporary picture in the WSJ story and tell me if the area resembles a filthy, traffic-jammed cesspool.
Haha! I will have to check that out! They kind of ripped into the NY store on a Seinfeld episode too. It was a cool place to check out because they had lots of rare stuff but I'm not sure I ever bought anything from them. I remember that was the first place I saw The Cure's Entreat pink promo CD in person.
I'm admittedly comparing NYC and LA. Part of the affordability issue in LA is how much more stores are charging for used vinyl these days. I got back into vinyl too late for bargains, but things I paid $6.99 for three years ago tend to be double that now. But LA today has far more record stores than New York does.