Music stores in Toronto?

There seems to be a lot of members on this site from Toronto.

I will be at a conference May29 to June 1st. Hopefully l will have some time after 5 p.m.

Is there any music stores that you could recommend that stock used or new vinyl. The stuff l like is classic rock, blues, R and B. My son lives in downtown Toronto but his musical taste supports itunes, MP 3 stuff whatever they call that new technology.

 

I went ahead and took the liberty of adding on to your thread title.

Hopefully you'll get more responses this way.

 

Yes at the Sheraton Hotel l lived in TO in 1970 and my son knows the transit system.

 

Try and check out Vortex on Yonge St just a wee bit north of Eglington. Great little shop run by a really cool guy who has been in the business for years.

 

Vintage Sounds on Queen West & McCaul Street - it's upstairs
Rotate This - Queen at Bathurst
Discovery - Queen Street East of Carlaw
Sonic Boom - Bloor & Bathurst

 

Ric's Collectibles- Gerrard and Main

 

...and DVD's too!

 

If you can get outside of Toronto - Star Records in Oshawa has a lot of vinyl and a very knowledgable owner.

 

Also, on Mount Pleasant just south of Eglinton Harmony is worth checking out.

 

Vortex?

<Try and check out Vortex on Yonge St just a wee bit north of Eglington. Great little shop run by a really cool guy who has been in the business for years>


Run by a cool guy? You don't mean Burt(the obnoxious arrogant owner) do you? This guy is your classic rude record store owner. Unfortunitally, there are fewer record stores in T.O. these days. Check out Bloor west of Spadina or yonge and sheppard-Sonic Temple.

 

He's not bad on a good day!

 

This is a hard thread to get into because I'd love to have a list of poor Beatles covers. But indeed a bad Beatles cover is something I would have put out of my mind and the the most forgettable ones further still!!!

Hmm.. seems to me one could point out several collected attempts at Beatles covers.. the Sgt. Pepper's movie soundtrack or I Am Sam soundtrack. The two tribute cover albums for Revolver and Rubber Soul. I'm sure there are many examples there. I did LIKE Harper's Strawberry Fields Forever... so I'd point to that one as a cover that DID get it right to illustrate why some others get it wrong. I think he took into account some of the history of the recording. how Lennon thought it was too "heavy" and he wanted George Martin to lighten it and bring out the folky aspect more. Harper's arrangement takes the string section line that is played just once in the Beatles version and plugs it into the forceful repetitiveness of the drum heavy ending of the original and comes up with something sort of fun and ironic and even Beatlesque while playing into precisely the aspect of the original that Lennon had a problem with.

Bad Beatles covers.. mmmm.. I think they are the ones that miss the dynamics of the band. Like the guys who did the FRIENDS theme and threw in some arpeggiations and flanged guitars.

 

Theres a smallish record shop on Queen St. W called "Cosmos Records West" i believe. They had some really nice rock titles as well as some really rare jazz vinyl. This store only sells used vinyl. Everytime ive gone the staff have been really friendly and helpful.

 

Bert is a great guy who wrote the book on used record/CD stores in Toronto and is usually very nice to most people. His regulars have the utmost respect for him (as do I) so I didn't like the above comment.

Visit Vortex, Sonic Boom on Bloor St (at Bathurst) and maybe on Queen St At McCaul check out Second Vinyl and Penguin Music (beside each other)

Also visit THE REX on Queen St (at University) for a pint and a bit of good Jazz! Enjoy T.O.!!!!

 

Thank you very much l intend to get to three or four of the suggested places.

 

I agree!! In all the years I dealt with Burt I found him to be a gentleman. Guess it depends on how you approach him as I've always had pleasant experiences.

 

Bert has had bad days over the years, but haven't we all.

I must add that his setup is not good for the LP lover in me. The LPs are on the floor and the CDs at waist level. My knees have seen better days, such that I've not bought an LP from him since the Dundas St. location. If you can get down, be prepared to get up frequently to allow shoppers to pass, as the aisles are very narrow.

Too bad really, as he has good titles and prices.

Brian

 

Couldn't agree more on all points. I've had Bert talk to me like it was an inconvenience to him that I was in the store. On the other hand, if you buy something that he is interested in, he's more than happy to talk with you.

The vinyl on the floor is definitely a problem. I generally just stick to the new arrival vinyl bin which generally doesn't have a lot there. I would not rate the store high on the used vinyl front.

One store that has not been mentioned yet that has a good vinyl selection (and it is almost all vinyl) is Around Again on Baldwin Street. Prices are a little bit higher but I find it has a better selection ad the owners appear to be knowledgeable ............. and friendly.............

 

And they are horrible as people!

I recommend not going there because they are lousy humans....

I won't go into it, but just let me say this....if their behavior towards me makes my fiance angry, then it's good enough that we don't give them any more money...I have never seen such poor people relations in my entire life...

I will never step foot in there again until there is a change in ownership...and the way they are going, I assume that will be soon....

 

Be careful...they don't know rock records at all! Sometimes this translates into a deal...sometimes this translates into a 1980 reissue (British...but marked "German") copy of Deep Purple In Rock priced at $40...

This isn't always the case here...and yes they are lovely people...but be prepared for some weird pricings and misinformation....

 

Everyone has their bad days especially when dealing with customers all day. However I have never been treated unkindly at all by Burt nor have I ever witnessed him treat anyone badly.

Some of his staff in the past were less than stellar in their cusotmer service skills, I'll admit. But Burt himself? A true gentleman.
Give him another chance, he's one of the good guys.

 

I've had similar experience in there. It was interesting to look through the vinyl and listen to the guy (heavy set, short cropped hair) tell one customer one thing and then give a different answer to another over th course of 10 minutes.

I agree with you. There is a problem with integrity in this store.

 

Yeah I know! I don't need their product...

Too much bad karma there!