Record store pictures from the past.

This thread is a result of a totally random thought I had earlier today. That thought was, what did music/record stores look like "back in the day". I am 39 so I remember back when a music store was divided between roughly half LP's and half tapes with CD's coming along quite soon after that early memory. Those stores I remember from my youth were mostly music stores in the mall with a few stand alone music stores. What did records look like back in the 50's through 70's or even further back into the 1920's through 1940's. What was that visual experience like? I hope there are lots of pictures that exist as this is what I came up with upon a quick Google search. What did the environment look like when you went in to buy the latest Louis Armstrong release back in the 1920's? I don't know, perhaps there was no such thing as an isolated "record store" back then. Were there even malls back then?

 

This is gonna be a sad thread.

 

Cool idea!

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Here's one from the fall of 1972:

 

I think we had something like this not too long ago.

 

woah, the original Candi Staton Fame LP !!!
those two guys at back look so cool

 

That shot is not all that much different from several of the record stores I frequent today.

 

I was just thinking the same thing. Looks like Portland ........... today.

 

Almost -- no tattoos.

 

Oh yeah, Starship Records and Tapes, the buildings shown here have been torn down, but they are still in business down the street. The picture on the right was the "Head Shop".

 

Bill's was one of my favorite places as a teen. Bill was awesome, never had prices on anything. He'd walk around and he was the cash register back then.

http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2009/September/Bill_Wisener_The_Music_Man.aspx

Also loved VVV Records as they had all the imported techno in the mid 80's. I have about 3,000 12" from there alone.

All in Dallas.

 

Chicago record stores past and present (with photos) thread here:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...d-stores-past-and-present-with-photos.280391/

larry

 

Steve, that is so great. I rode my bike from the Valley to hang out there at Lewin's, stared at a UK Rubber Soul for MONTHS before I was able to save the money and buy it (I think the price was $7.99).

Edit: I know, #nohype, but here's a blog post I once did about Lewin's:
http://madload.tumblr.com/post/4677355842/record-paradise#notes

 

Vogel's in Elizabeth, N.J. Home of bargain records, many selling for $2.99 and $3.67. Try returning a record there and you would get an earful from Cy Vogel about quality control though!

 

Rennes Musique - gone forever.
This was one of the three big rooms.

 

Here's a pic of my store River Records (1993-2000) in Monroe, Louisiana.

 

Rhino Records (Los Angeles) - Went every day after school

 

my lost youth... used to collect shekel to shekel just to buy another "led zeppelin" or "Genesis" cd. late 80's early 90's. Jerusalem.

 

The Turning Point, Glendale CA 1978

 

Buch Spieler, on Langdon St., Montpelier, VT. Still open. The first real record store I went to (other key sources were Harry's Discount Department Store and Kinney Drugs a few miles away in Berlin). It used to be half the size. You'd enter through that door on the left and immediately up on the right was the wall that held new releases. The area behind that left window used to be the back of the counter where the cash register was. I remember buying ELO's Out Of The Blue here. Bought various twenty-five cent records based on the jacket covers. Bought Steve Winwood's Arc of a Diver here based on reading a review. The owner patiently helped me through at least three copies of Double Fantasy until I got one without a little defect at the beginning. Sometime in the 90s I was in there and overheard the clerk offer free tickets to someone for the CSN concert in Stowe that night. I ended up taking a few digital tapes to the venue and exchanging them for $80 cash and two tickets. I later dropped the cash through the mail slot at the store. I need to get back to VT.

 

Tower Records, Sunset Blvd, W. Hollywood

 

The Musical Box, Liverpool, as it looks in 2013- and 1963. Best record store in the world. They still have boxes of 45s from the 60s in mint condition, original sleeves, etc.

 

Great pictures! Sadly, all of mine closed down before I took any photos, I believe.