‘V.I.P. Records’, Long Beach, CA
‘The Tape and Record Room’, Long Beach
‘Rhino Records’, West Los Angeles
‘Wombleton Records’, Los Angeles
‘Tower Records’, West Hollywood
‘Moby Disc’, Sherman Oaks, CA
‘Licorice Pizza’, Hollywood
‘Aron’s’, Los Angeles
‘House of Records’, Los Angeles
‘Peaches’, Los Angeles
‘Wallachs Music City’, Los Angeles
‘Bomp! Records’, Los Angeles
‘Turning Point’, Glendale, CA
‘Tower Records’, Newport Beach, California
‘Penny Lane’, Pasadena
‘Downey Blues’, Downey, CA
‘Middle Earth Discount Records and Tapes’, Downey, CA
‘Title Wave’, Apple Valley, CA
‘Record Theater’, Buffalo, NY
‘Home of the Hits’, Buffalo
‘Billups Records’, Buffalo
‘Ruda Record Store’, Buffalo
New York City
unknown, New York City
‘Bleeker Bob’s’, New York City
‘Crazy Eddie’, New York City
‘ethereal’, New York City
‘Bloomingdale’s Record Department’, NYC
‘FreeBeing Records’, New York City
‘Future Legend’, New York City
‘Lunch for Your Ears’, New York City
‘Rocks in Your Head’, New York City
‘second coming’, New York City
‘Stooz Records’, New York City
‘Subterranean Records’, New York City
‘disco-o-mat’, New York City
‘Hospital Productions’, NYC
‘Rebel Rebel’, NYC
‘Ear Wax’, Williamsburg
‘Discos Medellin’, Queens, NY
‘Vinyl Mania’, New York City
’99’, New York City
‘Wowsville’, New York City
‘Cool Runnin Inc’, New York City
‘Dance Tracks’, New York City
‘Pantasia Recordz’, New York City
‘Zig Zag Records’, Brooklyn
‘Italian Records’, Brooklyn
‘Rockin’ Scientist Records’, New York City
‘Other Music’, NYC
‘Bobby’s Happy House Records’, NYC
‘Cutler’s Record Shop’, Westport, Connecticut
‘Wax Trax’, Chicago
‘Rose Records’, Chicago
‘Hegewisch Records’, Chicago
‘Shooting Stars Records’, Chicago
‘Record Revolution’, DeKalb, Illinois
‘Record Time’, Ferndale, Michigan
‘Camelot Music’, North Carolina
‘Polliwog Records and Tapes’, Duluth
‘Revolver Records’, Bristol, UK
London
‘SelectADisc’, London
‘The Soho Record Center’, London
‘Sleeves’, Kirkcaldy, UK
‘Disc World’, Manchester
‘Beat Goes On’, Cambridge
‘Andy’s Records’, Cambridge
‘Reckless Records’, London
‘Hudsons’, Chesterfield, UK
‘Vinyl’, Stockton upon Tees, UK
‘ABC’, London
‘The Ultima Thule’, Leicester, UK
‘Bonapart Records’, Croydon
‘Violet May’s’, Sheffield, UK
‘Paris – Phono’, Paris
‘Bimbo Tower’, Paris
‘Virgin Megastore’, Paris
Les Mains Noire, Paris
‘La Plaque Tournante’, Paris
unknown, Brussels
‘Bass Cadet Record Store’, Berlin
‘Bikini Waxx Records’, Berlin
‘Marquee Moon’, Florence, Italy
‘Flipside Records’, Kalamazoo
‘Salty’s Record Attic’, Modesto, CA
‘Missing Link Records’, Melbourne
‘Gaslight Music’, Melbourne
‘Batman Records’, Melbourne
‘Dragonfly Discs’, Melbourne
‘Au Go Go Records’, Melbourne
‘The Last Record Store’, Melbourne
‘Pier Platters Records’, Hoboken
‘Gusman’s’, Savannah
‘Graysons’, Louisville
‘Cellophane Square’, Seattle
‘Easy Street Records’, Seattle
‘Silver Platters’, Seattle
‘2nd Time Around’, Seattle
‘Absolutely Perfect Records’, Portland
‘Sound Exchange’, Austin
‘Top Ten Records’, Dallas
‘VVV Records’, Dallas
‘Ashley’s High Speed Boogie Shop’, Corpus Christi, TX
‘Oarfolkjopolis’, Minneapolis
‘Hot Licks’, Minneapolis
‘Garage D’Or’, Minneapolis
‘Tatters Platters’, Minneapolis
‘Holiday Shop Record and Camera Store’, Roeland Park, Kansas
‘Orpheus Records’, Clarendon, Virginia
‘Discolandia’, San Francisco
‘Asta Records’, Oakland
‘Rasputin’s’, Berkeley
‘Rather Ripped’, Berkeley
‘Tower Records’, San Francisco
‘Rooks and Becords’, San Francisco
‘Music Village’, Mill Valley
‘Wax Trax’, Denver
‘Aboria Records’, State College, Pennsylvania
‘Eastside Records’, Tempe, Arizona
Coconuts, Oklahoma City
‘Coachman’s Records’, Detroit
‘White’s Records’, Detroit
‘Mojo Music’, Boston
‘Book & Record’, Duluth, Minnesota
‘Vogel’s Records’, Elizabeth, New Jersey
‘Road Records’, Dublin
‘Caroline Records’, Dublin
‘Comet Records’, Dublin
‘Burn Out’, Hamburg
‘Disco Mahgreb’, Oran
‘Discos’, Lisbon
‘Dravens’, Butte, Montana
‘Melody Record Shop’, Washington, DC
‘Mars Red Music’, Haddon, New Jersey
‘The Harmony House’, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
‘Pot o’ Gold Records’, Binghamton, New York
‘Sam the Record Man’, Toronto
‘Record House’, Athens, Greece
‘Real Groovy’, Wellington, New Zealand
‘a & b sound’, Vancouver
‘Hatboro Music Shop’, Hatboro, Pennsylvania
‘Plato’, Rotterdam
‘Wiz’, Philadelphia
‘Stan’s Record Shop’, Shreveport
‘in flight’, East Lansing, Michigan
‘Record Revolution’, DeKalb, Illinois
‘Schoolkids Records,’ Athens, Georgia
‘Rockit Records’, Saugus, Mass.
‘Satellite Record Shop’, Memphis
‘Coconuts’, Tampa Bay
‘Turtle’s’, Augusta
‘Turtle’s’, Atlanta
‘Akashic Records’, St. Louis
‘Check It Out’, Brockton, Massachusetts
Pittsburgh
‘Stackhouse Records’, Clarksdale
‘Young at Heart Record Shop’, Duluth
‘Mister Groovys’, Jackson, Mississippi
‘Zero Street’, Lincoln, Missouri
‘Ludwig Van Ear’, Milwaukee
‘Budget Tapes and Records’, Bismarck, ND
‘Pasha Poi’, St. Paul
‘Hart’s Records’, St. Paul
‘Northern Lights’, St. Paul
*
p.s. Hey. ** adrian, Hi, a! No, no, I’m into coincidence too. ‘Nevada’, okay, I’ll hunt it, thanks. Yes, I have the thesis proposal. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to it quite yet. We’re in the middle of heavy post-production on our film, and everything else has gotten waylaid more than a bit. We’ll be finished soonish, and I’ve got it set to read as soon as I’m in the clear. And excited to read it, need I even say. I’m glad that Amsterdam has improved for you. Paris is reliably fine, or at least the stretch between my apartment and the post studio, which is pretty much all I’m getting to view right now. Lovely to see you! Anything else especially fruitful going on? ** Dominik, Well, it was illegal driving until I was 15 1/2 when you can drive legally if you’re sitting beside an adult and then finally on your own at 16. Driving is very relaxing. It’s weird, as it seems like it would be the opposite to non-drivers, but, once you ace the mechanics, it puts you into a zone. I’m trying not to overestimate pigeons which is challenging because they’re such lovable underdogs among the bird set. Did love solve that little mystery? Love finally at peace with the fact that he’s a total weirdo, G. ** Jack Skelley, Credit is entirely Thomas’s. Branca was a singular sonic ruler. Right, Benj read, glad you caught it. Wild line up! Someone told me that Harmony Korine’s new film is only going to open/play in LA at Jumbo’s Clown Room. I wonder if that’s true. I sure hope so. ‘Oppenheimer’ is on my no-fly list, or rather on my in-flight only list, and even then barely. Yours, Kate Braverman. ** _Black_Acrylic, Yes, err on the side of caution. Winter can be very sneaky. Oh, PT2 was ecstatic and illustrious. I’m so happy to have it back! ** Dee Kilroy, Hi, Dee! All credit to Mr. Moore. My leg steps a little more firmly and sans unpleasant sensation every day. Now I’m waiting for it to get roller coaster friendly again. How are you? What’s going on? ** Mark, Ha ha, I actually had a dinner with Cage (amongst other people) once and he was sweet as pie. But he was eating, and you know what they say about food. I’m glad you’re not deluged. No one else I know in LA is deluged, so the odds seem to be in favor of your relative dryness. I have to admit, it sounds exhilarating. ** Uday, Me too about walking in LA. As in … My LA apartment is in Los Feliz, one of those few hoods where you can walk to pretty much whatever you’d want. Except, you know, exciting things. Nice that your funeral served its purpose. My friend the performance artist Sheree Rose did a funeral for herself as a performance not so long ago. It sounded like was more like a celebrity roast with a prone victim. Uh, my weekend was mostly a nonentity, but that was good because the week is work work work. And your week to date? ** T, Oh, cool! PE is in late March. I think Zac and I are going on Friday and Sunday. I think we’re getting tickets later this afternoon. Hit me up today if our plans coincide and I can pick up a ticket for you too if you like. xoD ** Steve Erickson, That could put the fear Branca into you, yeah. Everyone I’ve communicated with in LA is only slightly more moist than usual, so far. ** Guy, Hi, Guy. Yes, I’m trying to see if I can get that short fiction collection to work. I got close to finishing one of the long pieces, and that makes the whole thing seem more possible, so that’s good. Aw, thank you so much. It going to be a weird short collection if I can manage it. Odds and ends, experiments, pretty transgressive. No, I did not receive the poem. Are you sure you have my right address? [email protected]. There was nothing from you in my mail as of this morning. I hope to get to read it. Sorry for the hassle. Love, me. ** seb🦠, Ah, you’re in slumbering mode again. It must be fate, no? I’m fine, just working on the film in hopefully the final stretch. Your weekend beat mine. I had a nice Zoom with some friends, but it was economical and civilised. Depressiveness, get thee behind seb! I’ll pass along your hey to Zac, you bet. Farewell until our roads next de-fork. ** Justin, Hi, Justin. My weekend was perfectly acceptable. My dislike of mirrors isn’t a self-disliking thing, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe I want to feel like I’m invisible, I’m not sure. I probably should make a character in one of my fictions or films based on me, or on that aspect of me. Huh. ** ANGUSRAYS (it’s sunny!), Well, hello there! Good to see you, maestro! Busyness I know, so no prob. Obviously, you sound like you’re doing just awfully, awfully well, which is a happy thing. Cool, man. I sure do wish you luck, although it might be extraneous given your recent track record. Curious to see the video, natch. Thank you for gracing my humble abode with your mega-sparkle. Love, DC. ** Misanthrope, Steal it. It’s a gift, no stealing needed. We don’t have miniature golf over here, so I’m sure I’m romanticising the hell out of it. Ouch. Painless hug. ** Joe, Hey, Joe. Cool, hope you dig that book. I was on a Branca jag recently, hence the restoration. I couldn’t stop listening to ‘The Spectacular Commodity’. Sunniest (if you want that) day to you, pal. ** Thomas Moronic, There you are! I hope you didn’t mind that I made you Moore. Barring disaster, which is always extremely possible with this project, the film is advancing to its completion, which is hard to believe but does seem to be case. So I’m excited. And a little burnt. And trepidatious. But excited. How are you? Are you writing? What’s going on? Love, Dennis of the Blog (and Other). ** Okay. Today I’ve made a sequel to an old post from, oh, about 8 years ago that was quite popular back in the day, but the world changed a lot since then, so who knows now. If you have any favorite dead record stores, feel free to add them to the heap. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
*
Hi. Pigeons are called mouses with wings is that a Greek saying only? People are so cruel to them I used to say I liked them when I was little all the time to champion for them but everyone was laughing
It is cool to hear your short story goes places and the film stuff so heavily too
Not much here, I keep finding every day All Out in the Open outtakes drawings dozens of them but I don’t know what to do with them. They are very nice. I want at the same time to make another book emerging from the sides of the main with them and for the book to shine on its own, I am confused
I am waiting for two books at the moment, Eustace Chisholm and the Works by James Purdy and The day of the Locust by Nathanael West. I am big big lover of the film adaptation of the second book
While I wait for them I read the previous batch of books. I finally read ICE, I honestly did not want the book to end
it felt like you are stuck in just woke up from nightmare scratching my
head but way longer than that frightening phase lasts
Is it ok to ask you, before you wrote JERK did you read books about Corll? I am curious about these things. I am interested in books about all that but never know which ones are good
Love from sunny but cold Crete
Hi!!
My brother has a huge record collection, and whenever he comes to Vienna, we visit a number of record stores. They have such a uniquely attractive atmosphere. My heart aches for all these dead ones. (The photo of Rebel Rebel is a dream!)
Early criminal activities, I see, haha! Yeah, looking at driving from the outside, “peaceful” or “relaxing” aren’t the first associations that come to mind. But I must believe those of you who actually know what they’re talking about.
Google told love that white spots on nails often indicate some kind of vitamin deficiency, so… I guess that can be handled.
Ah! What a wholesome, fantastic love! I celebrate love for who he is, always and fully! Love reopening any of the above stores – which one would you like to visit? Od.
ciao dennis!
of course, take your time and please don’t feel pressured or rushed, i just wanted to make sure you got the email. it means a lot even that you’re thinking about it, no need to apologize.
i will have a nice week, i don’t work that much this week and i’ll be going to the amsterdam porn festival to some movies and parties, hopefully they will be nice! yesterday we also had a party at sandberg with the queer group (my boyfriend is the organizer of the group) and we made homemade pizza for everyone (because my other boyfriend is a cook and he makes amazing pizza). so it was very nice.
now i’m working on some uni assignments, less fun but okay-ish.
oh, and i got my official thesis supervisor, which is like my favorite teacher of all times and i’m so excited. and she’s perfect for my project, she loves your books, too. and she also works at sandberg. see? all connected.
also, the other day i was talking to a colleague at work and he told me about this record store in amsterdam, named “concerto”. i think i’ll check it out later today, inspired by your post.
i hope your day was nice yesterday, try not to work too much! we all need more rest than we think. ♡
Great post today! I’m happy that record sales said to be thriving right now, and that the shops we have here in Leeds (Jumbo and Crash) are still going strong after all these decades. They’re doing God’s work, as far as I’m concerned.
Dennis, Ah, another bittersweet “dead” post. RIP these record stores. And bookstores are going that way over here too. :'(
I’m better today. Your painless hug worked! I must’ve just slept in a weird position or something.
In my last dream last night, I met you because you had the teeth of serial killer victims you wanted to give me. You were going over each one, describing how it broke due to extreme torture. You said one of the victims was named Robert Pritchett. That was…odd. 😉
Oh, I think you’re romanticizing them at all. The really good ones are fun as hell.
Dennis —
Thanx for putting the L.A. stores first. Perhaps @ToshBerman will chime in and relate how he used to work at Licorice Pizza… where I was busted for stealing an LP when I was 16. Addictions make you do that. (I think it was Mott the Hoople.) Rhino Records was my Mecca. And playwright/director Siena Foster-Soltis has incorporated the FOKA Tower Records Westwood scene into her play. Opening Feb 27!! I wd def go see a Harmony Korine film at Jumbo’s Clown Room. Or anything else. I’ll supply the Lily Lady/LARB line-up soon. Hope the film is going swimmingleeeee. Love, John Rechy
I remember Wax Trax is Chicago and Harmony House in Detroit. When I was a little kid vinyl was still king, but I saw 8 tracks come and go giving way to cassettes. When I started buying music of my own, it was on cassettes. However, I have collected some vinyl over the last few years and recently was given a crappy little record player – lord help me, the last thing I need is another thing to collect. My dad is super square, but he did go through a disco phase and still has most of that vinyl. And he’s super OCD so I’m sure it’s still in good condition…
Love this post. We actually have quite a few record stores here in Portland. Haven’t been to one in ages, though. Feels like a forgotten love. Glad to hear it’s not a ‘you’ thing re: mirrors and I’d gladly read/watch the novel/film about the aforementioned character. I’m about to order a copy of “Wrong” after watching a reading of “Container” you gave in a video I came across on YouTube.
If I have a church, it will be a record store. If there were no more record stores, I would cry from these images on your blog today. The truth is there are more record stores near my home than the golden decade of record stores. Two are within walking distance from my house and are both amazing stores – Rockaway Records and Record Safari. Tower Records in Japan is a mega-success as far as I can tell. But the Disk Union (in Tokyo), as a chain, is really superb.
What I find interesting is that there is so little documentation on old record store interiors. Aarons is an almost non-existent online visual presence, and so are so many others. And Bomp Records, that was a fantastic store. There are only a handful of images of the outside of the store, but rarely or none do I see the interior of that store. The one record store I wish I had more pictures of is Tempo Records on Hollywood Blvd. A Bebop Jazz store of the late 40s and the home of Dial Records. My dad hung out there and did some visual work for them. There is only one photo of the interior of that store, which sort of had a tiki look. I wish there were more images.
Hi Dennis.
Earwax Records, owned and operated by my pal Fabio Roberti (who also hosts the “Strength Through Failure” show on WFMU) is still quite alive and kickin’, still in Williamsburg, but moved a couple of blocks up and around a corner. I love your blog and I LOVE “I Wished”.
Earwax Records
167 North 9thStreet,
Brooklyn, NY 11211
https://earwaxrecords.net/
Good to see the Branca post over the weekend, and the sad nostalgic lineup today. I’ve been to some of these: Bleeker Bob’s, Aron’s, Crazy Eddie, Other Music, Reckless London, and of course the various late lamented Tower’s. There used to be a nice circuit of used record stores in Chicago that I’d hit when I was in town: Jazz Record Mart, Record Exchange, etc. I’ve dreamt about doing the circuit occasionally, haha. There’s actually still a Rasputin’s location in Berkeley.
Our storms have passed, just in time for SF Indiefest and some intriguing concerts this week. No fallen trees, mudslides etc in my neighborhood, fortunately.
Bill
Hi Dennis!
Wow, seeing those three Dublin ones caught me off guard..I work across the road from the old Caroline records building and remember the old Comet store well, but Road in particular was a favourite of mine and absolutely essential to Dublin while it existed. Hell, Dave and Julie who ran it live quite close by me nowadays so I really should send them this post. In addition to running an amazing shop they also did a run of 7″s pairing up local bands. Not pictured, and possibly the greatest record shop Dublin has ever seen was the short lived paradise that was Freakout Records, which was around for a brief moment in the late 90s – everything from noise rock to dub and free jazz, with a side order of 70s Playboys (!?), weird japanese comics and Steel Pole Bathtub shirts. Heaven.
I still listen to Branca’s first and third symphonies regularly.
So many memories! Do you know why Discos Medellin was closed by the police? Around 1993, a lot of stores specializing in dance music 12″s opened, but many had so few records in stock that I wondered if they were fronts for drug sales.
Rough Trade is doing much better in its Rockefeller Center location than it ever did in Williamsburg (where it was only one block west of the river, although quite close to the L train). I thought moving to a much smaller space would doom them, but being next to Radio City Music Hall, the NBC studios, Rockfeller Plaza, etc. attracts a much bigger crowd of casual shoppers.
Any good record stores in Paris?
My February music roundup for Gay City News, covering Brittany Howard and Astrit Ismaili, is out: https://gaycitynews.com/february-lgbtq-music-brittany-howard-astrit-ismaili/
Hi Dennis, your weird short collection of transgressive experiments sounds sublime! Of course you can manage it! Why wouldn’t you. Please, please, please finish it ASAP. We are extremely thirsty for it. Yes, I checked and I have sent my unfortunate poem twice to your email address… I also just sent it as a continuation to our previous conversation on email with the title of “Paris!”. If you haven’t received it yet, perhaps, it’s a sign that you shouldn’t read it – I can’t imagine why else this is becoming some strange saga… Muah
There’s a record store near me called Yellow Dog Disc and a while back the owner got heat for putting cameras in the woman’s bathroom.
They never have any of the good records there so I’m not surprised.
The way you described yourself as “a shapeless entity floating through space” makes me think of you as Ted from I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream. I like that.
Wait so a while back I sent you a very old picture of me and I realize that I looked a lot different, and I had a chubby face so I erase this unflattering picture from your memory and replace it with this one.
https://cabbagepatchkids.com/products/65028-green-scrubs
This is me. Honest. A literal God, haha.
https://www.target.com/p/monster-ultra-paradise-energy-drink-16-fl-oz-can/-/A-54387857
This monster?
That’s a good flavor, but strawberry is better muhaha. Sorry for sending two links in one.
Friend, as one of the few only people I know who is a committed vegan, I would like to share a vehement observation of mine from a book about Rabies I read.
Pigs are done so horribly dirty throughout cultural history. Honest
Pigs get such a bad wrap because they are “filthy and blighted with disease”
people even use the word as a euphemism for cops and its so messed up because pigs are WAY smarter and candid than cops. The thing is: Humans should not even be eating PORK!! Ahhh, ya know? You cant blame the poor little things for being wild animals. There is a reason why many religions forbid the eating of pork. If cooked unproperly, or really just not a good batch at all, really lethal shit can happen, like, I think I’ve mentioned this: PORK PARASITES…in your BRAIN!! Neurocysticercosis. ehh? You get seizures and its awful. I think it was the influenza that came from pigs. I think.
There was this time In Egypt Cairo where they incited a devastating genocide on Pigs, killing them, torturing’s them with chemicals until they died screaming all because what was really a disease from…I think monkeys? They believed was from pigs.
Quite literally the chemicals death could be compared to the concentrations camps and chemical showers, but when you compare things to the holocausts people seem to get uptight.
I mean come onn! Pigs are so sweet and smart, I had a whole collection of stuffed pigs growing up and, ya know, if your feeling a little…homicidal…they aren’t narcs and they even help clean up the body–I mean the….evidence. Gobble gobble.
I really like pathology.
My lifelong dream is to own a pig and name it Monsieur Jeffery.
Hey btw I started reading the book Marbled Swarm. I sha’ll update my thoughts.
I have once again spoken too much ahh.
oh wow. Sorry I think it was the pig paragraph that made this so verbose.
It’s been so oddly long since I thought about The Missing Persons! Thank you for that. Sheree Rose! You did an interview with Bob Flanagan at some point right? I might just be imagining that. My week is work work work too but weekends are somehow busier. I mentioned this blog in a paper today so that was fun. Got headway on a research grant which is nice. Let me know if/when you’re back in this country and I’ll see if I can get a grant to come out and visit you! It’s surprisingly easy.
Yep, Spectacular Commodity is the stand-out on Ascension and I’ve been listening it to regularly having been on my own Branca jag! This and all my other music is on mp3 format. I’ve not been inside a record shop, or owned a physical record, for nearly 20 years. I sold my entire collection on eBay to finance my emigration. I don’t miss the physical and psychological inconvenience of my collection, but I certainly am nostalgic about it. Do you still have your entire collection? In Paris? x
That’s Garth Johnson and myself in front of Garth’s shop, Zero Street Records on ‘O’ St in Lincoln, NE. Too funny to see that photo made the cut!
After Bob Flanagan died, I lived in Amsterdam with Kathe Burkhart for several months. She was friends with the owner of a used record store across from the Anne Frank house. He was going on vacation so I moved in and ran the store in his absence. I slept in a small room in the back. He was a huge Frank Zappa fan, and had a huge collection of his records, Customers came from all over the world. It was just what I needed to get me out of my depression. I made many videos of my time there. They are archived at One Institute in Los Angeles.