a good idea to me, but maybe we could broaden it to include record shops in other countries. I also love visiting record shops, but I think I'm the only one in my circle these days. Everyone else I know either buy online, download from torrent sites, or go to one of the big stores to buy and not browse. Also, the big chains are placing dvd's to the front of store now as these are the best sellers. Anyway, I would definitely recommend Plugd Records in Washington Street in Cork, Ireland. Good selection of cds and vinyl. However, there might only be a few of us left who like browsing in record stores!

There is such a shortage of browsables now that I am down to checking out every charity shop I see. The HMVs of this world I will go in to pass the time, or for a specific purchase,which they never have anyway, but now can only be bothered to check out the smaller areas, hence jazz, country,world, reggae and folk. Rock/pop takes too long and the the pick up rate is too low. The only old fashioned shop left in Brum, Swordfish, is so fearsomely hip that it never has quite what I'm looking for anyway, tending to have the less well thought of items from a repertoire, rather than anything better loved. (For fear of contradicting myself, what I mean is that it it stocks, say, all the Wedding Present cds but none of the Bad Seeds) The only local Fopp, in nearby Solihull, folded 2 days before I went to it. 2 bloody days!!!
I even dream of travelling to L.A., a city I didn't take to on an earlier exposure, merely to check out Amoeba records, such is the mythology.

have taken to checking out charity shops but all I seem to find is Paul Young records!! I went to the Great Escape while in Nashville and it was brilliant!Fantastic selection and the staff were really helpful. They didn't laugh or throw me out when I asked for some 80s album (can't remember which one!). However I think I might have tested them when I purchased not one but two (two!) Animal Logic cds!!!

...got an Os Mutantes best-of on CD in one today for a mere £1.35. Got some great CDs in the same one earlier in the year- a Duffy Power album, various Rory Gallagher albums and an Amazing Blondel live album. Another one turned up a Genesis box-set I'd been after (Archive 1976-92) for £8. Last year I got The United States Of America's eponymous album for 25p!

Sure, there are various copies of stuff like James Blunt's 'Back To Bedlam'/Oasis' 'Be Here Now' around but there are gems to be gleamed.

I use Amazon now and again but otherwise I still use the stores. There's a few OK ones in Cardiff- aside from the usual chains, Spillers is good and for 2nd hand CDs, there's a shop called D-Vinyl I regularly swap for other CDs. No record fairs here anymore sadly- I used to get prog/psych/folk titles which are harder to find elsewhere.

There used to be two Fopp stores here but not anymore- at least there is one in Bristol though...

Virgin/Zavvi have a big sale on at the minute too; lots of dross in there mainly but I found some bargains here and there, like an Alexis Korner 2-CD best-of for £4, a very fine 3-CD set of 60s hits for £1 and an 8-CD box of classical works called 'The Classic Experience' for £2.

sale looks good, tried to check it out a few days ago but all the cds are just dumped in any old order on the shelf! Straight, sideways, upside down! I started to get a pain in my neck trying to look at the spines!

and have another look so!

'record shoppes' of which thou speaketh..?

dark lonely places!!

And paid £14.99 for a single CD. I think I know why they are disapearing.

The sale isn't bad at all......the old Virgin had a similar one last year.

Whilst there is a lot of dross it is worth the crick in the neck as you can find an odd copy of a few gems, worth a punt at £5 a go or less. It's about the only sale where I find anything worth buying that I haven't already got.

I hit Birmingham on Friday and Merry Hill on Saturday and left both times with a bulging bag (and I bought quite a few CD's too).

As with Retro and JJ, I, too, mourn the loss of Fopp, as well as Music Zone (which started well but got a bit more pricey later on). Only visited Fopp a few times but always left having spent at least £100.

is pretty cool but I know what Retro means - they have a lot of obscure stuff but not necessarily the obscure stuff I am looking for.Birmingham always had a dearth of good record shops - FOPP were looking to open there but folded before they actually did.
(Not counting the Solihull branch of course).I hear that the founder has a new store in Cheltenham under a different name that to all intents and purposes is FOPP so maybe if that takes off he will open more stores and learn not to invest in other failed enterprises (Music Zone).
The USA has great stores that are very popular with the enthusiasts - Waterloo Records in Austin, Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton,NJ, A couple in Greenwich Village and a great one on Newbury Street in Boston.Someone mentioned Spillers in Cardiff - wasnt that closing down/

Calle Tallers-as you go down La Rambla,First street on the Right.
About half a dozen Second-hand shops that sell vinyl,also some other good shops selling cds and rock merchandise.Check out the streets that run off Tallers too.

.... you want to head for Rasputins... there's one in San Francisco itself on Powell St just up from the CableCar halt, but the best one is in Newark, about 45 minutes away by car/train. It's Huuuuge, with an enormous used section too - lots of 50 cent bargains. That's the price, not the scary rap dude.

I went out to live in the US with a small selection of faves (approx 100cds, this was pre-ipod) and I came back with an extra 200 attained over a 2 year period mainly from Rasputins.

Amoeba have a site in Berkeley too, which is pretty good.

What a bloody daft name! Fopp is now owned by HMV but still has a few bargains for £1. As for charity shops, they are great for picking up the free CDs given away with the Sunday Mail at a fraction of the price of the rag. If they try to charge too much just remind them of the 'promotional copy' wording on the sleeve, bag a pile for a few pence then (as I do honest) give them a worthy donation instead.

Can I mention Henry's in Burton-Upon-Trent? Named after the proprietor, a musical memorabilia museum as well as a well-stocked vinyl and CD emporium. Try to make him smile. I dare you.

have a butchers at Mabu Vinyl in Cape Town, small but lots of unusual goodies to be found.

http://www.mabuvinyl.co.za/

Okay, its a chain but they practically throw dvds and cds at you as you walk in and its all rock bottom prices. You get things like a 5-cd 100 track "Best of the Eighties" (ALL known artists)set for $10.00, that's about three pounds. That's not a sale, that's their everyday price.

The reason I mention it is the stores are not the most inviting places, a tourist might just walk past. The windows are always covered in black bin liners with hand painted sales items scrawled all over them. Like I said not inviting.

The atmosphere is more like a stolen goods clearing house than any shop I've ever been in. "Quick, the cops will be here any minute." Stuff seems piled up at random (it's not, there is order) I suspect the reason they are so cheap is they massively buy in bulk and also save money on displays etc.

If I want anything it is literally the first place I will look. If one branch doesn't have it I will walk around the corner(past other chain stores) and try another one.

Their sales bins are a treasure trove but you have to plough through masses of Englebert Humperdink to get to the Barry and the Remains cd you never knew you were looking for.

They also sell big-ticket items like stereos and TV's dirt cheap but its hard to imagine a tourist buying one of those.

I think its the only future chain stores have. They bury every other similar store. I once went in, it was packed to the rafters, I did my business and went to the train station passing a Sanity store (another chain)which was completely empty. The difference was staggering.

This is not any sort of advertisment, I don't work for them, they don't need my plug.Believe me, they are going gangbusters. I just want to say if you come to Australia for God's sake go into one of these ugly, ugly stores!

ss