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Posted: |
Mar 31, 2021 - 5:35 AM
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By: |
ryanpaquet
(Member)
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drivingmissdaisy aka Peter Hackman just posted this gorgeous photo of Hollywood Amoeba's soundtrack section, even spotted a copy of his holy grail album for sale. I admire a record store with a solid soundtrack selection. It reminds me of the days shopping downtown Toronto in the late 1990's at big shops like Sam the Recordman, Tower Records and HMV.
Over the years I've visited countless record stores across Canada, and a few in other countries. Every time I enter a new place I always ask where the soundtrack section is. The responses are often similar.
"It's in the back."
"It's way back next to the new age stuff."
"We don't have one."
"If we have anything it's mixed in with everything else."
and my personal favorite was a shop in Munich Germany.
"Oh yes we have a soundtrack section. It's in the basement, when you go downstairs, go down the hallway, to the back, it looks dark but there is some light back there, when you see the old brick you'll be there." - I did find the soundtrack to FIRE, the Canadian Deepa Mehta flick there so it was worth it.
My wife also loves the time in my hometown where the soundtrack section had been moved to the outside clearance section of a media store. And she took a picture of me going through what she called "the garbage". Every single time without fail when I go into a record shop when we're together she always points to the garbage...that's love lol.
What's the funniest or most memorable response you've gotten asking for a soundtrack section?
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Posted: |
Mar 31, 2021 - 6:15 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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In Norway, you have to go back to the 90s to find proper good ones. The record store Akers Mic. here in Oslo - the biggest physical record store in our country at the time - had amazing selection. And their soundtrack section was huge for a number of years. But also EXPENSIVE (unless you were lucky to find items in the cut-out bin). Akers Mic. closed their doors in the early 2000s, and these days there is really only one record store (chain) left in the whole town, Platekompaniet (in addition to some used record stores, of course). This has a relatively meager soundtrack section, and it's all very, very expensive.
In the post-physical media age, however, they've managed to stay afloat by also selling other things - luxurious boxes, books, vinyls and other pop cultural items beyond CDs and films.
In the 90s and 2000s, I used to have a "Saturday ritual" where I spent the morning and noon traversing all the record stores in the city - both the "mainstream" ones and the used record stores, picking up one goodie after another. I built my collection that way. In the last 5-10 years, I've probably been to Platekompaniet a handful of times, that's it. It's all been online ordering. Convenient, but I miss the days of the 'hunt'.
As to your question about 'funny stories' relating to soundtrack sections, I can't really think of one, sorry.
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I am near the Saturn Music Dome in Cologne, this store was once a Mecca for music (including soundtrack) collectors everywhere. By its own account, it was the largest record store in the world. Obviously, I have not been to every single record store, but I have indeed never found a larger one, not even Virgin Megastores or Tower Record stores in Los Angeles.
It's classical music section alone stretched over two floors, with floor one having opera, chorus, vocal music, etc., and floor two symphonic music, chamber music, etc... and at times the soundtrack section was within there too. The soundtrack section was large. Back in the day, it took quite a while to browse from A-Z and then decide which records one would buy. Before the Internet had all the information, you always had to browse the entire section, never knowing what to find. I picked up many soundtrack LPs there, like BOYS FROM BRAZIL or THE GREAT ESCAPE, or WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. It had obviously a huge "pop" section too, and an entire floor devoted to Jazz.
I spent hours in this store and cherish the memories. One day while browsing the CD section, Sir Georg Solti walked by; I picked up and bought a Solti recording on the spot, just so he would sign it (which he did).
The store still exists today, but the entire CD section, classical, jazz, soundtracks, pop, etc., has shrunk to the size of less than ONE floor now, so it is just a former shadow of what it once was. There is still a soundtrack section, and you still find some interesting stuff there, like Intrada's 3CD set of CONAN THE BARBARIAN or Lalaland's HARRY POTTER box set, but looking at this former giant amongst CD stores, which is now more or less like any "regular" CD store in larger cities today, shows what a relic CDs have become, and that browsing a CD store is a more or less superfluous habit in a world where music is distributed online.
I still enjoy browsing that or other CD stores now and then when I get the chance, but nowadays, it is probably more for nostalgic reason or to stumble upon some CD I find interesting but would not have looked for online.
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ryanpaquet wrote:
and my personal favorite was a shop in Munich Germany.
"Oh yes we have a soundtrack section. It's in the basement, when you go downstairs, go down the hallway, to the back, it looks dark but there is some light back there, when you see the old brick you'll be there."
Ah, now this takes me back 40 years or so. Who else remembers this?
PROSSER
Look. Mister Dent, these plans have been available in the planning office for the past nine months.
ARTHUR
Yes. I went round to see them yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call much attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody, or anything?
PROSSER
The plans were on display!
ARTHUR
Hah! And how many average members of the public are in the habit of casually dropping around at the planning department of an evening? It's not exactly a noted social venue, is it? And even if you had popped in on the off-chance that some raving bureaucrat wanted to knock your house down, the plans weren't immediately obvious to the eye, were they?.
PROSSER
That depends where you were looking.
ARTHUR
I eventually had to go down to the cellar!
PROSSER
That's the display department.
ARTHUR
With a torch!
PROSSER
The lights had probably gone.
ARTHUR
So had the stairs.
PROSSER
Well, you found the notice, didn't you?
ARTHUR
Yes. It was on display at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'. Ever though of going into advertising?
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Mr. L. Prosser was, as they say, only human. Curiously enough, though he didn't know it, he was also a direct male-line descendant of Ghenghis Khan.
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Posted: |
Mar 31, 2021 - 10:16 AM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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In the 90s and 2000s, I used to have a "Saturday ritual" where I spent the morning and noon traversing all the record stores in the city - both the "mainstream" ones and the used record stores, picking up one goodie after another. I built my collection that way. In the last 5-10 years, I've probably been to Platekompaniet a handful of times, that's it. It's all been online ordering. Convenient, but I miss the days of the 'hunt'.
This was a wonderful era for used LPs. So many jazz, classical, soundtracks, Latin, Brasilian, space-age bachelor pad, exotica, Moog, sitar, French pop.
With regard to soundtracks, I used to find a lot of crime jazz, spy, Blaxploitation, and overall groovy 60s/70s soundtracks.
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Our old independent CD shop, No 19, had a pretty decent soundtrack section when I started collecting in the 90s, although it didn't beat their classical selection which was astoundingly good relative to the size of the shop. Plus, everyone who worked there seemed more the High Fidelity type who wouldn't have any interest in either genre so it was quite impressive how well stocked it was. It closed down and we had a pretty decent HMV for a while but that's closed now, not that I ever bought much there. I do miss all the big CD shops in London that others have mentioned, Tower Records in particular, plus the big HMV on Oxford Street. These days my usual London shopping is Music and Video Exchange at Notting Hill Gate which has a pretty decent second hand soundtrack selection (they are filed as covers in plastic wallets so it doesn't look like many, but is actually dozens) although the classical selection downstairs is amazing. Although my visits there are usually extreme... either nothing/a couple of things or, say, 20/30 albums... my poor hand luggage.
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Two in Jacksonville that I used to frequent before moving. Chamblin's Bookmine downtown had a decent used music collection and a small section was squared off for soundtracks--the vast majority were musicals or copies of *insert James Horner historical epic* but I did find some cool stuff there from time to time like mint copies of the Mysterious Film World and the Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann. The problem was is packed very tight and the soundtrack section was right next to the stairs so every time someone wanted to go up or down, I'd have to grab my stash and move and then I'd forget where I was and have to start browsing all over again.
The other is Wolfson Records on southside. Just a giant, unairconditioned warehouse hidden behind a mechanic and a Chinese take-out. This place is incredible if you have the stamina--boxes and boxes of vinyl and CDs. Don't go between May-October unless you don't mind sweating out half your body weight in liquid.
There is no soundtrack section and no real order to the CDs. I had to open boxes and pull stuff out. I spent hours there and found some pretty good stuff but I never did find anything particularly rare. Still, it was an experience being surrounded by all that music.
Now I live in the rural Virginia highlands and the nearest record store is hours away. At least we have a library and beautiful mountains!
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Posted: |
Mar 31, 2021 - 11:20 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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I'll have to edit my previous comment a bit, because I google-researched the status quo in Oslo after this thread. After all, I've been out of the brick-and-mortar loop for at least 6-7 years.
Apparently, there is now only one -- I repeat: ONE! -- Platekompaniet store left in Oslo and the whole of Norway (they had 25 stores in the country at their most), located in the big mall by the train station downtown. It also remains the last commercial music/media store in the city that I'm aware of.
It's harder to get an overview of used record stores just by googling, but I can glean four that are still alive: Big Dipper (not really relevant, as they sell mostly vinyl and no soundtracks), Råkk'n'rålls, Lucky Eddie and Adamstuen Retro. The latter is very close to me, I only discovered it online by accident last year -- but then it was, and is, obviously closed due to the pandemic, so I haven't been able to enter it yet. Råkk'n'rålls and Lucky Eddie I remember well from the aforementioned 90s/2000s period. Råkk has moved locations 3-4 times since then, Lucky Eddie is at the same place. I remember towards the end of my 'hunting' days in the mid 2000s, the CDs were getting very expensive - almost at the level of sales items in regular stores. That alienated me a bit.
These days, it's INSANELY difficult to find cheap 'bargain' CDs -- whether online or in brick-and-mortar stores. To say nothing of LPs (especially new pressings) or ridiculous shipping costs. Which seems weird to me. Nobody buys CDs anymore. They're not popular. So why are they expensive? Why haven't they gone the way of the LPs in the 90s, when vinyl was so unpopular that you could get bargains left and right? People couldn't rid themselves of them fast enough.
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Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, but I remember going with Mr Southall on a trip to France and in Caen (I think), we stumbled across a relatively small CD store which stocked pretty well all of Randy Newman's song and soundtrack albums. The owner was apparently a massive fan and ensured Randy was very well represented! I think we both owned everything Randy had ever released on CD to that point (and still do, as a huge fan) so didn't buy any of that, but I do remember buying the long box release of Rozsa's Ben-Hur there. Much treasured until the epic release from FSM usurped it. I actually still have the long box but more for the memories these days. Despite a few attempts, I've never found the shop again, despite a reasonably good idea where it was... presumably closed down.
Also reminds me that FNAC, French CD chain, often have a fairly decent soundtrack selection. The FNAC stores in Rennes and Nantes, which I'd normally visit fairly often, have a pretty decent range. However, the best was the one on the Champs-Élysées in Paris which (at least from my last visit a few years ago now) stocks FSM, Intrada, LLL etc. albums. Usually rather pricey, but I have bought the odd thing they happened to have in stock.
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- I can relate to all of 'em. 
