Great thread. And right at the top of the list is Cob Records from Porthmadog in Wales. Cob was a lifesaver for me when I was living in South Africa. Import records were tricky to come by away from the main cities there and so a lot of my vinyl purchases in the 1970s came via Cob’s mail order service, advertised at the back of the NME and Melody Maker. In those days there was no such thing as online purchasing. Then, you selected a record you wanted to buy, calculated the cost including postage in pounds, bought an international postal order, sent it off via snail mail to some strangely named town in Wales … and waited… and waited… and waited. You had no idea if the letter had reached its destination, whether you had sent enough money, whether the album was still in stock, or whether the album was on its way back to South Africa. And if it was on its way to South Africa, would it escape the censors’ scrutiny, excise duty, or be lost in the unreliable local postal service. Inevitably, though, the album would arrive, in pristine condition but about eight weeks after ordering.
I was living in a town called Grahamstown and on one occasion I forgot to put ‘South Africa’ on my address (when ordering Matching Mole’s debut album as I recall). After about 12 weeks or so, by which time I had given up ever seeing it, the album arrived with a note scrawled across the address from an Australian postal worker. It read: ‘Not Grahamstown Australia, try Grahamstown South Africa.’ Amazing.
When I moved to the UK I visited the shop in Porthmadog (which I now knew was pronounced Portmaddoc and not literally as Porth Ma Dog). And it was magnificent. Good to see it is still going strong. Maybe another visit is due.
Bought many records from Cob in the 70s, even sold them one or two via mail. A few of us at school would get together when the latest catalogue came out and make a bulk order. So exciting to receive a package
Rather too many UK ones in the list for a “world’s best” methinks. Also loses a point for the use of “vinyls”
Cob is brilliant indeed. I’m going to go a bit further afield.
Southbound Records in Auckland, very small shop but lovely chatty guys working there. Also a shout out to Vinyl Countdown and Mark the owner in New Plymouth.
I’ve not yet been to Cob, but Aled Jones once thrashed me at snooker in Porthmadog while I was on holiday in Harlech. That must have been nearly 40 years ago – post-WITA, but he wasn’t yet old enough to spend his royalties.
Used to trek up to Cob Records in Portmadoc occasionally, when I was living a bit further down in West Wales, near Aberystwyth. My vinyl copy of Troutmask Replica (a mid-’70s reissue, not the original) was bought there.
Now? ONCE I would have said the Camden Town Record and Tape Exchange, “Ultima Thule” in Leicester, or the old Clock Tower Virgin in Brighton. My travels were very impressed by some huge place on NYC Broadway about 71st St (can’t recall name), Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd in LA, or the huge Sam Goody’s in Toronto. These days, the best for me is Fopp.
That’s the one! Knew someone in The Massive would know! Many Thanks.
I have a “Strand Books” t-shirt which has dual functionality; it indicates I am a man of urbane wealth and taste, and also it’s an oblique Steely Dan reference. These things count.
There’s always the things you don’t agree with or things you think they missed. Spillers in Cardiff seems an obvious miss, as would be Disk Union in Tokyo, and somewhat more deserving than Rough Trade in Denmark Street.
Another former customer of Cob here. Always the wait to see if they still had it in stock by the time your postal order reached them – the ubiquitous credit note if not. Managed an visit in person having stumbled upon it by accident after a visit to Portmeirion Village. Still going in a pleasingly old school way judging by their web site.
Not yet been to Cob but intend to rectify that sometime. My favourite would have to be Princeton Record Exchange where I have spent many a happy hour or so. The closing of Sam the Record Man spoilt my frequent visits to Toronto.
Amoeba in San Francisco and LAX are both excellent.
In UK I love Sister Ray and Reckless but have possibly spent more money at Sounds of the Universe which has some pretty rare stuff.
Just this week I went to Rock a Buy in Oakham which is a splendid little shop.
Once went to a really impressive shop in terms of stock in Moscow. It was however the only record shop I have been in that didn’t have any music playing.
Few personal favourites, ones I visited rather than mail order
Spillers (Cardiff)
Virgin Megastore (Oxford St, London)
Probe Records (Liverpool)
Zero zero (Zürich)
Beatnick Records (Montreal)
The Record Centre (Ottawa)
Gerosa Records (Brookfield, Connecticut)
Went to the huge store in Tokyo last year (Virgin?) and it was disappointing. Many floors but only lightly stocked and insanely expensive. In the mid 90s it would have been about the 4th best CD store in Brisbane.
I went to Tower Records in Tokyo last year – is that the one you mean? Either way my impression was exactly the same as yours. Pretty good classical section, but I was surprised at wasn’t in the rock and pop one
Cob was local to me as a kid and bought a few things from there but, popping in recently I have say that their ‘everything in three big rows’ stacking system makes ‘digging’ a bit tricky. Also, their pricing system is wildly erratic at times. Spillers in Cardiff is friendly and great even if their stock is tiny. My favourite record shops have been American ones- Phonolux in Nashville (or on the outskirts to be strictly accurate) is great as is Euclid in New Orleans and the vast and cavernous beast that is Amoeba in San Francisco. London’s Sister Ray and Sounds of the Universe deserve a mention plus Reckless (even if the staff there are a bit snooty.).
My two main sources of unusual and second-hand records (by mail order) were Cob, as discussed above; and Piccadilly Records in Manchester – mostly for obscure proggy stuff.
Locally, I had Listen and Bloggs, both in Glasgow, both excellent, both long gone…
ochone, ochone!
Also – Gloria’s Record Bar in Battlefield. When I was in my (very) early teens, I used to get the bus to Battlefield for my glam singles and Quo/Sabbath albums. My mum seemed to think it was safer than going into town on a Saturday, when the football was on (I was small for my age…).
Good list. Some of my favourites are on there – Sounds of The Universe, Honest Jon’s, Amoeba Music.
The most influential record shop for me was Dobell’s at its original site in Charing Cross Road, closely followed by Collett’s in New Oxford Street. Many of the most important records I came across in my teens were bought in those shops.
CASS Music in Eastbourne, aka Complete Audio SystemS, a hi-fi shop with a front section dealing in all things underground and progressive, and a hefty quotient of West Coast stuff from the U.S. Happy to let young teenage boys while away their afternoons on headphones at the listening posts, where you could make requests to hear a side of an LP, and then maybe another. Average price for vinyl seemed always to be 37/6 in those days.
Real Groovy in Auckland. I went in there some years ago (perhaps 20 – yikes!) to see if they had Low on CD. I looked in the enormous Bowie section but it was not there. Staff directed to the bit where I had just been to. There was an absolutely massive box of miscellaneous second hand CDs – hundreds of them – not yet sorted. A random, half-hearted rummage and…Low popped out and slid towards me as if directed to do so by a magician. One of the happiest days of my life.
Great thread. And right at the top of the list is Cob Records from Porthmadog in Wales. Cob was a lifesaver for me when I was living in South Africa. Import records were tricky to come by away from the main cities there and so a lot of my vinyl purchases in the 1970s came via Cob’s mail order service, advertised at the back of the NME and Melody Maker. In those days there was no such thing as online purchasing. Then, you selected a record you wanted to buy, calculated the cost including postage in pounds, bought an international postal order, sent it off via snail mail to some strangely named town in Wales … and waited… and waited… and waited. You had no idea if the letter had reached its destination, whether you had sent enough money, whether the album was still in stock, or whether the album was on its way back to South Africa. And if it was on its way to South Africa, would it escape the censors’ scrutiny, excise duty, or be lost in the unreliable local postal service. Inevitably, though, the album would arrive, in pristine condition but about eight weeks after ordering.
I was living in a town called Grahamstown and on one occasion I forgot to put ‘South Africa’ on my address (when ordering Matching Mole’s debut album as I recall). After about 12 weeks or so, by which time I had given up ever seeing it, the album arrived with a note scrawled across the address from an Australian postal worker. It read: ‘Not Grahamstown Australia, try Grahamstown South Africa.’ Amazing.
When I moved to the UK I visited the shop in Porthmadog (which I now knew was pronounced Portmaddoc and not literally as Porth Ma Dog). And it was magnificent. Good to see it is still going strong. Maybe another visit is due.
Bought many records from Cob in the 70s, even sold them one or two via mail. A few of us at school would get together when the latest catalogue came out and make a bulk order. So exciting to receive a package
Rather too many UK ones in the list for a “world’s best” methinks. Also loses a point for the use of “vinyls”
Beddgelert, just up the road, is a favourite haunt of ours, for Llyn dipping excursions. And a visit to Porthmadog, for Cob, is always on the agenda.
Cob is brilliant indeed. I’m going to go a bit further afield.
Southbound Records in Auckland, very small shop but lovely chatty guys working there. Also a shout out to Vinyl Countdown and Mark the owner in New Plymouth.
I’ve not yet been to Cob, but Aled Jones once thrashed me at snooker in Porthmadog while I was on holiday in Harlech. That must have been nearly 40 years ago – post-WITA, but he wasn’t yet old enough to spend his royalties.
Used to trek up to Cob Records in Portmadoc occasionally, when I was living a bit further down in West Wales, near Aberystwyth. My vinyl copy of Troutmask Replica (a mid-’70s reissue, not the original) was bought there.
Cob Records in Wrexham was my second home in my teens.
Were you a student at Rhodes in the 70s? I was, and an avid reader of NME at that time.
Not sure if it’s still there but Rock Gallery in Wanchai was the best record shop in Hong Kong during my time there between 1986 and 2013
Happy to report RG is still going strong in Wanchai
Now? ONCE I would have said the Camden Town Record and Tape Exchange, “Ultima Thule” in Leicester, or the old Clock Tower Virgin in Brighton. My travels were very impressed by some huge place on NYC Broadway about 71st St (can’t recall name), Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd in LA, or the huge Sam Goody’s in Toronto. These days, the best for me is Fopp.
Think you mean Sam the Record Man, legendary store closed in 2007.
That’s the one! Knew someone in The Massive would know! Many Thanks.
I have a “Strand Books” t-shirt which has dual functionality; it indicates I am a man of urbane wealth and taste, and also it’s an oblique Steely Dan reference. These things count.
Ooh, that’s two of us with Strand Books t-shirts then! What’s the SD reference though?
Interesting list. Completely missed it.
There’s always the things you don’t agree with or things you think they missed. Spillers in Cardiff seems an obvious miss, as would be Disk Union in Tokyo, and somewhat more deserving than Rough Trade in Denmark Street.
Another former customer of Cob here. Always the wait to see if they still had it in stock by the time your postal order reached them – the ubiquitous credit note if not. Managed an visit in person having stumbled upon it by accident after a visit to Portmeirion Village. Still going in a pleasingly old school way judging by their web site.
Not yet been to Cob but intend to rectify that sometime. My favourite would have to be Princeton Record Exchange where I have spent many a happy hour or so. The closing of Sam the Record Man spoilt my frequent visits to Toronto.
Amoeba in San Francisco and LAX are both excellent.
In UK I love Sister Ray and Reckless but have possibly spent more money at Sounds of the Universe which has some pretty rare stuff.
Just this week I went to Rock a Buy in Oakham which is a splendid little shop.
Once went to a really impressive shop in terms of stock in Moscow. It was however the only record shop I have been in that didn’t have any music playing.
Few personal favourites, ones I visited rather than mail order
Spillers (Cardiff)
Virgin Megastore (Oxford St, London)
Probe Records (Liverpool)
Zero zero (Zürich)
Beatnick Records (Montreal)
The Record Centre (Ottawa)
Gerosa Records (Brookfield, Connecticut)
Went to the huge store in Tokyo last year (Virgin?) and it was disappointing. Many floors but only lightly stocked and insanely expensive. In the mid 90s it would have been about the 4th best CD store in Brisbane.
I went to Tower Records in Tokyo last year – is that the one you mean? Either way my impression was exactly the same as yours. Pretty good classical section, but I was surprised at wasn’t in the rock and pop one
Cob was local to me as a kid and bought a few things from there but, popping in recently I have say that their ‘everything in three big rows’ stacking system makes ‘digging’ a bit tricky. Also, their pricing system is wildly erratic at times. Spillers in Cardiff is friendly and great even if their stock is tiny. My favourite record shops have been American ones- Phonolux in Nashville (or on the outskirts to be strictly accurate) is great as is Euclid in New Orleans and the vast and cavernous beast that is Amoeba in San Francisco. London’s Sister Ray and Sounds of the Universe deserve a mention plus Reckless (even if the staff there are a bit snooty.).
My two main sources of unusual and second-hand records (by mail order) were Cob, as discussed above; and Piccadilly Records in Manchester – mostly for obscure proggy stuff.
Locally, I had Listen and Bloggs, both in Glasgow, both excellent, both long gone…
ochone, ochone!
Also – Gloria’s Record Bar in Battlefield. When I was in my (very) early teens, I used to get the bus to Battlefield for my glam singles and Quo/Sabbath albums. My mum seemed to think it was safer than going into town on a Saturday, when the football was on (I was small for my age…).
Good list. Some of my favourites are on there – Sounds of The Universe, Honest Jon’s, Amoeba Music.
The most influential record shop for me was Dobell’s at its original site in Charing Cross Road, closely followed by Collett’s in New Oxford Street. Many of the most important records I came across in my teens were bought in those shops.
CASS Music in Eastbourne, aka Complete Audio SystemS, a hi-fi shop with a front section dealing in all things underground and progressive, and a hefty quotient of West Coast stuff from the U.S. Happy to let young teenage boys while away their afternoons on headphones at the listening posts, where you could make requests to hear a side of an LP, and then maybe another. Average price for vinyl seemed always to be 37/6 in those days.
Good to see Banquet in there, my local
Hepworth gives this list a good kicking in the latest podcast
It is his job to have an opinion about everything. It must be exhausting.
Real Groovy in Auckland. I went in there some years ago (perhaps 20 – yikes!) to see if they had Low on CD. I looked in the enormous Bowie section but it was not there. Staff directed to the bit where I had just been to. There was an absolutely massive box of miscellaneous second hand CDs – hundreds of them – not yet sorted. A random, half-hearted rummage and…Low popped out and slid towards me as if directed to do so by a magician. One of the happiest days of my life.
The world’s two best record stores are in the same city: Tower Records and Disk Union in Tokyo.