Good used vinyl/CD stores in Washington D.C.?

The LS to go to is in Crystal City so that you can park for free in the garage located opposite Charlie Chiangs & Mackey's Public House.

 

And he is very helpful, wiling to order anything you need, and a nice guy to talk to about music and vinyl. Didn't his store used to me on M Street in Georgetown?

The guy at Yesterday and Today, in contrast, when I asked him if he had a single of Peter Gabriel's collaboration with Deep Forest, dismissed me with "We don't carry that kind of music." Okkaaay.

 

Since at least the 70s.

We talked about all these guys back in 2003.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=20069

 

So, are any of the record shows still going on? Tyson's bit the dust but is Arbutus still going?

 

I believe it still happens the third Sunday of every month.

 

This is correct. The show is also closed one month during the summer, in either July or August.



Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Yeah, he was. He just crossed the 30-year threshold a few months back. He had a large store there for a long time and then, about 12 years ago, he had to cut his store in half because of the exorbitant rent. He then realized he couldn't keep the same stock in half the space so he moved to the Clarendon section of Arlington, VA. He's been there for about 10 years. When we last spoke, he made it clear that his days are numbered and he's looking to get out...

While Rick does have some singles, it isn't the focus of what he does because they don't really make him any money. Having said that, he will help if he's got it. He's always been pretty nice and he's knowledgeable without being arrogant. Nice change of pace...

Ed

 

Is Rick the guy who walks around the store barefoot?

 

He's also one of only two people who work there. He can't really afford to pay anyone else to work there so he pretty much lives there. He gets there at around 11:30am and I've seen him stick around 'til 4am the next morning - only to go to bed for a few hours and come right back. Inhumane hours - even if you love what you do.

Ed

 

CD Warehouse in Georgetown is good....only cds and its small
http://cityvoter.com/profile/2545/cd-warehouse-georgetown
http://www.myspace.com/thinkinground

 

Well I will say this:

The days of Orpheus are very numbered. If you like LPs and live in the DC area and haven't been you owe it to yourself to visit this store one time.

I like Red Onion. You can find stuff there that you might not see anywhere else.

I also should plug- surprised it has not been mentioned- SOM Records on 14th St NW right by St Ex Cafe on corner of 14th and either S or T. Nice jazz selection there....

Second STory Books has gone down the drain.. they used to be pretty good now its overpriced garbage..kind of place you will see a completely warped record with gashes for $3... they're nuts.... I've talked to them about it but to no avail... they say they are just not buying much anymore but thats not really whats going on.. The store in Bethesda closed and I would not be surprised if the whole place goes internet only in the next few years

I have to say I read all this stuff about Joe's but the two times I went I was not impressed.. Also, keeping the good stuff in the front and having to ask permission to look at it does not sit right with me... But I don't remember finding much.. I did find a Stooges LP they had mispriced based on faulty goldmine info and I jumped on it......Its hard for me to get out there and I don't..

I want to hit the Fairfax Record Exchange but don't have a car so its an odyssey

I also like the CD Exchange in Arlington.... I've found good stuff there...

There's also Smash which reopened in Adams MOrgan... I'll find stuff ocasionally but stuff is a bit overpriced...Guy doesn't seem to understand relatioship between condition and price.... Bobby is hardly involved.. I miss that guy.... He's moved on to Borders or barnes and noble managing a music dept at a store in dc... and ain't that a sign of whats happened?

There's also crooked beat in adams morgan but stuff is too pricey there.... it was better when neal bechton was involved but he left and opened SOm Records

My favorties: SOM/ORpheus/Red Onion/CD Exchange or what have you in arlington (the one in falls church has no vynil)/CD Game Exchange (not mentioned above but you will find the ocassional good bargain and of course a lot of barbra streissand and neil diamond!)

(ALL THE ABOVE REFERS ONLY TO LPS WHICH IS WHERE ITS AT FOR ME)

 

Thanks for all the info, guys. Here's my report on the day's activities:

First stop was Joe's Record Paradise. Very good store indeed, aside from the oppressive sandalwood incense they were burning that Saturday. At first it was a lovely bit of nostalgia, but after an hour-plus both my wife and I headed for the door for fresh air and ibuprofen to dispel our headaches. Purchases on vinyl: Genesis, "Nursery Cryme," VG+ original UK Charisma pressing for 5.50. On CD: Barry D.'s mastering of "Seconds Out" for 9.50, and a copy of the SACD set of "Hot Rocks" with a mangled cover for 12.00. Nice haul there.

Next stop was CD Cellar in Arlington. Nice little store, with a very friendly clerk who gave me pretty good directions on how to get there. Three vinyl purchases: orange-label UK imports of CTA and Chicago III (G-VG+ condition depending on the sides), and one of my favorite Phil Keaggy albums, "Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child" (VG+ to NM). Prices were 5.00 apiece. I also found a 6.99 DVD of one of my favorite Clint Eastwood-directed movies, "A Perfect World."

Then to Orpheus, the only store I'd been to before. Very good stock of new and used vinyl, OK stock of CDs. This place had the most diverse stock and the only substantial new stock. The prices were much higher there, sometimes unreasonably so, compared to the other shops. I didn't get a chance to talk with the proprietor. I left without buying anything, but I'm sure I'll visit again at some point.

Birthday dinner followed, at the Legal Seafood in Crystal City. Getting there was a bit of an adventure, but the food was fine and the parking was free.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice. Next time I hope to get to Red Onion and the Record/Tape Exchange.

BTW, for you Ben: the orange-label CTA is very nicely mastered, but the orange-label III sounds a little too soft in the treble. My fave vinyl CTA is the TML master--but alas I have only sides 3 and 4 in that mastering!

 

Sad but true. Ten years ago Second Story was heaven. They always had tons of stuff, everything at $3. Little by little they went downhill. I remember going to their warehouse when they had something like 20000 LPs and everything was $1.

 

That's new.

Not surprised.

I need a TML too

 

I need to check out these two places. Where is Red Onion located at?

 

Red Onion is approximately on the corner of 18th ST NW and T St NW. I believe they may have a website with the exact address..Its basically right past the giant restaurant LAURIOL PLAZA on 18th ST. The guy usually puts up a little fold out sign on the side walk so you will have no problems finding it if you're going up 18th st.. its like a block before U ST/FLORIDA intersection with 18th.

 

Thanks

I think I may have been there. Sounds like Dupont Circle would be the nearest Metro.

 

Red Onion has been open one year. The closest metro is Dupont but make sure to take the Dupont North exit.

For what its worth stock has expanded noticeably since the store opened.

 

Only one year? Then I haven't been there. Will check it out later this week. Thanks



Neighborhood: Dupont Circle
1901 18th St NW
(between N T St & N Willard St)
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 986-2718
redonionrecordsandbooks.com

 

I remember the Orpheus guy having a reputation for being pretty crotchety. I went in a couple times to the Georgetown location expecting him to yell at me like the soup Nazi (this was in the pre-Seinfeld days, though!). I do remember that George at Vinyl Ink hired him to do some reorganization or cataloguing or something at his store, and when he came in, he seemed very subdued. Maybe he was just acting like an employee or maybe he was not a bad guy after all.

It's bizarre that Smash is open again. I remember going there in the '80s and it had a few records--mostly imports--and stuff like Doc Martens and clothing. A total punk-rock dinosaur of a store in the late '80s. I can't imagine them being any more relevant these days, but good for them for sticking to it!

 

We may be close to losing, or at least seeing some big changes with the Record and Tape Traders stores in the Baltimore/DC area.

http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=14781
Georgia Company Buys Record and Tape Traders
By Michael Byrne
Posted 11/8/2007 4:35:15 PM

Someone still has faith in selling music the old-fashioned way. It came to City Paper’s attention early Thursday that Baltimore’s homegrown (OK, homegrown as in Towson) chain of brick-and-mortar music retailers Record and Tape Traders has been purchased by Marietta, Ga.’s Value Music Concepts, owner of 48 record shops in 19 states. Old-school or not, this latest purchase is an unsurprising part of Value Music’s longstanding steeze of buying out and streamlining record shops/small chains across the country.

The sale, announced to employees only Wednesday, becomes official this Saturday, at which point all of the roughly 35 Record and Tape Traders warehouse employees will become jobless. On Sunday, representatives of Value Music will meet with them to discuss possibilities of placement elsewhere in the company. The future of the nine Record and Tape Traders stores is unclear at this time. According to (soon-to-be former) Marketing Director Dustin Sugar-Moore “As far as I know all of the stores are staying open.” Though, given that Value Music and Record and Tape Traders both have a store in Rehoboth, we wouldn’t be surprised if one wasn’t lost there.

Record and Tape Traders, like most brick-and-mortar retailers, hasn’t fared well of late—their Charles Village location recently shut its doors—in light of downloading and, well, downloading. “Sales were definitely down” explains Sugar-Moore. The buyout wasn’t “a huge surprise, but a big disappointment.”

 

Rick from Orpheus has always been OK. Maybe you are thinking of his partner in the early 80s, before the store was renamed Orpheus, now that guy could teach the soup nazi some new tricks. He got mad at me once because I was buying polys and not his overpriced LPs.

 

And here lies the reason Orpheus is going under. Not your fault, Gardo. It just happens that way. So many people walk in, sniff through the bins, and walk out that he can't get ahead. His records are overpriced for a couple of reasons. First of all, they're worth it. His grading is overkill. A "VG+" in his bins would be a NM in anyone else's. If you try to buy a record that he pulls from the shelves above the bins, he'll pull it out and look at it very carefully before he prices it. He's very careful to make sure that he doesn't give you a bad record. In the 12 years I've shopped there, I've returned exactly one record and it was a then-current "factory sealed" record that he couldn't check.

The second reason his prices are what they are is the cost involved with operating a shop in Clarendon. He's told me that it ain't cheap, folks - and I believe him. Clarendon is rapidly turning into a second Washington, DC in terms of overall commerce generated - quite a change from the way things were a mere ten years ago. He's said that he almost has to price the way he does to remain above water. Add to that the fact that he's doing battle with the likes of Acoustic Sounds and MusicDirect and he just has to raise his prices a little.

Also worth noting is that Rick hates CD's. If he didn't have to carry them for survival purposes, he wouldn't. He's made that very clear to me on various occasions. LOL! He absolutely can't stand the fact that he needs them. Worse yet, they account for much of his profits. Talk about having to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

I hate to say this but you didn't miss much by not hitting the Record & Tape Exchange. I used to go there from time to time when I lived in Herndon (just down the road from Fairfax) and I was pretty underwhelmed - not only by their selection but by how little the staff new about what they carried. The proprietor employs teenagers that are there to make a buck and don't seem to care too much about what they're doing. I can't imagine that they'll be around much longer.

Ed

 

From the sources that I have spoken to about this, they plan to leave most of the stores as they are, and will retain the Record & Tape Traders name. I did hear that they will probably be closing the store in Bel Air. As long as their main location in Towson is still around, I will be happy.



Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion