Half Price Books (Dallas,TX...or..close, but...)

We're getting there...

You know how, when you're out of town, food tastes different cause, you know, you're out of town. Even something like Chic-Fil-A can taste better cause you're eating it in Wichita, or Popeyes tastes different cause you're eating it in New Orleans..wait....that one may be true...

Well, there's this store here in the A that I haven't shopped yet. The store is called "Half Price Books", and apparently, it's somewhere that I need to get to. It always feels strange visiting something that you have available to you for the first time when you're out of town. I was making one of my many visits to Best Buy (off the DART), and happened to notice this huge sign.

On one of my OTHER trips to Best Buy, I mapped the best way to get there by way of train, and set out to see what Half Price Books was about. I'd been mostly disappointed so far in the record stores, so I was really ready to be overwhelmed.

I walk the nearly mile long trek and when I get there, I'm a little surprised. Didn't expect for it to look like a large Media Play, but it did...so I just sucked it up and made my way to the records. The rock section is HUGE...maybe 3-4 rows of used rock vinyl. Everything else got maybe half a row...soundtracks got less than that.

The selection was awesome though. Multiple copies of almost everything they had, in varying condition. Found a George Michael I'd been looking for for the wife, and FINALLY found a copy of "Like A Virgin" for her too.

Then I started to notice a problem.

They wanted $12 for "Like A Virgin", and as desperate as I'd been to buy that for the Mrs, I just couldn't do it. Then I check the condition of the record, and there was a huge scratch right through "Shoo Be Doo", my wifes' favorite song on the album.

*sigh*

I had to walk away from it. But I'm glad I did. I walked over to the R&B section, and ran into this

Man oh man...I played my moms' 8-track of this out. I've bought this cd numerous times, and walked away from it at Fantasyland when I first moved here three years ago. HAPPY DAY!!

I also picked up a Chaka Khan I didn't have (needed it for the Prince collection), and the first Luther Vandross..got these all at excellent prices. So I was confused as to why somethings were waaay overpriced. Like the "Breakin" soundtrack for $12, Men at Work "Cargo" for $10..smh

The clearance section is located under the normal racks, and there isn't a lot of space in the Vinyl section, so shopping those bins are impossible on a busy Saturday afternoon..but afer finding the BB King/Bobby "Blue" Bland album for only $6, nothing else mattered. The staff was really nice and knowledgeable, and there's enough books, DVDs and toysthere to keep the family occupied while you go through the racks.

3.75/5 adapters. I'm anxious to check out the Atlanta store now...soon..

Bills Records, Dallas, TX (or...I'm not sure what to feel here)

So, after finally finding something to buy at B4, I decided to hop on the DART and visit a store called "Bills Records", that wasn't too far from me, and by all accounts, was some what of an institution in Dallas. Read nothing but good things about it, and it seemed like a good place to fill some holes in my catalog.

Walking up to it, I started to get excited. It has the look of an old, neighborhood store, complete with posters and flyers in the window, but once you open the door you realize something is wrong here.

"How ya doin?" Bill called out from behind the counter. "Good! Good, and yourself?" I replied. He was into the news on the tv, so I didn't trip on not getting an answer to my question. I didn't really know where to start..nothing is organized. I mean, there's pieces of cardboard stuck into the shelves that tell you what should be there...or what used to be there...or maybe theyre telling you what AINT there. I wandered up and down the aisles, trying to make sense out of something, but sadly I couldn't. When I found a couple of R&B records, I assumed that this could be the Soul section, but after flipping through the Earth, Wind and Fire records, I ran into some Mac Davis, and my frustration grew.

"Excuse me.." I finally grew tired of trying to make sense of this and decided to ask for help. "I'm looking for the R&B section..is it back here?"

Bill got up from his chair "Nobody puts anything back where it's supposed to be, so yeah, this is where the section is supposed to start. I've got some Dance records mixed in with it too...I don't know..maybe they're all Trump supporters or something.." He laughed, so I laughed too.

"I haven't really organized things here since I moved. I've been in this location about 10 years and just aint got the time to put everything where it should be."

*sigh*

I went back to the racks...to the rock section...theres a couple of Foreigner records that I still need. I tried to find the F's, but I couldn't. I saw a piece of cardboard that said "Bowie", so I decided to look there to see what I could find, but found Glen Campbell and Men at Work instead.

I really wanted to buy something from him, ya know? To show that I understand that life "be's like that sometime", so I found an Andre Cymone that I didn't have, a Cameo that I needed, and a Chic that I wanted. They were all in really good condition too, which, is kinda surprising considering the look of the store. I thought it was odd that nothing was priced.

"I'm not sure what I owe you my man...none of these are priced."

"Oh" he said "That's cause I price 'em right here" He took the Andre Cymone out "Yeah...this is in good condition..I'm asking 15 for this one, cause of his relationship with Prince...the Cameo...yeah, this is in perfect condition too...gimmie 8 for that, and the Chic...gimmie 9 for that."

"Hmm...well, I'm gonna put the Andre Cymone back...and the Cameo...that's a little high don't you think?"

"Well, they don't make these no more, so.."

"I'm aware...I just know that I've seen all of these go for less almost everywhere else."

"Well, I don't know how they do it where you're from, but I've been doing this for over 30 years..and I make a lot of money on Ebay"

"Not arguing with you my man...just saying. Well, I'll go ahead and put these back for you Bill, don't worry about it"

"Naw, just leave em right here on the counter..."


*sigh*

I walked out, went to the train and came back to the hotel. That was frustrating. But I couldn't overpay for this stuff. I'm not posting any pictures of the inside of the store, cause honestly, it's embarrassing. I hate it for dude. I know he's been around a long time, and he's done a lot for the local music scene here...but it may be time for him to pass the needle on to someone else. The store is a mess, and he doesn't seem to care. His pricing is ridiculous, and he knows it. I really wanted to go back over the weekend and volunteer to help him organize, but my schedule wouldn't allow it.

1/5 adapters. And the 1 is only because he sells records.

B4-Dallas, TX (or.....this is supposed to be fun, right?)

My next stop in Dallas was right around the corner from Off the Record, the aforementioned "B4", which is like a nerds paradise...so I fit right in. There was a .99 bin as soon as walked in, but I knew that couldn't be it, so I kept walking towards the back...past the couches and counter. "It's more records behind that velvet rope" an employee called out, then pointed me to a rack with about 9 albums on it.

"We got jazz all along that wall, some punk and metal in this crate..uhh..that crate there is all Zappa..that all Beatles down on the floor there, this box here has some R&B and some hip-hop in it, and the rest is just rock. Oh! We got a two dollar bin in the front there, so if you need anything, just holler!" And he went back to his business. "Nice enough guy" I thought..so let's make sense of this.

Just as I typed, everything in the back is either in boxes or crates, and they're either spread out across the floor, or stacked on top of each other, so that part of the store is not easy to shop at all. You have to move crates to get to other crates, and the whole thing begins to feel like work. If it was somebodies' estate sale or something, that'd be one thing, but for this to be in a store? No Bueno.

I did come across "October" by U2 though...with no price. "Umm...just gimmie three bucks for it man"

Cool.

I got up from there and made my way to the $2 bins and found a few gems in there. "Party Til' You're Broke" is something that I always see priced too high, but at $2? Yeah...i'll take it. This Rene and Angela, with "I'll Be Good" on it for two bucks? You betcha. "Good High" by Brick for $2? How can I say no??



The employees, and even the patrons are really good people. They pointed me to a bathroom that "Everybody uses...the owners of the store know whats up...theyre cool with it". The bathroom happened to be in a barber shop, and there was a cool bar behind the barber shop, so I'm glad they pointed me that way.

I'm gonna give "B4" 3 adapters. They could stand to be a little more organized, but they do have some decent inventory

Waterloo Records, Austin, TX (or...I changed my underwear for this??)

One of the major perks of working for an airline is being able to fly for free. Standby, but still...its free, right? I've been in Dallas for almost a month, and I decided that before I go back home, I was gonna take a daytrip to "The Live Music Capitol of the World", Austin, TX. As soon as I picked a flight to get on, I made a list of the five things I wanted to do while I was there:

1-See the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue
2-See The Moody Theatre (where Austin City Limits is filmed)
3-Go to Waterloo Records
4-Find some bomb-diggety barbecue
5-See "Doctor Strange" at the world famous Alamo Drafthouse Theatre

Since this blog is about crate diggin', I'll skip #1, #2, #4 and #5 and get right to #3.

As soon as I got off the plane I see this


"Oh God" I thought, "a record store in the airport? This place is gonna be a problem"

I asked the dude working there just how far the actual Waterloo Records was from the airport.

"I don't know" he whispered (?), "I've never actually been there"

HENH?

He whispered again, "I don't work for this store, I work for the airport." Ah, okay, I gave him a pass and kept it movin'

After a minor rental car aggravation, I was on my way to start the list...skip 1 and 2, and now here I am....BAM!

Parking is a pain in the arse, but they share a "strip" with a very popular 24 hour restaurant and an Ice Cream parlor, so that's to be expected. The store is set up with two separate sides that can operate totally independent of each other...all the way down to two separate entrances. The first side is all cds and dvds, and the second side is all vinyl. I got in and went straight to the used r&b section.

That's it. From the rooter to the tooter. The ENTIRE used Soul/R&B section. Not even two full bins. Disgusting. However...there is a sign that says "More used vinyl can be found in the artists section". So...in other words..if you're looking for..."Pain" by the Ohio Players, you'd have to flip through the reissues to see if there's anything in there. It's like...having to eat a Tootsie Roll Pop just to get a Tootsie Roll...nah...I'll pass.

Keeping new and used vinyl together? May be confusing for some.

There was a sign promoting a .99 section, but I never found it. They do have a "New arrival" used bin in the back of the store that was about..maybe 6 feet long. The albums there are put in bins by the day they were dropped off over the past two weeks, so you'll have bins labeled "Last Tuesday" and what not. Now, I did find a couple of gems in there, "Dream of the Blue Turtles" and a Depeche Mode for the wife, a Kate Bush album for my home boy, and a Genesis and an Evelyn "Champagne" King album for me. I walked over to the Prince section to see how they got down and found this...

That's a bootleg, children. No Bueno. And there were more, including a "special release" of The Black Album...on double vinyl (!!). Now, as a Prince completist, yes I do have tons of bootlegs, but 95% of what I have was either traded for, or given to me. The other 5% were, yes, bought. But they were bought between the years of 89-93..when that was the only way to get them. It'd be one thing if these were older ones...like "The Regent of First Ave" or "When Doves Cry It's A Sign of the Times", but nah, these were brand new. And as if that wasn't enough, there's this.

Now, I'm not a gambling man, but I promise you Bowie and Prince did not give permission before they left us to be on slipmats. I put my selections down and walked out. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I guess if I was into new vinyl, I may have had a different opinion on Waterloo, but everything I'd heard was how they have "tons" of used stuff, and blah blah blah. Only today did I find one review that told the truth. And the bootleg thing? Oh man..that's why there are certain places in Atlanta that I don't like to shop for that very reason. I couldn't bring myself to put one penny in their account (although they did have a pretty sweet Daniel Johnston coffee mug), after the "care" that was shown about the importance, or lack of, of the Soul/R&B section. So I ended up leaving there mad at myself for wasting time, and hungrier than I was when I walked in.

Overall...1.5/5 adapters. The store is clean, and labelled pretty thoroughly, but the selection sucks. I really wanted to give it the "T-shirt of victory", but I'd have to be proud to wear it, and I wouldn't be.


*sigh*

This one's strictly Off the Record...

So, I've been in Dallas, TX for a little over two weeks now for my job, right?

Of course, the first thing I looked up, before I even knew where the training facility was, and where the nearest Wal-Mart or Kroger was, was where the nearest record stores were. I let myself get acclimated to the work/home (well, hotel) schedule for a couple of days, then I struck out on my first Adventure in Crate Digging in the Lone Star state.

Since the hotel is in Downtown, the closet stores to me were located in an area called "Deep Ellum", which is Dallas' version of L5P (Little 5 Points in Atlanta), or NoDa (God I hate saying that...) in Charlotte. Your  typical hipster hangout...full of craft beer , patchouli wearing youngsters, and people like me looking for records. There just so happens to be two stores in this part of town, "Off the Record" and "B4". B4 is more of a cool antique store, full of comic books, video games, t-shirts, loud music and yeah...records. But they're only open Thur-Sun, and seeing as how it was Wednesday, I had to save them for another day. So, I made my way over to Off the Record.


Off the Record has only been around for just over two years, but its quickly made a name for itself for it's uniqueness and atmosphere. What if I told you that you could drink til your liver threatens to walk out on you, AND shop for records at the same time? If you think that's an awesome idea (and you felt your insides quiver a lil bit), then Off the Record is the place for you. Fully stocked bar...loads of awesome local beer on tap (try the Big Bend...you're welcome), live dj's from Wed-Sat..and oh yeah...RECORDS!

Now, mind you, the selection is kinda limited, and yeah, it's all new vinyl (sorry crate diggers, no completing that AC/DC or Cameo collection here), but what they lack in selection, they make up for it with AWESOME "background" music (when there's no dj). The hits just kept coming...from Albert King, to Stevie Ray Vaughn, to Beck to The Fugees. I was more impressed by the "playlist" than the selection. Which does sound like a bad thing, but when it's kept in the perspective of OTR is bar "that just happens to sell music" instead of a record store "that just happens to sell likka", it's that much more enjoyable. I'll be going back before I leave for the "Soul Funktion" night. The "Flavours" night was pretty cool, and the dj dug deep..played a David Ruffin song I'd never heard before.

All in all, it's dope concept, just wish:

1) There was used vinyl for sale
2) I'd thought of it first.

All in all...as a record store, they get 2.5 adapters...but as a place to hang, be around and talk about vinyl.....and drink...I give em 4/5 adapters

Drop the needle...

I'm a junkie...I'm a vinyl junkie. Always have been, always will be. Buying records takes me back to a time when I could ride my bike to the local grocery store and pick up a Cheerwine, a Summit Bar, and the latest 45 by O'Bryan, or Madness, or Prince, or...

Those days have come and gone...and come again. The resurgence in buying vinyl has hit a fever pitch, so much so that almost every new release is treated to an overpriced release on wax. It's amazing to me that the latest Selena Gomez album can easily cost more than the Superfly soundtrack. I guess the market really does dictate the price...but who's really clamoring for todays music on vinyl? They may SAY they want the "album", but a lot of times it's just so they can look like the cool kid at school. "No, I don't have Drake on MP3, I have the actual album..just waiting on my dad to rip it to MP3 for me"

It's cool though...I guess. But for those that really, truly treasure that big piece of fragile plastic in your hands, this blog is for you. I've been given the opportunity to visit a few record stores across the nation recently, and here I'll be sharing what I liked...and disliked (respectfully) about the stores I've visited...and hopefully I'll be talking to some owners, managers, employees, and enthusiasts (just like us) along the way. I hope you dig reading it as much as I enjoy "the work"