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On 8/18/2010 2:22 PM, Historische Aufnahmen wrote: > I recall the excitement when first moved to LA at the prospect of going to > Murray's. Then I went. Dashed hopes. Only to be outdone by the music shop > on Highland at Santa Monica, with a shopkeeper even more arrogant than > Murray. What shop is/was that? THe History channel program on retrotech I mentioned last week that had a segment at the Rainbo pressing plant interviewed the owner of a store The Record Collector on Melrose near Fairfax which is south of Santa Monica Blvd and not far from Highland. Their website -- which hasn't changed since 1999 -- states they've been in the same location for 25 years, was founded in 1974, and as of Sept 1999 are located at 7809 Melrose. That means they were at another Hollywood location for 25 years and have been here for 21 years. (I looked at the site's earlier versions on the wayback machine to see if the earlier address could be found, but the Nov 1999 version is the oldest and is the same as the current page http://www.therecordcollector.net/Doc/Review.htm except for the deletion of the fax number. > I hate to see record (and book) shops close but when their "owner" > behaves as these folks have, give me the internet any day. > > Alan Carrie This guy seemed nice enough but the shelves were full. If you want nice guys and interesting (but smaller) stores and stock, I recommend Pops Resale in Lexington Kentucky, and Whistlin' Willie in Pittsburgh Pa. Mike Biel [log in to unmask] > On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 12:23 PM, Cary Ginell<[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> The point differentiating "stock" from "collection" is well-taken in this >> case. To my knowledge, Murray as never been anything but a shopkeeper. He >> has no private collection to my knowledge and really isn't all that >> concerned with the finer points of discographical research as are serious >> collectors. He never worked hard to make his a better business. He just >> opened his doors and expected to sell his schlock for whatever ridiculous >> prices he posted on them. He has been reviled in L.A. for decades as being a >> grumpy, mean, brusque, and difficult person. The last time I visited his >> shop was maybe 25-30 years ago, when it was on Santa Monica Blvd. near >> Western, a bad part of town even then. What he's got now is most likely the >> same stuff, only rifled through even further. There may be some choice items >> that he set aside (some of which he has displayed during interviews), but I >> can almost guarantee that they are a miniscule percentage of his holdings >> and certainly not representative of all that is there. If his business were >> doing well, he wouldn't need to find a new profession at his advanced age. >> He could have just dumped what was left and gone off to some island in >> blissful retirement. But creating a new image of himself as a "lovable old >> coot" on TV shows is easier for him and probably earns him a much better >> income than selling records. If these records end up in a land fill >> somewhere, they probably won't be missed. >> >> Cary Ginell >> >> >