Guide To the Boston Area’s Used Record Stores

by Joshua Brown

If you are operating on a limited budget and an insatiable musical appetite, there’s no reason to pay inflated retail prices. With a little patience, you’ll be able to find anything you want used, sometimes at half the cost of buying it new. The following is a guided tour (though, unlike other city tours, you don’t get to see or feed any ducks) of the Boston area’s used record stores. Because there are so many of them, some stores aren’t mentioned. The ones I find most consistently useful are covered. (Hint: Though I’d love to be so chic, I don’t buy much classical, jazz, country, show tunes, or R&B. Go figure.)

Whenever I have to meet someone who isn’t familiar with Boston, I always direct them to take Storrow Drive to Kenmore Square. So we’ll begin there. Standing proudly between IHOP and the Deli Haus is Nuggets Records, who have the largest selection of used rock ‘n’ roll CDs, vinyl, and cassettes in the area. Many great CDs, including new releases, are priced at six to ten bucks. Their stuff moves fast, so snatch up anything you want before someone else does. They stock jazz, classical, country, and R&B, but aren’t as fanatical about it as some of their competition. More than likely you’ll hear the Velvet Underground or Funkadelic playing on the stereo behind the counter. Nuggets has a decent but random section for used movies, priced at six to ten dollars a piece. There’s also a Nuggets branch hidden in an alley in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner. It’s basically the same, only with less stock that doesn’t move as fast. You can come back a year later and see most of the same records sitting in the bins.

Now face the giant Citgo sign and walk up about a block, where you’ll see Planet Records, upstairs from Captain Nemo’s pizza/ gyro joint. Planet has the most balanced represenation of each genre of music. In being so general, they cover a lot of ground, but fail to produce many exceptional finds. It’s a good place for bulking up your collection, especially if you like to buy bootlegs, which they rate for sound quality on a scale of one to ten.

Walk further up Commonwealth Avenue until the train tracks go above ground.  Hop on the T here, since it’s free to ride outbound (let me remind you, this is a cut-rate guided tour with no ducks so keep your breadcrumbs to yourself). Ride past Boston University and get off at the McDonalds on the right. Next door and downstairs you’ll find In Your Ear Records. If you like indie or punk rock, the specialized used CD section, though not large, will yield some satisfactory purchases. There’s lots of mainstream, alternative, and classic rock on CD. On LP they carry, as well as rock, ’60s psychedelic, jazz, country, classical, shows and soundtracks, etc., alongside crates full of bizarre vinyl artifacts spanning many periods and locales. Early punk and alternative rarities on 7″ are sold on consignment from a collector at collectors’ prices. Behind the counter are boxes and boxes of 45s: oldies, rockabilly, and experimental/ avant garde. There’s also a good music zine and book stand, and a used movie section that is random and haphazzardly shelved, yet boasts having the best horror section.

Okay, now walk down the right side of Comm. Ave. away from the city (we’re in Allston now), past Packard’s Corner where Comm. Ave turns left and Brighton Ave. begins. Walk a couple blocks down Brighton and, on your right and upstairs, next to a Chinese restaurant, is what’s known as the “Allston Mall,” where you’ll find Mars Records. A friendly couple run the joint. They cater to an older clientele, particularly vinyl junkies. Unlike other local used record stores, their sources are not limited to local yokels who are hard up for cash. They travel around to find what they want, as near as Worcester or as far away as Greece (or so I overheard). Their rock ‘n’ roll selection focuses on garage, older punk/ new wave/ alternative (pre-grunge), classic rock and glam rock, with lots of vinyl imports and bootlegs. Their section for early electronica and experimental vinyl is exceptional. Their CDs are limited and selective. If your taste for all things retro matches theirs, you’ll find lots of goodies.

Now go find Comm. Ave. again and get back on the T inbound to Hynes Convention Center. Walk down Newbury St.. Near the end of the block on the right is CD Spins, who have an all-CD format. They lack the kitschy element of the other stores. Their stock is geared toward the same demographics as Tower and Newbury Comics. They’re swimmin’ in the mainstream, all right. The positive aspect of this is that they’re up on hip new styles of music. Their stock moves quickly, so they’ll only let you reserve a CD until the end of the day, in contrast to other stores that will hold stuff from a period of three days to indefinitely. CD Spins has another branch on Harvard Ave in Allston, which is a smaller version of same.

Walk further down the right side of Newbury and on the next block you’ll find Mystery Train Records, tucked down just below ground level. Their rock CD selection is mainly indie, alternative, and classic rock. The good stuff comes in in waves, so sometimes you’ll find neat stuff while other times you’re stuck staring at the same old crap. All genres are covered in a cursory manner, with a flair for novelty. Like In Your Ear, 12″ and 7″ vinyl is plentiful but moves out of there and gets replaced at a snail’s pace.

Before you jump back on the T, don’t forget to stop by Looney Tunes on Boylston St., parallel to Newbury St. but half a block further from downtown. There are three things that set this store apart from others: An unequalled used movie section (recent videos and the best of the oldies for eight bucks a pop), the best selection for collectors of classical and jazz, and the only significant selection of used DJ 12″ vinyl. They term it the “urban contemporary” section, which includes hip hop, house, dance, and techno, but doesn’t include much drum ‘n’ bass or trip hop. (I should also mention Buscuithead Records, diagonally across from Tower Records on Mass. Ave. Though primarily a retail store, they sell a lot of used underground vinyl for DJs in all the major categories of electronic dance music.) Looney Tunes’ rock selection is conservative and historically well-balanced. They’re quite Beatles/ Elvis obsessed, with rarities displayed proudly.

Well, it’s getting late and I have a date with a 90210 rerun, so I’ll leave you to your own devices. Don’t let any sidewalk Scientologists give you a “personality test.” Next issue we’ll meet in Harvard Square and do some more shopping. Cheers!