The first time I went to Vortex Records, I wasn't even living in Toronto yet, and I've been here for 20 years. My friend was working on the same block, and on one visit, I went in there to kill time while he got off work. It was routinely recognized as the best used music store in Toronto, and stayed that way for close to a decade, before people stopped caring about such things.

And probably once a month or so, I'd swing in, troll their new releases area, and if I couldn't find anything new, grab a couple out of the racks. It was rare that I left completely empty-handed, and probably more than half of my collection came second hand from Vortex.

Earlier this week, it was put out by the proprietor of 35 years that he was calling it day. It was too much of a grind, the music industry had changed, and there was too much pressure on the block he's located on to re-develop. For those of us who go there regularly, we knew it was only a matter of time.

So in I went today, to say thanks, and good luck, and because I'm not above vulturing, I spent $175 on a whole bunch of music that I've had on my shopping list for years. He's doing an increasing sales curve before Christmas, and it was 35% this weekend. But the place was busy, because us old timers know how these sales go. Paying an extra buck or so to start earlier is a better way to fill holes.

So thanks, Bert, for all the years of good music, and I hope I did my share to leave in decent shape.

For the record, here's what $175 got me at the best used record / CD store in Toronto, one last time:

1. The Kinks - 25 Years, The Ultimate Collection
2. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
3. Kiss - Alive III
4. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
5. Alice Cooper - Killer
6. Alice Cooper - School's Out`
7. Against Me - White Crosses
8. Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
9. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
10. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
11. The Guess Who - Greatest Hits
12. The Ramones - Rocket to Russia
13. Heart - Dreamboat Annie
14. Anti-Nowhere League - We Are...the League
15. Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and other Assorted Love Songs
16. Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
17. Judas Priest - British Steel
18. The Diodes - Tired of Waking Up Tired (Best of)
19. The Clash - Combat Rock
20. The Who - Live at Leeds (remaster / extended)
21. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon
22. John Mayall w/ Clapton - Blues Breakers
23. Johnny Cash - American Recordings I
24. Johnny Cash - American Recordings IV
25. Lynryrd Skynrd - Skynrd's Innyrds
26. David Bowie - Changes
27 and 28 - Two discs I intend to give as gifts, but that don't match my taste

Living in the Seattle area, there was a time I made weekly trips to Vancouver (BC) for lp & then cd purchases (+ LOTS of drinking!).

My understanding is that all of my old Van haunts (other than possibly a few pawn shops) are gone.

The only name I remember right now is A&B; but there were several chains in BC that had retail prices below USA wholesale.
I had a few collector friends in Van, & we would spend 1-2 full 8 hour days going to record stores (& then get hammered!).

Man, I don't know how I missed out on Vortex whenever I was up there. I could use a visit to a Canadian store like that in hopes of finding the second Rebecca Timmons album, which I've somehow missed (it is on Amazon Prime). Sucks to see those places go.

This is terrible.

We are lucky here in Vegas that we still have maybe 7 or 8 true record/CD shops that are still vibrant. They have actually opened 2 or 3 of those over the past couple of years.

I hope it lasts.

Afaik (& I'm a little ways from Seattle), the closest to a full catalog store we've got is a couple FYES, a couple Barnes & Nobles, & a number of indies who are mostly used (though I believe there are still at least 2 new indies left: Penny Lane & Silver Platters; but as I rarely go to Seattle; I can't say for sure if they still exist. I know SP has closed most of there stores if not all).

It was easy to miss - a second floor in a two storey building outside the downtown core and tourist areas. And it didn't carry new music - it was used music only - although for several years, I could spot bad new releases by how fast they made it to Vortex. And the biggest difference between it and most other stores, is that Bert was professional - he only bought stuff he could sell, and then only a couple of copies at a time. And he had great taste in popular music. And for some strange reason, a soft spot for extreme metal; I guess because the format sells better in metal than pop.

At this point, I will have to look really hard to find another good, convenient used place, or else it may become online all the time. The Flagship HMV is the only viable new music brick and mortar left - the others are basically virgin music kiosk type things - and I can already see the writing on the wall for them now. But as I told a friend, my pile of unlistened to CD's just doubled, so maybe i can take some time to do that.

Jason

Until recently, the 1/2 Price Books clearance section & their Olympia clearance store was my main B&M store. Right now, I'm doing pretty much all cd/dvd/blu shopping online.

That has more to do with my (lack of) business & my life than it with HPB.

used to shop for CD's in toronto every summer a few years back....then sam the record man and everyone else was gone one year and i lost my desire to go there and walk around eaton center and up and down yonge street for hours with no CD's to shhop for anymore. sam the record man had THE best selection of imports form japan and europe that i ever saw anywhere.

I started going there when I moved to Toronto back in 1993. I was a dirt broke 22 year old and had just bought one of those cheap turntable/cd/radio/cassette units at a Dollar store for something around $50. I bought used vinyl at first because nobody wanted it then so it was cheaper than used CDs. My first two Vortex purchases were Patti Smith: Horses and Iggy Pop: The Idiot. I probably paid less than $10 combined.

I listened to 4 “of these new” albums yesterday – I figure with the TV Superheroes on hiatus until January, I’ll get in a lot more music. Here’s my thoughts:

Alice Cooper – School’s Out – never owned the original album, and it turns out that I didn’t really need to. Aside from Gutter Cats versus the Jets (which is the AC Band’s riff on West Side Story, and he still does it live), you don’t need anything on it. And while I love the title track, it’s on several other albums I own. D

Motley Crue – Shout at the Devil – this one got played to death when I was a kid, even though I preferred their first album. Now, I agree with the band’s set lists - the only songs worth hanging onto are Shout at the Devil and Looks that Kill. The other songs are just too blah, two juvenile lyrically, and too simplistic musically. But hey, it’s twice as good as School’s Out, so there’s that. C-

Lynyrd Skynrd – Skynryd's Innyrds – I never had this Greatest Hits album (had a different LS best of), so there’s some deeper cuts on it that I hadn’t heard before. Never worse than average southern bar rock, up to the mid-tier of their catalogue, which is some great stuff, to the two biggies, which while classic, I still haven’t quite moved out of the Overplayed category yet. An absolutely great compilation album for an essential band A

Heart – Dreamboat Annie – had this on cassette a long time ago, but hadn’t listened to anything by them except Barracuda and Crazy on You until I bought their new album before seeing them last year. In listening to this with fresh ears, it’s amazing to me how solid a debut it was. I didn’t actually remember that Dreamboat Annie has a separate intro and reprise on the album, and when you add that to Crazy on You and Magic Man, you get a way above average, quality Rock and Roll Album B+

We’ll see what tonight brings.

Jason

Innyrds: If I remember right, it has an alternate version of Free Bord 9at least on the cd)

School's Out - I disagree. While I prefer Killer, Love It To Death & Billion $; I like SO; though for me it takes more focused listening; the songs aren't quite as accessible.