Amoeba Music

I shopped for hours -- as we went unnoticed and relaxed-- with my beautiful friend, the late great, irreplaceable, Gene Clark.

Amoeba, I don't quite know how I feel about you anymore.. you see, I believe you've brought me to a new high, and left me there. It's that feeling you get when you're casually browsing through preloved vinyls and stumble upon a rare bootleg recording that seems to be worth that pretty penny in your pocket and you end up buying it when little do you know you would end up hanging out with Mark Mothersbaugh his band on the rooftop of a local show later that night with it on hand, laughing at the amazement of what a find it is all while getting it signed it and invited to hang out the next day. Oh Amoeba, how you make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside during these chilly cold days. It's like that one time when Sia signed my calculator on a school night in exchange for a custom pin I was wearing. Stay classy. Stay great. And pass this feeling along to everyone else. You're really a new high. With Affection, Jamie Cristal

The first time I went to Amoeba was when there was an instore meet and greet with the Living Legends. They are my favorite group, eligh being my favorite of the group members. When I first got to meet the members of the groups, I was so happy. It was the best day ever. I was amazed by how great the store was and how big it was compared to other record stores. I thought it was so cool that it was a record store with so many varieties of music, and to top it off their were sometimes free shows. Sometimes I wish I could work at Amoeba. 8) Amoeba is the best.

I'm from Chicago. I now live in New York. About a year ago, I went to Los Angeles for the first time. Four day business trip ... no big deal. The friend I was with took me to Amoeba on the first day. I am still in shock. Every. Record. I. Have. Ever. And. Never. Seen. Ever. Rare Paul McCartney & Wings bootlegs? Bingo. Reel to reel tape as a gift for my roommate and best friend? Bango. Exclusive 45s curated by a friendly staff? Bongo. That trip alone, I went back twice. I've gone out of my way to stop by Los Angeles three times this year - one of which was to buy and blast a ton of albums flying down Sunset in a rented red convertible. Thanks Amoeba. For keeping rock and roll alive.

I have a really great Amoeba story. When I first visited Los Angeles, eighteen years old, on a two week pre-college vacation, summer 2004, I was staying with my aunt and did not have access to a car. I walked everywhere and happened upon Amoeba. Coming from a small town in Georgia, I had never seen ANYTHING like it before. I found all the albums that I had been looking for for years (The Avalanches "Since I Left You" EP, The Books "The Lemon of Pink" LP, Jason Forrest "The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash" LP, etc.). I went absolutely crazy, as buying DVDs online was not available yet and, only with Borders in Augusta, GA, I had to stock up. Thus, I spent ALL of my vacation money here. I think it was somewhere around $300. I still have those CDs and feel like they really defined me and my life. That experience in Amoeba probably contributed a lot to why I moved to Los Angeles, summer 2008. And, when I arrived, I did the same thing: purchased every CD and DVD my eyes and ears had been craving for years.

My brother is a jazz guitarist in Chicago, and he always has these really long Christmas lists full of rare/obscure jazz albums. I get his list, go to Amoeba, and I usually find more of them than I can afford to buy. Often they are used, so I can add in a few extras too!

Several years ago, I and some co-workers visited Amoeba on our (long) lunch hour from a nearby publishing company. I was joking with my straight, married supervisor that in order for him to "become gay," he had to first fellate me and another gay employee from our department. Lo and behold, in the back of the Jazz section, I was unexpectedly treated to a rather amateurish oral servicing as I browsed for music. We came extremely close to being caught at one point, but managed to escape any dire consequences. I suspect that one of your employees knew what was going on but chose not ruin the moment. Luckily, it was a slow day (for everyone else) at Amoeba!

I am amazed with Amoeba Music. I have never spent 3 hours in any music store. It's like Disney for adults with bonuses beyond belief!! I can never get enough of Amoeba Music and the shows the store has for free...

THE GREAT SUMMER AMOEBA ROAD TRIP Walking into an Amoeba record store is a surreal experience. You can walk in when the sun is shining high in the sky and walk out and wtf it's night time. You've just spent your whole day in this massive warehouse with walls of posters and aisles and aisles of CDs, DVDs and vinyl. It's a music lovers dream and I would never dare say no to a trip to Amoeba. You don't have to be looking for anything in particular to wind up buying a dozen $1 records and used CDs. It really is a mind blowing sight! I remember the first time I walked into Amoeba San Francisco like it was yesterday. 2006, Freshman year of high school and I was on vacation in San Fran with my Dad and brother. It was beautiful, so like a tourist, I snapped a few photos with my cell phone to show my amigos back in San Diego the awesomeness that is Amoeba. Last summer my buddies, Kristina and Marissa, and I went driving up the coast of California from our hometown in San Diego to the "Mecca" in San Francisco. We stopped at various locations and we made sure all 3 Amoebas were on the list. This was the first time I'd been to Amoeba Hollywood and let me tell you it didn't fail to impress. We stayed in there for hours and I left with at least 15 $1 records and a shirt. That was only half of what I would have bought if I had more money. Already I couldn't wait to get back home just to listen to them on my record player. We made a few more stops then we made it to San Fran and the glorious Haight for Amoeba visit number two. I tried to hold back but bought even more this time, including my all time favorite Cat Stevens record that I take with me everywhere I go. We tried to get out to Amoeba Berkeley but ran out of time on our trip. So I've added Amoeba Berkeley to my bucket list, I'm going to get there some way some how. Even without a 3rd Amoeba visit we made it back home with loads of goodies. I'd take on that road trip again any day. Since that trip I've moved to San Francisco and attend San Francisco State Uni. I take the 28 to the 71 to Haight and Stanyon whenever I have a few hours or a whole day to kill in a fucking magical warehouse of music. HAPPY 20th AMOEBA AND HERE'S TO ANOTHER 20 YRS OF PEACE THROUGH MUSIC! LOVE, RACHAEL DIAMOND loyal costumer p.s. whenever I wear my Amoeba records shirts around, people can't help but shout lovely things at me or high five me :) EVERYONE LOVES AMOEBA!

For years I had been salivating over a rare Tchaikovsky Symphonies box set that was virtually impossible to find. While running an errand in Berkeley, I climbed the stairs to the very cool and intimate classical room and found this treasure for $20. Still pumped out that.