Amoeba Music

I had just finished a long day of talking non-stop, since I work as a professional Spanish interpreter. About to begin the long drive home, I turned on the classical radio station KDFC and was instantly mesmerized by a gorgeous melody played by an orchestra and highlighted by an outstanding violin performance. At the end they announced the name of the violinist: David Andai... and coincidentally a few days earlier I had just been invited to and decided to attend his upcoming wedding... he is the oldest son of a childhood friend and currently the concertmaster at two orchestras. I phoned my sister, who lives in another state, and told her about this beautiful melody that just happened to be playing the moment I had turned on the radio... and she confessed that the same thing had happened to her two weeks ago... although she almost never listens to classical music on the radio... she had also wondered about the performer and discovered it was Daniel. The next day, I went to Amoeba on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, and was thrilled to buy the last copy of the CD: My Alma Mexicana / My Mexican Soul... brand new, but sold for less than I would have paid if purchased directly from the radio station. Thank you, Amoeba!

I have been going to Amoeba Hollywood since it first opened and is my first choice for music shopping!!! I love the in-stores and in 1995 I caught The Muffs performing there! I had been wanting to meet them for at least 10 years! I had seen them many times in concert, but never had the opportunity to talk with them. Kim and the guys were great and signed all their cd's for me and took photos with me. I was first in line to meet them and it was worth the wait. Their performance was great too. I also recently found a rare 12" single at the Amoeba San Francisco store. I had been looking for this single for 22 years!!! Thank God for Amoeba! I found it!!!!!!!! I even found a lot of cool stuff at the Amoeba Berkeley store. The staff there was also friendly and helpful.

I was browsing the used dance bins and listening to my iPod. I scored an edit of Fleetwood Mac's "You Make Lovin' Fun" that I had been searching over a year for just after "You Make Lovin' Fun" randomly came up on my iPod. You guys have magical used bins.

It was a gloomy afternoon in Berkeley 2001. I just got serve a court order to finalize my divorce. I was feeling down and decided to cheer myself up, so I went to Amoeba to listen to music and hang out. I"ve been doing this every now and then since 1987, first with long gone Leopold, then Tower and finally stuck with Amoeba when they opened in 1990. Anyway, that sad day in 2001 would not be any different. As I was browsing the Rock section listening to "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division on the store system. I noticed my soon to be ex-wife entered the store. How random? I thought since she despised buying music. As I followed her through the store without her noticing me (I know "Creepy") I noticed she was browsing the World music section and selecting Cd's I used to listen to or owned. Her basket was jammed with good stuff (according to my taste), easily she dropped like $500.00 bucks worth of music she confessedly had told me despised and hated in the past. I left the store soon after purchasing David Gray's "White Ladder", Me'Shell Ndegéocello's "Bitter" and a random Chavela Vargas Cd in one hand, a smile on my face and a bottle of tequila on the other. The sun had just come out by the time I head to my apartment. I never forget to go to Amoeba after that. Happy 20th Anniversary and good thing you guys are there. See you soon...

My first finding about Amoeba Music, I was a part of a Los Angeles Music Class 2 yrs. ago, I attended a live Music Concert on the Santa Monica Pier. I enjoyed all who participated, the announcement was made who sponsored the concert, and I wore a Amoeba Music Tee shirt, but didn't know who organized the concert,guess what, I had fun being there it was so cool.

The record and CD stacks are full of collectibles and priceless gems at Amoeba Records, but even more valuable are the memories that linger in every section. For me, they're innumerable and infinitely precious, moments in time I'll hold dear for the rest of my life. Which one is my favorite moment? It's hard to decide. Was it the autographed copy of Mother Superior's demo, RIGHT IN A ROW, that I found hidden among the stacks? Was it the opportunity to see Wayne Kramer perform live on the Amoeba stage? Or was it the night I saw Henry Rollins and Chuck Dukowski share the stage in support of their tribute album benefiting the West Memphis 3? Frankly, it's all of the above. And let's not forget the other in-stores, such as Daniel Lanois (which I attended TWICE when the power went out for the first one!). I can't single out any of these in particular, because as big as life or as small and special as they were, the moments of my life that I captured in that store are all equally valuable. There is one, though...one moment that is burned into my mind, a moment so brief and so mundane and yet so profound. That was the night that I met Jason Mackenroth, former drummer for Mother Superior. As musicians go, he's always been a huge influence on me and to my shock, the night I was flipping through the KISS CD's, he was right there just a few feet away, doing exactly the same thing. We talked, exchanged farewells...and from that moment forward Amoeba became a place where, at least for me, an incredible experience is always just around the corner. Moments come and moments go, but for me? The big moments will always be tucked safely away between copies of DESTROYER in the shelves at Amoeba.

I love the Hollywood store and every time is an amazing adventure but i must say that the best so far was getting to meet OZZY and getting his Scream CD signed by the legend himself!! And going to his show that night was the icing on the cake thanks to Amoeba!!!! What an awesome day & night that was!!! So thanks again Amoeba!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Before Amoeba searching for music was so difficult. The large chains that are gone now never had what I wanted and the appliance / department stores that carry music are too generic. I first discovered Amoeba when I was visiting my friend up north. They are amazing! When they opened one in So Cal that was one of the best days ever! I won't shop anywhere else. It's even better than the internet! Other record stores wish they could be as good as Amoeba and often try to compare themselves to you but there is only 1 Amoeba!

I love going to Hollywood to sell and few of my old CDs and then browsing the Amoeba aisles for my favorites and new finds. I've uncovered a bunch of rare and funky used items like The Jayhawks' first album (out of print), Oasis imports, great imports from France (Paris Combo) and Japan. My best experience, however, was taking a group of teens I work with to see The Shins' live in store a few years ago. The kids (young adults now) still talk about that legendary evening. Thanks, Amoeba! There were some new fans/customers created that night!

Growing up in L.A.- in the 80's i was a big fan of the band X - Mor recently, I was very excited when I heard John Doe's superb solo album "A Year In the Wilderness". When I saw that he'd be doing an in-store show ... I planned to go. As a working Mom - i seldom get the chance to see live music as much as i'd like to (used to) ... So i brought my 5 yr old daughter along (something not really possible at many venues)- explaining to her on the way what and who we were going to see, as well as about other days, when i did different things . We thoroughly enjoyed the show... danced together ... she sat on my shoulders for a while so she could see better. I decided to buy the CD when the show was over - and to my surprise my 5 yr old daughter was not in the least opposed to waiting in a second line so we could ask John Doe to sign our CD. She waited patiently and we got to say hello to John ... for months afterward his sound was her definition of "Rock'n'Roll" music and her 1st choice of music to play was always "A Year in the Wilderness" ... She is 8 now and her musical tastes have expanded - but we will both always share rock'n'roll (and Music in general) a little more because of going to see that in-store show together... at the best music store in the world, and a part of my community which makes me proud _ AMOEBA, Hollywood