Amoeba Music

I was in high school when my buddy asked me if I wanted to go with him to a record store in Hollywood. I didn't know what to expect, I just figured it would be like Tower Records or the Warehouse. Boy was I wrong. Before I knew it we were going to Amoeba every weekend. I always managed to get a few bucks together and buy a tape or 2. Everytime I walk into Amoeba, my mind goes blank. Suddenly I can't remember any bands I like or what cds I don't have. I have to make a list before I go, otherwise I will spend hours and hours just looking at stuff and hoping I'd have enough money. I loved it so much that I took a road trip up north to see where it all started. Hollywood and SF kicks ass but Berkeley was something else. The college down the street is what makes Berkeley so great, kids from around the country selling their music in order to buy books. Because of Amoeba I have a HUGE collection with some really rare cds/tapes.

I'm originally from Philadelphia. I moved to Arizona for a year, and then moved here in June of 2010. I really thought the philly area had it down in some secret locations, but AMOEBA RULES!!!!!!! I could not freak'n believe it! I don't know how many incredible cd's i've found in the $1.99 and up section that have made my life that much more spectacular! You people have an awesome selection of EVERYTHING! I have a wide array of musical taste, I came in for the first time and spent like $30 on $1.99 cd's, then came back a few days later, spent another crap load on some new stuff. Yet again, I just ran over on election day, where I heard about the $2 discount if ya have your voting stub. I came in and bought a crap load more, real treasures too! Kalas, Very rare LARD, VERY RARE- Cramps, I'm just in awe!Music is my life and you people make it that much better. I love the catalog of employee reviews and picks too! Really helped me find some REAL treasures!!! Keep it going! Your store is IMPORTANT!!!!

Once I bought a 30 Seconds to Mars CD there for $3.50, and then I lost it like a week later. Good thing I ripped it to my computer when I got home. Oh also I only spent one week with a man I love dearly and we spent the last day of his visit in the Haight and he bought me a Coheed and Cambria CD.

I have never met any celebrities, or had any significant meetings with anyone when I have visited Amoeba so my testimonial may be slightly boring. For me it's all about the music and the experience of just beeing inside a record store. A haven that can remove any bad day, diminish work related fatigue instantly and refresh and invigorate your spirit instantly. I haven't met anyone in my many visits to Amoeba but yet each person who was beside me sorting through precious vinyl or walking past with their basket of treasures was a kindred spirit, a brother or sister on the same playground. My first experience at amoeba was with my son a few years ago and upon walking in the door I immediately thought I had died and gone to heaven.I was in such a state of euphoria I even offered my son money to buy a few cd's. One of my most recent visits happened upon my birthday. My wife and I were going to spend the day together and after a cozy breakfast at our local hangout we ventured onto Hollywood. Each and every visit is both different and yet the same. Different in the sections to explore, and the purchases made. The same because every time I enter I feel the exact rush of excitment and anticipation for either the vinyl hunt or checking out and of course finding that one or two treasures that feel like you've just had a religious experinece. That birthday with my wife and later that afternoon and evening with our kids was the best birthday ever and the trip to amoeba was classic. To this day my wife tells friends that she enjoyed seeing my face light up like a small boy on christmas morning. I enjoy sharing Amoeba stories with frineds and co-workers and urging them to visit as well. I also returned with my son and friend to have another wonderful experience which of course lead to many more purchases and a great lunch downtown. Each trip is an adventure, a long lasting memory that conjures thoughts and plans for the next visit. My only regret is that I don't live closer, but then I know I would be in every day.but is that really a negative thing? I think not, it sounds fantastic. support amoeba and all of the independent record stores. Long may they stand and rock our worlds.

Amoeba opened its doors upon my return to my beloved Berkeley after two years away (don't ask) and it was love at first sight! I was a regular at all the other record shops south of campus from the time I moved to Berkeley in '81 but Amoeba replaced them all in one fell musical swoop. I host of lot of out-of-town visitors and their number one request is a visit to Amoeba, usually first thing (after a slice of pizza, for strength). No matter where they hail from they approach Amoeba like it's Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, and for my music-loving friends and myself that's just what it is! Happy Birthday Amoeba! It's been a pleasure growing (up/old/bigger) with you. Long live the King!

aside from all the great records and many days spent shopping here i would have to say the most memorable moment would have to be when i randomly went into amoeba about 20 minutes before closing on a weekday. just kinda bored not looking for anything specific when all of a sudden over the intercom one of the employees announced that if anyone wanted them they had two tickets to see fischerspooner that night at the fillmore. we thought it was a joke at first and then we thought somebody would definitely grab them, except no one was in the store and no one was moving toward the info desk. so we ran up grabbed the tickets from a couple who donated them to the info desk ran out hopped on the 71 took the 22 to the fillmore and walked in the doors at the very second they took the stage, that was awesome!!!

It was a hard time two years ago. As a single parent trying to get by with a job that supported the bills and not much else, stress was abundant. I remember trying to think of a way to bring myself back to base line but not break the bank. Living in L.A. has it's perks, and being close to Amoeba is definitely one of them, I grabbed my little girl, took the trip, and wandered the aisle with her in tow. Taking a stop in the corner where the clearance cds meet the posters, I was looking at the small ticket items I picked up. The overhead music playing some random funk tune, my daughter started to dance to the music! In her little sandals, she was swaying and rocking about! It was an awesome sight to see her getting down in a place that’s near and dear to me. Sharing my world with her meant a lot. I'll never forget that night, thank you.

I moved to Santa Cruz in '89 and would drive up to Berkeley just to shop at the World's best music store, Moe's & catch a movie at the PFA at least once a month. Then the SF store opened & it was even more overwhelming than the Berkeley store. I've spent so much in a day that I've received a free canvas bag & have to say it's my favorite shopping bag since it attracts the attention/comments from all the most interesting people.

Oh Amoeba Berkeley, you will forever be ingrained in my memory as a safe harbor; a shelter from the storm. I was raised in the small town of Vacaville, which boasted at the time in the early 90's two music stores. The 1st, Tobacco Valley, was owned and operated by a nefarious proprietor who always remained prone on a throw rug on the store floor sedated in a thick cloud of smoke, trying to pawn the "newest" live recording of the Grateful Dead on a re-recorded cassette that may or may not have been a Journey album in it's previous life. The 2nd store appropriately named Vacaville Music was a place that would keep Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums on sale in their top 10 well past any legal reason while hiding Iron Maiden records behind the counter for their disturbing covers. Today it is affectionately referred to as Vacaville Museum due to the fact that even today, you can find a new CD still in a long box. And so a clear picture has been painted that growing up I and my friends had no clue what a real music store was like out there in the real world. But a new friend of ours was familiar with Berkeley, particularly an exotic place named Annapurna. Berkeley was a place we had only heard whispers and rumors of from our parents. A road trip was planned and this was our destination. We arrived, and hit Telegraph street greeted by people who all seemed to be going somewhere with a purpose. Our guides purpose was Annapurna. I asked if he knew of a local book shop near by while the rest of the group went to their destination. "Cody's" was the replay and I was pointed in it's direction. I made my way into Cody's, bought a book I was looking for, and exited back onto the sidewalk marveling at the rich store fronts and faces passing by. As I stood I noticed a shadow darken over me, heavy breathing upon my back. I turned to face a wall of dirty denim and 90% cotton. I raised my gaze up, and up, and up further still to look into the eyes of a mountain of a man staring down at me, long hair hovering over the top of my head like some bird of prey. "Give me a cigarette" the voice bellowed. "I don't smoke" was my honest reply. "Then you better start. ROAR!!" The shear impact of the juggernaut's literal roar was nearly enough to knock me over and more then enough to put fear into my feet. I fled. Into the crowd I went trying to disappear into their masses. But Roar (as he would come to be known) had the effect of a Red Sea parting and at every turn people moved away exposing me to the charging Beast. As he bared down on me arms raised above his head like a nightmarish gorilla about to pummel me into a permanent spot on Telegraph, I darted across the street toward a bright and colorful building with the marquee Amoeba something, something above the door (I was moving too fast to read much more than that). I pushed passed it's inviting glass doors only to be stopped by a young man in a Ramones T-shirt, "I need your bag." I had no time to ask why I was being pinched for stealing when I just entered the building, so I traded him the book for a metal clip with a number on it and pushed further ahead into the crowded establishment. "ROAR!!" The Leviathan had breached the store but before he could train his eyes on me the young man who apprehended my literature at the door put up an authoritative hand before Roar, "Hey man, don't start your crap today. Go...GO!" Roar mumbled under his breath, threw a nondescript something onto the floor and exited my new found place of asylum. Where was I? What where all these varied people doing here? Fearing that Roar might be watching from outside waiting or at least hoping I would take up the habit of smoking, I made a sharp turn to the right into what was the beginning of the C-F section of Rock. CD's. Albums. Music. Magic. Had Roar in fact killed me and sent me off to some Music Valhalla? Or was this some postmortem fantasy to ease me into the next life? No this was real. And this was a place that I could never have imagined exist. Everything and anything you could ever want in music, covering every genre under one roof. And no one was laying on a throw rug on the floor. For the next two hours I wandered into the depths of Amoeba Records beside myself and beside myself again in elated joy. This place even offered hand baskets to fill with your musical discoveries! And fill it I did. And continue to do so to this day. Over the years Amoeba would be a safe harbor for music lovers during the highs and lows of the industry. And in the tough and lean times Amoeba would be there to purchase my music collections as I painfully sold them only to come back and start my collections all over again. It would be a beacon hope and my proof that Music still matters. No matter what big box chain opens near me, it is worth the drive to again get lost in Amoeba aisles in hopes of discovering something new or re-discovering something old. If Amoeba doesn't have it, as I tell people, than it doesn't exist. After I had exhausted my wallet I left Amoeba (and consequently my book as well, but I gained a clip with a number on it!). Then reality rushed back in. I scanned the horizon of heads for an oak tree sized object moving in the crowed. Roar was nowhere in sight. Then a familiar voice shouted next to me, "damn dude, where the heck have you been?" My friends had found me. That's right! I came here with people. I ran down the events of my Odyssey like story and pointed with pride at Amoeba. "Holy crap!", came one astonished reply, "a music store? I thought it was a grocery store it's so big!" "Who names a grocery store Amoeba? You get sick if you eat one of those." I never did make it to Annapurna. Cody's is sadly gone now. But Amoeba remains. My safe harbor. My shelter from the storm.

Years ago, I lived at 1825 Haight St. The window of our kitchen overlooked the driveway that separated us from Amoeba. I was working with a non profit that would feed people in Golden Gate Park, maybe someone there remembers the little red wagon?? Needless to say I was usually broke. But at least I worked at Starbucks and would get free coffee, coffee I would brew then drink while watching all the cute amoeba boys take the trash out. Living next to an awesome music shop can be depressing when money is tight. SO, I started my cheap tape collection. I had bought a couple of shoe boxes full of 2-5 dollar cassette tapes. I cant tell you how awesome it made me feel to be able to have a small collection(my records were all in storage in LA) Anyhow, I always remember the time when the great Amoeba was my neighbor!