The bay area, writes Derek See of dereksdaily45, is a virtual mecca of record stores; spread out over many miles from San Francisco south to San Jose, over the mountains to Santa Cruz then across the bay from Fremont north to Berkeley, one could easily spend an entire week digging. Be warned; there are MANY people digging records in the bay area, but as we all know, it’s a combination of timing, luck and stamina which determines finds.

In San Francisco itself, my top choice is Rooky Ricardo’s (448 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117-3506), run by the legendary Dick Vivian. Not only does Dick have an encyclopedic knowledge of girl group and soul, but he will also show you some authentic 60’s dances. Dick has also put together a series of compilations (from his personal collection) of ace sounds. The stock is excellent, and the vibe is top notch. There are half a dozen turntable stations to sample whatever you want to hear.

OK, from Rooky’s head towards Golden Gate Park along Haight Street and right on the edge of the park is the massive Amoeba Music at 1855 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117; this is a world class record store and their stock of LP’s (vintage used and reissue) is truly awe inspiring. There are dozens of boxes of 45’s which are unfortunately not in very good order. One may have to sift through a dozen copies of the same reissue record, but oftentimes it is well worth it (I have found my copies of northern soul gems such as The Vibrations’ Cause You’re Mine and Eddie Holman’s I Surrender here for 50 cents each!).

Also worth mentioning is Groove Merchant, a mecca of funk and soul.

Heading south to San Jose (well, actually nearby Campbell), my mate Jeff Jagged has a great little shop called ON THE CORNER. I sell many of my doubles here through Jeff, and he always has a great selection of LP’s and 45’s with excellent prices attached. Plus, Jeff is one of the friendliest fellas (not to mention best DJ’s) I have ever known. Here’s an interior shot:

Within five minutes of On The Corner is Streetlight, which is hit or miss but worth a trip (the employees at this store have excellent taste and tend to pick over lots of the best stuff!)

The Krate is a new store in Santa Cruz that caters to the DJ crowd with an impressive collection of funk, soul, and some rock. Down the street from the Krate is Streetlight Santa Cruz.

In the east bay, there is a great shop in Fremont called Needle 2 Groove (150 H Street
Fremont, CA 94536-2903); tons and tons of great records and many bargain gems.

In Berkeley, Amoeba has a smaller branch at 2455 Telegraph Ave that is very impressive as well. 

Add in the Oakland/ Alameda flea market antique show (a massive outdoor swap meet that is held the first Sunday of every month), one can certainly get lost buying records in the bay area.. 

Derek See writes the ever-inspiring Derek’s Daily 45s blog, DJs all over the Bay Area and, in short, is a record-collecting legend.

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton - Hound Dog

Well, seeing as I’ve been posting “dog” tracks on the blog for the last few weeks – I couldn’t really NOT post this one. It’s pretty much THE dog track. Everybody should own a copy of this record!

The Shangri-las - Bull Dog

The Shangri-las are right up there with my favourite girl groups - and this is a particular ditty by them that I just love. Had it in my box at Dean Chalkley’s fabulous SHAKE! night up at The Boogaloo the other week when I was spinning alongside Dean and his other guest DJ, Derek of Derek’s Daily 45 blog - all the way over from San Francisco. Good times! Can’t remember whether or not it got a spin - but have a listen now. Wait till you hear the killer reverby harmonica break!

I’ve been listening to great music on some great blogs for quite a few years now and there are a handful that I follow religiously and have done for years. One such musical blog that’s up there with my most regularly visited is Derek’s Daily 45 run by Derek See, a musician, record collector, DJ and blogger from San Francisco’s Bay Area – who posts up a recording of a 45 from his collection pretty much every single day.

So I’m DELIGHTED that he’s going to be taking time out from his guitar technician duties with Iggy Pop and The Stooges current UK tour to DJ at me ol’ mucker Dean Chalkley’s SHAKE! night this Saturday at The Boogaloo. I’m even more delighted that Dean’s asked me to join in the DJ fun too. Boy, oh boy, I’m really looking forward to it!

Regular readers of the Get Involved blog may remember I did a project with Derek back in 2008 - when I asked him to contribute to a copy of Creative Review’s Monograph publication. Derek supplied images of some of his favourite company 45 sleeves and we created an 18 page, A5 booklet showing them. I posted on it back in May 2008 - read the post here.

There’s a Facebook event to RSVP to for this Saturday’s SHAKE! event here but if you need the deets in a non-Facebook kinda way then here they are

Shake!
@ The Boogaloo
312 Archway Road
London N6
(nearest Tube: Highgate)
Saturday May 1st
8.30pm-2am
FREE before 10pm / £3 after

For guestlist, email first and last names to info@theboogaloo.co.uk

Vince Everett - I Ain’t Gonna Be Your Low Down Dog No More

Great rockabilly rendition of Piano Red’s I Ain’t Gonna Be Your Low Down Dog No More by Vince Everett (born Marvin Benefield) on ABC Paramount from 1962… Wow, he really turns on the Elvis for this one. Nice. The flipside of this, Sugar Bee is also very, very good.