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Spotted at the soon-to-be-closing Virgin Megastore on the Sunset Strip last Friday night: A book where people could write down their favorite memories of the store, opened to the above page. I should probably also note that the place was pretty much empty and that signs in the window were calling the going-out-of-business sale the “Virgin sacrifice,” although CDs were only marked down 30% and the list prices were still in the over-$15 range so there was a bit of hyperbolization at work in that coinage.
Anyway, seeing this book, which was filled with scribbles from people who’d made the trek out to the store in its final days at the base of a Los Angeles shopping mall, made me a little sad (an emotion that was probably heightened by the fact that my friend and I had to run through some torrential rain, and an attendant huge-ass puddle, in order to get to the store from its adjacent parking garage), and it also made me think back to my own record store memories. But, and this is probably important, it didn’t get me nostalgic enough to buy any recorded media–I’d already spent $120 at Amoeba that night. I did buy a Guns N’ Roses t-shirt, though. (It seemed sorta appropriate. Plus, it was 40% off.)
Used to go there quite a bit. It was a nice hangout pre-Internet.
I think I can count on one finger the number of products I ever bought from that crappy store – either in SF or in LA. Blech. I always felt like I was getting butt-raped (and not in a good way!) when I went in there.
Having gone to college in L.A., I have dozens of great memories of that store. I’m sad it’s going.
They are doing the Virgin Sacrifice at Union Square as well, although the CD I went in looking for, Peter Gabriel 2 (aka Scratch) was $16.99. No I didn’t fucking buy it. That is unconscionable for a 30 year old record in 2008!