Best Vinyl Selection

PDQ Records and Tapes
2342 N. Dodge Blvd.


STAFF PICK: The first thing you notice upon walking into PDQ Records and Tapes is the seductively musty smell that the vinyl artifacts have carried with them from the basements and attics where they were once stored. Any record-collecting junkie recognizes it from years of voraciously perusing any stack o' vinyl once happened across. If any such circumstance sounds familiar, consider PDQ your promised land of wax treasures. While pricing is often erratic ($10 for a Steve Martin comedy album?), and collectibles will run you a pretty penny, most of the LPs in stock are five bucks or less. But it's the sheer volume of titles that makes this warehouse-style outlet so daunting and enjoyable to patronize. You could spend hours there every day for a week and still only cover a fraction of what this place has to offer. They also carry CDs, cassettes, videos, 8-tracks, and lots of other stuff--but it's the vinyl that really dazzles.

CLUE IN: Check out the Beacon Foundation's Value Village Thrift Store, 300 N. Fourth Ave., still one of Tucson's best-kept secrets for small but plentiful 45 and LP vinyl racks. This popular downtown thrift store is constantly restocked with the weirdest and the most wonderful of forgotten records. From Martin Denny to Molly Hatchet, you can (probably) find it all (with a little patience). And because fads come and go, you can stay one step ahead of the game and find tomorrow's trends today (hint: new wave and old school raps are on their way back).


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