Ep 02: Record stores of old Sydney

In the course of my research for this project, I was trying to find information on indie record stores of the 90s, and the big record chains of the 90s. I have a lot of memories of shopping in these places, and the people who worked there.

I decided to try and map out a couple of the stores and it quickly ballooned to much more. Here is the list of stores if you care.

1C Virgin Megastore – 343 George St
1C Birdland – 3 Barrack St
1D Fish Records – 350 George St
1D Utopia Records – Challis Arcade

2B Mojo Record Bar – 73 York St
2B Waterfront/Whammo – 89 York St
2C Mojo Music – 28 York St
2C Fish Records – 44 King St
2C Red Eye – 66 King St
2C Mojo Music – 32 York St (downstairs)
2D Red Eye – Tank Stream Arcade
2D JB Hi- Fi Strand Arcade – 412-414 George St
2D HMV Mid City Centre – 197 Pitt St (downstairs)
2E Chelsea Records – 124-126 Pitt St
2E Palings Music Store – 152 Pitt St
2E Borders – Skygarden – 77 Castlereagh St
2E The Record Plant – G39, Imperial Arcade

3B Time Warp – 289 Clarence St
3B Waterfront – 119 York St – 1985-1988
3B Ashwoods – 129 York St
3B Red Eye – 143 York St
3C Fish Records – L2, QVB – 455 George St
3D Birdland – L3, 428 George St
3D Sanity/Virgin Grace Bros – 436 George St
3D Birdland – M 3&4 City Center 231 Pitt St
3D JB Hi-Fi Galleries Victoria – 500 George St
3E Blockbuster Music/Virgin/Sanity – 162 Pitt St
3E Dirt Cheap CDs – 238 Pitt St
3E Brashs – 244 Pitt St

4A Utopia – 511 Kent St (downstairs)
4B Fish Fine Music – 27-31, Town Hall Square, 464-484 Kent St
4B Anthem Records – Town Hall Arcade
4D Odeon – 94 Bathurst St
4E Zounds – 284 Pitt St

5B Utopia – 505 George St (downstairs)
5B The Land Beyond Beyond – 583 George St
5C Brashs Planet Hollywood – 600 George St
5C Utopia – 636 George St
5D Phantom Records/Revolution – 375 Pitt St
5E Red Eye 2nd Hand – 370 Pitt

6C JB Hi-Fi World Square – 644 George St
6C Martin’s – 81 Goulburn St
6C Silver Rocket/Enthusiams – 405 Pitt St
6E Ashwoods – 376 Pitt St
6E Lawson’s – 380 Pitt St

7B Waterfront – 770 George St

There are some I could not find logos for. If I ever come across them I will add to the map.

White Light – Angel Place
Anthem Records Kent St
Hunter Connection
Metropolis Mid City Centre
The Pitt
Edels Pitt St
Oblivion Clarence St

I got sent some pretty nice images when looking into this. I feel like they should be on the Internet for everyone to enjoy.

This first set came from Sonia, who had saved all these incredible bags from back in the day.

These next images come from Joe Cannon. Joe ran Anthem, Unsound and Floppy Disk, and was a pioneer in Australian record retail, in particular the imports scene.