The Record Finder

This review is for the vinyl content of this shop only!!!
Occasionally when I am in Freo, I call in to this store to put it bluntly have a laugh!
Record Finder is the most expensive store you will find anywhere in the world literally! I could never justify spending my hard earned cash on records here when I can go down to Mills and get the same record I am chasing for nearly half the price! I must admit Mills Records range are quite limiting, but Tim usually does his best to get anything in for you that you are chasing.
I seriously don’t understand how these guys stay in buisness? They must be doing something right as they have been there for as long as I can remember, but you will never catch me in there paying $ 40 bucks for a standard press Santana record just cause it has an «import» sticker on the cover!!!

Average range. Lots of reissues. Metallica repress $ 60… Expensive. Being the most remote city in the world I can kind of understand. But you might do better ordering from discogs if you live here.

Let me tell you about one of the most traumatic time periods of my life. I lived in a tiny tinpot town, as far away as the horizon and as hot as the Mexican sun.
No. It wasn’t Mexico. That would have been much more romantic and exciting. Plus, I would have sported my special Mexican tequila sunglasses more often.
It was Geraldton. Or, as I now affectionately call it Gero-​Vegas. The little town I lived in for a year was the source of much laughter, tears and a plethora of stories. This is one such story.
I was unable to take my beloved car Bertha up to Gero for fear she wouldn’t withstand the drive. Big Bertha was destined to be a city dweller in her old age. So I took my Nana’s lovely yellow Mazda named Canary. My Nana could no longer drive her beloved little bubble and was more than happy for me to nanny her precious car.
I loved Canary like she was my own but there was one problem; no radio to speak of. Not a single sound. Only the sound of my breath and budding ambition I had for the tiny town.
But…there was a tape player. Oh dear. The only tapes I had were UB40 (I hate boy bands) and some Rolf Harris thing (I now hate Rolf Harris too). Well, the drive to Gero is four hours plus and with these two tape rotations the four hours seemed like an eternity and I was sure the ‘plus’ would never end.
Today, I still drive Canary, who still only has a tape deck for musical reprieve. I could not find any half decent tapes until I cam in to Record Finder. Oh joy! Some sounds to sooth my weary ears!
The second hand tapes are not spectacular but, my God, they’re better than listening to that ‘chiga-​boom’ song from UB40 one more time.
Record Finder, you get five stars for being a tape finder and one of the biggest blessings I’ve ever come across.

With a broader range than anywhere else in Fremantle, this is a great place to pick up second hand vynil. Second hand platters are usually under twenty dollars, and once you get a feel for the store’s idiosyncratic filing system, you can find just about anything released before 1990 here. If you’ve got time, there’s a much more loosely filed selection of recently recieved records at the back of the store and I have found some absolutely magic stuff in this section. The 45’s section is also quite comprehensive and a lot of fun to flick through.
I often prefer to buy new records and though the store regularly imports a good selection of records, this isn’t a great place to pick thme up as they tend to be priced much higher than elsewhere. I have picked up a few hard to find items here though, so I do regularly peruse the racks. Hilariously, most times I go in to do this, I leave to the sound the staff grumbling to each other about people coming into the shop and not buying anything. It’s happened so often as to be a regular feature of shopping at the store, but it adds to the flavour of the place.
If you’re into vynil, this combines well as an afternoon walking tour of crate-​digging with stops at Mills, Junction Records and The Record Finder.

I always imagine that one day I’d like to impress a potential suitor with my musical palate and knowledge. The venue of choice? The Record Finder in Fremantle. It’s a fairly decent size, but because it’s crammed from floor to ceiling with all sorts of paraphernalia, the premises are slightly claustrophobic and probably not for those who like their personal space. Regardless, it’s worthy of being deemed a veritable treasure trove of retro. They’ve even got the sales clerk to match the cliché. The owner is a breathing Wikipedia of musical knowledge, sourcing his wares from other fanatical collectors, overseas and vintage markets.
With a fine selection of both popular and obscure fiction books to your immediate right, cassette tapes to your left, and an extensive catalogue of all musical genres lining all walls and the centre of the floor, you’re more than likely going to find your very own totem of street cred within these jam-​packed walls. And best of all? They actually sell record players. Whether you’re into Betty Davis, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Abba, Jeff Buckley or Hendrix, there’s something to suit all budgets. Prices range from around $ 15 to $ 100 for more popular items. But the cost of indie-​street cred? Tom Hansen would say it’s priceless.

Record stores are a hard find these days, for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that everybody is keen on downloads. In Fremantle however there is the gem of all record stores. Which is great news for those of us who have been playing with our parents records since we were young and eventually managed to procure their turntables and begin buying our own music on vinyl.
There is a reason it’s called The Record Finder, they have every genre of record available and you can spend hours (like I have) flicking though everything from Presley to Pink Floyd to The Presets (yes, quite a range). They also stock collectable and limited editions which if you have the dollars, make great gifts.
They also sell tapes, a platform of media I’m more than happy to see the end of, apart from the fact my car still uses a tape deck, so for me it’s a blessing to have people come and donate their old tapes to provide me with breaks from the radio! There is a small comic book section in here too, and it’s stocked with what generous people have given up, donated or sold so it is a very random range, but it’s great if you take the time to flick through, I’ve come away with some vintage Flash comics to give to a friend, only for a couple of dollars! An amazing find!
It is rather tiny, which makes it all the more endearing and part of it’s charm, however if more than five people enter after you, it’s impossible to get out, but I’m generally okay with staying here! The Record Finder is a classic part of Fremantle and a place I loved frequenting, I hope that enough people remain as in love with vinyl as myself to keep it going awhile longer.