Best record store in SF -- no contest. Effort is rewarded. You want gems? Prove it. Go downstairs. Start flipping.

We were looking for a record shop that used to be around the corner from here and it is gone! So we walked into this little gem and the older guy behind the counter told me that the closed store was his second location but this one is the original - and it has been here for 39 years! I love old shops like this. It is small but packed with records! You'll find all different genres here- including a bin filled with records by local musicians. Though they didn't have the particular record we were looking for, we may head back tomorrow when we have more time to look through their collections. They are open every day. If you are looking to add vinyl to your collection, check this place out! It's old school in all the best ways and could use the support. read more

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Looking for some special music / vinyl? This place likely has it. Cool atmosphere, a small but densely packed store with all manner of vinyl (and a few cassettes) for the discerning music fan. No nonsense but friendly service, ask for some help if you need inspiration! read more

While waiting for my table at Sotto Mare Oysteria I decided to walk around the area a bit. I noticed the record shop immediately and walked over. Once inside, Phil Collins played ... nice! The gentleman behind the register greeted me and continued to assist the paying customer at the counter. I was captivated from the start with all of the goodies in plain sight. There was lots of Prince, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, lots and lots and lots of jazz. Whenever I stop by any record shop Alice Coltrane is first on my list and guess what I found at 101 Music? You betcha ... Alice Coltrane. Thanks to the wonderful folks at 101 Music, I've added the following albums to my set of vinyl's: Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda Nina Simone - Baltimore Nina Simone - I Put a Spell On You Miles Davis - Bitches Brew I rarely run across Alice Coltrane and Fela Kuti albums. Rarely! So needless to say I picked up and purchased the only Alice Coltrane in the store. There were lots of Fela albums. I just chose one. Had my wallet been friendlier I would have purchased at least 5 more albums to take with me back to Phoenix. I don't remember the gentleman's name that was working that day but he was such a pleasure to talk to. He also told me they will ship albums too and gave me their business card. I will be using that for sure! Keep the jams coming 101 Music. See you guys next time. read more

Many hidden items you may not expect. I found several LP's from a label I like sealed and mint and priced well. Good good good.

Goldmine of a record store with tons of records, audio equipment, music gear, old radios, anything to do with sound they probably have it. Owner was nice and we spoke for a brief minute before heading down to the basement. I could spend hours in the place and still not see all the goodies he has stashed everywhere. read more

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Let's just say that based on today's interaction, I'm glad this place is going out of business. I wandered in today as my friend wanted to check out the sales. It's what I'd imagine entering a hoarder's house would be like -- you're kind of sidestepping electronic equipment from the 80s until you find your way down a back staircase to a dungeon of loosely categorized vinyl with extremely narrow walkways. The guy down there (I first wrote gentleman, then corrected myself) was curt at first, and then became belligerent. He tells us everything he doesn't have, and asks us what we're looking for. When we tell him we're just browsing, he tells us that no one is just browsing and that we must be searching for something given that we've found ourselves in this hellhole. Oh, is that right? I traded my niceties for silence at this point. (Note that despite being a record store, there's zero music playing here, which perhaps fits the mood that this guy is trying to achieve.) He continues to lecture us on our way out, telling us that instead of spending $100 for five records down the street, you can get 100 records here of things you haven't heard before. It's a clever sales pitch, except that he continues this rant to denigrate us for not spending any money at his shitty store. At this point, I had bit my tongue long enough and told him that he's going out of a business for a reason and we left. F--- this dude and the store. If you want all customers to buy something if they enter, sell tickets. read more

Here is what happened to me last night: I was eating delicious food with my girlfriend enjoying myself walking into this place. I walk in and the person that worked there (owner?) was in the end of the store. I walked up there cuz i wanted to see the records in that specific corner. I walk up to him smiling and greeting him as friendly as i can. He walks by me saying in the meanest and rudest tone (sounding kind of paranoid): "Why are you looking at me and walk up to me?" Keep in mind he works the store and i could be asking him a question but i honestly was just being friendly smiled at him and wanted to walk by him. After that I leave the store saying jesus christ. He repeats me yelling "yeah jesus christ" i reply: "dude you are really rude" by now me and my gf are out of the door already and he yells out of his throat after us "no you are really rude" I have travelled around quite a lot and have encountered friendly and unfriendly people but i have never seen anything like this, im speechless... read more

Currently they're clearing out inventory so it's a good time to visit. Albums with prices on them are half off. Albums with no price were $2 or 6 albums for $10. (This was my closing paragraph but felt I should start out with this and get your attention.) 101 Music is unbelievable, in a very good way. Massive record selection (downstairs), plenty of used record players and tape players available and a very knowledgeable gentleman (owner?) working there. Unfortunately, according to the gentleman at the front counter, it's going to close in five weeks. If you're going in there to find mainstream music, you'll be disappointed. (No Jay Z, Beatles, Whitney Houston for example). Somehow we walked out of the store with 21 albums. We found old movie soundtracks, musical soundtracks and plenty of jazz. It fun to flick through rows of albums and finding interesting artists to listen to. read more

Have you been to 101 Music? If your answer was no you need to get off your duff and go check it out ASAP. This is by far and a way one of the coolest small businesses in North Beach (that doesn't involve drinking) and really one of the better record shops I've been in ever. You'll find cool albums, musical instruments, and surprisingly reasonable concert posters. And, the attitude is pretty casual and cool, without being hipster "don't give a **** cause giving a **** is uncool". You also won't find the guy working there that is way too into it and needs to let you know about it. It's a tiny store with as minimal of space in between merchandise as is possible. It is jam packed with good stuff. If you ever want to take a walk down musical memory lane this is it - particularly if you are in the generation born from about 1978-1986 that remembers vinyl but yet wasn't quite old enough to be part of it as a decision maker when it wasn't an choice. I will tell you, you will find some cool stuff. Some of their Soul and Lounge offerings were pretty sweet. There are also cassettes. I almost wonder why anyone would buy one now other than sheer nostalgia, or a vastly exaggerated commitment to irony. But, find them here none-the-less you will. I know nothing about vinyl. The guy who gave it 2-stars and has no friends apparently does. Maybe it's all over-priced garbage. I doubt it though. I could spend some time here, and it is a pretty inspiring spot. Another win for North Beach and this stretch of Grant Street. BTW - There is a 101 Music location like a block away on Green. That is mainly equipment, not media. Also worth checking out, but I really know nothing about vintage equipment. read more

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101 Music is the Records version of a dusty old bookstore that has literary treasures tightly stacked in all directions. It's like peeling an onion, as every time I've stopped in over the years there's a new discovery or historic insight that did not previously occur to me. It also makes me want to start over with a new turntable and start collecting vinyl (in both 33s and 45s) again. Another beauty about this place is that as disheveled as this place looks, everything is in its proper place and easily located by store staff. My only quibble is that there's not more of an 8-Track collection for the player that my Dad is still using back in Iowa. Of course, maybe I didn't look in the right place the last time. read more

Remember that classic Rick Springfield album cover with the dog? It's here. Remember that classic Best of Carly Simon album cover? It's here. The Outfield? That one hit wonder that gave us the song "Your Love?" It's here. If you love music, & you appreciate vinyl, you just might salivate when you walk in here. You may even break into song. It happened today; a guy started singing "Heaven." The Fred Astaire song, not the Bryan Adams song. There's every genre, & thousands of titles. Thousands. Upstairs is where all the equipment & instruments are. Downstairs is a sea of vinyl. It's stunning. A bit dank & musty, sure. And I overheard someone actually say that as soon as they walked in. But who cares? It's all about the music here, not about the physical space. $8 for a tangible piece of your youth that you can listen to, too? Beyond reasonable. 4 stars. read more

SF did it again. I felt compelled to hit this store after my boyfriend and I meandered the streets of North Beach during a festival. I wasn't drunk, nor did I have a hint of alcohol breathing in and out of my breath.101 Music drew me in when I accidentally stumbled onto their window display of dusty looking banners, vintage concert fliers, and a poster of Jimmy Hendrix calling out my name. Oh yeah, I felt disheveled already without feeling intoxicated. I was deliberately drunk off of the smell of old vinyl and the filtering tunes of Chet Atkins playing in the background as I rummaged through a history of "newfound" music. 101 Music reminded of old toys we once played with during our childhood and forgotten about them until we somehow discovered our toys sitting in stacked boxes in the attic waiting to be played with again. I felt like a kid again after picking up an old Beatles record in my hand and swaying my hips to Chet Atkins singing to me about happy days, completely in awe and feeling giddy I smiled at the thought of sleeping inside here with all these great and forgotten artists, bands, musicians, instruments and an 8-Track hiding on top of a shelf! Don't get it twisted when you think I'm too young to know of these things. I find beauty in a lot of weird things, but music means a lot to me. I love hip hop, funk, hipster music, indie rock, and electronic music that we all hear nowadays. However, I'm a young chick with an old soul. I love the classics that you don't hear anymore unless you have the tenacity to download tunes off the internet or stream it off Pandora radio. You see my fellow Yelpers, it doesn't get any better than seeing vintage records, tapes and CDs and listening to good music that you probably might not ever hear again. I hope that in the generations that come ahead, I don't want old records and awesome music to fade. Just as I would hate to see 101 Music lose business too. Let's keep mom and pop stores alive!! read more

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Terrible customer service, in fact non-existent. Cashier was a jerk. If it wasn't for that, probably would have bought something. Music shops, especially ones that sell vinyl usually employ or are owned by friendly helpful people. At least that's what I'm used to. Definitely not this place. read more

Welcome to the "fire hazard" record/music/WTF store!! Note this is about the "other store" around the corner on Green St. I first stumbled upon this place 5-6 years ago in a drunken stroll in NB. I was hooked in by the tape decks and other "vintage" equipment (I still have my TEAC dual tape deck to this day). I was also mesmerized by the fact that I could barely walk through the pathways that accounted for aisle here. Then I went into the basement..... Holy crap! Nothing but oceans of milk crates filled with random vinyl. It literally looks like the basement of some weird hoarder uncle who died of mysterious circumstances in his garage. And the "collection" only reinforces that. From original rockabilly to 50s bluegrass to Abba to 90s highly obscure rap and then throw in radio giveaways, orchestral works, funky white gospel singers from the 60s in polyester. And you will occasionally find a Blue Oyster Cult or The Specials or Van Morrison thrown in there. Want to pass somebody by as they are combing through milk crates? Nope. Even if you both are model anorexic thin there is no way you pass by each other without some serious bodily violations going on. But who cares! This place rocks if you aren't just there to find Pink Floyd records or old punk rarities. The experience of surviving the death trap is enough to make this a must stop. And you'll walk away with at least 8-10 highly interesting finds. read more

We're lucky to live in a city with such a wide variety of vinyl proprietors. 101 music is among the most entertaining to browse, if not the most consistent. I have found a few treasures but the turnover could be higher. Since I live up the street, maybe I expect "new stuff" too frequently. However, my five stars are more about Tom, the owner and his personal attention than anything else. When recently replacing my stylus, he offered to walk me through the process of setting the counter-balance, etc. over the phone on a Sunday. He is an extremely knowledgeable man, while not making me feel silly for needing his help. Cheers to old-school customer service, the kind you can only find in a locally-owned shop like those in North Beach and throughout our beautiful city! read more

101 Music - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Francisco, California

What a very weird place. Oddly, I never checked it out the 2 years I lived in North Beach. Had I known about this place when I was unemployed, I very well may have spent all my free time combing through it's huge, unorganized selection of vinyl in the basement. How long would it take to go through all the records down there? Maybe a few days, if you were lucky. Well, anyway, the top floor is full (but not quite as over-full as the basement) of musical instruments and record players. There's some cool stuff, but I wonder how much of it is full-working condition. Nevertheless, it's definitely an interesting place to check out if you're in that neighborhood. read more

This is a great record store! Not the best place if you want to find recent music on vinyl. This is a spend-an-afternoon-looking-for-gems kinda place. It's great place for collectors. The workers were really helpful and knowledgeable. They actually have a second store right around the corner also. I found this out because the worker at the shop asked me what I was looking for and he recommended the other store. He was very kind and walked me to the other store and even took me to the exact spot where I could find what I wanted! Very cool place! read more

101 Music - 101 music San Francisco - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Francisco, California

They're on Grant Street now. I was hesitant to go here at first after seeing some of the other reviews. I think the unfriendly person referenced in those reviews no longer works the store. Both of the employees I encountered each time were really friendly and helpful. Good selection of records too read more

Please be sure you call ahead. We walked to the store to be there for 10:00am on Thursday because yelp hours said they open at 10:00am. Disappointing that they were not open and this was our last day in San Francisco. We even waited around for half hour in case they were just late opening. Called again at 11:00 to give them one more chance but no answer. read more

101 Music - Looks like a cool store. - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Francisco, California

One of my favorite ways to spend a rainy weekend afternoon is laying on my couch with a book listening to my massive vinyl collection. While there is no limit of places in SF for me to procure the vinyl that I so adore listening to, my favorite has to be 101 Music on Green Street (the sister store of the 101 Music on Grant Street)... the proprietor, Christian, is very helpful and knowledgeable about vinyl and is willing to keep his eyes open for special discs you happen to be looking for... I bought my Numark turntable from him last year and am very happy with it a year later... I've spent hours in the musty basement sorting through records looking for gems - I happen to collect cheesy K-Tel compilation vinyl and have found some gems in 101 Music (Raiders of the Pop Charts, 80's Beat... awesome stuff!) I have also found great early Beatles pressings, the Rave-Ups, tons of great goth and punk and nu wave classics you've forgotten about, great soul and R&B, some original Big Brother & the Holding Co.... it's a wealth of wonderful vinyl if you have the patience to look. All discs are $5 (a little pricer than some Amoeba, but worth it, I think)... double discs are $10. There's a great assortment of random instruments, turntables and memorabilia... the entire basement is filled w/records and guitars... awesomeness. Go check it out. read more

This place is amazing!!!!! If your looking for records you need to go here. You might not find what your looking for but you will find something to take home. Plan on spending some time here, there is so much to look at you won't know where to start. I will be back before they close!!!! read more

It's an awesome thing that my girlfriend is understanding when we're wandering around before dinner, and she sees my gaze locked on that xylophone on the sidewalk across the street. Thanks for suggesting we check it out! I will never complain when you want to stop to look at shoes. I got completely mesmerized by the stacks and stacks of instruments and music-related electronic gizmos... EQs, banjos, reel-to-reel and cassette tape decks, accordions and squeeze-boxes (which, by the way, are harder to play than one might assume), speakers, amps, harmonicas, and who knows what else I missed. All this is packed in amazingly tight, floor to ceiling, with barely enough room for someone to squeeze past in the singular aisle. It's a good thing I don't have a garage. I would probably fill it with stuff I bought and collected from this place, and then I'd end up having to open a store packed floor to ceiling with stacks of instruments and music-related gizmos... Wait, what? There's a basement? I had no idea... read more

Consisting of two stores on opposite corners of Grant & Green street, 101 Music is the best (read: only) used record shop in North Beach. The main store at the northeast corner of the intersection is well-stocked with sorted vinyl of all varieties, with a smattering of CDs adorning the far wall. There's also a number of old guitars hanging up and quite a few nice deals can be found amongst them. The southwest store is the real gem of these two. You walk inside to an in-your-face melange of old and new musical equipment of all listening, performing, and recording varieties: a veritable hands-on history of electricity in music. Downstairs lies the Holy Grail of vinyl collecting: well over eighty thousand records, unsorted other than by rough genre breakdowns, just itching for a full-scale browse. Whether you're looking for Pop, Blues, Soul, old-school Hip-Hop, obscure German rock, or chintzy New Age, you'll find everything you could ever possibly want, and a hell of a lot more. Best of all, every record costs only $5! Perfect for an afternoon of hardcore record-hunting, an eBay resell search, or a hipster first-date. read more

This store actually consists two locations facing each other across the intersection of Grant and Green. The location on Grant has all the organized rarer stuff, including sections just for Bowie bootlegs, Beatles bootlegs, etc. (and takes credit cards) The one on Green has a basement of 50,000 records (I kid you not) piled up in crates. They're only sectioned by genre, so I wouldn't go there with a shopping list or anything, but with the exception of the classical titles, they're only $5 each no matter what you find. It's like being a kid in a candy store. read more

Walking into this place gave me a flashback to my pack rat great aunt's apartment. However this store's clutter is in much better taste than my aunt's (RIP) with her hundreds of saved newspapers and candy wrappers from the 60s. Speakers, record players, and accordians stacked up to the ceiling welcome you to the front room. Duck down to the basement and find a maze of 10's of thousands of records...you can barely fit through the rows of vinyl, especially after your North Beach pasta feed. LP's are $5.00. As the recent inheritor (is that a word?) of a vintage record player, I plan on spending some rainy Sunday searching through the milk crates of vinyl... They also have neat vintage posters, congas, guitars and various instruments for sale. The staff doesn't bug you if you just want to rummage through. I shouldn't even write a review because if even two or three of you go there the day as me, there won't be room for all of us. And a yelp throwdown is never pretty. read more

If you're the type of person that romanticizes clutter and gear, this place certainly has character. The upstairs is cram-packed with music equipment, the basement with vinyl. I hadn't been here since 2001, so I stopped by a couple weeks back to sift through the basement. They have a novel concept - all LPs are $5. Unfortunately, this somewhat backfires in that none of the crap worth less than $5 ever leaves the store. So though the basement is filled with boxes and boxes of records, most of it is picked over. I had better luck with the crates out front, and the box of new arrivals from the sister store down the street. I picked up a McCoy Tyner double LP for $10, a Cal Tjader for $5, and an Egyptian Lover single for $3. read more

I paid my first visit to 101 Music on Saturday night and was blown away. And now reading the reviews other Yelpers have written, I am even more convinced that it will take several more years' worth of visits to truly understand why this place is so amazing. It starts with the massive collection. Every milimeter of this place is packed. It feels magical. Only the liner notes for the CDs are on display because the jewel cases would take up too much room. And if you have a good sense of humor, you'll realize how funny it is that every time another customer wants to cross paths with you, one or the other of you must back out of the aisle entirely so one may pass, or lean dangerously close to the stacks. As others have mentioned, with this massive amount of stock, it's not exactly organized to the minute level of detail that Amoeba or Aquarius are. If you can't deal with this, well, go to Sam Goody, sucker. read more

Have you ever walked into a used place and found exactly what you wanted? Not something you had a vague need for that was filled. I'm talking about specific model numbers. I wanted a Bang and Olufsen amp - the Beomaster 2400 to be precise. I found it at 101 Music just sitting there waiting for me. The guys were happy to help me out, finding the obscure proprietary cables to test the thing. The amount of work they put into setting the amp up with speakers and a source was almost worth more than what I payed for the amp - which was very little. Amazing. Thanks again, guys. read more

Two great 70's stereos in 2 years at a good price. Glad / surprised North Beach has changed less than everywhere else in town. read more

Nice place. Be careful and ask if you're buying a new or a used LP.

Tom! I stopped by as I was in a dream-like nostalgic state, and you reminded me of my Dad! Thank you! Ironwood, Michigan! I am the girl with the Vesuvio T-Shirt on from the U.P. of Michigan - you made me feel at home that day while visiting San Fran. Very cool record shop. The best of the best. A very happy place with very happy vibes. read more

Very easy to lose an afternoon in North Beach, digging through the records and examining the beat-up guitars down in the basement. I picked up a no-name classical guitar here for around $60, and I play it almost every day. Spend another few hours looking through the various music-making eclectica upstairs - you will always find a little treasure. read more

Great way to spend an afternoon, and you will surely kill an entire one there, digging through the enormous stock of records in the basement. Absolutely incredible collection. Although arranged in a rather haphazard way, I always manage to find what I'm looking for. Have bought some Sinatra, some Sammy, some Nina Simone, some opera. I take away one star because I found a Renata Tibaldi album that the proprietor said "Oh, I don't normally sell anything from that label." Then what's it doing down there, then?? But since the record had a price tag, he relented. So major score for me. So the star goes back. Awesome record shop and yet another reason I'm thrilled to live in this neighborhood. read more

Picked up a good turntable cartridge here. I didn't expect them to have this model but they did and the price was 25% less than World of Stereo on market. Helpful staff chatted about vintage gear and let me check out the records although they werent really open yet. Very friendly. Will be back to check out the vinyl soon. read more

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Only getting 2 stars because the guy at the store on Green was really nice. I was directed over to the store on Grant and the guy working there was a complete jerk. Not helpful at all and really rude. Not worth even walking into the store. read more

Disclaimer: Everything I know about good music I learned from listening to U2 when I was in junior high, and watching High Fidelity and School of Rock. That being said, this record store totally rocks. You may not want to visit if you're claustrophobic or even the tiniest bit afraid of earthquakes (all the good stuff is in the basement), but if you want to take your chances, this is the kind of place you could spend hours. Sifting through old albums, admiring the vintage record players and wondering if they still work, reminiscing with your friends about bands and concerts you've seen... What a cool store that has the power to keep you enthralled for hours, without having to buy anything (although I'm sure the owner would appreciate if you did). Who knows what you can discover here: my husband found a "Christmas with Colonel Sanders" record. Sadly, he didn't buy it...but lucky for you, that means it's still there! read more

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This has been a favorite vinyl-hunting spot of mine since the mid-90s when I discovered it while wandering around North Beach one day. A trip here is pretty much mandatory for any vinyl-obsessed record geek. But if you're claustrophobic, forget it! The place is literally overrun by mountains of used stereo components piled on yet more used stereo components, along with cheap old guitars and keyboards, and milk crates crammed with used LPs. And of course there is the ever infamous, dank, dim, and musty basement, (accessed via a narrow, rickety staircase in the back), which is quite the spectacle. Newcomers might think they've died and gone to heaven. That is, until they realize that the gazillions of LPs jam-packed in their racks, and the zillions more crammed in milk crates stacked on top of and in front of the racks (sometimes 4-5 crates high), are COMPLETELY UNORGANIZED. That's right, more LPs than the most hardcore vinyl-obsessive could ever dream of shaking a stick at, and they are totally not alphabetized at all. I think there used to be some semblance of a jazz or soul section, but it's all just kind of a mess now. And therein lies the fun. Clearly, one needs a few hours to make a meaningful dent in this mess. Thing is, naturally there is A LOT of crap to wade through. And all records are $5 a pop, regardless of condition or level of scarcity. So yes, you'll flip past tons of Eagles-y dollar bin garbage in search of whatever elusive gems you hope to find. And I have found a good number of said gems. There once was a healthy assortment of post-punk/new wave import rarities scattered throughout the stacks (some of them new and unplayed), but my friends and I have more or less picked those out over the years, so I don't really have a reason to venture over here so much anymore. But getting to pay a mere $5 for some of these impossibly rare LPs (some of which I never thought I'd even get to touch) more than made up for the long hours spent searching and the resultant thick film of dirt on the finger tips. read more

The Basement is for the serious record collectors. I spent an average of 5 hours digging and spend around 120 bucks. Move crates around, and you'll find treasure for sure. 5 bucks for albums and 3 bucks for singles The only problem is that there is only one outlet to plug your portable turntable. read more

I could live in this record store! Fantastic selection of just about everything I like. LPs, 8track tape, reel to reel tape, LaserDisc as well as the equipment to play them on. Also a good selection of guitars, bass, violins, cellos, autoharps, mellotron and other synths. This is a music lovers paradise! I have a tremendous amount of respect for the owner (Tom) of this store. I've bought various items from his store over the past 15 years. I love this store! read more