No - We do not and will not stock Quad records

[kfbkfb]

Starting in 1973, the Kmart in Iowa City IA had a small Quad records section (I wasn't interested in 8-track cartridges so I don't know if they also had Q8 tapes), I bought a Mystic Moods CD-4 there in ~1975.

I visited the Kmart in Cheyenne WY in ~1976, I didn't see any Quad records in their record bins so I asked one of the salespeople if they had Quad records, that's when I got the thread title answer about no Quad records.

Anyone recall any places (actual record stores or department stores with fairly large record sections) specifically not stocking Quad records (1972-1977 time frame)?


Kirk Bayne

 

[ar surround]

It is probably easier to list the places that stocked quad records around here than the stores that didn't. Some audio retailers were anti-quadraphonic equipment also...put off by the incompatibility of the various formats.

 

[Doug G.]

I don't remember any specifically stating they wouldn't stock quad but most of them didn't ever feature quad, as in having displays at store front or anything. The quad records were usually just put in bins by themselves and you kind of had to search for them yourself.

It was as if they were afraid to commit so that if quad didn't sell after a big promotion, they wouldn't be embarrassed.

Doug

 

[kfbkfb]

Kmart being so big at that time, I thought that it was a chain wide thing to have some Quad records at each Kmart.

I don't recall any special labeling for the Kmart Quad record section, I first noticed the section when I saw the Black Oak Arkansas Quadradisc album cover.


Kirk Bayne

 

[JonUrban]

I remember when DVD-A & SACD were becoming available, and I asked a few record stores if they had any, and the clerk/owner/stooge/whomever said flatly "No", they were not going to carry those and would not order them.

Well, thanks a lot!

Thinking back to my 'quad years', roughly 73-78, most small record stores did not carry quads, but the big ones around me, "Tracks", "Peaches", they had big quad sections. Well, big in that they had multiple bins filled with quad albums, and a case or two filled with Q8's. Those were great days, but oddly, just like with DVD-A/SACD, once the 'good titles' sold out, they would rarely get restocked, and just like the DVD-A/SACD bins of Best Buy and Media Play eventually only had silverline and classical/jazz/broadway type discs remaining in the racks, it was the same thing with quad bins at the big stores. Lots of Mancini, Montenegro, Percy Faith, E. Power Biggs, stuff like that, and very little of the more popular titles.

 

[barfle]

Man, it's been so long since I shopped for new vinyl that I can't even recall where I shopped, much less whether they had a featured quad section.

Most of the shops I've been to since then don't separate quad, and a lot of the clerks seem befuddled that such a thing could exist on a record.

 

[quadsearcher]

A used record store near me had a quad section for over 30 years, new owners bought the store about the time I was getting into quad around 2007. I was buying one every couple months just for fun, not great titles, but quad, so they were interesting. Eventually as they sorted the store into such silly sections as "hair metal" the quad section was gone, I asked, they said they sorted it into pop A-Z. Haven't bought one since, too hard to find.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

There were 2 or 3 Stores in my town that stocked quads including Q8 , then down to one...Opus 69.
When it was going out of business in 78 , I managed to find some rare quad releases. If you were into Classical they carried many from Harmonia Mundi , Eurodisc , EMI , and Angel.Plus the regular quad disc's.
Throughout the 70's they stocked and restocked Columbia quads and WEA ,
and it's where I got my Vanguards.

Now that changed once I found Sound Concepts ,Peoria in 75.
Tons of quad lps that just didn't make it across the border from the States.

Records on Wheels supplied many hard to find Rock quad imports, here. Lot's of Quad kraut rock and a few European CD-4 and SQ.

Woolco was one store that carried deleted Q8'S in the late 70's early 80's, and there were others, but no names that I'd remember.

Rather Ripped in California had many quad album , deletes .

 

[Sonik Wiz]

No- I do not care about the stores that did not stock quad records. What is the point? We should avoid them today?

 

[JonUrban]

.......Woolco was one store that carried deleted Q8'S in the late 70's early 80's, and there were others, but no names that I'd remember......

Zayre's, Robert Hall Village, even KMarts

 

[Doug G.]

Kmart being so big at that time, I thought that it was a chain wide thing to have some Quad records at each Kmart.

I don't recall any special labeling for the Kmart Quad record section, I first noticed the section when I saw the Black Oak Arkansas Quadradisc album cover.


Kirk Bayne

Unfortunately, no matter how big the chain, store stock is almost always controlled by the local store manager. They have their own buyers and tell them what to buy, according to what they feel will sell in their area.

Doug

 

[Marcsten]

I guess I was lucky? I was in Salt Lake City during the Quad years. Everyone had quad records. I recall buying BS and T greatest hits at Sears there in SQ. My main record stores for Wally's and Tape Head both of which had quad sections and would order anything I asked for, although I never knew what to ask for. They just stocked stuff as it was released. I recall getting Command QS quads when they first came out as well as Eric Carmen's CD-4 at a little record store in the local mall. While the quad sections were never large., they were almost everywhere, and had a good selection. I always laughed that they also had the Phase 4 stereo records in teh quad section as well as The Who Quadrophenia. Even Fred Meyer had both LPs and Q8s. I guess that's why I was so devoted. It wasn't hard. I recall getting Billy Joel Piano Man at a local drug store in SQ.

 

[jaybird100]

I used to haunt several of the good record and tape stores in Miami, looking for quad, and they had 'em! Most put them in a separate section, which I found very useful. I know the record companies wished they would just mix them in with the rest of the stock, but for those of us with a particular mission in mind, it was "mission accomplished" much quicker. I was in college at the time, and I would check the copies of Billboard, in the campus library, to find out what was coming out, and when. That made my searches much easier. Since, even back then, my tastes in music have always been very eclectic, my collection grew fast, and I still have all of them!

 

[quicksrt]

I remember in 1979 getting my paycheck and heading out to three different malls in the Tampa Bay area to hit the record stores and specifically look for quad LPs. I found some great ones, Best of the Doors, Toys in the Attic, Aqualung, and one other title. I already had TDSOTM and WHWH, so I felt I was getting some of the hotter ones. Anyway, that was the last time I would see any of these quad LPs sold as new items. Good thing I spent one of my days off doing the quadradisc rounds. Loved all of these playing back in stereo. I would never be able to decode them into quad. But I liked the alt. mixes very much.

I saw stacks of Alice Cooper "Muscle of Love" CD-4 quad LPs $2.99 with a big chopped corner on every one of them. This was about 1978 at Peaches in Clearwater. I went back two weeks later with cash, and all of them were gone.

I just couldn't swing it financially what with my regular vinyl collecting and concert going. I was pretty broke until about 1982 when I landed a better job and realized how all of my previous employers had always stated that yes, you can make a living here, and we'd like to see you get raises regularly. Yeah, "like to see" vs getting them are two different things. So I got hired by a larger company with a new location downtown that was paying normal wages that semi-professional people will earn. I was then buying more Japanese imports, MFSL, boots, imports on colored vinyl, and picture discs, and I saved up enough money to get the F outta FL, and moved to CA in 1984.

So life did get much better, and record collecting got more rewarding as well. Surround was still a difficult thing to swing. I would do DTS CDs, then a DVD-A player, and then stepped up to a DVD-A / SACD player over a 10 year period. I had a mini stack of SACDs even before I had the player.

One does appreciate this stuff more when you had to wait to get each format and collect the discs over a time period.

 

[quicksrt]

I used to haunt several of the good record and tape stores in Miami, looking for quad, and they had 'em! Most put them in a separate section, which I found very useful. I know the record companies wished they would just mix them in with the rest of the stock, but for those of us with a particular mission in mind, it was "mission accomplished" much quicker. I was in college at the time, and I would check the copies of Billboard, in the campus library, to find out what was coming out, and when. That made my searches much easier. Since, even back then, my tastes in music have always been very eclectic, my collection grew fast, and I still have all of them!

I think Florida was a good place for the record buyer or collector in the 70s and early 80s. Each and every mall had chains, and tons of indie stores had great import sections, good cutouts, and quad bins with respectable titles. I was seeing Beck Bogert & Appice "Live in Japan" and Santana "Lotus" on Japanese vinyl (I actually bought them). I got The Runaways "Live in Japan" (Canadian pressing) for $2.99 in the budget import bin. Still have my imports, and still have them in NM condition stored in poly bags for protection.

I'd love to go back in time and invest in original UK import LP pressings being blown out as cutouts in the bargain bins.

 

[texeast]

My memories of quad vinyl in the 70’s was like this. I was in a local Radio Shack store and they were just starting sell quad equipment. Of course I had to buy a Realistic system receiver, 4 speakers, & turntable. I was blown away from what I heard back home so I acquired quite a few quad records. When the demand went away and my system eventually died I kept all my quads along with my stereo vinyl collection & I still play them to this day on my stereo system. In my opinion many of the quad mixes sound better than a comparable stereo record on a stereo set up. Ten Years After A Space In Time is a great example of this. I am so glad I kept and took care of these records. So many people sold their collections when cd’s came out.

 

[Doug G.]

I remember being in the local Radio Shack one day and happened to see they had two demonstration SQ records - "The Full Spectrum of Quadraphonic Sound" and "Bach To Bernstein".

I bought them both and they still occupy their rightful place in my Quad vinyl collection.

Doug

 

[kfbkfb]

I kept all my quads along with my stereo vinyl collection & I still play them to this day on my stereo system.

Do you have a surround sound system now?

If not, 1 additional speaker + wire can serve as a surround sound decoder (will extract surround sound from all matrix encoded content and even the CD-4 stereo downmix) - connect the additional speaker across the 2 "+" speaker terminals on your stereo system and place this speaker behind your listening position.


Kirk Bayne

 

[MidiMagic]

I remember being in the local Radio Shack one day and happened to see they had two demonstration SQ records - "The Full Spectrum of Quadraphonic Sound" and "Bach To Bernstein".

I bought them both and they still occupy their rightful place in my Quad vinyl collection.

Doug

I have those records.

There was a classical record store that carried quad (mixed in with others) in my town called the Glass Harmonica. They continued to sell quad from Angel, Vox, Deutche Grammofon, EMI and others. This continued until the shopping center was razed to be a parking lot for the university.

 

[MidiMagic]

Do you have a surround sound system now?

If not, 1 additional speaker + wire can serve as a surround sound decoder (will extract surround sound from all matrix encoded content and even the CD-4 stereo downmix) - connect the additional speaker across the 2 "+" speaker terminals on your stereo system and place this speaker behind your listening position.


Kirk Bayne

I still have all of my equipment. I also have two more surround systems in other rooms.