In the middle of a bland cluster of hotel and office towers on Metcalfe Street downtown is a lone 19th-century greystone that’s somehow survived the purportedly inexorable march of progress. Dwarfed by its neighbours, the building is a relic of a long-forgotten time, when today’s downtown was a more residential neighbourhood.

On the second floor, you’ll find Cheap Thrills, the second of a pair of record stores that’s been part of this city’s cultural fabric since 1971 (the first opened in 1971; this Metcalfe location was their second, opened in 1984).

Just as its architectural setting has resisted modernization, Cheap Thrills has endured shifting trends in music distribution and has kept pace with passing waves of nostalgia. Owner Gary Worsley started there as an employee 24 years ago and bought the shop in 2019. “It’s more or less the same as it was back then,” he says. “It’s like a time warp in here.”

Every time a new media format takes over, there’s a glut of last-gen products that is bargain-binned, rarified, and then attributed special status as retro, nostalgic and desirable.

The name of the store was inspired by the record of the same name by Janis Joplin and Big Brother... not by the same titled album by Frank Zappa. The original owner was inspired by a store located in Berkeley California, who which I cannot recall their name. Funny enough we have received messages from at least three stores in the USA using the same name.

You spin me right 'round, baby

“We got into CDs during the CD era. We never abandoned vinyl. We just move along with the time. Laser Discs, DVDs, whatever’s happening.”

Despite the practicality of Spotify, physical formats have a clear and enduring appeal: “When downloading and then streaming first came on, it was amazing. You could build a gigantic record collection, but at the end of the day, you don’t really have a record collection. You have some files on your computer or iPod or phone,” Gary says.

“It’s fun to have someone over and let them flip through your records or your CDs. And we’ve seen a return to CDs too, with people who are really passionate about their collections.”

Not so long ago, CDs were seen as the awkward stepping stone between the analogue cool of vinyl and the ubiquity of online streaming services. But the nostalgia cycle has caught up. For today’s young people, who grew up without any physical formats, CDs conjure an idea of a past never lived, a time before automatically renewing subscription fees and algorithmically generated playlists.

Thriving > Surviving

But how does a little independent store selling niche products make ends meet in an increasingly expensive and competitive downtown real estate market? The building sits atop a metro station, making it an unattractive lot for developers looking to flip the next boutique hotel or condo project. According to Worsley, there’s nowhere to build the desired underground parking spaces for such uses.

You might think that online retailers like Amazon or Discogs would price out places like Cheap Thrills—it turns out that having vinyl records delivered to your doorstep is more of a luxury service.

“Discogs has gotten much greedier in terms of the percentage they take. And to ship a record across Canada can cost as much as $30,” he says.

Some of these platforms make sense when you’re looking for a rare item and are willing to shell out the big bucks. Most of the time, Cheap Thrills can get the average collector a better deal.

The record hustle seems to be one of those businesses where brick and mortar is here to stay—the same goes for books, which Cheap Thrills carries.

Cheap Thrills is also consistently attentive to a shifting customer base. “We follow whatever people are willing to buy. We’re not the kind of store that will stick to a particular genre and say ‘this is what we do’. We’ll sell everything,” Gary says. If some sections are better curated than others, it largely reflects the knowledge of current staff.

“We used to be focused much more on avant-garde than we are now. Now we have a lot of metal, a nice big jazz section. There’s areas we could still improve on. If we hired someone who was super passionate about international music, we could get that section going a little stronger.”

Spending life on something that will outlast it

Not that long ago, the flagship HMV was a short block away. People interested in physical copies of top 40 artists would go to major retailers, while mom-and-pop stores were primarily places for a more alternative or underground crowd. Worsley describes the death throes of that behemoth with just a hint of satisfaction.

“I don’t know what they had—30,000 square feet? 40,000 square feet? They were selling Walking Dead lamps and Game of Thrones rugs. I don’t know how you would rent a store that big anymore just to sell records.”

Perhaps the most fascinating change to Worsley is the growing appeal of new vinyl and CD pressings of relatively mainstream and recent artists. Since HMV Canada went tits up in 2017, it seems like everyone is heading to Cheap Thrills. “New records are selling super well from the Taylor Swift era, and other female pop stars from the last seven or eight years.”

Record stores have often been the province of pedantic music nerds or condescending hipsters à la High Fidelity—Worsley’s approach is bereft of snobbery. When asked what he likes best about running Cheap Thrills, his answer demonstrates the customer-friendly attitude that keeps him in the game.

“It’s always exciting when someone comes in with a few bags or boxes of records to sell and you’re like, what’s in here? Sometimes it’s an incredible collection, a well-curated pile. Sometimes it’s just basic. And the basic ones are sometimes the best from my perspective, because if it’s full of Elton John, Billy Joel, Supertramp or Fleetwood Mac. We’re going to sell it.”

Twenty years ago, downsizing boomers could hardly get rid of those records. For a new generation of collectors, they’re sought-after rarities.

“It’s great stock to have at the store. But it’s also great because of the weird esoteric collections, oddities people have picked up over the years.”

On the surface, Cheap Thrills has hardly changed in over half a century, but it’s by no means stuck in the past. Whenever the recently-uncool becomes the next big collector’s item, they’ve got their ear to the ground.

Cheap Thrills is located at 2044 Metcalfe Street.

You spin me right 'round, baby

Thriving > Surviving

Spending life on something that will outlast it

Play that funky music.

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Robert Jennings

Vinyl revivals and cycles of nostalgia at Cheap Thrills