In the early ’90s, I had the good fortune of working at a couple of record stores in my hometown of Montreal. One of these gigs was at the flagship HMV store, where part of my job was buying and selling imported records for our “imports” department, generally anything alternative or outside of mainstream radio. It was mostly the weird stuff that either wasn’t being released locally by the major labels in North America, or was independent material coming out of Europe. We were also the only department in the entire store that still sold vinyl.
Once a week I would trot over to the local Cargo Records warehouse to see what had recently arrived. I sometimes had a list with me, but most of the time it was a lot of poking around to see what was new or restocked and worth adding to our shelves. One of the perks, of course, was that I could also fill a personal basket and buy a few records and CDs directly from the distributor at cost. The Cargo warehouse wasn’t open to the public, but because I worked for HMV and was ostensibly there on their behalf, the staff knew me and had no problem selling me a few things now and then. Needless to say, a majority of my paycheque ended up at Cargo Records.
One item that thrilled me to no end was coming across a special issue of a magazine called Bucket of Blood. I wasn’t so much interested in the magazine itself as I was in the promotional 7″ single that came with it: R.E.M.’s “Academy Fight Song (Live).” I also came across some great 12″ singles, which I still own. And one item I was especially thrilled to find was a rare Japanese import CD by the KLF called MU.
Going to the Cargo warehouse was always fun. It wasn’t a particularly large space, but it was packed from floor to ceiling with records and CDs. No Britney Spears here! There was, however, a lot of Nitzer Ebb, Depeche Mode, Front 242, Anne Clark, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. The CDs and vinyl were in cardboard boxes on the floor, as well as placed haphazardly in vaguely alphabetical order on shelves that reached just above my head. Three or four rows of metal shelving ran the length of the warehouse, plus a couple of tables for brand new arrivals that hadn’t been shelved yet, and needless to say there were quite a few boxes under those tables as well. It was a special kind of chaos, but that was part of the charm.
I usually allotted about an hour and a half for browsing at Cargo, plus about an hour for traveling there and back. It was never enough time, of course. These were the pre-internet days, so the option of checking new arrivals online didn’t exist. Honestly, it was much more fun this way. Since the weekly Cargo visit happened during the work day, I was expected to get it done as quickly as possible and be back downtown before 5 PM, when a second person would join me on the floor to manage the afternoon rush.
I’m not entirely sure what prompted this little trip down memory lane. Maybe it was all the reorganizing I’ve been doing lately. I recently picked up a couple of Kallax shelves from IKEA for my vinyl collection (I can see why people swear by them!) and it’s prompted a lot of revisiting of records I haven’t pulled out in a while. Coming across a few Depeche Mode 12″ singles put me in mind of Cargo. Then this week I was listening to a couple of my KLF 12″ singles. Maybe that’s what did it.
I do wish I’d known then what I know now, and had picked up a few extra copies of some of the records I saw lying around, like imports from Sarah Records and the original UK import of the KLF’s The White Room.
Although Cargo Records went bankrupt in 1997, they were a huge part of the music scene in Canada and the United States, bringing the latest sounds from Europe and Asia to eager ears in North America.
Below is a fun little playlist of some music that I would have originally bought at Cargo Records… I hope you enjoy!
#MusicBoxTW
