Anyone Remember WILDSIDE IMPORTS?

[gener8tr]

I used to buy import CD's for them all the time back in the very early 90's ('92ish). I just found an old catalog last night and some of the stuff they had listed KILLS me. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Original Japanese pressing) for $32.00. That was a lot of money back then, but any guess on how much that CD sells for now? About 20 times that amount!

 

Their selection was awesome... you need to remember, the internet wasn't that big in 1992, and there was no such thing as ebay. Finding import CD's was not an easy task back then. I remeber the woman who used to answer the phone as well. Super cool.

 

I think they were headquartered in Michigan. Anyone else remember them?

[Mullethead]

Yep, I gave them a bunch of money back in the day. I think they still have a website? I remember when they tried the Pulse Records thing too.

[IronSaviour]

I've bought from them also including the Know Illusion - Back on the Streets cd. If i only knew.......

[hardrockhaven]

Oh yeah, Wildside Imports was awesome back in the day. I gave them many a hard-earned dollar. I kept one of their catalogs for years and tried to track down every no-name indie I could find out of the thing. They had a ton of stuff. The staff was so cool there they would actually play cds over the phone for me so I could narrow down some of my selections and make sure I was gonna like them. Fond memories. Hope they're doing good these days.

 

Chris

[IronSaviour]

Oh yeah, Wildside Imports was awesome back in the day. I gave them many a hard-earned dollar. I kept one of their catalogs for years and tried to track down every no-name indie I could find out of the thing. They had a ton of stuff. The staff was so cool there they would actually play cds over the phone for me so I could narrow down some of my selections and make sure I was gonna like them. Fond memories. Hope they're doing good these days.

 

Chris

 

Dreamdisc did the same. Went above and beyond their call of service. I usually had a nice phone bill (pre-affordable cell phones) at the end of the month.

[heaven&hell]

I bought a few discs from them back in the day.

 

I still have some old mags with their mail order catalog in it.

[JLPRocks]

Ray and Sarah were such great people......loved those guys, and, I too spent mucho dinero with them. I used to love it when they would go to Germany from time to time and bring back some cool indies....

 

Saraya Records was their label.......Cyclone Tracy and a few others were on it....

 

I have no idea what happened to them though......once they started having kids, they started to be able to devote a little less time to phone calls, etc....and then when they had TWO, it was starting to really slow down for them....and by that time eBay and the internet started to kick into gear a bit.

 

I really would love to hear from them again some day!!!

 

And, yes.....the were out of Michigan!

[heaven&hell]

Yep, I gave them a bunch of money back in the day. I think they still have a website? I remember when they tried the Pulse Records thing too.

 

 

Wasn't Impulse Records that had the Pulse Records?

They released the Monster cd and a few others including the band 'Speed' I think.

[Mullethead]

Yep, I gave them a bunch of money back in the day. I think they still have a website? I remember when they tried the Pulse Records thing too.

 

 

Wasn't Impulse Records that had the Pulse Records?

They released the Monster cd and a few others including the band 'Speed' I think.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's right. Got my wires crossed.

 

 

I believe the first Moon Doc was on there too & maybe Victory's Voiceprint? Can't remember...

[heaven&hell]

Yep, I gave them a bunch of money back in the day. I think they still have a website? I remember when they tried the Pulse Records thing too.

 

 

Wasn't Impulse Records that had the Pulse Records?

They released the Monster cd and a few others including the band 'Speed' I think.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's right. Got my wires crossed.

 

 

I believe the first Moon Doc was on there too & maybe Victory's Voiceprint? Can't remember...

 

 

I think they had the first House of Shakira cd and one of Acara's cds too.

[heavyharmonies]

Along those lines, anyone remember Terrible Ted's?

 

I remember buying the bootleg of Poison's Crack a Smile from them when it first became available. It was remarkable for its time because (1) everyone wanted it, and (2) for a bootleg, it looked and sounded GOOD. Very unusual for the day...

 

-Dan

[Fat Freddy]

I remember buying Raven's ARCHITECT OF FEAR and HEADS UP! CD's from Wildside back in the early 90s. .. maybe 92, 93, I dont' remember exactly. I think I found out about'em thru an ad in Metal Edge magazine. I paid thru the nose for both of 'em ($29.99 a pop if memory serves, which really hurt @ the time, especially when I found out that HEADS UP was a mere seven-track EP!) but at the time I simply HAD to have them, I had a complete Raven discography that I wanted to keep current and it finally dawned on me that neither of those records had a snowballs' chance in Hell of getting an American release at that time.

[MButt]

oh yeah, man I used to shell out tons of cash on Wildside Imports stuff, also Restless & Wild Imports, Dream Disc, and the original WORLDWIDE MUSIC, back in the day they had a selection you could not find anywhere, and with no internet you had to actually mail money orders, and wait for your order, occasionally call.....my how times have changed....

[dokken]

wildside was great! another one that i used to shop from was called ram music i guess!? anyone knows if they are still out there?

[GaryT]

Another good seller that's no longer around is Buccaneer Records. I believe they were located in Maryland, and always had an ad in Goldmine Magazine. Very friendly people. Always received my order within a week.

 

Another good online store I've used is CDConnection. You can get a lot of back catalogue items cheap there. I've never had any problems and have ordered dozens of cds from them

[Mullethead]

Along those lines, anyone remember Terrible Ted's?

 

I remember buying the bootleg of Poison's Crack a Smile from them when it first became available. It was remarkable for its time because (1) everyone wanted it, and (2) for a bootleg, it looked and sounded GOOD. Very unusual for the day...

 

-Dan

 

 

 

 

 

Bought that same cd from Ted Dan. It was amazing for beck then. 1996 I believe it was suppose to come out. Maybe 1997 when I bought it from him.

[Mullethead]

Wow, I remember Ram & Buccaneer also. The guy at Buccaneer was so cool. He use to play stuff over the phone for me. Got me hooked to the bastard!

[heaven&hell]

Wow, I remember Ram & Buccaneer also. The guy at Buccaneer was so cool. He use to play stuff over the phone for me. Got me hooked to the bastard!

 

 

Yeah I ordered from Buccaneer too, always loved looking through Goldmine just for their ad.

[MButt]

oh man I totally forgot about RAM, used to buy from them all the time....lol....

 

 

Wow, I remember Ram & Buccaneer also. The guy at Buccaneer was so cool. He use to play stuff over the phone for me. Got me hooked to the bastard!

[headbanger4life]

Damn, this is funny seeing this topic. I was doing some cleaning around the cd collection and I found the Winter 2000-2001 Catalog from Wildside Imports. I really miss these guys to. They had one of the best selections around.

 

I also used to order from Restless & Wild Imports and RAM (found a couple of their old catalogs as well.

 

I'm kicking myself in arse for not buying some of the stuff they had which cost a pretty penny now.

[metalmaniac777]

Back in the day, I purchased CDs from just about all the usual suspects (Wildside, Restless & Wild, DreamDisc, etc.) but none could match (for me, anyway) the customer service of Wildside. Once Sarah knew what my preferences were (guitar-driven, big hooks, big choruses, big vocals, etc.) she would make all sorts of recommendations and play them over the phone for me. She's actually the one who turned me onto Crystal Ball back when they released their awesome (and still-unmatched) debut.

 

On a different note, anyone remember how hysterical the reviews were on Restless & Wild? That guy wrote some funny shit and wasn't afraid to tell you something was total crap, even if it meant he wouldn't sell it. With lines like "this is worse than licking the anal drippings of a syphilitic cow," the guy definitely pulled no punches! I used to visit his site just to read his CD descriptions, even if I wasn't looking to buy anything.

 

Ah, good times, good times.

[MButt]

Back in the day, I purchased CDs from just about all the usual suspects (Wildside, Restless & Wild, DreamDisc, etc.) but none could match (for me, anyway) the customer service of Wildside. Once Sarah knew what my preferences were (guitar-driven, big hooks, big choruses, big vocals, etc.) she would make all sorts of recommendations and play them over the phone for me. She's actually the one who turned me onto Crystal Ball back when they released their awesome (and still-unmatched) debut.

 

On a different note, anyone remember how hysterical the reviews were on Restless & Wild? That guy wrote some funny shit and wasn't afraid to tell you something was total crap, even if it meant he wouldn't sell it. With lines like "this is worse than licking the anal drippings of a syphilitic cow," the guy definitely pulled no punches! I used to visit his site just to read his CD descriptions, even if I wasn't looking to buy anything.

 

Ah, good times, good times.

 

 

oh yeah, I remember one reveiw Bill had at Restless & wild, he was reveiewing Rob Halfords post-priest band, either two or fight can't remember which one, but he said in his review, this is - Rob "the bone smuggler" Halfords new project.....lol......this was just after Rob came out of the closet, the bone smuggler, just killed me! lol....I think it was robs band two, because bill called it a piece of shit, and warned not to buy it....lol....

[gener8tr]

Restless & Wild... Yep, dumped some cash his way as well. I remember buying a copy of EYES (Jeff Scott Soto) from him one time and he actually begged me not to. Said he couldn't sell in good faith such a miserable excuse for metal. What a great guy.

 

Yeah, those were some good times back in the pre-ebay days. I know some others are still around a bit, but not like they once were... even P.J. (way before KISS MY DISC) and Ryan from METAL MAYHEM used to get a lot of my dough.

 

How about MOLTEN METAL (not sure if that's been mentioned in this thread or not)? I loved that dude's selection as well. I have a couple of his HALLOWEEN reissues and they are VERY good. He literally up-and-quit one day. I was on his website on a Monday, and Tuesday itr was down... of course that was a long time ago as well.

 

Locally (Portland, Oregon) I used to go to FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH RECORDS AND TAPES. He'd been around town since the 70's and just finally went out of business this past February. What a crime! I actually went to his shop when I was a sophomore in high school in 1984 to see WASP at and in-house record signing. Man, those really were the days. How quickly they vanish.

[Doksdad]

I dropped a bunch of cash on these guys but money well worth it. Great company to do business with and had a great catalog of music.

[melodicrockoz]

.

 

On a different note, anyone remember how hysterical the reviews were on Restless & Wild? That guy wrote some funny shit and wasn't afraid to tell you something was total crap, even if it meant he wouldn't sell it. With lines like "this is worse than licking the anal drippings of a syphilitic cow," the guy definitely pulled no punches! I used to visit his site just to read his CD descriptions, even if I wasn't looking to buy anything.

 

Ah, good times, good times.

 

restless & wild with respect