Musical Memories

I was impressed by this store. It had the great selection you were looking for, at fair prices. If the LP had a high price of $20-$40, the record was always in VG+ condition. It’s understandable why that price would be marked on them, but personally it was a little higher than I wanted to pay at sometimes. Not to say you can find some great deals on both the used and the new records, CD’s & cassettes. I got a new record I was looking for at a very nice price, $15 was a price I was more than happy to pay. The CD selection was also great, with not too many of them extending beyond the $10 price range. This place was absolutely packed full of music! The store had CD bins on top of the record bins, so you end up having to move them around while looking through the records. Which that in itself is a task, because most times the bin was packed tight to the point where you’d have to take a few out to look with reasonable ease. But what you’ll find in these bins are a great selection of stuff, and I’m talking ALL genres, not just rock (which they have plenty of)! Musical Memories even has items such as rare 3/4 inch reel-to-reel releases, a WHOLE WALL full of just 45’s, and an expansive Jazz section. If you’re in Milwaukee, I would highly recommend setting aside an hour for this place, it’s worth it!

I haven't been to this great, great record store in Milwaukee in way too many years (grew up in Racine in the 60s, found Musical Memories in the early 80s, moved out-of-state in the 70s). The owner, Ken, has an outstanding knowledge of LPs, 45s and CDs, easily dating back to the 1940s. I have found every one of the over 200 items that I've bought from MM over the years to be in mint or near mint condition --- and talk about fair prices! How folks can gripe that the prices are a little high at MM should consider what you get: (1) a superb location a few blocks from downtown Milwaukee, (2) an owner whose knowledge is second to none, and (3) older vinyl in better shape than you'll find just about anywhere, including many of the now-defunct, legendary spots in New York and Chicago, or even the best you can find on eBay on any given day --- and keep in mind how fragile vinyl is, so when you find a 45 or LP from 1963 that plays beautifully, we're talking about a near-miracle. As soon as I can convince my wife to spend the afternoon at the wonderful Milwaukee Art Museum, I'm hitting MM full tilt! And the selection of Dave Clark Five 45s ... man oh man ... or, as my college roommate used to bellow every time a new DC5 hit came up on WLS (mixing his metaphors a little), "Look at those cavemen go!"

I thought I had been to all the record stores in the Milwaukee area, but I don't know how I missed this one. I guess it doesn't come up at the top of Google results, but glad I finally found it. I went in and found more in five minutes here than I did in 45 minutes at one of the city's renowned stores. Fair prices on what I looked at, and an absolute steal on a UK press of U2's "Achtung Baby" LP. I walked out with four records, and if I had more time and money that day I would have bought more. There are some new, sealed records in the store as well, but just tucked in with all the others. My only complaint is that the store is packed so full, it can be hard to look through the inventory. I had to squeeze pretty tight into an aisle to look through the LPs stacked vertically on a wall, and mostly had to see what they were by reading the spines. Small quibble, though, if you've got time to dig.

Huge collection, nicely organized, and fair prices. Great service as well. Will be back

Awesome shop with a great selection of records, CD’s, and cassettes, along with some fun memorabilia for sale. A highlight of my day trip, highly recommend!