Entertainment For Lively Minds
Happy Record shop day..... I'm going for a Walk
It's a 50 mile/3 hrs ish round trip to anything approaching an independent record shop near me so I think I'll give it a miss. I tried to buy a physical cd this week admittedly from HMV (the new Low cd) and was greeted with blank looks and a suggestion I go to one of the their bigger stores. I'm sure they may have it at an indie shop but the £13 quid rail ticket surcharge is a bit steep.
None of this is helped by the fact that I've rarely found any record shops that are these near mythical temples of friendly cool service, full of freely given useful advice and happy banter. I always valued the facility to buy hard to find records over any interaction with the staff which was at best grumpy toleration and at worst out right antagonism. They rarely gave the appearance of actively wanting the 20 quid I had to spend (to help pay their rent), even when they didn't just look bored with the whole thing. So their demise was not a great loss even before the likes spotify etc came on the scene.
Frankly I think record shop day is about 10-15 years to late if shops had started actively appealing to customers and seeking to make buying stuff in their shops an attractive and enjoyable experience years ago then they may well still have a business much like the much admired Daunts bookshops in London. All the time I can buy cheaper cd's from amazon without a curled lip and a deep sigh I think I will
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Book shop service does tend.....
.....to be more friendly.
Not always, but tends to be.
The record shop cool is only cool if it relates to:
Pasty white indie bands.
Trumpeted by the NME.
Never had hits.
Started sometime after 1973.
Look a bit like the Clash or the Smiths.
Buy or ask for anything else and they'll look at you as if you've just ordered a pint and a pie.
I had the same problem...
...finding the new Low album in the Southend-on-Sea HMV. I couldn't the new albums by The Mountain Goats, The High Llamas or the Pearl Jam Vs/Vitalogy reissue either. In the last fortnight I reckon they've missed out on around £60 worth of business on albums that they would have stocked a couple of years ago. People like me are reliable customers - we buy records week in week out at full price if the price is sensible. However those records have to be there to buy.
The Southend store has a lot staff who are passionate about music but it feels like the company that employs them has given up and become very cynical about selling records. At the moment I generally walk out empty handed. There will be a point when I stop visiting altogether.
it's a medium sized shop the HMV
I went to with 3-6 rows of cd's so I was surprised they had to look it up on the computer and it's not as if Low are that avant garde they've been on a GAP ad after all. It was the lack lustre way they dealt with me too not sure why they if haven't got it in they can't take my money and have it sent via their mail order system save all the hassle of online credit cards transactions for the customer.
Yep you're quite right
in their haste to remodel the business HMV have taken a step to far in ditching their core business, even the Manchester Megastore has a paltry collection now and yet only a couple of years ago it was the place to for 'deep catalogue'. The HMV owned Fopp round the corner is much smaller but I think now has a better stock than its parent company and I am pretty sure has all the records you mention in stock.
I notice there is a new chain 'That's Entertainment' starting up flogging very cheap second hand and some new stuff, it appears to have risen from the ashes of Music Zone...could be interesting to see how they get on...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13067160
Sister Ray Records Soho
Queuing around the block to get into a store where I got very shoddy, sneery service 3 or 4 weeks ago. Gave it a miss and went into Reckless Records about 50 yards along Berwick Street. Unfortunately not participating in the promotion but picked up a 3 Nick Lowe back catalogue LPs, a couple of Graham Parker LPs and Grievous Angel along with a couple more gems all for under £50. Service was excellent, light enough to check the condition of the records and a very interesting chat with the guy serving me about Nick Lowe.
Resident, Brighton
Try Resident in Brighton, Friendly staff who know their stuff, a fantastic range and reasonable prices.
And a great weekly mail-out. http://www.resident-music.com/
HMV isn't really a record shop is it
And hasn't been so for about ten years.
I'd recommend Flashback in Islington - well worth a visit, and run by largely genial staff. Tons of vinyl both old and new, and they sell a few CDs, too. And no I don't work there etc.