Buying Vinyl

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I then perused the loads of records and hardly recognised any of the artistes. They were all rather obscure to say the least.

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And what exactly is wrong with a shop that has "loads" of records by artists that are unfamiliar to you? That would seem to be a wonderful opportunity to broaden your musical horizons, and on vinyl no less.

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I picked a LP at random and played it....what a bloody racket.

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I'm afraid you're exhibiting the first symptoms of what we here in the Colonies call "old fart -ism", a terminal condition in which the brain ossifies and one slowly becomes a bitter old geezer who constantly complains about the contemporary world. The afflicted can be recognized by frequent use of the phrase "Kids today - their music, it's all just noise!" and starting every third sentance with "In my day ..." .

...is not what it used to be

SCNR,

Oliver

What a relief!

If Mick P had given Berwick Street the thumbs I I would have been very worried.

No Opera Babes / Sraha Brightman CDs in sight.

It is the best 250 yards for record buying in the country, with Oldham Street in Manchester second.

I rarely come back with under 30 records from a trip down Berwick Street:

Always worth a look in are : Selectadisc, Sister Ray, Koobla, Record & Tape Exchange, Reckless Rock & Reckless Soul & Dance, XSF, Daddy Cool, etc.

It is shame Ambient Soho shut down, as they did a slightly different twist on it all.

DS

OTD - Massive Attack - Special Cases (Luomo remix)

Mick

get yourself up to the Sound Exchange in sunny Reading. I have bumped into fellow Forum drones therein. Spot of lunch if you fancy it during the week?

Mike

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

Last week I had to visit London on a business trip and the meeting concluded in Rules restaurant where I scoffed beef and oyster pie marinaded in guiness. Dessert was treacle pudding and custard.

Naturally this was washed down with a decent Barolo and a few brandies afterwards.


Mick

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Mick

Your dedication to duty is An Example To Us All. From now on, I will insist on franking all my business mail with a higher charge than is needed.

I assume, of course, that the treacle pud was a double order? I can never eat just one when at Rules.

Regards

Mike

Sounds as if it is a good old fashioned record emporium. Some people miss when Our Price stopped selling the top 20 on vinyl !

"Under the influence of some dubious substance" (?) Some think alcohol is a dubious substance. Sounds like someone who enjoys a mid-afternoon Barolo and a few brandies might want to keep a more open mind about others medication of choice. - i'd put that winking happy face here but I'm a frickin luddite.

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Originally posted by mike lacey:
get yourself up to the Sound Exchange in sunny Reading.

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Don't you mean Sound MACHINE? The one in Harris Arcade? Bev's a sorted dude - he'll normally keep an eye out for stuff I'm looking for, and they've got loads of vinyl at £1-£2 in the clearout - too risky for me to venture in there too often...

Then there's Rusty's (expensive) and Music Man (variable quality but a fair range), and of course the obvious Smack Generators...

When the music's over turn out the lights

Mike

Thanks, I may well pop up there one Satrday morning.

The main point of my posting is why is it that the main center of vinyl purchase is based in one of the biggest dumps in London.

Berwick Street is a complete and utter khasi and that is putting it mildly.

The shops are sub standard and the staff look like they are drugged up.

I just get the impression that this seedy atmosphere seems to contribute pleasure of buying the stuff to certain people.

I mean, the floor above the shop accomodated a "young model" who was probably older than me.

Regards

Mick

Mick

What you encountered was a species known as an "adolescent". They are known for their sullen lugubriousness, particularly when dealing with those (ahem) of another generation.

Seriously though, you forget that one of the great joys of listening to music is its excusivity. Part of the frisson of youth culture is that it excludes When I was in my teens and early 20s, I used to love the looks of horror, incomprehension, bemusement, boredom or disgust that my records produced on the faces of my elders and so-called betters. Although certain kinds of music - UK garage, nosebleed techno, American poodle rock and Celine-style power ballads - elicit a "dad"-style response in me nowdays, I'm still grateful that some music I like and liste to produces revulsion in others. So I'm not to old yet.

One of the best scenes in the film High Fidelity is the one where Jack Black's character berates a customer for daring to ask for Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You". What you do not realise - and anyone who has worked in a record shop, as I have will confirm this - is that entering a good record emporium is a test. It is a test of your nerve, your knowledge, your credibility. It is a battle between you and the person behind he counter. Most music-loving young people would kill to be able to work in a record shop, and one of the greatest rewards such a job offers (Money is't one of them) is having the power and ability to send a punter fleeing to th hills.

On a second point. Berwick St is a dump, which adds to its appeal. Soho has always been a rather dirty, louche place. Cities are the most complex manifestations of humanity - and London is one of the most complex, exhilirating places on earth. You will get dirt and poverty nestling alongside each other. Some parts wll be dumps, others not. Een the parts f London that are dumps have their charm, precisely because they are dumps and because they are part of the enormously rich tapestry that is London. Acton, Catford, Peckham and the self-satisfied slagheap that is Notting Hill are of course excepted.

Better that than Swindon, which is dirty and boring and full of menace, and which has no redeeming features. I have this misfortune to visit this hellhole frequently, mainly to do business with WH Smith, a firm based in Swindon and whose complacency, inertia and utter mediocrity epitomise the town itself.

Give me a dirty old khazi like Berwick Street (which, as Mr Slater pooints out, has some of the best record shops in the country) any day.

Kevin

Kevin-W

Spot on.

Absolutely spot on.

Alan

There are far cheaper areas in London than Berwick Street. I would imagine that the rentals are sky high because let us be honest about it, the record shops are competing with the sex industry.

Regards

Mick

Mick,

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I mean, the floor above the shop accomodated a "young model" who was probably older than me.

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How do you know how old she is - do we deduce that you had occasion to try "the product" as part of your post-prandial excursion into darkest Soho. I think we should be told.
We promise not to mention a thing to Mrs Mick - honest

David

Berwick St. is full of litter becuase it has a market a couple of days a week. There are some scruffy old buildings but there is also that wonderful new Ford building.

I work around the corner from Jermyn St. which I suspect Mick would heartily approve of but its a very dull street if you are not interested in buying a new shirt.

Matthew

David

If you enjoy being "entertained" by young ladies, the last place you should go is Soho.

I once went into the Windmill club with some chaps a couple of years ago, paid £70.00 for a bottle of so called champagne and stuffed goodness knows how much cash down some young girls stocking top and left happy but skint.

Overall enjoyable but very bad value for money.

Regards

Mick

"I work around the corner from Jermyn St."

Capitalist lackey.

Regards

Mick...wears Hilditch and Key shirts from Jermyn Street.

messy things, market stalls.

I am quickly coming to the conclusion that "Mick Parry" is no more in the sense that the individual who once was Mick Parry now no longer exists.

The tone and content of "his" postings on this and other fora leads to the incontrovertible conclusion that his electronic (if not is physical)persona has been subourned.

Trust no-one.

cheers

Nigel

Domfjbrown

Yes, you are right; good thing someone knows what I am on about....

BTW, Lewins shirts, cut away collars for me...H&K collars just don't sit right IMO

Regards

Mike

An observation on the attititude of Record Shop Assistants

Part of the fun of record shopping is explore new and different areas and shops.

One of the places I went into last weekend was a dance music shop, staffed by teenagers.

As is common in some of the shops I frequent, there is no shop window - you have go up or down stairs into a basement / attic, and find out what they sell when you are in there.

I went in and was greeted by the young fellow in charge. He had a quizzical look. "Errr Can i help you? - We only do modern new music here you know?" he said.

"Yes, that's fine" I replied, "I am looking for ... " and reeled off a list of a dozen or so records I an trying to find. They had one, 'DJ Scot Project - R' on the wall, so I picked it up. He seemed surprised that I would would be interested in German hard trance, but there you are. We then had a chat about some Drum'n' Bass and other releases.

I should point out that I am middle aged and greying of temple, and this reaction is not unheard of.

I listened to and purchased about 8 records there, and went away happy.

The motto is that you need not be put off by the 'Cooler than thou' attitude of the RSA.

I am in fact cooler than them, so am immune to thier withering looks.

DS

OTD - Steve Stoll - Hyperrealism Part 1

Interesting you mentioned Oldham street! I'm curious as to where!

The only place I can think of on there is Vinyl Exchange which I suggested should be redubbed "polycarbonate and aluminium exchange" and whilst it (and it's sister shop on bridge street) has happily taken many a penny from my wallet, the vinyl section does leave me skeptical of the name.

Is there somewhere else I missed? Matt and Phreds also lives on Oldham street though. does compensate for the "adult" entertainment on there!

Andrew

there are 10 types of people in this world... those who can read binary, and those who can't...

Oldham Street Manchester

On this road, or off it by one street are:

Eastern Bloc
Picadilly Records
Record & Tape Exchange
Fat City
Vinyl Revival
Tune Inn
Factory Records
PelicanNeck

+ 3 other 2nd hand places i can't remember the names of, and a few stalls in Afflecks Palace.

The HMV in the city centre is not bad for vinyl as well.

DS

OTD - Celcius & Candela - Wrong

There are a couple of good(ish) record shops on Hanway St (between the Tott Ct Rd and Oxford St)I met John Peel in one of them. This street also features the excellent Bradleys Spanish bar which has good Guinness and a great jukebox, a nice cheap and cheerful Korean restaurant and Hakasan which is one of the ebst restaurants in London in my book.

John