Last Shop Standing (Whatever happened to record shops?)

[BillF]

Yes, my 18 year old daughter offered to give me her iPod (which I paid for in the first place).

Clearly the kiss of death for the iPod! Bad outlook for the MacBook too, as I was offered one in exactly the same circumstances last week, iPad having become the item of choice.

[A Lark Ascending]

Without doubt the 'gizmos' will change and things like iPods, iPhones etc will be rendered obsolete (like the dear old cassette recorder, 8 track, SACD etc etc). But hardly to return to a warm fuzzy world of vinyl for everyone.

Preference for vinyl always strikes me as much the same as a preference for driving round in a classic car. All very enjoyable, I'm sure, but hardly a marker for where things are going.

Of course, no-one needs to have the remotest interest in where things are going. We all reach a point where the medium we've got is all we need.

[Big Beat Steve]

Preference for vinyl always strikes me as much the same as a preference for driving round in a classic car. All very enjoyable, I'm sure, but hardly a marker for where things are going.

Pleased to hear straight from the horse's mouth of the wise that I am quite normal after all in my vinyl listening. Because in fact I regularly do drive around in a classic car indeed.

[John Tapscott]

Here's one for you, Steve. 1956 De Soto. Combines both your passions quite nicely, I would say.

[A Lark Ascending]

Preference for vinyl always strikes me as much the same as a preference for driving round in a classic car. All very enjoyable, I'm sure, but hardly a marker for where things are going.

Pleased to hear straight from the horse's mouth of the wise that I am quite normal after all in my vinyl listening. Because in fact I regularly do drive around in a classic car indeed.

Hope it's got an input for your iPod.

[sidewinder]

Preference for vinyl always strikes me as much the same as a preference for driving round in a classic car. All very enjoyable, I'm sure, but hardly a marker for where things are going.

Of course, no-one needs to have the remotest interest in where things are going. We all reach a point where the medium we've got is all we need.

At the end of the day we tend to go with what our ears are telling us and for many of us, that's vinyl (when we can afford the time that is, to change LP sides). Heck, even jazzbo's switched.

Edited January 3, 2013 by sidewinder

[Big Beat Steve]

Here's one for you, Steve. 1956 De Soto. Combines both your passions quite nicely, I would say.

Actually, John, back in my university student days in the early 80s I fancied buying such a contraption for the 50s classic I used almost daily then (although these car record players would literally mill away the grooves of your 45s over time). But at about 250 Deutschmarks for a good working one - a PHILIPS Auto Mignon, the (relatively speaking) most common one here in Europe - it was out of reach for my student's purse, and by now average prices for a comparable one have quadrupled, so still nothing doing - as long as a minimum of common sense prevails ...

Heck, even jazzbo's switched.

Seems like he has seen the (strobe?) light.

[A Lark Ascending]

Preference for vinyl always strikes me as much the same as a preference for driving round in a classic car. All very enjoyable, I'm sure, but hardly a marker for where things are going.

Of course, no-one needs to have the remotest interest in where things are going. We all reach a point where the medium we've got is all we need.

At the end of the day we tend to go with what our ears are telling us and for many of us, that's vinyl (when we can afford the time that is, to change LP sides). Heck, even jazzbo's switched.

Well, hopefully your preference for vinyl will continue to be serviced for a long time.

I have nothing but bad memories of my vinyl years - distortion, skipping, flutter and wow, off-centre pressings, warped records etc, arguing with the shop owner who couldn't hear the faults that were driving me nuts. Not being anything close to an audiophile CD was the answer to my prayers. Downloads do the job even more conveniently for me.

The two things I did like about records were: 1. The 20 minute sides - a bit annoying with some longer classical pieces but in general better for focussing; and led to some real creativity in structuring an album with 4 dramatic points as opposed to the CDs 2. 2. The 12 inch sleeves - they were nice.

I have a record deck but only for transferring old records to CD-R. I don't think I've bought an LP since the late 80s.

[brownie]

And now it's the Paris Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées avenue that seems to be about to be closed after the building that houses the store has been aquired by the Qatar Investment Authority, the wealth fund that bought London's Harrods store.

A couple of decades ago, the Champs-Elysées Megastore was the best place to buy jazz albums. The jazz section was never the same after Daniel Richard who was in charge of the jazz dept. left the Virgin conglomerate.

It's official now!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20908845

[David Ayers]

And now it's the Paris Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées avenue that seems to be about to be closed after the building that houses the store has been aquired by the Qatar Investment Authority, the wealth fund that bought London's Harrods store.

A couple of decades ago, the Champs-Elysées Megastore was the best place to buy jazz albums. The jazz section was never the same after Daniel Richard who was in charge of the jazz dept. left the Virgin conglomerate.

It's official now!

http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-20908845

And add to that the month-long 25% off everything sale at HMV stores in the UK...

http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-20973135

[A Lark Ascending]

Just appearing on BBC news site:

BREAKING NEWS: Music retailer HMV to suspend shares and appoint administrators, BBC understands

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4096aee-5e82-11e2-a771-00144feab49a.html#axzz2Hz9a7mKt

Edited January 14, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[sidewinder]

Kind of sad, but utterly inevitable IMO.

This will affect FOPP too, who have been a good alternative to the Amazonians in recent years.

The way this is going, there'll be just a couple of second-hand vinyl stores left out there. And a bunch of robots sponsored by 'X-Factor' dispensing MP3s..

A lot of these demised companies (and I am thinking of the likes of Jessops, Comet etc. here) will be regretting the day they took the bankers advice and cursed loans in the idiotic 2000s and borrowed/expanded like crazy in the UK, with the management throwing money at themselves in the process. More moronic economic management.

Edited January 15, 2013 by sidewinder

[JohnS]

Sad news, although I'll admit to not going in their local store any more. Nothing there for me, the jazz racks seemed to shrink more at every visit. I've bought one or two things online when the price was right but the jazz inventory was never that good. Nevertheless their presence on the High Street will be missed.

Then there's the nostalgia, the record label (Impulse albums came out in the UK on the HMV label) and years ago there was the wonderful shop at 363 Oxford Street.

Edited January 15, 2013 by JohnS

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Then there's the nostalgia, the record label (Impulse albums came out in the UK on the HMV label) and years ago there was the wonderful shop at 363 Oxford Street.

Yes, when I first moved to London, at the end of 1958, that shop was my local record shop. A fabulous Bauhaus place.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

A few more views of the HMV Oxford Street shop interior.

MG

[A Lark Ascending]

When did HMV turn up on regional high streets?

I'm sure it was not around in places I lived in the early/mid-70s. Newquay had two independents and Woolworths. Swindon had a couple of Department stores with specialised record areas, a piano shop that did records, Rumbelows, Menzies and later on a shiny new small record shop. When I went to uni in Reading there were the usual Smiths/Boots/Woolies outlets, a big musical instrument shop with records upstairs and a number of independent shops. But I don't recall an HMV.

I do remember going to the HMV on Oxford Street in the 70s (along with the first Virgin shop at Notting Hill, later supplemented/replaced by the Marble Arch store).

But I can't recall when HMV appeared in Nottingham (Virgin was already there in 1978 when I arrived, the scene of a famous incident involving displaying the Sex Pistols album).

Very interesting article here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk...iness-21023610

"My time to go to the High Street is to take the kids shopping," says Mr Twine, who has three daughters. "They want to go to the shops and buy clothes and make-up. HMV is my soother to the pain of going to the shops - I can spend a couple of hours browsing around."

The problem is that browsing is all he does there nowadays. The chain's decision to stock fewer music titles in favour of games and gadgets has made it hard for him to find any CDs worth buying.

The point is made that this suits neither record companies (who want somewhere on the high street to sell their wares) or other businesses who are likely to lose other business if dad is reluctant to make the trip to town.

I spent nearly every Saturday between the mid-70s and early noughties record/book shopping, spending money elsewhere on coffee, food, other trinkets, not to mention parking fees. I think I deliberately visited Nottingham and Sheffield once each in 2012. The other city visits were because I was there for other reasons. Magnify that...

And I think most of us will agree with this:

As a shop that began as a seller of recorded music, it has made concerted efforts to branch out and widen its product range in recent years.

However, it has struggled to persuade people to make it their first port of call for buying their iPads and designer headphones, while DVDs and computer games are performing as sluggishly as the CD market. As a result, HMV has managed to alienate its core market of CD-buyers, while failing to attract new customers for other products, leaving it in the worst of all worlds.

*******************

Good history lesson here too from an industry insider.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21028803

Quite interesting hearing the reactions today all over the media - it's almost like the death of a major celebrity.

Edited January 15, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[mjazzg]

When did HMV turn up on regional high streets?

I'm sure it was not around in places I lived in the early/mid-70s. Newquay had two independents and Woolworths. Swindon had a couple of Department stores with specialised record areas, a piano shop that did records, Rumbelows, Menzies and later on a shiny new small record shop. When I went to uni in Reading there were the usual Smiths/Boots/Woolies outlets, a big musical instrument shop with records upstairs and a number of independent shops. But I don't recall an HMV.

I do remember going to the HMV on Oxford Street in the 70s (along with the first Virgin shop at Notting Hill, later supplemented/replaced by the Marble Arch store).

But I can't recall when HMV appeared in Nottingham (Virgin was already there in 1978 when I arrived, the scene of a famous incident involving displaying the Sex Pistols album).

Very interesting article here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk...iness-21023610

"My time to go to the High Street is to take the kids shopping," says Mr Twine, who has three daughters. "They want to go to the shops and buy clothes and make-up. HMV is my soother to the pain of going to the shops - I can spend a couple of hours browsing around."

The problem is that browsing is all he does there nowadays. The chain's decision to stock fewer music titles in favour of games and gadgets has made it hard for him to find any CDs worth buying.

The point is made that this suits neither record companies (who want somewhere on the high street to sell their wares) or other businesses who are likely to lose other business if dad is reluctant to make the trip to town.

I spent nearly every Saturday between the mid-70s and early noughties record/book shopping, spending money elsewhere on coffee, food, other trinkets, not to mention parking fees. I think I deliberately visited Nottingham and Sheffield once each in 2012. The other city visits were because I was there for other reasons. Magnify that...

And I think most of us will agree with this:

As a shop that began as a seller of recorded music, it has made concerted efforts to branch out and widen its product range in recent years.

However, it has struggled to persuade people to make it their first port of call for buying their iPads and designer headphones, while DVDs and computer games are performing as sluggishly as the CD market. As a result, HMV has managed to alienate its core market of CD-buyers, while failing to attract new customers for other products, leaving it in the worst of all worlds.

*******************

Good history lesson here too from an industry insider.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-21028803

Quite interesting hearing the reactions today all over the media - it's almost like the death of a major celebrity.

No HMV by the time I left Reading in 1979 nor in Southampton when I left in 1984 I don't think.

Certainly two HMVs in Reading by the 90s.

. I was never a great fan of the chain, except the Jazz dept in Oxford Circus branch mid-80s where I went on my early Jazz discovery trips before I braved Mole and Rays. In the last ten years I've generally avoided them because of their higher pricing policy - they stll, even this month, want £15 for a new ECM release which a local indie will sell for £12.49 - no contest

I wonder whether the "celebrity obits" are being written by folk that spent lots of time in the stores.

[A Lark Ascending]

I suspect it's more a wake for record shops in general rather than HMV in particular.

HMV in Nottingham and Leicester was very, very good around the early 90s - seemed to have a very wide catalogue, some back catalogue depth and received most of the jazz and classical new releases.

Outside of London in the last 15 years you've been lucky to get anything beyond 'Four Greatest Dave Brubeck Albums on 2-CDS' or 'Alfie Do-Dah sings Favourite Opera Thingies'.

More HMV Oxford Street nostalgia photos here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2013/jan/15/hmv-oxford-street-store-gallery?intcmp=239

[JohnS]

Thanks for the pictures MG, just how I remembered the shop. Jazz was in the basement.

[BillF]

First and last visits to HMV shops:

First: to the magnificent and (at that time) mind-boggling "browsery" in Oxford Street at the age of 17 in 1957. (The papers were full of the launch of the sputnik carrying the dog Laika.) Was listening to trad jazz and boogie woogie piano on 78s. See MG's post for pictures of HMV at the time.

Last (probably): to Fopp this morning, intending to buy Bill Birch's limited edition Jazz in Manchester, which the store had been carrying. Was told Mr Birch had removed the remaining copies "to sell at a jazz festival". Clearly doesn't want to lose them in the impending mayhem.

[sidewinder]

When did HMV turn up on regional high streets?

Didn't they buy up all of the 'Our Price' high street stores and re-badge them? Those were far more ubiquitous in the 1980s especially.

That Swindon store you mention must have been 'Duck, Son & Pinker' (RIP). I bought a Lee Morgan 'Live at the Lighthouse' from that very 'boutique'.

Last thing I bought from HMV Oxford St was the Mosaic Select 'Pacific Jazz Trios' so at least I went out on a high..

Last (probably): to Fopp this morning, intending to buy Bill Birch's limited edition Jazz in Manchester, which the store had been carrying. Was told Mr Birch had removed the remaining copies "to sell at a jazz festival". Clearly doesn't want to lose them in the impending mayhem.

Must get hold of that one too !

HMV in Nottingham and Leicester was very, very good around the early 90s - seemed to have a very wide catalogue, some back catalogue depth and received most of the jazz and classical new releases.

Same thing with the Bath store - pretty good selection up to about 2007/8 then .. garbage.

Edited January 15, 2013 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

Didn't they buy up all of the 'Our Price' high street stores and re-badge them? Those were far more ubiquitous in the 1980s especially.

I'm pretty sure HMV were around before 'Our Price'. Might have done that in some places. 'Our Price' arrived in Nottingham in the mid to late 80s and must have vanished around 2000 - I recall them becoming more interested in videos/DVDs and then mobile phones - the dreaded diversification. 'Our Price' always amused me - their price was usually more expensive apart from chart albums.

That Swindon store you mention must have been 'Duck, Son & Pinker' (RIP). I bought a Lee Morgan 'Live at the Lighthouse' from that very 'boutique'.

That's the one - I don't think I ever bought anything there as it was mainly classical (I was on an exclusive diet of Soft Machine, King Crimson, Yes and Fairport at that time). I was a bit scared going in - always felt they'd sit me at a piano and give me a test!

Picture here:

http://www.flickr.co...cal/4976274653/

Says 1982 though it looks like 1880.

The Duck, Son and Pinker (or whatever it had become) in Bath still looked like it would sell you styluses for your wind up gramophone a few years back. Bare floor boards, prim shop assistants in late middle age etc.

Edited January 15, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

Reading all the reportage it seems like there is quite a strong desire to save the brand name and some of the stores.

Peacocks (being a dedicated follower of fashion, the place I frequent on the rare occasions I need clothing) went under a year or more back but I noticed it up and running in Cornwall last summer and the shop in Worksop has returned too.

[David Ayers]

I still buy from HMV. I've tried - though failed - to buy CDs from actual stores, and for the rest go to Spotify. This at least honored the nature of the physical carrier. My local HMV always has (or had) things I would like, though plainly it is (or was) not satisfying to collectors.

[sidewinder]

The Duck, Son and Pinker (or whatever it had become) in Bath still looked like it would sell you styluses for your wind up gramophone a few years back. Bare floor boards, prim shop assistants in late middle age etc.

And record racks sized to take 78s ! Their annual January sale is missed in this house. Always a good selection of jazz DVDs too and sheet music. In the last few years though I kept seeing buckets around the place to stop the rain from coming in, never a good sign.

Edited January 16, 2013 by sidewinder