Whatever Happened to Record Shops?

[Brixton Hatter]

I used to be a manager with Our Price in 1990-1992....Might come for the memories.

There's an interesting passage in the book about how Our Price really tried to look after their customers. Apparently the founder of Our Price had been in an independent shop and witnessed the musical statto working in there being really nasty/rude to customers who came in asking for uncool/commercial stuff like Phil Collins or whatever. He decided that he'd always try to treat his customers properly and not look down his nose at people because of their musical taste - does this chime with your experience iRobot?

 

[stethoscope]

The heavyweight high street record shop clash in the 80s/90s - Our Price vs Andy's Records

 

[Paul Russell]

Brighton has Borderline and Rounder. Both of which have been going for donkeys years:

http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/34948/borderline-records

http://www.brightonsquare.co.uk/rounderrecords.htm

 

[jusali]

If you think about it the rave/dance music revolution kinda kickstarted and eventually killed off the record scene

 

[heinous seamus]

I can think of 7 in Edinburgh

 

[stethoscope]

If you think about it the rave/dance music revolution kinda kickstarted and eventually killed off the record scene

Not sure how that scene killed off the record scene, as it seems to me that 12" singles/promo's are the one market that's still really healthy from urban/dance music?

 

[ska invita]

If you think about it the rave/dance music revolution kinda kickstarted and eventually killed off the record scene

how did it kill it? It definitely gave vinyl a new lease of life...

Its really sad about the disappearance of record shops. Something genuinely valuable is being lost here.

I wonder if there will a revival of record shops in some form as part of a cafe/club/shop combination or.....

Shop sharing is already happening - if you like like a little shop like Maestro on Rye Lane in peckham, one half of the shop sells mobiles, the other sells £1 shop sponges etc., and they take up the final 1/3rd. (<<<the maths does add up, so pedants beware!)

 

[jusali]

Not sure how that scene killed off the record scene, as it seems to me that 12" singles/promo's are the one market that's still really healthy from urban/dance music?

how did it kill it? It definitely gave vinyl a new lease of life...

CDJ's, Final Scratch, Ableton, Beatport, DJDownload, JunoDownload,Traktor...........................................................

 

[ska invita]

Anyone got stats on dance vinyl sales? Id be really curious...

 

[stethoscope]

CDJ's, Final Scratch, Ableton, Beatport, DJDownload, JunoDownload,Traktor...........................................................

I'd say that was more down to 1) the relentless push of technology 2) the increasing costs to press vinyl (aswell as less less pressing plants) tbh.

 

[stethoscope]

Anyone got stats on dance vinyl sales? Id be really curious...

Only thing I can find is this, which is general vinyl sales:

http://brandtao.wordpress.com/2009/...les-died-did-it-gain-a-treasured-second-life/

Shows a pretty consistent decline in 12" sales - but it's 'BPI reported'.

I guess the difficulty with getting figures especially for dance/urban (whether it be d'n'b, dubstep, reggae, etc) is that so much of it bypasses the entire sales accounting process because they're on whites/promo's/bedroom labels. I seem to recall reading something that only stuff with a barcode actually gets recorded in official sales figures. Add to that bootlegs/mash-ups and releases where no sample clearance has been given, then they'll most likely not be included too.

 

[jusali]

In the late eighties early nineties vinyl had taken a back seat due to the relentless push of cassettes and CD's the DJ/Dance/Rave scene reinvigorated that which in turn then killed it with the further push in technology with digital DJing.
I just think it's an interesting thought that DJing both revived and killed vinyl in one short decade

 

[free spirit]

Anyone got stats on dance vinyl sales? Id be really curious...

not got the stats, but they dropped of a cliff a few years ago with the emergence of CDJ's and online sales and pirating.

that's why a heap of the biggest distributors all went bust within a couple of years of each other.

 

[stethoscope]

Yeah, know what you're saying jusali... I guess it's a bit of a catch-22 really....

alternate technology moves forward > decline in vinyl sales > decline in vinyl production > less outlets/more expensive for artists/DJ's to cut/distribute vinyl > artists/DJ's pushed more into using CDJ's and alternate technology > and it sorta goes round and round.

I think the CD-recorder had a pretty big effect as it mean't you could cut stuff for next to nothing at home and go and play it out. This seems to have affected the house scene enormously which was a big vinyl market.

That said, it seems that a lot of d'n'b/dubstep DJ's still prefer the good ole dubplate for playing out?

 

[stethoscope]

Also, I notice a lot of pirate radio DJ's that play mostly old skool are ripping their vinyl and playing their sets from CD or digital rips nowadays - I guess it's easier not to have to lug a big box of tunes up 10 flights of stairs, or potentially risk getting their lifelong collections confiscated and smashed up by the authorities if they get studio raided

 

[jusali]

I think the CD-recorder had a pretty big effect as it mean't you could cut stuff for next to nothing at home and go and play it out. This seems to have affected the house scene enormously which was a big vinyl market.

That said, it seems that a lot of d'n'b/dubstep DJ's still prefer the good ole dubplate for playing out?

Yeah the CD Recorder is probably the pivotal thing here especially twinned with CDJ's that was in my mind the death knell for vinyl in the dance scene.

Interesting about the D'n'B and Dubstep though, it's good to hear vinyl's still being pressed and played out at gigs!

 

[kyser_soze]

Choci's Chewns: we used to love that place, downstairs in a soho basement and always really loud, banging mental techno on the shop sound system.

Choci's closed a long time before the explosion in MP3 sales tho - I knew Mark from my raving days in Essex and Suffolk and he was a sound guy (and yeah, he was the Hoovers and Aerosols guy ) . Same goes for the MASH shop, and Unity on Beak Street (which I only found out after it closed was part owned by Pete Waterman of all people!!) - certainly Unity didn't last past the first wave of D&B.

There are still a couple of hip-hop shops round there - one next to the John Snow and one on Silver Place.

Record shops will come round again, just in a different way. And lets face it, unless you were a vinyl junkie, they could be really initimidating place to go.

 

[stethoscope]

...
and Unity on Beak Street (which I only found out after it closed was part owned by Pete Waterman of all people!!) - certainly Unity didn't last past the first wave of D&B.

I didn't know that!!!!!

And according to this Eastern Bloc too was owned by none other than the Hitman

 

[kyser_soze]

Yeah, I nearly fell over when I found out!

He's a fucking canny operator...

 

[jusali]

Record shops will come round again, just in a different way. And lets face it, unless you were a vinyl junkie, they could be really initimidating place to go.

Yeah, I know what you mean
I have skin like a rhino and the social skills of Rainman so didn't notice until a girlfriend at the time pointed it out to me then it was oh yeah!

 

[ska invita]

Choci's closed a long time before the explosion in MP3 sales tho - I knew Mark from my raving days in Essex and Suffolk and he was a sound guy (and yeah, he was the Hoovers and Aerosols guy ) . Same goes for the MASH shop, and Unity on Beak Street (which I only found out after it closed was part owned by Pete Waterman of all people!!) - certainly Unity didn't last past the first wave of D&B.

There are still a couple of hip-hop shops round there - one next to the John Snow and one on Silver Place.

Record shops will come round again, just in a different way. And lets face it, unless you were a vinyl junkie, they could be really initimidating place to go.

Deal Real shut a little while ago - I think (might be wrong) Shortee Blitz worked there before he went to Kiss FM

Unity - I thought it was tied to...on the tip of my tongue... some big rave organisation... World Dance?

As to intimidating, it depends on the staff - people like Nicky Black Market were shweet, and always made you feel welcome no matter who you are. A good record hop shouldbe friendly... Sound of the Universe is pretty cool like that IME.

I think the CD-recorder had a pretty big effect as it mean't you could cut stuff for next to nothing at home and go and play it out. This seems to have affected the house scene enormously which was a big vinyl market.

This must be true - you used to always see suited and booted house buyers buying up the whole shop

 

[kyser_soze]

I remember the first time I set foot in Unity. My previous place of purchase was Musicrafts in Witham where the guy who owned it has set up a separate section for a couple of dance heads to flog dance stuff (previously they'd had a little market stall off the high street), and a couple of places in Colchester & Chelmsford. I knew all the guys there (went out raving with most of them!), the main counter wasn't all high up and whatnot.

Walk into UNity and it's rammed full of peeps, all (looking like they're) picking proper fucking choons with intimate knowledge of the completely random names scribbled on the white labels, really hot-but-intimidating black, female DJ rinsing it properly on the decks...I nearly ran out the shop! Then I got to the front, thought 'fuck this', pointed at a random record and said 'Play that' and it turned out to be a WL of 2 Bad Mice Whole place erupts, people around me going 'Yeah man, good choice, good choice' and I realised none of them had any more clue than I did

 

[stethoscope]

Haha, great anecdote kyser

I used to love it bitd when the latest batch of hardcore/jungle white labels used to come in on a Saturday morning and not more than a few seconds after being cue'd up and the bassline dropping, they'd be hands everywhere trying to fight for space to grab a copy over the counter!!

Then, they'd be people coming in and humming tunes they'd heard on a mix tape, only to be confronted with 'are you sure you didn't make that one up?!' puzzled looks!

And of course, the annoyance at asking for a tune only to be told that it wouldn't be out for 6 months yet!

Although I've not been for some years now, the (see 4:18 in) at Blackmarket used to be unbelievable - the bass used to really shake!!!

 

[ska invita]

Thread is really making me want to go record shopping! Havnt been in a long time - shit, im as guilty as anyone for letting these great shops go to the wall. I guess its just a lack of cash, but still, should do my bit...

Nowadays you buy an mp3 for (never bought an mp3) 80p? Or a CD for a tenner, both of which feel expensive to me, whereas a dance 12" is effectively £6 for usually one track. Ive never felt like that was a rip off - always felt like you're supporting the shop and the artist, and that they deserve support. funny that.

 

[Maggot]

There's an interesting passage in the book about how Our Price really tried to look after their customers. Apparently the founder of Our Price had been in an independent shop and witnessed the musical statto working in there being really nasty/rude to customers who came in asking for uncool/commercial stuff like Phil Collins or whatever. He decided that he'd always try to treat his customers properly and not look down his nose at people because of their musical taste - does this chime with your experience iRobot?

Like this?

 

[ska invita]

Like this?

It is a good book.

 

[stethoscope]

Yeah, the book of High Fidelity is good. Never actually watched the film, I guess I was a bit disappointed that it was re-set in Chicago rather than say on Caledonian or Essex Road!!!

 

[llion]

Andy's Records in Aberystwyth is still going (nothing to do with the chain which is weirdly also called Andy's Records!), and has an excellent range of stuff, including a lot of choice vinyl (saw a nice copy of The Life on Earth soundtrack on the wall in there today!).
Spillers in Cardiff is still a brilliant job too with really friendly, knowledgeable staff. They have some really good in-store gigs as well e.g. Gruff Rhys from the Super Furries, Euros Childs etc

 

[Mr Moose]

I worked in a record shop eons ago and I have to say I don't miss them at all. You can browse for any record on the internet that has ever been pressed and so the manic thrill of 'finding' a rarity can't have the same import.

It used to be an event of sorts discs coming out. It can't be that way now.

When I was 18 I liked being the guy in the local record shop in my Killing Joke t-shirts ensuring we had sufficient UK Decay and Chron Gen singles in stock. We sold a lot more Bucks Fizz and Kool and the Gang though. Sold a bucket load of CRASS.

I did meet or sell records to a selection of talents, dubious and otherwise though including...

Meatloaf - liked a bit of classical and jazz
Hanoi Rocks - dooooooodz!
Misty in Roots - Triffic.
George Michael - Nice fella
The Stylistics - etc. etc.

 

[BlackArab]

I got really sad the other day when I went downstairs in MASH and remembered the record shop that used to be there.

Fuck sakes! Is MASH still going? I bought 'Strings of Life' there, I'm genuinely stunned as I think about this every now and then but always assumed it had gone years ago.