|
Unsung Forum » HMV |
Log In to post a reply
|
|
|
|
| Topic View: Flat | Threaded | |
Bourbonus 66 posts |
Jan 07, 2020, 03:15
|
|
Here in Yeovil we had a great independent record shop from 1973-2015, but they couldn't find anyone to take the business on, when the owner wanted to retire. He told me that for the last few years he wasn't making any discernible profit, but didn't want to let his regular customers, like myself, down, so carried on as long as he could. I'm very much old school, try to buy local and independent as much as I can, especially as they would go the extra mile, got to know you and would message you, if they thought a single or album that was about to be released would be of interest to you. They were usually the same price or cheaper, and I mourned them. Stores like that helped develop my love for music, you just don't get that online or from a shop that's part of a chain. When the Cult's Sonic Temple box set was due, I thought "I'll make the effort, and pre-order it from my local HMV". Before their last takeover, the manager could order me any new release, but since this time last year, it's always "I can try ordering it, but we're only getting one copy in, and I can't guarantee that you'll get it, and even if you order it online for click and collect, there's no guarantee you'll get it that way, either". Yes, they've increased the amount of vinyl, but it's often damaged because browsers pick it up and squeeze it back into where it's stored, and as far as I know you still can't order anything online bar pre-orders. I prefer independent stores, being able to browse in person and have conversations with the shop owner, often a massive music lover, but now most people buy online or in supermarkets, and only go in town centres to have a coffee, buy an expensive phone, or go to the gym. One of my main hobbies is to have a day out, and go to a few places that still have independent record shops, it's a case of keeping hold of a loved one whilst they're still here! |
|
Zariadris 286 posts |
Edited Jan 07, 2020, 09:46
Jan 07, 2020, 09:33
|
|
Bourbonus wrote: One of my main hobbies is to have a day out, and go to a few places that still have independent record shops, it's a case of keeping hold of a loved one whilst they're still here! Amen, brother/sister. A few things I find myself really missing about record stores: 1. The way the music playing over the sound system overlapped as you moved from one section of the store to the other. This was a unique pleasure of the big box - “highstreet’ - megastores. I used to deliberately slow down between the doorways to hear the beautiful cacophony of say, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake mixed with Mingus’ Ah Um (remember how the classical and jazz departments were always next to each other?) 2. The surly, hipper-than-thou clerks, who wielded their cool like emotionally withholding parents whose validation I craved as a kid! I felt as shy as a schoolboy buying a playboy whenever I’d approach that taciturn dude at the register - the guy with the Fall t-shirt - to pay for my pathetic Saxon LP! |
|
|
Zariadris 286 posts |
Edited Jan 07, 2020, 10:28
Jan 07, 2020, 09:38
|
|
Thanks for the update...sorry to hear that. Ever since discovering them through Audion magazine at OM in New York I'd dreamed of visiting that mecca of unsung music one day. I see the Freeman's are hip to bandcamp and still finding new Out of Focus and Embryo stuff to reissue. One of the many other cool things about a record store like OM was the dog eared store copy of Crack in the Cosmic Egg everyone was welcome to consult before shelling out $$$ for the import du jour. I'll have to check out the Krautrock page on Facebook...Cheers!
|
|
Fitter Stoke 2615 posts |
Edited Jan 07, 2020, 09:59
Jan 07, 2020, 09:57
|
|
I'm not sure you've grasped my drift, Keith. I very much share your sentiments regarding HMV's excellent staff (of which, I repeat, I was once part) and your "use it or lose it" mantra. My beef is chiefly that there appears to have been a price hike of up to 20% overnight across the chain. Fresh stickers have been applied to old stock, so increased wholesale prices don't apply. I think that's very bad form, whether it's due to increased sales (in which case they're taking the piss out of regular customers) or struggling (in which case increasing prices is commercial suicide). That, along with being ripped off by an unworkable loyalty scheme, has tried my patience to the limit. For the record, I spent something in the region of £1,500 at HMV last year. More fool me! |
|
|
thesussexidler 64 posts |
Jan 07, 2020, 10:00
|
| Nicely observed!!! | |
|
Fitter Stoke 2615 posts |
Jan 07, 2020, 18:12
|
| Yeah, I can dig those feelings. But don't be too quick to diss that Saxon LP, especially if it was one of the early ones... | |
|
Zariadris 286 posts |
Edited Jan 07, 2020, 19:06
Jan 07, 2020, 19:04
|
|
You are absolutely right man. Never betray your roots. For all my fancy tastes in movies and music, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Hammer studios and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, respectively. And so in the spirit of Saxon and our mutual roots, I offer these anthemic words from 1981 that so presciently express the essence of this thread: Did you read the music paper from the back and to the front? Did you find out where to see your favorite band? Did you listen to the radio every Friday night? Did you hang around your local record store? Denim and Leather Brought us all together It was you that set the spirit free! |
|
|
thesussexidler 64 posts |
Jan 08, 2020, 13:20
|
Genius!
|
|
|
keith a 9574 posts |
Jan 09, 2020, 21:25
|
|
Fitter Stoke wrote: For the record, I spent something in the region of £1,500 at HMV last year. More fool me! Nah! I bet you've had a lot of pleasure from those purchases!
|
|
|
Bourbonus 66 posts |
Edited Jan 10, 2020, 20:15
Jan 10, 2020, 20:15
|
|
Zariadris wrote: Bourbonus wrote: One of my main hobbies is to have a day out, and go to a few places that still have independent record shops, it's a case of keeping hold of a loved one whilst they're still here! Amen, brother/sister. A few things I find myself really missing about record stores: 1. The way the music playing over the sound system overlapped as you moved from one section of the store to the other. This was a unique pleasure of the big box - “highstreet’ - megastores. I used to deliberately slow down between the doorways to hear the beautiful cacophony of say, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake mixed with Mingus’ Ah Um (remember how the classical and jazz departments were always next to each other?) 2. The surly, hipper-than-thou clerks, who wielded their cool like emotionally withholding parents whose validation I craved as a kid! I felt as shy as a schoolboy buying a playboy whenever I’d approach that taciturn dude at the register - the guy with the Fall t-shirt - to pay for my pathetic Saxon LP! Very much a brother :-) There's some great memories on this thread, the type that HMV could only dream of! I'm glad I'm not the only one that has them! Apparently, I have a HMV £5 voucher, from their useless, temporary app. I'll be lucky to get a single for that, if they have any!!
|
| Pages: 2 – [ Previous | 1 2 ] | Add a reply to this topic |
|
|
|
| Unsung Forum Index | |
