Is the end nigh? Record shops in London

[The Seventh Taylor]

Dang! how could I have missed that?

I guess it didn't show up on Google Maps with the keywords I used.

[The Seventh Taylor]

London, in my opinion, used to be the greatest place east of the Atlanatic Ocean if you were a music fan. It's not quite a great place any longer -- for record collectors like me, that is. Perhaps for fashionista's it is all the more. Just about the only place to go for vinyl and CD hoarders is eBay, no doubt. Here's an update.

What used to be the Virgin Megastore and was briefly branded Zivvi is all gone. The huge building at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road they were located in is now a Primark (clothes) store. Similarly, the old Tower Record store at Picadilly Circus now houses a fashion store – The Sting. HMV's reboot (after a bankruptcy and takover) hasn't worked out too well. His Master's Voice has relocted from number 150 (now home to a sports store) to 363 -- the old location they started decaded earlier, in our grandparents' time. The new store counts 3 storeys: All music is on the upper floor. Movies are mostly in the basement while the ground floor offers games, gadgets, books and some Blu-ray Discs. They've got a bigger selection of titles than you'll find just about anywhere else nowadays but that's because everything else has closed down -- Virgin Megastores, OurPrice, all the other HMV outlets and lots of independent record stores. The depth of the offering is really quite disappointing compared to the shops we were used to.

Berwick Street also has gone down yet further: The only record shops I found back are Sister Ray, Reckless Records and the Music & Video Exchange. Unfortunately I got there after 8pm and all 3 were closed for the night. Better luck tomorrow. Cheapo Cheapo also seems to be gone. I could not find this delightfully messy place back.

My only record hunting trophees today then are from the Music & Video Exchange in Notting Hill – one of only 3 branches left. (The third one is in Greenwich)

There's lots of major construction work going on on Oxford Street on three sites close to the former Virgin Megastore and one opposite the remaining HMV because apparently Transport For London wants to move the Tottenham Ct Rd and Bond Street underground tube stations to above ground? Anyway, that's something for a different forum.

The best way to avoid disappointment is to keep expectations low. That I've managed. Almost.

[redmumba]

Back in 2012 when I went over in October for my friend's funeral, I did a sort of "victory lap" in his name by hitting all the independent record stores we use to go to. The first - not by choice due to this inane rule about rooms not being ready until 1 or 2 p.m. in the afternoon - was the HMV on Oxford street. Trust me, I tried to kill quite a bit of time there, especially since I was lugging around a camera backpack containing two digital cameras and a camcorder. I think I also made my way to the M&VE in Notting Hill on the same day - which I'm sure would have been a bit more enjoyable sans camera backpack. But yes, it is a shame that all these stores are going the way of the dodo....and I kinda find that hard to believe, especially when you have vinyl still being produced for clubs AND the fact that you have a twice yearly event like Record Store Day.

[vermeerf]

The last time I was in London (for the Olympics concert in Hyde Park) I noticed too that records shops were on the decline. The only shop that still carried a lot of DD was Sister Ray. I bought the complete set of Girls On Film remix 12"s there.

As a collector though I have to admit that most of my rare items have been bought through Ebay in recent years. I haven't visited record fairs for ages simply because I know I can't find what I'm looking for there anymore. Ebay is my prime "hunting ground" nowadays.

I do order the new releases (like the re-issues on vinyl and the box sets) from my local independant record store. Only if they can't order it (like the No Ordinary EP) I will order online.

[The Seventh Taylor]

I'm not even sure we've got a record store anymore where I live, other than some department stores. Bullet, Van Leest (where I worked for many years) -- heck, even Free Record Shop is gone. I wouldn't even know where to go to for Record Store day.

At Sister Ray, I finally scored the Gatefold CDs of the first album and 7&TRT, which I had postponed far too long.

Other than that, I left with two bags full of bargains -- like I used to do every Saturday when I still lived there in the mid-nineties -- this time mostly CD singles and CD albums, a DVD single and one 12"; primarily 90s and 00s stuff plus a little from this decade. Stuff I wouldn't mind collecting on eBay but which with shipping would be jost too expensive.