Does anyone still shop at HMV?

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Tower Records disappeared from Glasgow in late 90s i think. It was utter shite for the last few years of it's existence but up until then it was great(though very expensive). Was worth going in just to buy the import magazines alone.
Last time i was in before xmas there was a new shop in it's place. But didn't look any good.
Missing and Avalanche are crap now. I need to pay a visit to Volcanic Tongue sometime, but that's very expensive too. I'm as well doing mail order if i want anything from them. So Monorail is the only one worth visiting now. Unless you need cheap cd's from FOPP.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:29 (seventeen years ago) link

What was that building before it was "Tower" ?

Some dept store.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:29 (seventeen years ago) link

HMV seem to be trying to ape the Fopp business model but without realising why Fopp are successful - bunging a few dvd's down to £7.00 ain't gonna save you, fools. Yeah the jazz and classical sections in Virgin Piccadilly are looking distinctly lonely these days. The cold winds are starting to howl...

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:30 (seventeen years ago) link

I lived in london for ten years and never made it to 323. it was just in the wrong part of town... where is minus zero?

― m the g, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:30 (seventeen years ago) link

I bought a DVD of "Mon Oncle" with my Virgin card. It all reminded me of why I don't bother with Nectar cards at Sainsbury's in the end.

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Just the other side of Portobello Road from Rough Trade, but it's only open on Fridays and Saturdays.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Sound 323 is a bit of a slog to get to, all the way up Archway.

I really miss These Records round the back of the Imperial War Museum which was dead easy for me to get to. But I guess their policy of not announcing themselves on the shop front and you had to know it was there and ring the correct doorbell before getting in did for them in the end.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:35 (seventeen years ago) link

avalance is OK. the glasgow branch is better than edinburgh, at any rate.

volcanic tongue is excellent, but yes, way overpriced for home-made CD-Rs. good second-hand section though, and an unrivalled selection of obscure improvania. on the downside, it's a little one-dimensional in some ways, and I can never go in, browse and not buy.

I love monorail more than my own son. not that I have one, but if I did, he'd come second. great selection, decent prices, lovely, friendly staff and decent cider.

― m the g, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:36 (seventeen years ago) link

hmv oxford circus is very good for dvds, stock-wise, but i hardly ever *buy* anything, because it's almost always cheaper online, the end. you get the occasional thing for £3 i guess. the thing with dvds is it's hard to know what exists, so browsing kind of makes sense. then go and buy it cheaper from caiman.

― That one guy that quit, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:36 (seventeen years ago) link

I always use the Nectar card at Sainsburys - every few months it buys my girlfriend and I dinner.

― Scik Mouthy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:36 (seventeen years ago) link

best shops in london = the various MVE branches. notting hill especially.

― m the g, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Best record shop in London = this charity shop I found that's always getting piles of cheap promos in which I buy for £1 a pop, sell on ebay for a small profit and blow the proceeds at Sound 323 every once in a while. It's all for a good cause all round - everyone wins!

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:41 (seventeen years ago) link

MVE would be best if they'd stop using such ridiculously sticky stickers! Keep seeing things I want in digipaks for a couple of quid but you know trying to get the sticker off will end up tearing half the cover off with it.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

I was in the Camden Lock branch of MVE the other day (the one near Fopp) and it seemed to be staffed entirely by twattish gap year students rather than the usual suicide cases. What's up with that, huh?

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

The thing about the Oxford Circus HMV is that they always seem to have one copy of whatever I'm looking for in stock where nobody else in central London has. It's almost as if they have a premonition: "oh get a copy of that - MC'll buy it."

MVE Notting Hill are v. good. Camden MVE is in a bit of a mess. The Berwick Street one is good though - I particularly like that shelf they have in between the main stock and the bargain basement downstairs where things are sort of semi-bargain priced; handy for picking up new releases you're not sufficiently sure about to pay full price.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Last time i was in before xmas there was a new shop in it's place. But didn't look any good.

whatever it was (i can't even remember), it was only open for about two weeks.

― stirmonster, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:45 (seventeen years ago) link

There are some bloody good charity shops dotted around various quarters of the capital, but I'm loath to identify them since if I do that then the professional crate diggers will move in.

Flashback in Islington is a terrific second-hand shop with a good vinyl basement.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:46 (seventeen years ago) link

That's my favourite shelf too! Anyone know when the Reckless fire sale might involve the shop that isn't full of deep house 12"'s?

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:48 (seventeen years ago) link

HMV sales are often really good, bought shitloads more stuff in HMV than any other major high street retailer

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:52 (seventeen years ago) link

I also regularly peruse that middle shelf at Berwick St MVE. I might go there this lunchtime. They had some of the Can remasters last time I was in there but they were 6 quid and I'm a bit skint at the moment. They'll be gone before they get cheap enough for me I expect.

When/how often do they mark down their prices? Some things I've been watching never seem to get any cheaper.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:52 (seventeen years ago) link

If only. Clearly they're trying to get rid of all the unsellable stuff and most likely will flog the good stuff off privately.

I see that Sounds Of The Universe have moved their modest post-punk stock to the basement so that's the end of that particular craze, then.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

I see the Mr. CD in Berwick Street is no more

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

(Reckless fire sale xpost, that was)

MVE tend to mark down their prices fortnightly.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Yep, Mr CD gone and also its sister shop up the road, whatever that was called. Expect HIP HOP IS DEAD thinkpieces in next Friday's Grauniad.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:55 (seventeen years ago) link

No great loss there really.

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 10:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Mr. CD? I bought some good stuff in there, downstairs in the smelly tubercular basement... but not after they smartened themselves up and promptly went out of business

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:03 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm going to take a trip to the enormous Dalston Oxfam, to get rid of some unwanted old CDs and hopefully find some vinyl gems!

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:06 (seventeen years ago) link

So who will sign up for the social networking site? haha

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I've been to that Dalston Oxfam a couple of times but didn't see anything special; maybe the blogger routnely buys all the decent stuff.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Is beanos actually gone?

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:14 (seventeen years ago) link

I just dumped a load of terrible 90s hard house 12"s on Dalston Oxfam ha ha

― blueski, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Oxfam run specialist shops just for music now don't they? No chance of bargains now.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:20 (seventeen years ago) link

sp: "routinely"

No, Beanos is still functioning on two floors, selling off all its stock at half price. They were going to close but it looks as though they'll be trading on the ground floor only (the other floors will be given over to market stalls and suchlike).

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Oxfam do indeed do specialist music shops here and there, and no they don't offer much in the way of bargains; what's the point in paying a fiver for something second-hand which you can get brand new for the same price in HMV or Fopp?

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:24 (seventeen years ago) link

I got Syd Barrett's single there for £50, sold it on...

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

A fiver? Add a couple of squids on to that and you're getting there

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

What some of the general Oxfam shops do is: find out how much an LP is worth, and price it accordingly.

Without checking the condition...

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh dear, so much for my dreams of cheap LPs then. I'll just pick up some paperbacks instead, I guess.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:35 (seventeen years ago) link

There are specialised bookshop Oxfam branches now as well. They don't do much in the way of bargains either.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Do they try emotional blackmail with "but it's for a good cause" if you complain about the prices?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:48 (seventeen years ago) link

there may be a music-only Oxfam opening just a few doors down from the one in Dalston.

― blueski, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:52 (seventeen years ago) link

I never haggle about charity shop prices unless something is actually unpriced.

Hamilton has quite a lot of charity shops, but these are literally a different world, as BL-P will no doubt confirm.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:53 (seventeen years ago) link

Me neither.

You either

1) want it, in which case put up..
2) want bargains, in which case shurrup.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:56 (seventeen years ago) link

I did get mmmmmmmm skyscraper I love you 12" for 50p in a charity shop in Hamilton along with an early Elvis Costello lp and a Talking Heads lp once. In one just up Cadzow Street(where Impulse used to be). That was about 10 years ago. God knows what it's like now.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 11:58 (seventeen years ago) link

An Oxfam, IIRC.

From recent visits: if you're into Sydney Devine and Anne Lorne Gillies, you'll be in heaven.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:00 (seventeen years ago) link

I used to work in an Oxfam and we were absolutely not allowed to change the price of anything if a customer tried to haggle. We were allowed to mark it down after they'd gone if we thought it was overpriced though!

OTM about pricing records according to what a mint copy is worth, ignoring the condition of actual record! The Cancer Research shops in Muswell Hill do that as well.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:01 (seventeen years ago) link

What some of the general Oxfam shops do is: find out how much an LP is worth, and price it accordingly.

Without checking the condition...,

Absolutely. I have to tell off some of the other volunteers for Oxfam to look at more than just the Big Record Price Book to see how much stuff is worth. A lot of CDs and DVDs we look up on EBay to see what the going price is, and then put it at about that, give a take a quid or two. End of the day, we try and get the most money we can for the donations we get, so if we can sell a DVD for £10 that's £12 in HMV, then we'll do that. Yes, it IS for a good cause, and no, don't go there looking for bargains. Go there because the music section is often well looked after, and there's often cool stuff there, and it WILL be cheaper than buying new/ebay/whatever, and yes, it IS for a good cause.

― The Wayward Johnny B, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:04 (seventeen years ago) link

I can honestly say that, in many years of shopping in charity shops, I have never once thought, "This is for a good cause"

― Tom D., Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Agreed on all those points. The Oxfam on Oldham St in Manchester has a very good music section, obviously run by people who know what they're doing.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:07 (seventeen years ago) link

i hate the atmosphere and vibe in the one in manc. always have really. they don't seem to give a fuck about making it any nicer either. it's a dump and it feels like a morgue.

― pisces, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 12:34 (seventeen years ago) link

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"Alex Turner: Submarine OST (500 copies on 10” black vinyl)"

How is this different than the normal edition 10" black vinyl that I bought years ago when it was a new release?

― MrExplorer, Monday, 13 June 2016 05:54 (seven years ago) link

I was going to say "oh good, more overpriced reissues of 30-year-old albums on probably bad-sounding colour vinyl" but then stevie's post made me feel churlish so carry on

however, even though I acknowledge that most people my age have kids, I am still weirded out by seeing nostalgia for my childhood sold as Father's Day gifts. I recently followed a link for FD stuff expecting a bunch of idk leather wallets and antiquarian-map-print coasters or something and was all like "why would my dad want a bunch of plastic Star Wars figurines? that's MY generation... oh yeah, I remember, I'm old now"

― a passing spacecadet, Monday, 13 June 2016 11:33 (seven years ago) link

I saw a teenage girl about a week ago, walking down the road with a Stone Roses album in a HMV bag.

― Mark G, Monday, 13 June 2016 11:37 (seven years ago) link

haha would much rather my 2yo daughter 'bought me' a record for Father's Day (she 'did', for my first one - a copy of Margo Guryan's Take A Picture, which contains Someone I Know, which is 'our song' for me and my partner) than leather wallets or coasters. However this year I get the impression I am being bought a print of a Graun cartoon about a dad who forces his appalling musical taste on his child.

― Oh baby, if only you knew / Gabnebb hit a hundred-and-two (stevie), Monday, 13 June 2016 11:59 (seven years ago) link

She certainly wont be buying you any Led Zep vinyl for you Stevie :)

― Cosmic Slop, Monday, 13 June 2016 12:27 (seven years ago) link

hahahaha "No. No. Off."

― Oh baby, if only you knew / Gabnebb hit a hundred-and-two (stevie), Monday, 13 June 2016 14:03 (seven years ago) link

best video ever

― Cosmic Slop, Monday, 13 June 2016 14:08 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

On the brink of administration again. Get those vouchers used if you got any for Xmas!

― boxedjoy, Friday, 28 December 2018 09:16 (five years ago) link

we saw an hmv in bury st edmunds the other week which felt a little weird tbh, thought they were already gone

― imago, Friday, 28 December 2018 09:31 (five years ago) link

Ah, I was in hmv Newcastle just yesterday. The boxing day sale was nowt down, really. I bought a The Fall 2cd+dvd live set, from 2002 or thereabouts, remember hims this way etc.

― Mark G, Friday, 28 December 2018 13:10 (five years ago) link

The one in Cheltenham is in a different place every year. Didn't buy anything.

Hoping this won't also take fopp down with it.

― koogs, Friday, 28 December 2018 16:05 (five years ago) link

nine months pass...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/11/hmv-vault-europes-biggest-entertainment-store-birmingham

― van dyke parks generator (anagram), Monday, 14 October 2019 06:51 (four years ago) link

just in time for Christmas bankruptcy

― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Monday, 14 October 2019 09:00 (four years ago) link

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