There was a time, long, long ago…in the 80s, where music had to be bought by going out of the house, to a shop and brought home to play on a device called a record player or a cassette player!
Vinyl
The iconic medium for music. This is how it started (well, acetate) and where we stand now in 2019, it is a growth market again.
There was something magical about a vinyl record. It was generally 7inch (singles) or 12inch (Extended singles or albums). The sleeve was artwork to behold, lending something else to the story of the music. The inner sleeve could hold more artwork, or the lyrics to the songs, or just a reminder that “taping is killing music”….even the credits were an insight into who the musicians cared about.
Then the vinyl itself. You would take it in two hands and check it was in pristine condition before putting in onto the record player. As the needle took to the groove, you would hear a slightly scratchy noise until the music took over.
Unlike tapes, you could easily take the needle off and play a great song over and over again. You would be gutted if a record stuck or was scratched, but the overall experience of vinyl was something special.
I sold the majority of mind to buy my first house, but have bought some back, but mainly the move was to CD.
Tapes
I didn’t buy many of these. vinyl was my preferred medium. Having to fast forward and rewind to try and find a track was annoying. we did eventually have a Bush music unit which had a counter on, so you could write down on the sleeve the rough position to forward too, which was helpful.
I had a final clear out of tapes in 2018, so I only have a handful of important ones now
Tapes were great for taping off the radio or copying another tape of a record. You sometime got a tape free with a record of a magazine which gave you an insight into new music.
Oh – and they snapped….a lot. 30 minute tapes were cheap but fairly pointless. 60 minute tapes were strong but too short to record many albums in full, 120 minute tapes were better and 180 minute tapes were the thinnest so broke far too often. It was a real knack repairing them so they didn’t snag again and not too much gap in the recording.
There was always something fun about your mate giving you a compilation tape of stuff you may not have heard before.
Bow Wow Wow did the most famous record name checking tapes, C30, C60, C90
CDs
Compact discs. Not the same, but a smaller version of a vinyl record with a clearer sound (some would disagree) and less likely to scratching, although it is a lie and they do get stuck on some players from time to time.
You still got a good little booklet with sleeve note, lyrics and artwork, but to us, it wasn’t the same as vinyl.
Streaming
Firstly, I prefer to have a physical item to buy in fully to the musical experience, for this reason, I find streaming a throw away medium, but it is not without its merit.
Youtube and Spotify allow you to listen to songs you may not be sure you will like and therefore give a quick and cheap way into a genre before you fully commit to a band or singer.
Record Shops
It used to be an exciting pilgrimage into town (Leicester in my case). Bus in on a Saturday morning, flick through 7inch and 12inch vinyl in shops with hundreds of records. I’d say we were well blessed in Leicester with a great range of record shops. I’d name check the following shops from my youth that made a massive contribution to my mixed music tastes:
Leicester shops
St.Martins Records – This was probably my favourite shop, I think it started out in the Cank Street basement in what then became Cank Street Records, before moving to High Street and eventually being swallowed by HMV.
Revolver – This was the trendy shop to go to, if only because they had the best bags!! This served us well with modern music, concentrating on the charts and independent label stuff. You had to go to the Market Square to get into the shop and although it wasn’t big, it was a great meeting place and vibe to it. It was always playing a great track as you walked in and when it was a track you didn’t know, you soon were trying to find out more about the particular band……your parents very rarely shopped here, so it was a mecca for growing up teenagers.
Ainleys – Belgrave Gate, but the top end near the clock tower. This was a well stocked shop, less trendy than Revolver but larger range. I bought a lot of concert tickets here and found it a nice atmosphere, the owner (Wayne Allen) was so friendly and helpful and was paying attention to the music you bought and suggesting new bands you may like.
Woolworths – You may be surprised by this one, but 7inch singles were only 75p, so i’d pick them up here if they were cheaper than the other shops.
What was the one in the Haymarket Centre called? Was that HMV before moving to High Street? or BPM?
Second hand shops
I wasn’t very rich in those days and often the music I wanted to buy wasn’t available as new in the shops, so I soon got into the second hand scene, which was even more fun. There was a good group of people doing the same thing and you would end up meeting people with similar tasts and see them at gigs around town.
Cank Street Records – By far my favourite, it was run by Fitzy and I think Rich Smith? Thet were great lads to talk music with and were seen at many concerts. This record store grew my collection of punk and rock, but tended to get my second hand limited edition Ultravox stuff here too. Fitz introduced me to the back catalogue of the likes of Killing Joke, The Damned and Pogues…..our paths also crossed on the football field a couple of time (he was much better than the teams I was involved in)!
Oddity Records – This was my next port of call, mainly for posters, big A0 posters which would adorned the walls at home. I think they were around £2.50 to £5 each, although I think the Longest Day U2 one was an extortionate £10.
Archers – Started off in Highcross Street and moved to High Street. I always remember the owner seemingly to be sullen, but in reality as you got to know him, he was just a bit shy. I did sell quite a few records to him and bought a different style of music from him at the same time. I enjoyed experimenting with musivc, but made quite alot of mistakes, so having someone buying back at reasonable prices was good for cutting the losses!
World Records on the London Road -moved to Queens Road – This one was owned and run by Jay, a Radio Leicester DJ who could talk for ever if you let him! Tended to find strange releases here, but it was also on the way home when I was walking, so always kept a few quid back from the town shopping, just in case he had something interesting.
Boogaloo – Up above a wedding shop on Granby Street. This was the cheapest of second hand record shops, but it often told in the quality of the record, so you had to be careful here. Great place for finding old records by bands and if you wanted to try something different. The owner amusingly asked me once if I’d overcome my drug issues, which must have been bad, as I have no recollection of enjoying smoking let alone drugs!!!
Outside the city centre
A.G. Kemble Wigston – This was only up the road from where I lived, but i only went here for chart records and they had a great bargain bucket.
Left legged pineapple – Loughborough (or Looga barooga, as we affectionately call the place) – Sometime we would take a train out to here, it was only a few quid and this record shop was really good. Made a change from being in Leicester and was good for shopping generally.
Castle Records – Loughborough. It was much smaller than The Pineapple but always worth a look in case there were bargains to be had.
The Record Shop Bag
Of course, we have to whisper about plastic bags these days, but in the 80s, we DID reuse plastic bags!!! It was a badge of honour to carry things in your chosen record shop bag.
For the classy, trendy buyer it would have to be Revolver or ultra trendy if you saw a Left Legged Pineapple bag!
You were still proud to have a Oddity bag, with the Bowie flash on it or Boogaloo showed you were experimental with second hand music. There would be many days shopping where I would have no clothes or shoes and 7 different record bags!
The Fan Club Years 