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Post by MartinT on Apr 23, 2023 10:20:38 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Apr 23, 2023 10:30:08 GMT
Hurwitz makes so many good observations that I found myself nodding throughout.
I also remember many of the shops mentioned.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 23, 2023 11:00:32 GMT
The big three that I remember for classical records and then CDs were:
- HMV, the big new classical section built in their flagship store on Oxford Street.
- Tower Records, the upstairs maze that was the classical department with piles of stuff everywhere.
- Covent Garden Records, smaller, better organised, highly specialised.
The store that won the award of 'garbage dump' of record stores was:
- Foyles of Tottenham Court Road. Organising books by publisher and records by label was a system designed by a warped mind, guaranteed to have you lost and frustrated for hours on end, trying to find the things you wanted. Then you had to have a sales assistant write you out a chit totalling the sale, then you had to go queue separately at a kiosk to make payment, then return for your purchases. It's as if the owners were looking for the quickest possible way to go bust. They succeeded.
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Post by Slinger on Apr 23, 2023 12:08:37 GMT
There was a brilliant classical music shop in the Strand, just down the road from Charing Cross Station. It's where I first encountered a spinner full of the then brand-new NAXOS label CDs - it must have been 1987/88 - and true love blossomed.  I ended up making to make a pilgrimage special trip, after work, once every couple of weeks, as there was nowhere locally to choose from a huge range of titles. I seem to remember that the first NAXOS CD I bought there was Beethoven's 5 th as I thought that was a decent baseline to try the label, which seemed inordinately inexpensive. I consequently bought all of Beethoven's symphonies on NAXOS, and they were all worthy recordings. I also used to subscribe to BBC Music magazine, for the cover CD in large part, and that shop is where I found most of the albums I bought on the strength of that CD. One, I remember, was Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensembles wonderful "Officium" album, which was like nothing I'd ever heard before, both really classical, not really jazz, not really choral, but a wonderful melange of styles blended to perfection. I was quite surprised to find it already in stock on my next visit. I also found a decent shop in Tunbtidge Wells too, when I worked there, which is where I bought many more albums suggested by those cover CDs, including what was my introduction to Einaudi, on the strength of hearing "Le Onde". Happy days, hunting through racks, discovering gems. |
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Post by MartinT on Apr 23, 2023 14:27:46 GMT
There was a brilliant classical music shop in the Strand Can you remember the name of it, Paul? |
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Post by Slinger on Apr 23, 2023 15:31:44 GMT
There was a brilliant classical music shop in the Strand Can you remember the name of it, Paul? Sadly not, it was over 30 years ago now. |
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I ended up making to make a