Does anyone still shop at HMV?

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But what is the truth behind the common perception that charity shop staff cherry pick the best of whatever comes in and just leaves out racks of Arrested Development and Mark Owen?

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 15:36 (seventeen years ago) link

*Coughs quietly*

Oxfam has a rule that if you want to buy something that's donated someone else in the shop must price it for you, so you can't just pick up something expensive and price it for a quid and buy it yourself.

But yeah, once I was working in the West Hampstead branch and someone donated a load of old punk/post punk records, that someone priced at 20p each and I immediately snapped the lot up for less than £2 - including a couple on Raw Records, "Bend and Flush" by the Pork Dukes, Rezillos, Saints etc. I'd always rifle through the music because we didn't usually sell records in that store, they'd get sent straight to Marylebone as we didn't have room.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 15:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Obviously we do get first dibs cos we're sorting the stuff, but as Colonel Poo says, you have to get a colleague to price it for you.
I doubt most volunteers could afford the expensive stuff anyway - best to leave it out for someone with money to burn.

― Stew, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:02 (seventeen years ago) link

It's all a racket.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:04 (seventeen years ago) link

But in a good cause

― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Stew: I take your point totally! The local OxMus shop is excellent in this regard.

However, yr common/garden OxClosBricBrac shop, previously that'd sell "all LPs 50p" now ring up someone and/or check a valuation book without checking the condition...

And that BritHeartFound shop, forgetaboutit!

― Mark G, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:11 (seventeen years ago) link

BritHeartFound shops are GREbT!

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Not the one in RG1

― Mark G, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:13 (seventeen years ago) link

It's not like the back store is full of mint copies of The Heliocentric World of Sun Ra Vols 1-2 or Al Bowly 78s...

It's pretty much what you'd expect of any second hand store in Glasgow - lots of Jim Reeves, crap early 90s house 12"s, and numerous Rod Stewart and Simple Minds albums. With the odd decent, but hardly valuable thing in between.

― Stew, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Ah yes, I forgot about the Jim Reeves factor.

There are several charity shops in London I could name whose back stores are full of mint copies of limited-edition hand-painted Saturn releases...

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Where's sydney and fran and anna? Shops aren't complete without that in Scotland.
Max Bygraves and Des O'Connor elsewhere of course.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:37 (seventeen years ago) link

I did mention Mr Devine some way up this thread. Arguably bigger in Hamilton and Bellshill than Glasgow as such.

Fran and Anna, though, bloody hell...

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Glen Daly's where it's at

― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Even when Marti Pellow took over his mantle after his sad passing.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link

I browse HMV sometimes but then go buy it in Fopp. Still hit the New Year sales though, can't complain about £2 dvds

― Slumpman, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:44 (seventeen years ago) link

[Removed Illegal Link]

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Oops
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6471649.stm

CD Wow lose case on cheap cds.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 18:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Glen Daly - yes, I've seen quite a few of those. In fact, I have a copy of his 70s Scotland world cup song my dad found me in a carboot sale years ago. I think he thought it might be valuable. It's a top tune - "We're on the ball, Scotland's on the ball, We're going to show the world that Scotland's forever when we bring that cup back to the land of the heather!"
Anyway...

Not actually seen any Fran and Anna, but we did come across a 7" of Stanley Baxter's allegedly hilarious Parliamo Glasgow.

My favourite find is a single by the Scottish Parkinson himself, BA Robertson. I haven't listened to it of course. That would be a fate worse than death.

The artist that's ubiquitous in any pile of 7"s in Glasgow is Frank Ifield. His singles turn up EVERYWHERE!

― Stew, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 21:36 (seventeen years ago) link

In 30 years time I bet charity shops are still full of Sydney Devine lp's and cd's

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 21:44 (seventeen years ago) link

good old frank ifield

― RJG, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 22:09 (seventeen years ago) link

Scottish Parkinson?

Is that where he's gone?

― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 09:23 (seventeen years ago) link

I've clearly been away too long.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 09:31 (seventeen years ago) link

No, no, it was just a joke. I vaguely remember him from childhood but didn't he have a chat show back in the day - those youtube clips of his painfully awkward interview with the Associates are hilarious.

This is what he's up to today...

http://www.barobertson.com/biog.html

I had no idea he wrote Wire For Sound. I have a friend who contends that it's actually a very good song. He may be right actually...

― Stew, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 10:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Sp - Wired

― Stew, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 10:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh yeah, didn't he do some for The Tube or something?

― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 11:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Also he wrote the greatest football song ever - "We Have A Dream," Scotland '82 with added John Gordon Sinclair.

Unfortunately he also wrote "The Living Years" which is the worst song ever as of today.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 11:03 (seventeen years ago) link

This morning at Oxfam was amazing cos we had a large and fantastic donation of vinyl.

WHITE NOISE!!!

Unfortunately, it's the second issue and is completely gubbed, so it's unsellable. We can put the sleeve up in the shop though for hipster collector points at least.

Great Cherry Red 82-83 comp with Marine Girls and Quentin Crisp on it. Thee Headcoats on purple vinyl, Pete Hammill, loads of JMAC 12"s. Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Jerry Lee Lewis plays soul LP with an awesome Shine A Light on it, two Gallon Drunk albums, Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa stuff, Jonathan Swift, Bumpers...

I was very excited. They should be going out front in the next couple of days, so roll up Glasgwegians!

― Stew, Thursday, 22 March 2007 14:28 (seventeen years ago) link

So was it Jim or William Reid who brought all this stuff in?

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:33 (seventeen years ago) link

MURRAY DALGLISH!!

― Mark G, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Is that 2nd hand CD,record and tape exchange still there in Glasgow? The one near Sound Control.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 26 March 2007 11:11 (seventeen years ago) link

They've moved a couple of miles south. It's now just off Pollockshaws Rd, just north of Shawlands Cross, opposite the 5 a-side place in Queens Park. Even though it's ten minutes from my flat I've never been in. I really should have a look sometime...
Was mostly full of crap 80s metal and rock vinyl but you might find the odd gem hidden away.
Also see Record Fayre opposite the Tron Cafe.

― Stew, Monday, 26 March 2007 11:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah i know Record Fayre though haven't been in there for years. That's great for old prog rock vinyl.

The CD Tape And Vinyl exchange was amazingly expensive. They would give you £1 for a cd then sell it for £10.
I did once buy a Groundhogs lp there .

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 26 March 2007 11:26 (seventeen years ago) link

for another Foot Locker

Do all Foot Locker people come with ennui written all over their faces or is that just the ones that are shipped out to Belgium?

― nathalie, Monday, 26 March 2007 11:39 (seventeen years ago) link

I bought that Cherry Red comp in my local Oxfam on Friday!

― gnarly sceptre, Monday, 26 March 2007 13:28 (seventeen years ago) link

That's odd - is it the picture disc or the ordinary LP? I know a few of the songs on it - shall give it a spin in the shop tomorrow hopefully.

― Stew, Monday, 26 March 2007 14:14 (seventeen years ago) link

I also saw a copy of that Cherry Red comp in Avalanche the other day! I love the Joe Crow track...jobs in limited supply

― Ward Fowler, Monday, 26 March 2007 20:54 (seventeen years ago) link

I need to pop into one of those charity shops in Hamilton see if I can see anything good.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Sunday, 1 April 2007 23:08 (seventeen years ago) link

i shopped at HMV this week.

― jed_, Monday, 2 April 2007 00:07 (seventeen years ago) link

What did you get?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 2 April 2007 00:07 (seventeen years ago) link

no love

― Mark G, Monday, 2 April 2007 00:10 (seventeen years ago) link

oh, something right up your street: the Fame DVD for £3. you can borrow it if you like.

oh xpost!

― jed_, Monday, 2 April 2007 00:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Smell of Reeves and Mortimer S1&2 for £10.

― The Wayward Johnny B, Monday, 2 April 2007 08:13 (seventeen years ago) link

nine months pass...

hmm : http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/17/hmvgroupbusiness

even more annoying is the fact in the central Bristol HMV, the Electronic/Dance section has been amalgamated into the rock-n-pop section making it murder to find anything new and interesting.
Oh, and of course there is even more floorspace dedicated to bloody DVDs even though the upstairs is all DVD now.

― mark e, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:01 (sixteen years ago) link

Looked in at the Glasgow HMV branches when I was up there over Christmas and as usual I was reminded how shockingly bad HMV shops are in general when compared to the Oxford Circus one. It's as if they decided to have one Tesco's supermarket and then the rest are just TescoExpress branches; if you don't want something in the Top 40 or anything else that isn't the bleeding obvious, you've had it.

― Dingbod Kesterson, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:16 (sixteen years ago) link

HMV Glasgow is still a lot better than Virgin/Zavvi's shops. That big Zavvi in Buchanan st is a huge shop with lots of space and whatever stock there is, is crap.
That shop could be crammed with loads of great cds and vinyl from all genres and be the best damn record shop in the country.

― Herman G. Neuname, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:21 (sixteen years ago) link

I used their website a few times, mainly for presents rather than myself, until they were a bit useless and I got angry (rant somewhere on another thread).

Bought someone a Christmas present in the Oxford branch when I realised at v short notice that he'd probably really like and not already know about the Tuss mini-album thing (and also the Vitalic live thing, but they didn't have that).

Then I got a voucher for Christmas and they didn't have most of what I was looking for but I was pleased to find Pissed Jeans and Harmonia Live 1974.

So, not much, but I'll be annoyed if it goes as we now have no independent music shops and I would rather give money to HMV than to, ahem, "Zavvi".

― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:33 (sixteen years ago) link

Current sale is crap

― Tom D., Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:34 (sixteen years ago) link

Worryingly so

― Tom D., Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:34 (sixteen years ago) link

No sale at all in the Bristol branch other than the usual "2 for a tenner" deals, but thats not a sale is it.
oh hang on, Airs debut is for £4 .. guess that qualifies as a sale.
Just.
Its actually very depressing how the Bristol record shop situation has been totally decimated in recent times, making the current state of HMV a very important factor for us lunch hour shoppers.

― mark e, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:40 (sixteen years ago) link

And of course, whether HMV or Virgin (I refuse to use that stinking other meaningless name), one still gets asked "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

"No - you didn't have the El Grincho album."

"Uuuuuuuhhhhhh?????"

This is why we have to say "yes" every time.

― Dingbod Kesterson, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 15:42 (sixteen years ago) link

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