Record Shopping in Europe

[MylesBAstor]

[Bill Hart]

I think we should go to one of the Utrecht shows- all those record we lust after (or at least I do....). Allegedly, if they aren't at that show, they aren't for sale. Or so I am told.
Amsterdam, mentioned in the article, is one of my favorite cities. And I don't even smoke. (Though admittedly, I haven't been there in some time).
I used to buy records overseas whenever I travelled, whether for business or pleasure.
If you add up all the stupid shipping prices for individual albums that one pays over the course of a year, you could probably pay for a plane flight. (Granted, it ain't gonna be first class or private but maybe you'll get the audiophile upgrade).
Buying by Internet searches of stores-not necessarily via aggregation sites (though there's that too), I find myself going, ok, I'm gonna get boned on the shipping anyway, what else does this vendor have that I might possibly be interested in?

[MylesBAstor]

That's funny. It's been maybe 30 years since I was in Amsterdam but I couldn't really any good records stores back then. Maybe things have changed. London on the other hand is made for record shopping though many stores there have sadly closed. Like Cheapos.

[WireOnWire]

You have to travel a little further to find the vinyl but it is there. Audio shows of course. There is a good second hand shop outside of London in Guildford in Surrey, Ben's second hand record shop. In London there is Reckless Records and Sister Ray in Berwick St, right in the heart of Soho, great places to eat around of course, Tome Records in Bermondsey centre of the Leather trade years ago and site of the largest hat factory in the world at one time. Brick lane has at least two vinyl shops with great cream cheese and salmon bagels at one end of the street to keep you hunting for the bargains.

[MylesBAstor]

I miss the Tower in Piccadilly Circus. As well as HMV. As an American, it was wonderful to go there and find all those UK pressings!

[WireOnWire]

Yes indeed the Tower is no more but HMV lives on at its original position near Bond Street Tube. The other HMV further down Oxford Street has gone.

[MylesBAstor]

Yes indeed the Tower is no more but HMV lives on at its original position near Bond Street Tube. The other HMV further down Oxford Street has gone.

Cool, if I ever get back to London, I'll be sure to hit HMV on Bond St. Yes it was the Oxford St. store that I remembered! Plus Gramex and Harold Moores (I think it's still there). My audiobuddy also used to take me to a couple of stores in Brighton but have no idea if they are still there any more.

[astrotoy]

I was at the HMV store a couple of weeks ago (on Oxford Street, near the Bond street Tube Station). Mostly CD's and DVD's, with some vinyl. Nothing like the depth of the old HMV Tower stores, but still pretty big. My go to bricks and mortar shop for used records in London is still Music/Record Exchange near the Notting Hill Gate Tube Station. The old classical store moved to the basement of the Pop/Rock store - the only one left after the mass consolidation of different genre stores a few years back. Since I really only look at classical, this is only walk in store left in London. I also buy from a few web based shops, a few based in London or nearby. I usually see Dave Parsons who runs classicalvinyl.com and also is a partner in the Electric Recording Co., but didn't see him on this trip. He generally has the best selection of old classical records - typically in very fine shape. Not cheap, but these are rare records.

Larry

[MylesBAstor]

I was at the HMV store a couple of weeks ago (on Oxford Street, near the Bond street Tube Station). Mostly CD's and DVD's, with some vinyl. Nothing like the depth of the old HMV Tower stores, but still pretty big. My go to bricks and mortar shop for used records in London is still Music/Record Exchange near the Notting Hill Gate Tube Station. The old classical store moved to the basement of the Pop/Rock store - the only one left after the mass consolidation of different genre stores a few years back. Since I really only look at classical, this is only walk in store left in London. I also buy from a few web based shops, a few based in London or nearby. I usually see Dave Parsons who runs classicalvinyl.com and also is a partner in the Electric Recording Co., but didn't see him on this trip. He generally has the best selection of old classical records - typically in very fine shape. Not cheap, but these are rare records.

Larry

Larry-Gramex and Harold Moores are gone? Or just need to make an appt?

[astrotoy]

Larry-Gramex and Harold Moores are gone? Or just need to make an appt?

Last time I was at Gramex (think they have moved from their old location in back of Waterloo Station, they were basically a CD shop, with some LP's in the basement. Very disappointing. Not sure whether Roger (the owner) is still alive. Harold Moores (a couple of years ago) still had some vinyl, but it was expensive and not in great shape. I haven't been back since.

Larry

[MylesBAstor]

Last time I was at Gramex (think they have moved from their old location in back of Waterloo Station, they were basically a CD shop, with some LP's in the basement. Very disappointing. Not sure whether Roger (the owner) is still alive. Harold Moores (a couple of years ago) still had some vinyl, but it was expensive and not in great shape. I haven't been back since.

Larry

Thanks for the update. Yes, last I heard Roger had moved the store. Loved the old Waterloo Station site there. Nearby was an old firehouse converted into a pub as well as another pub that was directly under the train track (conversely the train tracks were built on top of the pub). If you went to the pub especially at rush hour, the bar literally shook every time a train passed overhead. Lots of character!

Harold Moores was always overpriced and why I often visited Roger. He was/is such a character. He made me crazy though because he refused to ship any orders. He always -- at least back then -- had an incredible selection of vinyl at decent prices. That's where I picked up those single sided EMI reviewer copies (they were brought in by a former music reviewer for the London Times!)