Record shops
London record shops: Our Price and others
Bookshops and record shops come and go in London - and that includes chains as well as independents. Let London-RIP tell you one such story. Once upon a time there was a chain of record shops called Harlequin Records. They were not very exciting, but they were what we had in them days. Then, in 1971, a man called Gary Nesbitt opened a shop called Tape Revolution in Swiss Cottage. This was devoted to selling that miracle of sound recording, the eight track, as well as cassettes. When it became clear that these were not the future of rock 'n' roll, Tape Revolution opted to sell the tried and trusted vinyl record, and changed the name of the by then shops to Our Price Records. Our Price did rather well and its owners were emboldened to buy the Harlequin chain. The new Our Price chain did jolly well and expanded.
Eventually, Our Price owned literally hundreds of stores. Every high street had one and they won a kind of affection, despite the uninspired name. Thirty or so years on, the chain was bought by Virgin. It was a high street fixture by then, as immutable as Boots or WH Smith (which it was actually owned by when Virgin purchased it). Virgin promptly turned a lot of the Our Price shops into V Shops, which seemed to operate on the peculiar assumption that when you went out to buy a CD, what you actually wanted to do was go on the Internet or buy a mobile phone. Most of the shops were soon bought by the bizarrely-named Sanity (big in Australia) which sold them in 2003. And it came to pass that they did close down. And today... the stores are no more and the record shop is no longer a fixture of every high street. Now, what was all that about?
London record shops: RIP Terrapin Trucking
We liked Terrapin Trucking in Crouch End. This was a specialist record shop, in this case stocking an eclectic collection of psychedelia and prog rockish stuff. Sounds grim, but it actually offered the chance to get to know some interesting music. They had a particularly good Grateful Dead CD and T shirt selection. The Dead aren't just for hippies, y'know.
London record shops: RIP Harum Records
Going somewhat futher back, we really loved Harum Records in Muswell Hill. In the late 70s this had the best punk selection imaginable. It was just a great shop, very friendly and unsnotty. Going there and then for something to eat at the St James cafe was a favourite London-RIP jaunt.
London record shops: RIP Rhythm Records
Rhythm Records was a mainstay of Camden Town for 20 years and used to be Honest Jon's before that moved to Portobello Road. This was where you went to get all your indie stuff and where musicians hung out, particularly during the Britpop era. RR's basement was a feature. It was dank and, well, basement-like with a spiral staircase going down. A good selection of second hand stuff too. Why not tell us about your favourite departed record shop? Contact London R.I.P
