HMV goes into administration for the second time in 6 years

EcosseMackem said:
I worked there and shopped there.
The only shop in Newcastle that came close to HMV was ListenEar/ Volume

They had every Indie release weeks before Virgin and Callers only bothered if something got to the lower reaches of the chart

I can only your “tripe” assertion is based on the Sunderland store
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I can't speak for HMV but I worked at Callers for five years and don't think we were behind the 8 ball at any time...and well ahead of it on club stuff, but it was quite a while back Equally I'm not that sure about Listen Ear - whenever I went in it seemed to be full of photocopied fanzines and kids asking for Stiff Little Fingers stuff*.

However, what a shame it's no longer possible to spend half a day mooching around looking for bargains...Alderson and Brentnall on Northumberland Street used to be good for that sometimes.


*I exaggerate slightly for effect but you know I'm right
 


EcosseMackem said:
I worked there and shopped there.
The only shop in Newcastle that came close to HMV was ListenEar/ Volume

They had every Indie release weeks before Virgin and Callers only bothered if something got to the lower reaches of the chart

I can only your “tripe” assertion is based on the Sunderland store which was set up for chart music and heavy metal but didn’t really cater for a true music lover


The thing is though back on the day, that’s exactly how it played out - by the time an album comes out now, a fan has heard every track.
Album releases were a a big event - if you were right into a band, it was a bunk off school or work and as most albums were released on a Friday in my day , you often did listen to an album non-stop all weekend

Buying records was a rite of passage for many people


Absolutely this 100%
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How strange. Not a criticism, just seems weird.
 
The Man The Legend said:
I can't speak for HMV but I worked at Callers for five years and don't think we were behind the 8 ball at any time...and well ahead of it on club stuff, but it was quite a while back Equally I'm not that sure about Listen Ear - whenever I went in it seemed to be full of photocopied fanzines and kids asking for Stiff Little Fingers stuff*.

However, what a shame it's no longer possible to spend half a day mooching around looking for bargains...Alderson and Brentnall on Northumberland Street used to be good for that sometimes.


*I exaggerate slightly for effect but you know I'm right
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Fair play to you if you worked there, but I can never remember buying anything unusual or offbeat from Callers - it was great for buying discounted new release albums but I can't ever remember buying anything other than new releases from there
HMV had a dedicated import section in 1980, around the same time they set up a section dedicated to Indie/Alternative ( no-one called it Post-Punk in 1980 )
Virgin was the natural home for everything Heavy Metal at that time and was where most of the long haired lot used to congregate
Listen Ear was marginally more fun than HMV because the guys who owned it were very much into the dying embers of punk and post-punk and would do their best to preach to the unconverted
I probably bought 90% of my import collection from HMV
50/50 split on my singles HMV/Listen Ear
Most of my mainstream albums came from Callers or Windows

I can't remember Alderson and Brentnall still selling records by that time to be honest but I can imagine it being a similar experience to Windows or Savilles in South Shields

But by 84-85 Volume was the only decent shop in Newcastle in my opinion
 
chunkylover53 said:
Did you not grow up listening to music?
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By the time I was old enough to have any kind of musical taste, the age of downloading songs was already upon us. I never had the money for CDs and such. Only ever had a handful of my own.

I remember downloading a Green Day song when I was about 12/13 that took about 2hrs on dial up though...
 
Shame, I usually go in here and buy a few blu-rays on payday.

Now I'll have to go elsewhere for them, pathetic.
 
EcosseMackem said:
Fair play to you if you worked there, but I can never remember buying anything unusual or offbeat from Callers - it was great for buying discounted new release albums but I can't ever remember buying anything other than new releases from there
HMV had a dedicated import section in 1980, around the same time they set up a section dedicated to Indie/Alternative ( no-one called it Post-Punk in 1980 )
Virgin was the natural home for everything Heavy Metal at that time and was where most of the long haired lot used to congregate
Listen Ear was marginally more fun than HMV because the guys who owned it were very much into the dying embers of punk and post-punk and would do their best to preach to the unconverted
I probably bought 90% of my import collection from HMV
50/50 split on my singles HMV/Listen Ear
Most of my mainstream albums came from Callers or Windows

I can't remember Alderson and Brentnall still selling records by that time to be honest but I can imagine it being a similar experience to Windows or Savilles in South Shields

But by 84-85 Volume was the only decent shop in Newcastle in my opinion
Click to expand...

I remember JG Windows used to have those £1 off stickers which meant you were paying £3.99 for new release vinyl but Callers used to undercut them and charge £3.98.:D

Volume used to be a regular haunt for me in the early 80s.I remember there was the boss called Andy who was a canny bloke and a young lad with a Fu Manchu type pigtail who would crack on all day about music and not mind if you didn't buy anything and then finally an almost stereotypical snobby Mr Record Shop Man who would look down his nose at any purchase made that wasn't Van Der Graaf Generator or John Cage.:eek:
 

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