Karl Miller wrote:

>However wonderful the service and prices...I miss the times when I
>could browse in a store and find wonderful things.  For me, browsing
>online isn't the same thing.  ...  I guess I am just an old guy
>thinking of the "good old days."

Well that makes two of us.  Everything you say rang a bell - well, not
the illegal tapes, I never found anywhere to get those.

If you are ever in London, visit Gramex somenumberorother nearWaterloo
station.  The place is run by a genuine eccentric: I still remember the
first time I visited his previous store - actually, no he's moved twice
since then - around 20 years ago.  It was over a chain "record store" -
closed, as it was Saturday and this was near the City of London which,
in those days, was also closed on Sats - and I walked up a flight of
stairs towards a notice which read:

~    NO RIFF-RAFF

walking through the door, I found myself in a largish room, with LPs
shelves of covering every available foot of wall.  In the centre of the
room was a coffee table and a couple of armchairs.  People sat, stood
around.  There was nobody obviously in charge, no cash register.  One
of the fellows seated in an armchair was reading Spycatcher (what WAS
the name of the author) which, at that time, was banned in Britain for
reasons of "national security".

Searching through the LPs I discovered that, apart from broad categories
- 'concertos', 'orchestral' - the stock wasn't in any order at all.  I
asked the owner - when I eventually figured out who it was - why and he
said that it meant you had to search through everything to find what you
were looking for and that way you were much more likely to buy other
stuff along the way.

His attitude towards his customers was extroardinary ("my competitors
hate me for it"): if there was anything wrong (this was 2nd-hand LPs
mind) bring it back; if you got home and found you'd already got what
you'd just bought - and I discovered later that this was less funny
that it sounds - bring it back.

He is an amazingly opinionated man, who only really likes opera and
doesn't care for either Mozart or Wagner.  He once told me his ambition
was to own a copy of every vocal recording ever made.  He stocks - or
certainly used to - 78s and even cylinders as well as LPs and, more
recently, CDs.

A couple of years later I took a friend down to the store - by this
time the sign had "NO GLENN GOULD" appended, although it wasn't true -
who found a number of things he couldn't live without.  Unfortunately
I'd forgotten to warn him that Roger (store owner) didn't take credit
cards - he also, in those days as he didn't qualify for VAT, gave you a
discount "if I like you".  Nor did he have his check (cheque) book with
him.  I offered to pay and he could settle up with me later.

Then Roger said the words I'll never forget - and remember, my friend
had *never* been in the store before, moreover he lived more than 50
miles out of London - "that's OK, you can pay me next time you come
in"....

My favourite used record store, bar none.

Deryk Barker <[log in to unmask]>