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Fopp Closing


Stephen

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was that the "industrial specialist" near the art school, off the grass market?

I got all my best "underground" stuff in there...they always had a massive TG, Swans, EN, Psychic TV, Coil etc section...

I picked up a lot of (at the time) rare Skinny puppy stuff there.

Vinyl villans (leith) is still worth a visit, but no where near the quality of records they used to have (92 - 95)...I got all my butthole surfers lp's in there, for buttons.

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Guest Jake Wifebeater
Vinyl villans (leith) is still worth a visit, but no where near the quality of records they used to have (92 - 95)...I got all my butthole surfers lp's in there, for buttons.

Good call, Vinyl Villains is always worth a rake when you're down in 'Bugger.

And on the subject of old local record shops, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Flying Pig on Hutcheon Street, it was open for a few years, shut in '94 or '95, I think.

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Guest Steven Dedalus

I miss the old manager of One Up. You know, the really handsome Northern Irish one?

Oh yeah, that was me.

In all seriousness, having had the experience of working in both One Up and FOPP, I am really saddened to think that it may not be there for much longer. We don't get FOPP in Northern ireland anyway, and this situation is probably indicitive of the entire world of music retail. It ain't gonna be around forever, you know (certainly not in any recognisable form). Fopp was a great company in a lot of respects (if one is to ignore a lot of the bullshit that surrounds such a job), and it was good to see a corporate chain of music stores that actually had a degree of respect for the customer. Fopp's racks were always well stocked, and the selection was impressive.

Over here in Belfast, we don't really have ANY independant music stores at all (at least none to speak of) and I am fed up with being insulted by the service and stock of HMV and Virgin. Without wishing to sound like an old curmudgeon, treasure what you got in terms of music stores, you'd miss it if it was gone.

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And on the subject of old local record shops, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Flying Pig on Hutcheon Street, it was open for a few years, shut in '94 or '95, I think.

I mentioned it earlier, but couldn't remember the name...thanks for that!

Also worth a mention is the 'Pop Inn' at Torry:up:

Anyone else remember the old mannie (bald, tall, weird) at Bruce Miller's on George St who knew the catalogue numbers of all the records by heart? I should recall his name, because a mate used to work there, but it escapes me.

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I mentioned it earlier, but couldn't remember the name...thanks for that!

Also worth a mention is the 'Pop Inn' at Torry:up:

Anyone else remember the old mannie (bald, tall, weird) at Bruce Miller's on George St who knew the catalogue numbers of all the records by heart? I should recall his name, because a mate used to work there, but it escapes me.

Who needs shops when you have norman records?

Norman Records UK | vinyl and CDs | specialist independent music store

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Yeah...I've bought stuff from Norman's before, but you can't just pop in for a browse and a natter.

That Adrian Crowley single (on the norman's website)is a cracker...Offramp kindly gave me a copy a few days ago.

I don't go in much for internet orders, due to not having a credit card, but this place caters to my specific tastes/mail order needs very well ...

boa melody bar

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And of course, HMV and Virgin will just bump their prices in the face of reduced competition.

Unlikely as their main competitors are surely the internet (for back catalogue) and the super markets for chart (whatever that constitutes these days).

Whether we like it or not the days of the big 'record' shop are over. Good bye mass market hello niche.

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Guest DustyDeviada
Anyone else remember the old mannie (bald, tall, weird)

Thought you could have been meaning me for a minute until I remembered that Bruce Millers has always been on Union Street as far as I'm concerned.

Noticed on the news today that HMV isn't doing too well either, still in the black but making just 2.5p profit on every pound they take in. Can't say I'm surprised, only time I buy from them is when they have sales on or I'm desperate for a present for somebody and don't have time to order off the internet.

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Fopp aren't the only music retailer struggling these days:

BBC NEWS | Business | HMV struggles in 'severe' market

The fact is that the writing is on the wall for high-street music stores now. Why go to these stores and buy music, books and DVDs when you can get the same things for cheaper when you buy your groceries in the supermarket or download them from the Internet? Your Virgins, HMVs and Fopps will all be but a memory in 5 years time or so I reckon.

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Guest Steven Dedalus

It's definately all in a bad state. I seem to recall Virgin ALWAYS having difficulties, but with the way things are going and the prices we're being charged, I'm frankly not surprised the industry is in trouble.

Dare I say it, could part of the problem be, perhaps, that there have been almost NO good albums released that have made any sort of impact on the record buying public? Could it be the case that record sales are falling in part due to the lack of good albums?

(and by that, I'm not implying that no good music has been released, but instead that there hasn't been anything that has impacted upon the general record buying public and captured their attention, a la Nirvana in '91, Oasis in '94, or the Darkness a few years ago. If you look into it, people have been predicting the death of the music industry since the 80s, but it keeps lurching on, one step at a time. Maybe this time it's actually dead?)

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Guest Tam o' Shantie

Arctic Monkeys? Razorlight? Killers? surely these are bands selling millions of albums, and I would have thought the nation's new obsession with 'Indie' music would be doing a lot of good for singles at the very least.

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Guest DustyDeviada

Yeah, there are still loads of albums being sold. Take a look at sales figures for the likes of James Blunt or Snow Patrol, they are scary. The difference is they are being bought by housewives who stick them into their trolley at Asda or Tescos at 9.99 a pop.

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