Just think: kids being born today will probably never see the inside of a record store. And why would they? Buying music used to involve wandering around a store browsing, picking things up based on cover art, putting them down based on scornful glares from record store employees, and generally being outside your house. Now, buying music usually amounts to nothing more than a click of the mouse from the safety of your couch. So we were filled with nostalgia and warm feelings when we saw this series of vintage photographs of British record store HMV in the 1960s over at Vice. The rows of records! The milling consumers! The record players! That was the life. Click through to see how much things have changed, and then head over to Voices of East Anglia to see even more photographs from the series.
Comments (23)
These are British, I’d guess. My record stores were never this posh.
I own a record store in a town (Atlanta) with more than a dozen independent stores operating today. My granddaughter is growing up in a record store, so the opening line in this article applies to some towns, but NOT this one.
When I was growing up in Queens in the 1960s, there was a small independent store in my neighborhood. I think it was called Carl’s. The 45s were arranged in wooden cabinets. The owner would play you the 45 if you were interested. And after you’d bought a certain amount of 45s, you got a free one. He recorded each purchase you made in a thick volume that looked like a bank ledger.
Whoa! I always thought that HMV stood for “Her Majesty Victoria”! Thanks for clarifying that.
[...] and then head over to Voices of East Anglia to see even more photographs from the series. Flavorwire Posted as a headline on September 26, 2011Tags: 1960, buying music, Design, hmv, mp3, Music, [...]
Never mind the 60s. Tower Records looked like that in the 90s!
More people would see this story if you fixed the link from the homepage. Not working for me – just goes to a directory listing. This happens a lot it seems.
Thankfully in San Francisco we still have a bunch of record stores that look a lot like these – including the turntables to listen to a platter before buying it…
record stores do look like this today, minus the fancy clothing and huge stock. misinformation is the drowning of the nation.
Dia Hakinna is dope!
In fifty years people will look back like this at Apple stores, you can be sure.
I spent my youth in the 80s working at San Francisco independent music stores…good times!
Salivating…
Lovely, isn’t it? Though we wouldn’t want it back. I bet everyone itched in those clothes.
It is British, it’s HMV on Oxford Street somewhere around 1967-8. IIRC it’s the branch that preceded the current one. These photos first appeared on Flickr and there was some discussion about dates.
My idea of a perfect day would have to include rifling through a store like this. The amount of loved ones I upset over the years waiting while I fed my habit……
Would love to know names of shops and locations.
Though I love all the pictures there are 3 stores here in Austin, Texas that look just like these pictures; Waterloo Records, Backspin and Antones’, They are wonderful to go into and the staff in all three are knowledgeable. friendly and helpful. clicking a button is all well and good, but there is nothing like going into a record store and leafing through the albums.
and obviously Sonya, each store gets its own comment :)
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a record store that had a whole wall of sheet music.
I feel very fortunate to live near one of the best record stores in the U.S., Amoeba in Hollywood, CA. I love the nostalgia and rich history in this post, but I think it’s important to note record stores are far from dead. I sincerely hope that, out of the kids that are born today, a good amount will discover the true joy of “hunting” for vinyl.
[...] In the tweet it had a link to a cool article on what Record Stores looked like in the 60’s. http://flavorwire.com/213146/what-record-stores-looked-like-in-the-1960s Check it [...]
[...] Just think: kids being born today will probably never see the inside of a record store. And why would they? Buying music used to involve wandering around a store browsing, picking things up based on cover art, putting them down based on scornful glares from record store employees, and generally being outside your house. Now, buying music usually amounts to nothing more than a click of the mouse from the safety of your couch. So we were filled with nostalgia and warm feelings when we saw this series of vintage photographs of British record store HMV in the 1960s over at Vice. The rows of records! The milling consumers! The record players! That was the life. Click through to see how much things have changed, and then head over to Voices of East Anglia to see even more photographs from the series. By Emily Temple, posted at flavorwire.com. [...]
Harmony House in Michigan. One of the BEST!
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