WHSmith have announced the return of Vinyl to their stores
www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/whsmit...me-in-three-decades/

Interesting, however though I can't a see wide selection.

When they sold they had CD's alot were from budget some good and some crap but they were nothing outstanding. I have heard that vinyl is very expensive is due to having only a small number of pressing plants worldwide.

From my experience, I see people pick up about 2-3 LPs at a time as they are on promo or on sale. I don't buy new vinyl. I do buy new CD's due because they are cheaper, I don't fall for hype. The price of 2 vinyl in HMV for example is a price of a good handful of CDs.

How many people can remmeber when they last bought a vinyl record in WHSmith? Well I can actually do this.

21st December 1987 to be exact.

I bought the entire top ten singles that week for a Christmas gift, half of them were cover versions and quite annoying that the week included two versions of the same song, When I Fall In Love by the original Nat King Cole at 7 and Rick Astley's one at 4. But it was a decent selection otherwise, Pet Shop Boys with the No1 Always On My Mind, the Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's Fairytale Of New York at 2, Mel (Smith) & Kim (Wilde) at 3 with Rockin Around The Christmas Tree, Alison Moyet Love Letters at 5, Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel at 6, future and former number ones at 8 and 9, Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth and T'Pau's China In Your Hand and finished off with Shaky's last proper top ten vinyl physical hit What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For at No10.

I handed the whole list to the assistant to go and get for me. You had to wait at a desk and could not go and select the vinyl yourself unlike in other places like Woolies or record stores. I'm not sure why I chose to buy the records in WHSmith of all places, that was not somewhere I normally did this, maybe it was they were cheaper there, I can't remember. I think it cost me about £15, so that would be £1.50p per single in 1987 then.

The last record I ever bought anywhere on vinyl was the top ten 90's comeback hit and twelve inch single of Jump They Say by David Bowie in March 1993.

I remember when Boots sold records, I think they stockists for MFP and chart music from memory.

I think people were ashamed of buying MFP but they loved the price tags.

I stopped buying vinyl (or records as we called them) in the late 80s, moving to cassettes for some reason, and then I finally got a cd player in 1994.
At my local WH Smith you could select the singles from the rack and take them to the cashier which I did often. Back in the 90s and probably into the early 00s you could buy CDs, records, and videos from WH Smiths, boots, woolies, and of course all the chain record shops that still existed, like HMV (still going), Virgin records, Our Price, and Tower records. Shopping was a much more enjoyable experience in those days, so much more choice. I think the rise in people buying vinyl records again is down to Instagram and the artwork being more instagrammable. As I've said here before 40% of people that buy vinyl records don't have records players. Also for those that do have record players the experience is more mindful. The ceremony of putting the record on the deck, then putting the needle on the record and watch it move along the record

Robbie you are quite correct. As a teenager in the 80's I remember the whole experience of buying the record, the pleasure of bringing it home for the first time and sticking it on my parents turntable ready for the first play, even the strong smell it gave off too, and then slotting it back into its sleeve and adding it as a new friend to the collection, not just of my records but also to those of my parents with theirs from the late 50s through the sixties when they were my age. The music might have changed drastically by the 80s but we were still listening to it in exactly the same way as our parents and even some grandparents decades earlier.

Tapes, my brother started buying tape cassette singles. I was disgusted by the thought of that. No way would I do that. Albums only. Never thought singles suited or were right for the cassette format.

robbiex wrote:
I stopped buying vinyl (or records as we called them) in the late 80s, moving to cassettes for some reason, and then I finally got a cd player in 1994.
At my local WH Smith you could select the singles from the rack and take them to the cashier which I did often. Back in the 90s and probably into the early 00s you could buy CDs, records, and videos from WH Smiths, boots, woolies, and of course all the chain record shops that still existed, like HMV (still going), Virgin records, Our Price, and Tower records. Shopping was a much more enjoyable experience in those days, so much more choice. I think the rise in people buying vinyl records again is down to Instagram and the artwork being more instagrammable. As I've said here before 40% of people that buy vinyl records don't have records players. Also for those that do have record players the experience is more mindful. The ceremony of putting the record on the deck, then putting the needle on the record and watch it move along the record

I agree there Robbie, I have never bought singles apart from Genesis and the Maxi singles for Calling All Stations. The ceremony of pulling out a record out of sleeve, placing the record on the turntable and moving the tone and lowering the needle is not what I call a thrill, like some people say it is. There is still issues with new vinyl, people have bought new records that are warped, I love the RCA heavy and flex records, being in to Americana music RCA is one of my favourite label along with Mercury. People never mention the inner distoration grooves at the end of the records, which could make the whole song muddy or disorted.

Warner Bros were hit and miss and some are very crap pressings. I think it was Tusk or Rumours by Fleetwood Mac that had skipping issues like the first Glitter Band album on Bell Records. Trojan had some great records but their releases were done on the cheap on crappy recycled plastic.

I have seen a few people online framing records that are not even rare or special but like the artwork, I find it tacky to be honest. Picture discs were not always great, so most of us framed them after a few plays.

Our Price was great because they had budget albums from Germany and at cheap prices and MVC got a lot of bankrupt stock and returns from other stores. There was something to find. HMV is expensive, getting stuff from the record labels website can be much cheaper.

What stores? They closed most of them.

Rich wrote:
Robbie you are quite correct. As a teenager in the 80's I remember the whole experience of buying the record, the pleasure of bringing it home for the first time and sticking it on my parents turntable ready for the first play, even the strong smell it gave off too, and then slotting it back into its sleeve and adding it as a new friend to the collection, not just of my records but also to those of my parents with theirs from the late 50s through the sixties when they were my age. The music might have changed drastically by the 80s but we were still listening to it in exactly the same way as our parents and even some grandparents decades earlier.

Tapes, my brother started buying tape cassette singles. I was disgusted by the thought of that. No way would I do that. Albums only. Never thought singles suited or were right for the cassette format.

I never understood singles, to be honest, there was enough space on CD's to fit single edits etc. I only collected Genesis singles and KISS picture discs.

Tapes were a dodgy format but they were cheaper, people talk about Walkman's and other portable tape players. You were lucky to listen to one or 2 cassettes before the batteries crapped out. Discman's were better and more battery-friendly, it's was not easy squeezing CDs into your pockets.

Sadly we put tape in the cassette players without cleaning the heads a great deal, and both the players and tapes collected dust from lying around in bedrooms or in the cars without us thinking too much about it.

I did buy a load of tapes on a whim at a car boot, it was a job lot. Out of 200 odd, I say only 20 played without muted distortions, wobbles or loud hisses. I did compare my early Dire Straits CDs the ones that were not remastered to the tape version, the CD still had a crispier sound.

Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

The Post Offices keep a lof of the WhSmith's going.


They are overpriced and their book selections are small, everything else has to be ordered. I have had much look ordering in store, the staff has either ordered the wrong book or they didn't order the book it all but still took the money.

Getting refund still takes several days to get back.

Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

robbiex wrote:
Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

Do you live in Cranleigh, Robbie? Lucky you, it is lovely.
I am glad that Smiths are stocking vinyl, or stocking anything, come to that. Hopefully it will be a success for them.

We have got a couple of good independent bookshops locally, and I have always thought they have missed a trick by not selling vinyl, because it appeals to the same sort of customer.

I did pop into my nearest HMV after this work this afternoon.

Vinyl has come down a bit, there is sale 3 LPs for £55 or so, still expensive IMHO. No doubt they still sound the same as the CDs.

WHSmith need to try and compete with prices, which is not easy. I have heard there is only a small number of vinyl pressing plants worldwide.

Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

Do you live in Cranleigh, Robbie? Lucky you, it is lovely.
I am glad that Smiths are stocking vinyl, or stocking anything, come to that. Hopefully it will be a success for them.

We have got a couple of good independent bookshops locally, and I have always thought they have missed a trick by not selling vinyl, because it appeals to the same sort of customer.

I don't think its that lovely. There are 3 grotty pubs that I never go in, there is no train station (Dr Beeching closed it) and not many nice independent shops. Most of the people are up themselves. It takes 2 hours to get to central London by public transport if you're lucky. 35 mins on bus to Guildford then 35 mins to train + 20 mins on the tube + waiting times

When my partner and I went to Surrey to get a vehicle, we drove through Cranleigh. Our first thought was that it was another "transport trap."

I do see a lot of railway lines and track beds when I hike. It's a shame, the UK would probably have had the best rail networks in Europe if it was not due to cuts. Everything was connected, even people living in the most remote villages could go to London or Manchester.

I think Surrey lost a lot of its rail network like the rural parts of West Country, Hants, Wiltshire and Kent.

When Dr Beeching was closing the rail network, Japan was upgrading its trains and network, even developing the concept and prototype of the Bullet Train.

The UK has always been behind the times.

Back to music.

I have noticed prices are different from HMV to online. It's cheaper online for the same exact same albums. It does need looking in to. Some staff in HMV are very knowledgeable some only know newer music. I am not sure WHSmith will have staff like that.

Just don't ask HMV about Marvin Rainwater or Red Foley.

robbiex wrote:
Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

Do you live in Cranleigh, Robbie? Lucky you, it is lovely.
I am glad that Smiths are stocking vinyl, or stocking anything, come to that. Hopefully it will be a success for them.

We have got a couple of good independent bookshops locally, and I have always thought they have missed a trick by not selling vinyl, because it appeals to the same sort of customer.

I don't think its that lovely. There are 3 grotty pubs that I never go in, there is no train station (Dr Beeching closed it) and not many nice independent shops. Most of the people are up themselves. It takes 2 hours to get to central London by public transport if you're lucky. 35 mins on bus to Guildford then 35 mins to train + 20 mins on the tube + waiting times

I can get to London in two and a quarter hours from Lime St, so that sounds a pain in the neck for you.

Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

Do you live in Cranleigh, Robbie? Lucky you, it is lovely.
I am glad that Smiths are stocking vinyl, or stocking anything, come to that. Hopefully it will be a success for them.

We have got a couple of good independent bookshops locally, and I have always thought they have missed a trick by not selling vinyl, because it appeals to the same sort of customer.

I don't think its that lovely. There are 3 grotty pubs that I never go in, there is no train station (Dr Beeching closed it) and not many nice independent shops. Most of the people are up themselves. It takes 2 hours to get to central London by public transport if you're lucky. 35 mins on bus to Guildford then 35 mins to train + 20 mins on the tube + waiting times

I can get to London in two and a quarter hours from Lime St, so that sounds a pain in the neck for you.

My sister lives in Cheshire, and she said that I'm lucky to live so close to St Pancras so that I can get to France by Train. The fact is that it is virtually the same time for her to come from Macclesfield to London (< 2 hours) and then a short walk from Euston to St Pancras.

robbiex wrote:
Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Honey wrote:
robbiex wrote:
Rich wrote:
Honey wrote:
What stores? They closed most of them.


I must admit that I thought WHSmith was one of those stores that would have been among the big names that have vanished in the past 15 years but I am pleased it hangs on, although our big store near me used to be two floors and is now just a single floor and smaller on that floor too. They have some small stores on railway stations that just rip people off with over pricing and deserve to be boycotted in those locations.



Green Man - I was still recording music and radio shows onto C90 cassette tapes until as recently as 2002. I can't believe it now. All these cassettes are now taking up a lot of cupboard space, but I couldn't get rid. I attempted to digitise some a few years back but was disappointed by the quality of so many and it took ages to do in real time.

Its only the airports and train stations that keep WH Smiths afloat. The vast majority of their income comes from these locations, the rest barely break even and are just to keep the brand presence. The one in our village of Cranleigh only opened about 8 years ago and only seems to have a smattering of customers. However its still good that they open new stores fairly recently.

I can see the appeal of singles. If you like a record, then why should you have to buy 8 or 9 other tracks that you don't necessarily like. Many groups are purely singles groups, and outside of their singles they have few good tracks. I got the Police greatest which includes all singles and a few album tracks. The album tracks aren't great (Tea in the Sahara, the beds too big without you). The same with Abba, there is very little outside of the singles. Then you have the 12inch singles, extended play and extra tracks. Duran Duran always gave good value on their singles. Their b-sides were new tracks not on any album, whereas Japan had some 12" singles which were exactly the same as the 7", which is a rip-off, as they were twice the price.

Do you live in Cranleigh, Robbie? Lucky you, it is lovely.
I am glad that Smiths are stocking vinyl, or stocking anything, come to that. Hopefully it will be a success for them.

We have got a couple of good independent bookshops locally, and I have always thought they have missed a trick by not selling vinyl, because it appeals to the same sort of customer.

I don't think its that lovely. There are 3 grotty pubs that I never go in, there is no train station (Dr Beeching closed it) and not many nice independent shops. Most of the people are up themselves. It takes 2 hours to get to central London by public transport if you're lucky. 35 mins on bus to Guildford then 35 mins to train + 20 mins on the tube + waiting times

I can get to London in two and a quarter hours from Lime St, so that sounds a pain in the neck for you.

My sister lives in Cheshire, and she said that I'm lucky to live so close to St Pancras so that I can get to France by Train. The fact is that it is virtually the same time for her to come from Macclesfield to London (< 2 hours) and then a short walk from Euston to St Pancras.


So you have a choice of banal UK or banal France. To be fair I do like the South of France - then you have more of a language barrier to deal with. If you are not fluent you are ignored even if you try your best.

A bit like Hungary the major cities the locals will have a decent knowledge of English until you go to the smaller rural areas or market towns. Then good luck to you. Hungarian is not easy to learn IMHO, I think the only time I returned home early from a holiday after a few days.
I did find it so unwelcoming.

The easiest Language for me to pick up was Latvian.

The people are upbeat over there. Even if you can't speak Latvian well they will congratulate you for trying.

Latvia does have a bit of a rock scene there, worth checking in if you are into that.