After all, you're the only place on the High Street where I actually feel at home. I can walk around and look at music records and CD's and go "hmm, I have't heard that, I wonder if it's any good". Or then see another and go "yes, I like that one!" I kind of fit in, amongst the shop dwellers.
You see, I am not really warming to Internet shopping. I don't want to buy things off the Internet. I work all day long with computers. I am paid to look at a computer. The last thing I want to do is go on a computer when I am not at work. It's precisely the same reason why I haven't invested in a Kindle. Do I have to use a screen for everything now?
Music still is the one thing that I am trying to non computerise my life by. However, it seems I have little choice but to change with the times. I reluctantly joined Spotify last Autumn. And yet, while it is amazing that it seems every track from every album from all time is on there, I still can't bring myself to like it. It's just too convenient. If you download a track there's nothing to hold. If you download a track there's nothing to grasp and look at. If you download a track there's nothing to read whilst simultaneously listening to the CD and eating your breakfast.
I still rushed into HMV recently, to buy the latest Everything Everything album. I had been waiting months for that record to come out. On the day it appeared on shop shelves I purposely went all the way into town to pick up my copy. I know that I could have gone click, click, click on my mobile phone and I would have had the same thing; but somehow it doesn't feel the same. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to make the effort to go and buy it from the shop. It cost me £12. As always as a memory of my purchase I kept the sticker attached.
So, why this rush to buy the latest new music? I think it is because I like the idea of supporting the artist. I went out of my way on Monday morning to buy the latest release. It is, dare I say it, akin to a die-hard football supporter. If you love the football team, then you'll try to cheer them on at every match. In the same way, if you love the band, then you'll buy every record; the moment it is released. Or you'll try and see a show of theirs every time they play in your area. I am a sucker for this. But, I love some artists and I will go and see them again and again. This is only my view, of course. There are bands out there that I adore, and I would go and buy everything of theirs; just to show my appreciation. I never was a fan of illegal downloading. I wanted the bands I liked to earn money to make more music. My theory is that buying the physical record shows your support for your favourite musicians.
I have bought everything from Thomas Tantrum to Los Campesinos, in store. The knowing look I gave the till assistant when I handed over these obscure albums was one I mastered over the years. It was the "yes, I have good taste" face. In the case of the aforementioned artists, I got this all completely wrong. Incidentally, I have never played that Los Campesinos record. It sits in my collection completely untouched.
In the (now sadly defunct) Oxford Street branch opposite Bond Street tube station I have on two separate occasions bumped into Paul Weller. I followed him around, and whatever he picked up, I went and looked at. Do you think Paul Weller will now be going on-line to buy his music? It just all feels weird; this one click and it's yours malarkey. If HMV do go completely, there will be a huge amount of people completely at a loss with where to go on their Saturday afternoons. Other halves will now have to accompany their loved ones into the dreaded clothes shops. There is no alternative "I'll just be in HMV, love" escape from this now.
What was your first record that you went and purchased? I bought a CD single double of Girl all the Bad Guys Want by Bowling For Soup and Dreaming of You by The Coral in HMV Watford, circa 2001/2002. The first album I purchased was Is This It? by The Strokes. As a self conscious brace-wearing spotty teenager I blushed as I handed over the Strokes album to the assistant; what with the slightly racy cover picture.
Of course, my medium of music is the CD. I was too young for vinyl, and tapes were not quite my era either. CD's were in full swing in 2001; the year I bought my first. This format was something I became accustomed to.
There is always a little booklet of song lyrics (some artists reluctantly decide not to help you out here) with pictures and facts about the band. Sometimes it doesn't quite look so neat. In XTC's English Settlement the booklet of lyrics are so small that you need a magnifying glass. The translation from vinyl to CD hasn't quite worked. Yet, in the recent Madness album re-issues, there was a much neater little booklet accompanying each piece. On each album there was a little story in the booklet from esteemed folk like David Quantick and Phill Jupitus. It was really lovely to read words about cherished albums you love.
On The Jarvis Cocker Record by Jarvis Cocker there is a note that says "Remember! As always please do not read the words whilst listening to the recordings". On the Cure's outstanding 1989 album Disintegration, there is a note on the artwork that says, "This music has been mixed to be played loud, so turn it up".
The above albums that I have mentioned are pieces of art, and wouldn't be half as good without the artwork or the notes. For me, they are almost as important as the music.
But HMV aren't really helping themselves. It has turned into a supermarket in most of their stores. When you visualise a record shop, you depict the shop featured in the film High Fidelity (a must see film). Yet, HMV doesn't feel as intimate anymore. No one suddenly puts on a Beta Band record. I can't remember the last time someone in there recommended me a record. That is where independent retailers will succeed, and will live on. But, I live in a town where there are no independent music retailers. This isn't possible. HMV is my "only" local music outlet.
The one place on the High Street, which sells music in a physical format (besides the independent dealers) is HMV. Virgin, Zavvi, Tower, Our Price are just distant memories. Let us not be mourning the loss of another. I will visit HMV, until the sad day they say "no more". Let this be a long way off yet.
Viva la HMV.
Post script: HMV closed it's doors for the final time in Watford on Thursday 21st March 2013. End of an era.
