It's 1974 you just heard that such-and-such album is being released, you have a few bob (usually around £1.50/2.00 for an LP) in your pocket.

In ye olde Birkenhead there were two immediate places you may go, either Skeleton or Rox Records, but darn it they are closed on the very day you are itching to get that LP. Name the third place you could go to pick up that sought after album.

Woollies?

Nope, their album range was pretty limited as I recall, unless you were into Top Of The Pops, Jim Reeves, or Max Byegraves, tended to be big on singles.

Wasn't there a stall in Birkendead Market?

You may well be right on that, but not the answer, plus the market stall would not have had the most recent releases at that time, as shops tended to be the sole outlet.

did Rushworths top end Grange RD sell records - earlier than 1970s though

Great shout, had forgotten Rishworth's but in terms of selection there was another one that would, more than 'Rushies' have likely had the album you wanted, Not that you would think so from the exterior (hint hint)

Rushworths sold records and had listening booths, also the coop had a record sales area, i think.

upstairs at wh smiths

Wasn't Woolies the Embassy record label ??

Stall by the entrance in the corner of the old Market always had the latest releases, I used to be fortunate enough to get records off them at cost. Brilliant shop.

Yeah, Erainn. So there!!!

What was the shop in Grange Rd West ? Was that Rushworths.
Not only could you get records but also pre-recorded reel-to-reel recordings, if you can remember them !!
Also there was a shop up there were you could rent 8mm / 16mm films in the days before video. Maybe that was Rushworths

There were also James Mackenzie in Grange Road West and Ryalls & Jones, taken over by Rushworths, probably well before WW2!

Steady old bean folks may think this is all becoming a tad personal on your part, whereas I know it's your infectuous sense of humour

Is that so? Obviously a gem undiscovered on my part in the early 1970s.

Great shout not the one I was thinking of.

Rushworths was at the top of Grange Rd, i can remember my Dad having a reel to reel tape recorder, made by Waltzer i think or something like that.

I always used Reaction Records in New Brighton and they opened on Sundays too !

terra incognito

Rushworths within Robbs?
Not sure when grangey was redeveloped but Rumbelows opposite present Tj`s must have appeared around this time and not forgetting Grandfare(old TJs site) and Beatties?
Also Bargain Box Records on borough pavement towards St Werburghs square.

I think Honest Jeffs in the Market was probably post 74

That would explain why I had no idea of that stall You quote some great options there.

Which market was 'Honest Jeff's' located, old or the replacement?

Phoenix Records?
The only problem with the Market then was it was only open 2 days a week, Wednesday and Saturday. So unlikely to get a record on the day of release as they were usually released on a Tuesday. Don't ask me why.

Precisely, and still unsure if the Market, prior to it burning down on 9th November 1974, had a record stall, as you say also opening times would not have helped. Phoenix Records sounds familiar, where was that located?

Honest Jeffs was in the "new" market

Thanks for that, had a feeling it was, options pre-the new market, for buying albums usually involved a favoured few places.

i used to use damart in upton village but think there was one in birkenhead too.

Strother's in Liscard and Rox records in Liscard market!

That would have been a Walter, pioneer manufacturer in the '50-'60s.

Thanks Bri, always got in to trouble for going from fast forward to reverse to quick and the tape would unwind and mangle.

Ad from the Birkenhead Official Guide for 1951

I used to go to Rumbelows . .. either Moreton or Liscard

Did Beatties have a record dept ?

when i moved in here the attic had boxes of 8 tracks, dad took them all.

grange road west where the red cross is now on the corner the old halfords you can see the old sign

It certainly did, along with a number of record booths

In the place that became the sports barn on the Woodchurch. They used to sell all the old juke box singles.

But back to the OP's original question, I would take the ferry or train and go to Virgin on Bold Street.

i reckon it was in the basement of the coop which is now tk max and which was living .(grange road )
am i right

Wow! good call, was there a record's section in the Co-op? Trying to recall, the stairs were on the left as you went in the entrance???

thats correct and i remember buying ball park incident (wizzard )in there and there was a chart and that was top of the charts . old fart ????????

Wizzard eh? Was it around Xmas time?

Late 70s and 80s My dad had mini records on polton road seacome. And for them that never had much money He use to let you pay weekly for there records..

Seeds on Market Street

Was that there in 1974?

There was a small independent record shop on Grange Rd roughly opposite the Co-op but I can't remember it's name for the life of me

really? at that time?

Dunno, but it's where I would have gone it it was and I was old enough.

Yes definitely.
On racking what's left of my brains a bit further, I reckon it was a bit further up, possibly opposite where Waterstones is.
I can remember they sold posters and other stuff like badges and the sew on patches that were so popular at the time.
Believe it or not, in the early 70's Boots (opposite Woolies) had a good selection of records. I remember buying Bowie's Aladdin Sane when it came out in 73 for a whole £1.99 !
In 1978 there was also a record shop further down right opposite the Co-op where I bought Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" on 12" vinyl. Can't remember the name of that shop either

Clearly the early 70s had a corrosive impact upon the brain cells of untold numbers of folks in Birkenhead I have no recall of any such shop, lies down in darkened room and regresses

How many of you used to take your latest LP's into school to show off to your mates?

There always seemed to be a group of kids who walked around with their LP's permanently glued beneath their armpits! Usually the latest by Yes, or Jethro Tull, or Camel.

Also remember people painting the flaps of their canvas haversacks with the names of their favourite bands.

Didn't there used to be a Rox records at Moreton Cross as well? Such a shame the smaller independant retailers got pushed to the wall by chains like Virgin Megastore, HMV and Our Price, who then in turn felt the squeeze from supermarkets and the internet.

I went into HMV in Birkenhead the other month and, after wondering round looking confused for about ten minutes, asked the assistant where the reggae CD's where. He directed me to the right spot and it's no wonder I couldn't find it.. it consisted of no more than a dozen albums... of which more than half were Bob Marley. The retailers left on the high street it seems can't or won't stock a diversity of music and instead concentrate on chart acts to try and shift units, in amongst DVD's, video games, consumer electronics, books, clothes, posters, chocolate bars & soft drinks and even umbrellas FFS, (no it wasn't a Rihanna promo item!). No wonder there's not enough room to stock music... and no wonder they're going to end up out of business. Their economic model and desperate chase of profit has gotten in the way of supplying actual recorded music.

Online sales may well count for the vast majority of music purchased in the future but I just wish they'd hurry up and adopt a better quality format than MP3. Something at least comparable to CD audio would be nice, but quality as good as vinyl or analogue tape masters must be the eventual goal.

I'm the sort of person who still likes to physically own an album, read the cover notes and put it on my shelf but I'm sure future generations will feel no such need to collect.

Ooo, whats that noise? I think the postie has just delivered me some more ebay 99p CD bounty. Hurrah! That'll get me down of the soapbox.

Yer there was a rox in moreton. First by where sayers is now (upton rd) and then opposite the Big House.

Totally agree, Shambo. That's kind of the point I was making before about how people used to carry their LP's into school with them, full of pride and eager to preach the virtues of their favourite bands with their buddies.

I miss reading all the album notes, and the song lyrics. We've also lost all that fantastic art work that went into so many albums.

And as for your point about Reggae, I'm surprised they didn't have those cd's classified under "World Music".

There was probe and pink moon in liverpool, but i think pink moon was late 70s early 80s. Then there was Ram records in Liscard. I remeber the basement record department in Tj hughes birkenhead used to be really good too.

I bought my first single at Simpson's Spin-Inn (I think it was called) in 1971 . As I recall , they were at the top of Market Street (Argyle St end) and distinctly remember having the p*** taken out of me regarding my musical taste.Admittedly,the record was Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep but I was only 11 and thought it was the greatest record of all time.Within a couple of years though, I was painting my rucksack with the Yes logo and taking Pink Floyd and Led Zep albums into school. We may have gained a lot with sound quality and durability with CDs but there was something about the old LP covers - they were works of art in themselves.
I remember Rushworth's and Mckenzies in Birkenhead - both very good record shops and like Rox , independent dealers.There was also another independent shop in Liscard in the 70s-I can't remember the name - Music Box or Sound Box I think.They were good too.

In the early 60's there was a record shop on New Chester Road, Rock Ferry, on the block between King St. & Nelson Rd. I can't remember the name of it. Anybody ?

Bob.

There was Bargain Box in the precinct - great shop. Closed down about 1979 I think.

I think that may have been a branch of Rox-they were all over the place.They had a branch on the corner of Whetstone Lane and Borough Rd and I think they had a shop in West Kirby too.So many good shops and so many memories-the internet is a great way of buying music and I always prefer CDs to MP3s but it's not the same as going into a shop and walking out with something you can hold.I suppose it's the same as the debate between books and e-readers (I'm definitely on the side of books there).

I am almost 100% certain that this was a branch of Rox. There were quite a few of them around Birkenhead until the 80s. There was one on Argyle St, just up the road from (and other side to) Skeleton's second shop. Another one was on the corner of Charing Cross and Borough Rd.

I distinctly remember the Grange Rd one as they had a huge display for Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper in the window (circa 1979). It was a large stand-up skeleton with moving scythe. I asked if it was for sale and was told rather impolitely that it was not.

Boots on Grange Rd also had a record department btw.

If memory serves me , Skeletons second shop was the old Gas Showrooms, which is now the Burger Kebab House on the corner opposite the old Post Office.



That's probably the one I bought the Lou Reed 12" from but the original posters question is regarding 1974 and I'm not sure Rox Records existed then.

Am I still the only person on the Wirral who remembers Reaction Records in New Brighton? !!!!

no i remember both shops one was opposite the empress club,then they moved to the corner of victoria road and windsor street,this shop was the rialto cafe and chip shop,owned by the greek christoforo family,also at some time it was a fishing tackle shop.

No. I remember it well. Still got the first LP I bought there; Olias Of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson. My mate and I went along on our bikes one Sunday afternoon in the early 80s when Sunday opening was still rare. It moved over to the top of Hardman St, Liverpool in the early 90s but sadly didn't last long.

Now, if you want to talk about obscure Wirral record shops, how about Zephyr Records. I never went there but it was located at Trafalgar Rd, Wallasey circa the late 1970s. It was run by a hippy bloke called Trev Hughes who had connections with Hawkwind and is still knocking around the record fairs I believe.

There was a great record shop in the centre of Chester in the early 1960s - I forget exactly where, or what it was called. If you wanted to hear a record they gave it to you and you took it to a booth to play it.

The thing was, the booth was downstairs and as you walked back up after playing it, the door to the street was right opposite the top of the stairs and the door couldn't be seen from the counter.

Oh, the number of times I made a mistake by leaving the shop and forgetting to return the record.

I remeber Zephyr Records - bought a Bowie bootleg there in '77 ,
Trevor Hughes still lives in Wallasey - often see him in Psychomock in Liscard .
Spent many a Sunday afternoon in Reaction Records - I must have bought hundreds of albums there (& sold quite a few as well !).

I bought my first bootleg LP (Elvis Presley's "I Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star") in a small record shop near the university in Liverpool. I'm almost sure it was called Virgin Records but it had nothing to do with the Virgin chain with which we are all so familiar today.

That would have been in 1972.