December 30, 20186 yr Actually looking at that list, if they all went I wouldn’t have a store anywhere near me.All the ones in the north east are on that list too. Maybe Mike Ashley (owner of Newcastle United, though hopefully not for much longer) might buy them though he'd probably turn HMV into another tat shop ;)
December 30, 20186 yr Maidstone store is the nearest to me, but hardly visit it, as its a pain to get to by car, not worried if that goes anyway and there isn't another store near to me, the next store is Bluewater and that is miles away. With a huge list set for closure, is it really worth saving. They might keep the London store open as that will bring in trade.
December 30, 20186 yr Yup, both of 'Don't You Want Me' and the 'Dare' album. We couldn't get enough copies of 'Don't You Want me' to keep up with demand. A shipment would arrive in the morning and was often completely sold out by mid afternoon. It was by far the best selling single in my store over that Christmas period. From memory the other big sellers that Christmas were 'The Land Of Make Believe' by Bucks Fizz and 'One Of Us' by Abba. For albums it was probably between 'Dare' and 'Greatest Hits' by Queen. The other big seller was 'Pearls' by Elkie Brooks which was popular with the 30+ crowd. I mentioned this a few years ago but sadly one single that failed to sell well that Christmas was 'Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses. As far as I remember I bought the only copy we managed to sell... not that we had much stock of it, just a few copies as Island messed up the distribution of the single in 1981 which is why it flopped first time around :( Yes The Land of Make Believe would replace Human League at the top in January, it did sound quite seasonal I thought. Interesting about Christmas Wrapping - how was the distribution messed up? Did it have much promotion at radio etc?
December 30, 20186 yr Yes The Land of Make Believe would replace Human League at the top in January, it did sound quite seasonal I thought. Interesting about Christmas Wrapping - how was the distribution messed up? Did it have much promotion at radio etc?'Christmas Wrapping' did get a fair number of plays on Radio 1 but the problem was that the single was released too late to make much of an impact. If I recall it was supposed to be released at the end of November 1981 but didn't make it into stores until a couple of weeks later supposedly due to delays in actually pressing up the single and so lost out on sales in the run up to Christmas. It managed to make the old "Bubbling Under" chart (which was the next 25 singles below number 75 which were on the way up) on the chart dated 26/12/81 but that was too late for it to make any impact. Many stores used the Bubbling Under chart back then as a guide on what to order in so making it to that part of the chart on the final chart of the year wasn't going to help it make any further progress. The single was re-released with far better distribution a year later when it did manage to chart but it fell short of the top 40, peaking at number 45. I'm not 100% sure but I think it had another re-release in December 1983 but if it did it sank without a trace. It's only since the digital era that it has finally been able to once again make the charts and this week it almost matched its 1982 peak. Sadly this belated recognition of the track came too late for lead singer Pat Donahue as she had died of lung cancer at only age 40 in December 1996. Two years after her death the Spice Girls recorded the siong as the B side of 'Goodbye' and the track seemed to gain a new lease of life at radio. 'The Land Of Make Believe' was given a boost in the run up to Christmas 1981 as it was made available in a special "Happy Christmas" card sleeve and booklet. Which I bought. http://www.45cat.com/record/rca163 We sold loads of that special edition!
December 30, 20186 yr I thought the Southampton city centre store had closed a few months back. Can’t think of another one in the city. Sad to see both Bristol branches on the list. Cribbs Causeway isn't though (admittedly the Mall is likely more awkward to get to if you aren't from Bristol, and tbh even if you are from Bristol)!
December 30, 20186 yr 'Christmas Wrapping' did get a fair number of plays on Radio 1 but the problem was that the single was released too late to make much of an impact. If I recall it was supposed to be released at the end of November 1981 but didn't make it into stores until a couple of weeks later supposedly due to delays in actually pressing up the single and so lost out on sales in the run up to Christmas. It managed to make the old "Bubbling Under" chart (which was the next 25 singles below number 75 which were on the way up) on the chart dated 26/12/81 but that was too late for it to make any impact. Many stores used the Bubbling Under chart back then as a guide on what to order in so making it to that part of the chart on the final chart of the year wasn't going to help it make any further progress. The single was re-released with far better distribution a year later when it did manage to chart but it fell short of the top 40, peaking at number 45. I'm not 100% sure but I think it had another re-release in December 1983 but if it did it sank without a trace. It's only since the digital era that it has finally been able to once again make the charts and this week it almost matched its 1982 peak. Sadly this belated recognition of the track came too late for lead singer Pat Donahue as she had died of lung cancer at only age 40 in December 1996. Two years after her death the Spice Girls recorded the siong as the B side of 'Goodbye' and the track seemed to gain a new lease of life at radio. 'The Land Of Make Believe' was given a boost in the run up to Christmas 1981 as it was made available in a special "Happy Christmas" card sleeve and booklet. Which I bought. http://www.45cat.com/record/rca163 We sold loads of that special edition! Thanks for the details. I suppose the 1982 rerelease prob got less radio support etc so it couldn't chart higher. Does the modern Love and annual airplay for the track date back to the Spice Girls B-Side release/death of the Wonderful lead singer Pat (must be some Irish link there with that name?!) in the last 90s?
December 30, 20186 yr Thanks for the details. I suppose the 1982 rerelease prob got less radio support etc so it couldn't chart higher. Does the modern Love and annual airplay for the track date back to the Spice Girls B-Side release/death of the Wonderful lead singer Pat (must be some Irish link there with that name?!) in the last 90s?I think the Spice Girls helped rekindle interest in the original Waitresses track. I'm sure it (the original) started to appear on Christmas compilation albums from a year or two after the Spice girls covered it. Presumably that helped radio stations to start to play the original again once it was appearing on compilation albums.
December 30, 20186 yr Yeh would love to see playlists from radio 1/2 from the 80s. Think I've seen the airplay charts from this era but not the playlists - would be fascinating viewing!
December 30, 20186 yr Yeh would love to see playlists from radio 1/2 from the 80s. Think I've seen the airplay charts from this era but not the playlists - would be fascinating viewing!They are out there but you'd have to be a journalist or media type person to see them. The BBC still hold them all in their archives which was based at Caversham in Berkshire until last year. They were all moved to London when the BBC sold the building that housed them. Unfortunately you have to have media credentials to access the archives. The playlist for Radio 1 was also published in Record Mirror for a while, from late 1977 to some point in 1978. All those are available online at https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Record_Mirror.htm If you click on the link for 24 December 1977 you can find the then current one for this week in December 1977... the playlist is on page 21 of the PDF. Just look at the wide variety of musical styles from back then! Basically the playlist then was anything in the then top 30 (which is all Radio 1 featured in 1977) except the more middle of the road records plus some singles outside the top 30 and new releases. BRMB in Brimingham and Pennine Radio in Bradford had The Muppets as their top Hit Pick!
December 30, 20186 yr As a kid of the 90's the Spice Girls introduced me to Christmas Wrapping and now as an adult I get a little nostalgic whichever version I hear. I'm sure there are a lot of people my age who feel the same. I think the Spice Girls version got a few spins on radio 2 this year.
December 30, 20186 yr They are out there but you'd have to be a journalist or media type person to see them. The BBC still hold them all in their archives which was based at Caversham in Berkshire until last year. They were all moved to London when the BBC sold the building that housed them. Unfortunately you have to have media credentials to access the archives. The playlist for Radio 1 was also published in Record Mirror for a while, from late 1977 to some point in 1978. All those are available online at https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Record_Mirror.htm If you click on the link for 24 December 1977 you can find the then current one for this week in December 1977... the playlist is on page 21 of the PDF. Just look at the wide variety of musical styles from back then! Basically the playlist then was anything in the then top 30 (which is all Radio 1 featured in 1977) except the more middle of the road records plus some singles outside the top 30 and new releases. BRMB in Brimingham and Pennine Radio in Bradford had The Muppets as their top Hit Pick! Thanks for the link - I will browse til my hearts content lol!!
February 5, 20196 yr Breaking news:- HMV chain saved but some stores will close http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47127520 Shame a few stores will close, but glad the brand will continue:D
February 5, 20196 yr Shame a few stores will close, but glad the brand will continue:D As long as the one in Telford doesn’t close, I’ll be happy
February 5, 20196 yr Fantastic news. Just keeping everything crossed that neither Chelmsford or Colchester are on the list of 27.
February 5, 20196 yr The store finder online seems to have been updated. If it's still there it's not one of the 27. The Oxford Street one is gone and closed with immediate effect. https://www.hmv.com/store-finder Edited February 5, 20196 yr by AcerBen
February 5, 20196 yr Absolutely gutted that Oxford Street has gone along with my local branch :cry: Glad they’ve been saved but makes it difficult for me to support them now. Edited February 5, 20196 yr by ___∆___
February 5, 20196 yr The store finder online seems to have been updated. If it's still there it's not one of the 27. The Oxford Street one is gone and closed with immediate effect. https://www.hmv.com/store-finder Omg :cry:
February 5, 20196 yr my local Hull still on list (hopefully stays that way) but my other go to ones can't find, Meadowhall and Bluewater shopping centres
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