Very nice selection, very kind subscriber!

I believe the white and black Decca labels were export pressings for Scandinavia.

Do you post on social media X, Threads, Bluesky, Insta. ... . or just YT?

40 years old used to seem like ancient history - but it's only 1985. eek!

Mornin' Stuart, just double cleaning a NM record, which light crackled all way through, with enzyme cleaner. Let's see if it's a bit of mould, doesn't sound bad enough to be a dodgy needle. Just a DG Brahms 4th, so no big deal.

@JudgeDrokk Some people say (not me) that if they went into a record shop and they were playing classical music they would walk back out. As I said - not me. If I hear Greensleeves - I'm in! 👴🎶🎵

Get a life and continue buying from record shops, one meets like minded people you cannot do this via eBay …infact I’m of to my local record shop now…

Classical collectors are dickheads stick to cds you twats.

When all record shops close because of buying on ebay and thats the only option or discogs , Prices will get higher.. Vinyl is over. I only buy good cds now. Pressing plants are running out of pvc oil to press the records and soon will be too expensive.

Charity shops are often feast or famine. It all depends on who has died recently.

Ah, back in Scotland?, I thought you were local to me, so was going to advise you of my go-to record shop in Langley Mill. Apparently he's just got a load of classical lps in stock, which he is looking to offload in job lots! Maybe when you come back down you could check him out 👍🏻

My dad had that Emma Johnson record in his collection back in the 80s.

Brotherhood of man and then Ultravox that was a Surprise 😮.

The cleveland orchestra record is a stunner. Nice catch.

I can't imagine going into a record shop without them playing music. It would be a pretty sad and bleak environment. It doesnt even matter if I don't like the music. A record shop should not have the atmosphere of a library. I think you might be on your own with this.

You should come and visit me in Amsterdam, I have thousands of classical records for sale for 1 euro each. Cleaning up my collection.

I have seen a few of these Archive label records recently but I know little about the label. Are they collectable? How do they rate vs other labels as far as sound quality goes please?

I often agree with you but here I have to disagree.

It’s been several weeks since I bought any records, I’ve seen nothing in my local Charity shops at all and the sole record shop in the vicinity sells dusty scratched classical records for £5 a go…I looked through what they have once or twice, but the condition is too poor; I found that surprising for a record store, albeit they are more rock and pop focussed. Not sure I’d have bothered with any you showed in this video, except for the Archiv record…I quite enjoy collecting that label!

4:50 Judging by the photo, the Emma Johnson LP was probably recorded not long after she won Young Musician of the Year... playing the Crusell Concerto in the final. It's become a bit of a signature piece for her ever since!

You certainly get around Stuart, do you get time to play them? 🙂 I buy online these days but often spend afternoons going through my collection set up in the spare room as a proper record shop with racks, bins, lights, books, magazines and posters etc. and a small 2nd system to play them on, nice browsing through albums and singles that i have collected over the years and all paid for, i still find some that i forgot i bought years ago as if rediscovering them!

One shop i uesd to frequent usually had the oddest avante-garde Classical music playing, probably Stockhausen sometimes, i found it very off putting especially if i was trying to think of pieces i was looking for in my head.

There are people out there that would say you should be "turned down a bit". . . haha 🤣

I agree but one exception was the wonderful HMV in Oxford St, the one near Tottenham Court Road, where you could ask the very knowledgeable staff to play something you wanted to listen to.

Apologies there is a speed up glitch in this video for 2-3 seconds.

I'm 50/50 on this one. I have discovered a few new amazing artists by asking in a record store or bar what they are playing. However, I also hate it when they play something I don't like - which is common. I hate it even more when it's played really loud. But the thing I hate most of all is Muzak played in bland department stores or hotels, and when you are on hold for ages on the phone to a call centre. 🙄

yes, several shops play their music much too loud! Sometimes the music they play is awful screaming rock music. The sound that annoys me more is the sound hurried and nervous customers produce when they are going through a bin of records covered in thin plastic sleeves.

This is something that's now ingrained in the culture...not just record shops but everywhere. For years I used to enjoy a swim in our local leisure centre pool, but in the last couple of years they've started piping music onto the poolside and also into the changing room areas. It wouldn't be so bad if it was really quiet or not terrible music, but it's actually quite loud and really horrible chart-y sort of music. A few years back I actually cancelled my gym membership at a different place after I turned the crap music down myself and one of the attendants came in shortly afterwards to turn it back up again and tell me that customers weren't allowed to mess around with the TV. A word of warning, they blast music at X-Records.📢😭

Remember when you could listen to records in the shops on headphones to see (hear?) if you liked the music, at least no one else was disturbed. Music (or any noise) doesn’t have to be too loud before hearing starts to be damaged, perhaps earplugs are in order 🎶

100% agreement. Same for restaurants. At most, instrumental jazz, at low volume only.

I don't mind subtle music playing in the background. The issue is that it's inevitably too loud. When turned down to almost subliminal levels it can actually enhance the experience.

I always bring an mp3 player along but my favorite store plays so loud it leaks through my sound cancelling earbuds. 😺 if they turned it down a little that would be great

I love going into 'Wall Of Sound' (Leeds) & 'Vinyl Tap' (Huddersfield) The staff in both shops are usually playing tracks from obscure bands from yester-year. It's highly unlikely that you will hear these tracks in HMV or your local charity shop.

The most irritating thing is that they play what they can't sell. Music playing softly is encouraged by me.

I particularly like Blondie's Fourth Symphony.

There are no music shops in my area and the charity shops never play music but I will say that in over 50 years of frequenting these record stores only ONCE did I buy something that was played instore.I t was an album called THE MAGNIFICENT TREE by HOOVERPHONIC which even after 25 years I still can enjoy....if I had not gone past this little suburban shop I would never have known about this record...otherwise most shops were noise free!

Totally agree with you Stuart. I was in a record shop this Saturday and i struck up a conversation with the guy behind the counter, and we were literally shouting at each other, because they had the music on so loud. Consequently i didn’t stay long!

I can sympathize after a fashion; still, that view is approaching apostasy! 😃 Had it been the approach of places I frequented, it likely would have resulted in my not becoming acquainted with a number of works, Songs of the Auvergne for example (and bands, eg Stereolab) I truly love! Reminds me rather of a bookstore owner in Nashville I knew who limited the time he "allowed" patrons to read his wares! On the other hand, I knew the owner of a classical CD shop - a very good one in Rochester NY - who feared he was going mad from listening to classical music for ten hours every day, non-stop.

I used to drive dear Roger all over the place while he picked up records in little village shops. The records would appear on the Gramex shelves with a hefty mark-up price. I spent thousands in his shop. He used to make fun of me because I was in the orchestra of the horrific Les Mis in the west end. The records kept me sane. He was a great guy and a raving anti-tory. I think he had asked known tory supporters to get out of the shop. Great days and great records. As a musician,I do not like other peoples music being foisted on me in public. I agree with you. I would love to find out what became of Roger,if you know. Many thanks.

It depends on the type of music it is. Although, even if it's music I love, I wouldn't want it to be too loud.

One of the perks of working in a record shop is putting music on the in-store hi-fi and pretending you're a DJ 😀

I like to hear some music, but not all the time, and at a lowish level. One can discover new music that way.

Stuart gets proper grumpy around the 18 minute mark, but watch and learn, as he makes a lot of sense. Record shop owners who put grubby and damaged records in the racks are wasting everyone's time. Similarly, top dollar pricing is counterproductive. I can gauge the quality of a record shop inside the first five minutes....look for a bargain bin, a bulk deal on offer (5 for the price of 4), and a close inspection of three or four albums gives me an idea of what the owner considers VG, excellent, etc. The shops that pass this test see me on a regular basis; the ones that don't see me once, and once only. Also, a friendly demeanour helps. The worst are those that bury their face in the computer, listing their good stuff on Discogs, while you sort through the shite in the shop.

Heavy metal records have the best artwork .

Way to kick brick and mortar store owners in the balls 😐

A classical record for 620 pounds? Get outta here. NO ONE is buying that. No one with a brain. Maybe if your a serious serious collector and 500$ to you is the equivalent to 1$ to normal people. Aka you have mega millions and a yacht.

The point is buying records from a shop is the human thing to do, the face to face social interaction offers so much more than burying through your keyboard, It is also good for your immune system.

The Lysy Gstaad jacket appears to have been well handled, more than likely its record will be too. Hopefully, you'll find it in a charity shop, 3 for a pound:)

Have you ever been in Amsterdam? There are many good recordshops there also for classical.

i only buy at record fairs for the most part now, ill find the same record im looking for there thats double the price almost in the record store xD