Comment: I worked at HMV in Dean Street around 1967/68. I got the job by responding to a notice in the window asking for a "Young Man" (or something like that) to work in the shop - had I not seen the notice, who knows where my life would have led?
A couple of things really stick in my mind from my time there: sourcing music for strippers, and being the nearest shop to the cinema showing the movie If.... and we sold a lot of the Missa Luba Sanctus LP, the music from which featured heavily in the film.
After about a year or so, I went to work in the larger HMV branch in Cranbourn Street running the pop department before moving on and getting a job in the record business where I worked at various companies until 1978.
The sign above the shop in Dean Street actually said "B Feldman". They were a famous music publishers who had a tremendous catalogue including early Bob Dylan.
Name: Mike
Comment: Wow... I worked at Feldman's Music upstairs 1967/68 also, lots to remember... I did a lot of running around there with demo discs like Dusty Springfield etc. off to publishers in Soho Square like Francis Day And Hunter, sometimes to Egdon House at the BBC. I was looking after song sheets down in the basement at Feldman's like Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, Frank Sinatra, etc... My wages were £8 per week.
(26 February 2016)
Name: Paul Daniel
Comment: I was manager of this store from 15 March 1965 to 18 February 1966 and inherited the lovely Jean Pritchard as my assistant (still a close friend).
We tried to make the store another jazz hub in competition with Dobells (Jean was married to jazz trumpeter John Pritchard) - only moderately successful - but we were the bane of the management upstairs who knew very little about the retail record business - particularly a guy called Smits - and so were both sacked at the same time - but were never given an adequate reason. However I made some interesting window displays, though, sadly, never photographed them.
As I lived close by I was often called out at night when the security alarm went off! Jean and I had some great times there and had many well-known faces for customers - Kenneth More, Vicky Wickham, The Shadows et al! Ah, happy, long-gone days!
(2020)
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