Tempest Records

Comments

Name: mattyl149
Comment: When I used to go to Dudley College in 1998/1999, I used to use a record shop not too far away. I can't remember the name, but it was on two floors. I went to Birmingham on a Saturday to buy records from town in the main stores - HMV and Virgin. I walked past Tempest Records on a regular basis and decided to walk in one day. Apart from holidays, I went in there every week for nearly ten years until it closed. Little did I know that Rich who worked in there also worked in the Dudley record store I went to.

Tempest used to sell you the next week's releases on a Saturday, so I always felt good having the latest records before the majority of people. They would also order anything you wanted and had a lot of the import records (a bit more pricey but usually worth it) I mainly focussed on 7", 10" and 12" singles, but I would also buy LPs. You could guarantee that the same people would be in at the same time every week and it was a nice little community.

I used to blind-buy a lot of singles without hearing them. As some of the singles were nearly £4 then, I used to have a few I just couldn't stand, so I decided to listen to them instore if I was unsure. This was always a highlight as they had a record player and they would play them for you. It would also allow you to hear things you wouldn't normally listen to, if someone was listening to something while you were waiting. The number of times I had something on, and someone else would comment and then buy a copy or be told that there were no more in stock (usually I would have the only copy).

I did spend a lot of money in there, although most things showed on the receipt with a price as technically they weren't allowed to sell new releases until the Monday. It didn't make it easy to see what each item cost, as sometimes you would see something for £7 on the receipt, and because the items hadn't been priced up as they had only just come in, you wouldn't know what it was. I did like the reward card and I must have benefitted by over £750. I have kept a couple of the carrier bags as a reminder of good times.

It was a sad day when it closed, as I was introduced to a lot of great bands, and not so great ones. Rich set up his own stall in the Oasis Market in Birmingham, but I kind of lost interest then, and have not really bought any music since. I don't know if he's still there as this was over two years ago.

Name: Paul Taylor.
Comment: A superb shop on the corner of Bull Street and Corporation Street if I recall correctly. They stocked some of the more obscure rock stuff, especially in the basement – there was an import section.