Woolworths Surry
“I’ll never forget when Woolworth’s in central Croydon stopped selling vinyl LP’s in the early 1990’s. They gave over the whole top level of their building that opened on to the Whitgift Centre to sell off their remaining stock at knockdown prices. Most people’s perception of Woolies was that they only sold chart records, but I found ‘Folkways: A Vision Shared’ (1988) in the clearout racks there. I also found an eclectic mix in the West Wickham, Kent branch when I visited a year or so earlier. I bought Nanci Griffith’s ‘The Last Of The True Believers’, with it’s very appropriate cover photo of Nanci standing outside a Woolworth’s store! My local branch in Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon yielded the soundtrack album of Martin Scorsese’s film ‘The King Of Comedy’, a most unlikely find!” Dave Harwood ( April 3, 2016).
As far as I can remember it’s a fairly cool one. Double Dutch by Malcolm McLaren. It was in the bargain bin at Woolworths in Dorking in Surrey. I got it home all excited to play on my parents’ “music centre”, but it was in the bargain bin for a reason. The vinyl was Cut badly, and so wouldn’t play the first few minute or so. So I often don’t count it. The first record I bought and played on my own record player, endlessly, was Close (to the edit) by Art of Noise. Again I got it in Woolies in Dorking. All their 45s had the Shop code 453 written on the lip of the sleeve. So I had quite a few like that. I can still remember the slightly disturbing cover, and back then the fascination of it being on ZTT, home of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Who by then I think we’re almost a spent force. I bought their Rage Hard single and after that It was the end for them.
Nick Heath (2020)
As far as I can remember it’s a fairly cool one. Double Dutch by Malcolm McLaren. It was in the bargain bin at Woolworths in Dorking in Surrey. I got it home all excited to play on my parents’ “music centre”, but it was in the bargain bin for a reason. The vinyl was Cut badly, and so wouldn’t play the first few minute or so. So I often don’t count it. The first record I bought and played on my own record player, endlessly, was Close (to the edit) by Art of Noise. Again I got it in Woolies in Dorking. All their 45s had the Shop code 453 written on the lip of the sleeve. So I had quite a few like that. I can still remember the slightly disturbing cover, and back then the fascination of it being on ZTT, home of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Who by then I think we’re almost a spent force. I bought their Rage Hard single and after that It was the end for them.
Nick Heath (2020)
Bygone Croydon facebook group
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Images Ben Collectors Records.
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