- a tale of disappearance
(continued)
SUBWAY – (Sadly) short lived shop in the New Canal. Local independent with
branches in Southampton and Portsmouth, the Salisbury branch was staffed by
faces from the Salisbury punk scene such as Vince Clayden and Ged Babey, the
mostly hardcore punk soundtrack didn’t do much to attract the casual record buyer.
Could be quite a scary place, and with far more hanging out than buying taking place
its closure in 1981 perhaps shouldn’t have been that surprising. They don’t do
record shops like that these days.
ROD’S – Rod and family moved to the area from Wales to take over the Fisherton
Arms pub, and further down Fisherton Street towards the station opened a very
independent shop. The family were died in the wool heavy metallers so that featured
large in the back room with a great indie section at the front. Cheap, reliable, it was
a real oasis (not the Gallagher’s and co, wrong decade). The shop briefly moved
above the pub before they decamped back to Wales in 1987 after a good few years
trading.
STAND OUT – Began life as an alternative clothes shop before gradually becoming
an excellent independent shop in Fisherton Street. Finally closed 2008/9 after
struggling for a while. Real shame it couldn’t have survived the recession as it’s a
loss to the variety of shops in the city.
Those were the main ones, though I have fond memories of Big Brother Records,
which occupied a couple of indoor market stalls. This was the business of a genial
second hand dealer (Doug I think) who first operated in the building now taken up
by McDonald. At a neighbouring stall you could get a decent mug of tea, I dare say
better than one you could buy in there today. Move just around the corner into
Brown Street, in a building behind the amusement arcade which I noticed in a state
of demolition the other day after being empty for years.
Moved away at the end of the 80s due to lack of premises and is still going to this
day, but in Parkstone.
Avid Records was a second hand shop that had a huge outlet in Oxford, a second
decent sized one on the Bournemouth Triangle and for a while had a branch in New
Street occupying a shop that looks like it missed being demolished when the Multi
Storey Car Park and the Old George Mall were developed.
Nowadays you have to travel to Warminster or Frome (Raves From The Grave),
Marlborough (the long running Sound Knowledge) or Boscombe (Rose Red) to find
an independent record shop. Will