Hard News: Real Gone
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Cool. Looks like y'all were on this politics-as-rock-music thing before I even posted today!
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sigh RG's the only vaguely usefull record store we have here in Dunedin.
As someone who likes owning vinyl and CDs - I don't buy online, don't download and have 50Gb on my iPod I guess I'm going to have to start - guess I'm going to have to wait for Apple to release their iTunes client for linux before I start spending money on music again
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If Anderton's Julian Cope then the Alliance are pretty much The Teardrop Explodes.
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What are Gordon Copeland and Richard Lewis' bunch? Amy Grant?
...and if the Greens are the fall, that means Russ Norman is Mark E Smith. I'm not quite sure he's grumpy enough...
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based on my tastes I'm voting green, nice
whilst I will miss RG if it goes... I like many of my music buying friends stopped going there a long time ago as its easier, quicker and cheaper to buy online and get ya vinyl shipped to NZ
retail (physical) for music in centres the size we have in this country simply isn't viable I would suggest
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Real Groovy in Christchurch was never quite as good as the Auckland shop, and used stuff at Real Groovy always seemed to be more expensive than the same things were when it was Echo.
That said, I've spent more money at Real Groovy than probably any other music shop (exception may be the old, old Sounds shop at the bottom of Queen Street in the early 80s before it was a chain store), and if it does pass I will be immensely sad. While it may be easier and cheaper to order online, there's nothing quite like browsing and finding an unexpected bargain, or an out-of-print gem, or even just something you sold years ago that you've regretted selling ever since.
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Any feedback on using emusic.com?
I've done a quick browse on music I was thinking of purchasing before bothering to sign up; some they have, some they haven't.
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Come on, BB King? Surely they're more like Metallica. A diehard group of fans who will never admit that every statement they make to the press and every new release simply detracts from their once credible product.
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I think Groovy made a mistake by staying put, physically (though, as someone who worked there a looooooooooong time back, trying to stocktake and move that behemoth would have been a logistical nightmare).
Real Groovy was always a destination store, but it became an increasingly isolated destination.
That Town Hall to K'Road stretch has changed markedly over the last 10 years as the apartments went up, places like the Temple and the Mezze Barr left, and the Link bus became a familiar institution.
If it had taken over one of those big spaces on K'Road (where Club Physical is for example), I wonder if it would have had an easier time?
Anyway...shoulda, coulda, woulda. Sad to think it could be gone forever.
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Emusic is great for most indie stuff - oddly, they're most lacking in the lower profile major label bands. And their back catalogue of older stuff isn't great. If you want to keep up with current indie music, I can highly recommend.
Also, if you join then quit, every 3 months or so they offer to let you rejoin and give you 75 extra songs. So I just join for a month, quit, sign up again for another month later in the year. Gives you 200 odd songs for the price of 50.
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I'll miss RG if they go from that spot on Queen St, but... I haven't bought anything there for .... ages....
I just liked knowing they were there still. But it's a sign of the times I guess.
And the Greens remind me more of Sally Oldfield - anyone else remember "Mandala"?
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I'll try not to let your National/Stones linkage detract from my long-held love for the band that defined my formative years. Agreed that they haven't released anything worth the candle for eons, but they have a back catalogue that I can pick at regardless of what mood I'm in and find something simpatico.
And I wouldn't vote for National unless you paid me (more than Johnkey-the-donkey is offering). They are (Stones reference) Out of Time
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...and if the Greens are the fall, that means Russ Norman is Mark E Smith. I'm not quite sure he's grumpy enough...
Or witty enough.
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When I moved jobs and worked out exactly how close I'd be to Real Groovy (I'm looking @ the back of the building now) - I shuddered, 'cos I knew how often I'd be in there.
Like y'all, I've spent loads in there over the years - it was always first stop on our trips up from Hamilton.
Their bargain bins are amazing, and I wonder if they've contributed to their problems. I used to go in and buy multiple bits of vinyl at full price, whereas now the game is to find gems for $2 or $5. I still get most of my music there, just heaps cheaper. This goes for 2nd hand DVDs and games also.
My best score recently was the steam train recordings still-in-its-wrapper triple LP set for a mate. He was delighted.
I really hope they can keep going in some form or another, their website is actually pretty tops.
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Any feedback on using emusic.com?
I've only been joined a short time and I think they are fantastic. Actually, I can't quite believe the costing model. I get 100 tunes a month for US$24.99 (approx NZ$40). 100 tunes equates to about 7 albums worth of material for $40!?!
I've grabbed 'Keep it Unreal' by Mr Scruff and 'Untrue' by Burial, both reasonably full price albums (never seen either on discount) so that's worth the price of admission alone. The MP3s appear to be 200-350 bitrate and no DRM and you get decent tags and album art.
If you are into independent music I couldn't recommend it highly enough at this this early stage.
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I remember visiting Real Groovy in the '90s, when I was a teen living in Hamilton. It was this amazing behemoth that ate all mai money on many occasions.
But over the past few years, living in Auckland, I went to Real Groovy less and less. It wasn't cheap (JB Hi-Fi did that), its staff always seemed too holier-than-thou to approach (the internet became my musical knowledge/recommendations centre), but it was always fun trawling through Real Groovy's second hand records, especially the diabolical $2 bins.
Curiously, my Wellington pals aren't so glum. Quite a few Wellingtonians see Real Groovy's arrival in the capital as the cause of many second-hand record shops shutting down.
I'm not sure if this is true cause and effect. When I first moved to Auckland in 1997, there were about half a dozen second hand music shops around K Road. Now Real Groovy is the only one left, but I'm not sure if it had much to do with the demise of the others.
While nothing can replace the experience of buying vinyl, for those of us who aren't quite so precious about our music formats, if you can get a decently priced mp3 album online, that beats an expensive import CD or a scratchy second-hand LP.
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after reading this woulderful jouney http://www.thefallenbook.co.uk/
i'd have to say Mark E and the Fall are more like the Exclusive Brethren -
Music list is great laughs. Jim Anderton's theme tune is World Shut Your Mouth.
Alas, Real Groovy going the way of Colin Morris Records in Willis St. He broke my Greatest Hits syndrome. "Why live in the past, when every single week there's something new and exciting coming out?" Best ass-whupping I ever got.
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doubt over whether buying the failing Echo Records stores in the South Island several years ago was a sound move.
it didn't work out well for either franchise.
where echo was a well laid out manageable affair when real groovy took over they moved to the barn in tuam street, put out the trestle tables and made the whole shopping for music experience unmanageable. Being all things to all people isn't a good thing in an industry that deals in genres. galaxy with its niche specialty store is a much better shopping experience.The shops have also suffered from dissatisfied staff who felt they were badly treated and reflectd that in their attitude. this impacted on shoppers and stockers badly. I personally pulled all my stock out after key personnel left, rather than deal with the disinterested and lackluster replacements.
all that said in its heyday it was a great store to visit, although there were a few good stores around back in that time.
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Re Real Groovy
Always liked the Dunedin shop as I could always score good reggae at a low price there. None of those scrawny, black jersey wearing guitar addicts appeared to buy it so it was always nicely discounted!
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galaxy with its niche specialty store is a much better shopping experience.
Galaxy is a fabulous record shop. One of my essential 4 retail visits whenever I'm in Chch. The others being Whisky Galore, C1 Espresso and The Twisted Hop.
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As a lover of Coldplay in times past (Parachutes and X and Y were the soundtrack to my life in London, and they even filmed the speed of sound video near one of my favourite spots), I think you've got United Future way wrong there.
Surely there's some Christian country rock band that some people are devoted to but most don't care about that would fit the bill?
That said, I haven't bought the latest album - yet! Have been meaning to, but mostly prefer silence to music (when I can get it).
I also prefer leaving my hearing unmolested by earphones and my Ipod at home, so just don't buy much these days. -
3410,
It wasn't cheap
A recent CD purchase for me was listed by Groovy at $59.95. I picked it up elsewhere (also new) for $36.95.
Nevertheless, many great vinyl finds there (4 for $10!) since the late '80s.
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Real Groovy's prices for new music were quite high but you could find much worse ways to waste time than searching through the cheap bins for $2 bargains.
My last purchase from the Auckland store was a stack of awesome old horror dvds.
It will be missed.
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NZFirst & Winston are far more in this vein.
http://www.madmaori.eu/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=33&catid=1
Winston was once in the Hi Five of Rob Mob and now has become a tacky Benidorm act for retiring Poms and being The Mad Maori.
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