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Past Times

Do you remember these Dundee record shops?

Some still prefer the ritual of buying music and browsing a record shop. Which ones do you miss most?
Graeme Strachan
Shirley Manson and Goodbye Mr Mackenzie signing records for fans in Our Price in March 1991.
Shirley Manson and Goodbye Mr Mackenzie in Our Price in March 1991. Image: DC Thomson.

Record shops were an essential part of growing up in Dundee.

Names like Bruce’s, Cathie McCabe’s, Chalmers and Joy, Forbes, Larg’s and Rockpile may be gone but won’t be forgotten.

Places where we got our chart singles and albums before streaming came along.

Groucho’s was Dundee’s most famous record shop.

HMV, Our Price and Virgin Records were high street competitors.

John Menzies sold cassette tapes and vinyl singles and albums in the Murraygate.

Maybe you bought your music at Dens Road Market or the Keiller Centre?

Not all of them have survived the test of time.

How many of these do you remember?


Bruce’s

People leaning on the counter as The Rezillos singer Fay Fife signs autographs at Bruce's in August 1978.
The Rezillos singer Fay Fife signs autographs at Bruce’s in August 1978. Image: DC Thomson.

Bruce Findlay and his brother Brian set up their first record shop in Falkirk before expanding to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth, Kirkcaldy and Leven.

Bruce’s opened a Dundee branch in Reform Street in December 1974 where the colour scheme was coffee and cream with striking brown tiles on the floor.

Bruce’s were the only record shop in Dundee which stocked imports.

Singles on sale for 59p in Bruce’s in November 1977 included Jamming by Bob Marley and the Wailers and San Francisco (You’ve Got Me) by Village People.

All could be taken home after a Saturday shopping trip in the bright red carrier bags stamped with the legendary slogan: “I found it at Bruce’s”.

Cathie McCabe’s

People walk past the entrance to Cathie McCabe's at the City Arcade in 1971.
Cathie McCabe’s at the City Arcade in 1971. Image: DC Thomson.

Cathie McCabe worked in the record department of Watt’s in the old Wellgate before opening her own shop in City Arcade in 1971.

She moved to Reform Street and then opened a shop in Murraygate.

Everyone knew when someone had been to Cathie’s shop because they carried plastic bags with her trademark two crotchets and her motto.

Cathie was an agent and could get tickets for any gig in Scotland.

She also organised buses when demand was high – including Bob Marley making his only live appearances in Scotland at Glasgow’s Apollo in July 1980.

Fopp

Crowds gather to watch Paolo Nutini performing at Fopp in 2006.
Paolo Nutini performing at Fopp in 2006. Image: DC Thomson.

Fopp opened a branch in the Overgate Centre in August 2001.

Fopp was a very credible alternative to the big chains and stocked a wide range of genres from pop, rock and metal to soul, funk and country music.

Wall-to-wall bargains meant the shop was usually packed with customers.

Paolo Nutini performed at Fopp in July 2006.

He played tracks which would feature on his debut album, These Streets.

The store closed in 2007 after Fopp called in the receivers.

Forbes

The front of Forbes, A Dundee music shop which was popular for jazz vinyl.
The front of Forbes which was popular for jazz vinyl. Image: Neale Elder/Retro Dundee.

Forbes, on Commercial Street, sold records and musical instruments.

The shop featured “everything for the amateur or professional musician” with a fine selection of “LP’s, cassettes and cartridges” in the record department.

“Forbes for records and everything musical” was the shop’s motto.

In 1977 the shop was selling albums from Bryan Ferry, Pablo Cruise, Peter Gabriel, Janis Ian, John Martyn and Iggy Pop which cost £2.99.

In 1980 everyone who bought a ticket to watch Tubular Bells legend Mike Oldfield play at Dundee University Students Union got £1 off any of his albums at Forbes.

Groucho’s

The exterior of Dundee music shop Groucho’s
Groucho’s moved to the Marketgait in 1983. Image: Supplied.

Alastair Brodie, better known as Breeks, opened his first shop at 89 Perth Road in partnership with Ron Maclean in 1976.

The partnership split in the early 1980s and Breeks continued on his own, expanding the business to include being agents for concert tickets.

Groucho’s moved next to the Angus Hotel in Marketgait in 1983 then upstairs in the old Overgate Centre before a final move to the Nethergate in 1999.

Groucho’s’ stock-in-trade was second-hand records so there were always people walking in with cardboard boxes of LP’s, trying to make some ready cash.

Breeks died in 2019 and the shutters came down for good in September 2020.

HMV

Shoppers look on as The MacDonald Brothers perform at HMV in October 2007.
The MacDonald Brothers perform at HMV in October 2007. Image: DC Thomson.

Made famous by the iconic image of the dog and gramophone trademark, HMV opened in Murraygate in November 1991 with 20,000 titles on its shelves.

Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff was number 1 in the singles chart.

HMV was a few doors down from Our Price and sold cassettes, records, CDs, VHS tapes and video games alongside posters of the biggest pop stars.

In-store performances included Pop Idol Michelle McManus in 2004, the MacDonald Brothers in 2007 and Dundee rockers The View in 2011.

HMV has outlived its competitors and is still there today.

Larg’s

a black and white picture of the outside of Dundee record shop Larg's
Larg’s was gone by the 1980s. Image: DC Thomson.

Larg’s music shop in Whitehall Street was a Dundee institution.

In addition to their main premises, they also had shops at Hilltown and Hawkhill.

Larg’s were prominent record retailers, music dealers and ticket agents.

They sold tickets for all the big acts which appeared at the Caird Hall in the 1960s and 1970s including Bay City Rollers, which prompted mammoth queues.

They also had a private recording studio and their own record label.

Our Price

The Our Price advert which appeared in The Courier in 1989 and features a map of Dundee showing where the music shop was located
The Our Price advert which appeared in The Courier in 1989. Image: DC Thomson.

The distinctive red and white logo of Our Price arrived in Murraygate in May 1989.

The store opened with 12,000 titles on the shelves on cassette tape, CD and record with the promise of “friendly, knowledgeable staff and good service”.

Dundonians of a certain vintage will fondly remember leaving with a few bits of new vinyl tucked inside a red carrier bag with the Our Price Records logo.

In-store performances included Del Amitri and Edwyn Collins in 1990 and Garbage singer Shirley Manson’s former band Goodbye Mr Mackenzie in 1991.

Our Price merged with Virgin in 1994 before closing in 1995, although it has since relaunched.

John Menzies

people work behind the counter in the record department at John Menzies in 1984
The record department at John Menzies in 1984. Image: DC Thomson.

Welcome to the record department at John Menzies in November 1984.

John Menzies moved across the Murraygate and opened in the former Woolworths.

Chart singles on the shelves included I Feel For You by Chaka Khan, Freedom by Wham! and Gimme All Your Lovin’ by hirsute rockers ZZ Top.

Alf by Alison Moyet and Diamond Life by Sade were in the album chart.

The go-to store for anything and everything closed in 1996.

The Record Centre

Brian Egan puts the finishing touches to the displays.
Brian Egan puts the finishing touches to the displays. Image: DC Thomson.

The Record Centre opened in unit 39 of the Keiller Centre in November 1979.

Manager Brian Egan was offering a large selection of albums on cassette and vinyl alongside posters of Gary Numan and Sting from The Police.

Special offers in November 1979?

Out of the Blue by ELO was priced at £4.99.

Crepes and Drapes by Showaddywaddy was £4.29.

Eat to the Beat by Blondie was £4.10 and Reggatta de Blanc by The Police was £3.99.

Virgin Records

Virgin Records in the Wellgate Centre in August 1985. Image: DC Thomson.

Virgin Records opened its fifth store in Scotland in 1985.

The Wellgate branch offered “LPs, seven-inch singles, 12-inch singles and cassettes”.

Some still prefer the ritual of buying music and browsing a shop.

The Dundee store compiled its own Top 10 chart from album and single sales.

They were published every Thursday in The Courier’s Rocktalk column.

The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Freddie Mercury, George Harrison, George Michael, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen all featured in November 1986.

Music legends that have stood the test of time to this day.

Much like these classic Dundee shops.

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