Today’s mobile phone, out of focus, wildlife photo. Another bird flying.

Another night and another bizarre dream. An LP (yes vinyl) was being released and I wanted to make sure I got a copy. So I camped out overnight outside a small record shop. During the increasingly wet and cold night the public telephone (just a few paces away) kept ringing. When I picked it up I could hear my partner at the other end, but she couldn’t hear me. Finally the record store opened and I walked in to find that what was the towns only music shop had been turned into a hairdressers…..

The record store in my dream was one from my past. I lived in a small seaside town which had few record store options. We had a Woolworths which was great for a few compilation records and those bizarre records that had the hit songs on but always performed by not the real artists. We had a Boots the chemist which sold a few records but only those from the likes of Sinatra or Shirley Bassey. Boots never allowed you to return records if they were scratched. Thankfully the town also had a little record store. A small ground floor, with an even more cramped first floor attic. The store was next to the towns Bus Station. Tony’s Records was my Saturday Mecca. I would spend hours pouring over album covers, carefully working out which record to buy.

Got so many memories from Tony’s. That time I bought a Mountain Live double LP. It was reduced due to a few minor scratches. Basically every song was unplayable accept one. Thankfully that one song, Nantucket Sleighride lasted 24 minutes. For those of a certain age in the UK, that song was the theme tune to the Sunday political show – Weekend World. I did get to see Mountain play that song live at my first ever music festival at Knebworth.

I remember Peter Cook and Dudley Moore bringing out the Derek and Clive records. Painfully funny but shocking. That bad you had to be over 18 to buy it. Tony’s wouldn’t sell it to me so I asked my mum. Nine the wiser she strolled into the store. The look my mum must have got when she asked if they had a copy of Ad Nauseum.

I bought my first cd from Tony’s. It was Rory Gallagher. Bizarrely I didn’t actually buy my first CD player for another year. I just couldn’t afford one. I just wanted to have one of those circular works of high magic.

That little shop closed down many years ago, but clearly it’s still going in my dreams

71 thoughts on “Random memories”

  1. Yes, it’s odd what places will randomly pop up in your dreams. For the longest time I dreamed about the farm I grew up on as a kid. I kept dreaming that my parents went back and bought it. I think that was a secret wish of mine. I stopped having that dream after Andrew and I finally moved away from our home town. I guess I finally let it go.

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      1. I did inquire about the house a few years ago. I was curious who was living there. Our former landlords daughter had lived there for a time, but now it’s been taken over by an equestrian company. When I told them I grew up in the house they were very interested to see the old photos I had shared on my blog.

        I thought about visiting it, but I never did. Health stuff interefered. Now, my sights are set mostly ahead. It’s nice to look back and remember, but I don’t live there any more.

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  2. Fun when places from out past end up somehow in our dreams – for me it is a few different houses – it often only similar and not the same

    And had to laugh when you mentioned the music album with “not the real artist s” – I had two cds in 1995 that were song remakes with “various artists” and those cds got me through a long tough summer- and once in a while I hear an original version of the song on the radio and I am so used to the “various artists” version that it sounds foreign –
    Good week to ya 🎧🎼

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      1. Haha – that is funny and recently heard a few police songs that brought some nice memories back 🎼✌️I only knew their hit songs but had friends that were huge fans

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  3. I often dream of a familiar place that doesnt exist in the real world. Or if it does, I’ve never actually been there.
    I’m glad you had a dream with good memories. Tower Records was THE place to get records when I was a teen.

    I wish I still had all of my old records…and the ones I snagged from my stepdad😉
    💌

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  4. I used to spend time with my dream dictionary trying to figure out what my unconscious was trying to tell me. It was actually intriguing and a lot of fun. Now that I have time maybe I will pick it up again – maybe. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. LOL

    I remember the vinyl records – which are making a bit of a come back the past few years. But the agony when they got scratched – instant heartbreak!

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      11. Yeah the risk for flooding is too high. I don’t understand why city planners allow homes to be built in flood prone areas in the first place. I feel so bad for those people.

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      17. Unfortunately there is no shortage of things to be sad about on this little blue planet, third from the sun. I hope you are well and staying safe.

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  5. Can’t say I’ve heard of scratched records being sold, let alone not being able to return one, or was it a used record shop? Anyway, I remember my first record purchase in 1963 I think, a Beach Boys single “Little Deuce Coupe”. Oh, I liked the photo of the crow. 😉

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  9. Did your partner say anything to you?

    You reminded me of my neighbor convincing her uncle to give her money to buy “A Night At The Opera”, impressed with his early B teen neice’s interest in the classics. He was a good sport when she played Queen for him.

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  10. That’s a strange dream! It took me back though .. we had a Boots and Woolworths. I loved Woolworths!! (Or Woollies as it was affectionately known). CDs 💿 were a very exciting invention but now everyone wants the LPs again. I wish I could find my old LP collection. I’ve looked everywhere but I suspect my dad binned it in disgust! X

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  15. Our favorite places close but their memories live on, if only in our dreams.
    How wonderful that your wife has visited you in your dreams! Even though she couldn’t hear you, I hope that she brought you some comfort ❤

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  16. I think in our dreams we relive what really had meaning in life and what our unconsciousness stored. Those record times were great. I remember too, strolling through the record shops and browsing through the records. It was cool to have the latest record of a particular artist, a specific single, or a classic. Good old times. I loved those record stores which had really old records. I am proud of my original record collection of Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five. You don’t get them anymore.

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      1. No, unfortunately the record player was put into the cellar because it was not used anymore. But it does still work. I remember, I recorded all those records on tapes (in the 80s). But I am not listening to tapes either actually… lol. However, I still have them and the songs play in me anyway. I often go to YouTube for listening.

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