SG50: Where Have The Vinyl Record Shops Gone?

Wandering Around Places Which Are Mostly Gone

I sent mail to friends last week and wrote that I found vinyl records at a place which will soon be gone. Here's reaction from regular U.K. contributor and good friend Allan Thompson who was in RAF Changi in the 1960's.

Dear Andy,  

Reading your reference to a place which will soon be gone reminded me of some of the lovely record shops which existed in Singapore in the 1960's.

In Orchard Road was the Deutsch Gramophone shop which sold new (and expensive) classical records on that label, as well as a few by other companies,          notably British Decca.  

Donald Moore Galleries also sold records and I remember seeing an unusual L.P. (Long Playing) consisting of speeches by Ernest Hemingway on sale there at about S$24,  twice the normal price for an LP at that time. I also recall going into the RCA record shop where I bought "Listen To The Warm", by Rod McKuen.  

I particularly remember that visit because, while I was looking through the records,  I was taken ill with an excruciating pain in my groin and almost collapsed. I broke out in a cold sweat which soaked my shirt and the shopkeeper was so alarmed that he offered me a chair and then gave me a bottle of Coca Cola and a Consulate menthol cigarette!

NOT ALL THE TIME!

When I felt a little better, I took a taxi home and almost fainted as the pain returned.  I tried to pass water but was unable to, until, at the sixth or seventh attempt, still in intense pain, I passed a quantity of dark-red liquid.  It became less painful and I lay down for a little while to recover.  When I examined the liquid, I found a chalky lump which turned out to be a stone.  I felt no after-effects, nor did I ever suffer from that problem again, thank goodness.  

Another shop which I visited often was in Hill Street, near Telephone House, where I bought the first two London-American albums by Jerry Lee Lewis. There were other shops tucked away in side streets and it was possible to find long-deleted gems there very cheaply.

Changi village had two record shops and the bigger of the two was Uttam's where I bought most of my records during my time there. (I seem to remember that it burned down some time afterwards). 

The amah's market also visited Changi regularly with several record stalls in its midst.  Most villages had regular markets and I bought two early Johnny Cash LPs at one in Serangoon.  Serangoon also had a good record shop where I was delighted to find "Return Of The Outlaws" by The Outlaws on an HMV single. 

My girl-friend's brother was keen on guitar instrumentals, his favourite group being the Flee-Rekkers, whose records were produced by Joe Meek, who, incidentally, was also the Outlaws' producer.

Changi Village, Singapore 1960s.

One of my treasured possessions in 1964 was "The Ventures Play The Country Classics" which had been given to me by my girl-friend.  Sadly, like her, it was lost some time later. Happily, I was able to replace both the record and the girl-friend in due course! 

  

Yes, my good friend, those were happy days when we never knew what we might turn up in the record-racks.

Best wishes,
Allan.

Dear Allan,

Thanks for the mail. I used to buy records from shop houses at North Bridge Road. These unique rows of buildings are mostly gone now. Singaporeans call these shops, "Vanished Places."

Vanished Places: North Bridge Road in the 60s and 70s.
Images: Google.

Sincerely,
Andy.