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  2. Back in the day, their racks would be black and white photocopies of albums stuck onto cardboard, giving the sales person ample opportunity to sneer at your choice, “woofers and tweeters” style as the offending record was retrieved from behind the counter. Nice to see their sense of moral superiority endures.

    • Sister Ray do that, photocopy the bloody sleeve so you can’t check the condition if it’s 2nd hand…and if you take one up they’ve practically got it bagged and asking for the money before you’ve inspected it. Winds me right up…who steals empty record sleeves?

      • Second hand?! Crazy talk – the onus being on the punter to object if the sleeve is damaged, the record warped or the inserts missing. Some businesses deserve to fail.

    • Thirty years ago I was buying a lot of vinyl from Spillers, more out of necessity than anything else. I didn’t particularly warm to the place – it was cramped, and the staff could be aloof.

      Around the same time there was a great second hand vinyl place that opened up above the Sony Centre, opposite the Castle. Much of my record collection came from there. Used to wander in every Saturday and pick up a couple of used LPs for a fiver. Lovely bloke who ran it – Spike? Eventually, he was turfed out and ended up in the indoor market, I think.

      • I was in the indoor market a few weeks ago with time to kill. There’s a lot of second hand vinyl and CDs there on the first floor. I might have to go back in a couple of weeks so I’ll be prepared this time.

        • Kelly’s Records? Been there forever. In my early days I bought lots of stuff from there. Last time I was there I thought prices were on the high side though.

    • Spillers is by some distance the most overrated record shop on the planet.The owner is a spoilt brat with a massively high opinion of herself and although she always rabbits on about her wonderful customers is disdainful of people who keep their wallets in their pockets which is where her true interests reside.
      Banning Morrissey is a joke , merely because he has a different worldview.Read his autobiography and you’ll see clearly that he is not a racist.Just more left wing virtue signalling bullshit.

  4. I’m not sure that censorship entirely achieves the stand that they appear to be going for. If it was my shop, I’d make sure the sleeve had lots of relevant data attached to it. Then, if someone does want to buy the album, slip some opposing literature in the package and hope it’s read by the buyer. Back in the 70’s and 80’s we learned a lot about the world through just reading NME so people are willing to get a bit of politics with their music. If the buyer wasn’t previously aware of Morrissey’s stance then just steering them to HMV where they can buy the record uninformed seems a wasted opportunity.

  5. Not as good a shop as they think it is. Poor jazz and blues section (Coltrane, Miles, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooke but that’s it.) Poor new vinyl selection too. Great if you want tuneless indie but no significant back catalogue apart from the ‘greats’ (a couple of Floyd and AC DC etc). I have never found them to be snooty however. But I still like Morrissey’s music despite his daft and half baked politics much the same way as I like Clapton’s and Bowie’s despite theirs.

    Er…Clapton and Bowie still available at Spillers by the way.

  6. Not a fan of Morrissey’s politics – or any of his music since about 1988 – but it smacks of a PR stunt, not dissimilar to the Manchester restaurant ‘accidentally’ giving away a £4500 bottle of wine. It brings Spillers to a much wider audience, and their internet traffic will have significantly increased as a result of their move.

    As I said, I’m not a fan of his politics, but Morrissey has never physically assaulted anyone, molested anyone or slept with anyone underage – there will be plenty of artists on Spillers’ racks who have done more than one of these.

    • It’s a bit OTT, but if you’ve had 30 years of being told that he’s a genius, when he’s actually just a fat old racist who now sings like Harry Secombe with a strangulated hernia, I can sympathise with the irritation.

      Also: the Graun loves those clicks like everyone else.

  9. I was in a shop today and, for about the millionth time, stumbled across that Blind Faith cover..
    John Oliver does an item called “how is this still a thing?”, which pretty much sums up how I feel whenever it turns up..

    • There were always a few second hand copies at my local second hand record shop when I was a teenager and even then, I thought it was dodgy. Is it any good? If so, why were there always used ones around?

  11. I can separate the art from the arsehole -but right now, when we have the vile people Mozzer supports standing for MEP seats it’s not a good time for Mozzer to be promoting an album and yes it’s absolutely fair and brave of Spillers to make a stand against his support of the Far Right

    There’s not much solidarity though – I keep seeing Facebook posts from record shops who are happily plugging Mozzers new covers album, and I note Piccadilly Records are giving it the thumbs up cos it’s Manchester innit.

    Norman Records in Leeds are the best barometer of this sort of thing – they are stocking his new record because they need to make a living, but they also aren’t afraid to slag off the stuff they sell (sign up to their newsletter which is a delicious alternative to the “everything is brilliant” tone most other shops take) and they say:

    “New album from right-leaning firebrand and former hero Morrissey. It’s a covers LP with appearances by members of Green Day, Grizzly Bear and Broken Social Scene all of whom must have missed the memo about his toxicity amongst the more liberal thinking music industry and fans of his former band. Thankfully though there’s no be-quiffed interpretations of Skrewdriver songs. “

  12. He’s naive with some of the support he’s shown to political parties, but I don’t think he’s a racist. The far-right have unequivocal support for the royal family and the armed forces – two things he hates. He’s even mocked the British army.
    At the heart of it, he has expressed his hate of Islamic law, something I think every sane person has concerns over. His arrogance means that he fails to clarify his views, which gives the media license to run a mock.
    He’s responded to recent coverage;
    “in early old age could I please express very sincere thanks to BBC Radio 2 for their broad-shouldered support given to “California Son”, “Wedding Bell Blues” and “It’s Over”. Whatever the future brings, I will always remember Radio 2’s steady support during these rocky weeks – especially from Jo Whiley.
    I am sorry the UK print media’s contorted interpretation of who and what I am has gone all wrong. In these days when most people are afraid to even whisper, the print media write as if someone is coming to get them. This aching nervousness brings on the vengeful and paranoid. Inventing Britain’s doomsday is the preoccupation of the tabloids, and they can hate you for having lived.
    I straighten up, and my position is one of hope. The march backwards is over, and life has begun again. With voice extended to breaking point, I call for the prosperity of free speech; the eradication of totalitarian control; I call for diversity of opinion; I call for the total abolition of the abattoir; I call for peace, above all; I call for civil society; I call for a so-far unknowable end to brutalities; “No” to Soviet Britain; prayers not to gods but to forces; an end to disingenuous media cluelessness; the people have the power; hatred and beheadings belong in the furnace of history; music might still be your only friend; for every shade and persuasion … we shall always be alongside each other – everyone’s culture of value; no more fashionable outrage; cows are friends to humans – don’t kill them; beware of those who write in headlines; moral fiber means holding on … to your friends; give up on inferior arguments; God gave you your life to enjoy – you will cry for your life in years to come … death always answers back; do not be a nobody; you have survived this far in order to make the remainder peaceful and funny; your very survival proves that you have a right; ignore the cold eyes of fascism; your life is Art.”

    MORRISSEY
    24 May 2019

    • Incoherent drivel from the super patriot who’s resident in LA.
      There is absolutely nothing nuanced or ambiguous about the political stances he has decided to adopt.
      Being seen wearing the trident motif lapel badge of an identified UK far right group just sadly confirms what many have concuded for a long time. He really IS an old racist c*nt. There’s nothing ‘a bit controversial’ or ‘right leaning’ about the group in question, they are unapologetic neo- fascists, a fact he’s quite happy with.
      This isn’t some snotty teenager from decades ago wearing a swastika to shock mum & dad & the world at large, this is a late middle aged wealthy bloke endorsing the equivalent of what would have been the NF of his youth.
      He deserves every ounce of the shit thrown at him as result.
      Incidentally, Spillers is my local indie shop & I enjoy popping in & having a natter. I’ve never found them remotely snotty, but the days of giving a toss what people behind the counter think haven’t really affected me since I bought ‘Far, Far Away’ by Slade instead of ‘Gee Baby’ by Peter Shelley because I thought the girl behind the counter in Medhursts in Bromley might think it was ‘wet’.

    • Some of what he’s been quoted as saying goes beyond “a bit naiive” and well into “offensive”, as far as I’m concerned.
      I excuse him nothing. He’s a c*nt.

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