At the risk of boring some on here the three things that stick in my mind from working in the record department of Boots in the eighties.
1. At least one person a week coming to the counter and asking for ‘Chopping’
2. “Have you got that record? Terry Wogan/Mike Read/DLT/Simon Bates played it this morning/ yesterday evening/lunchtime?” (Now no problem of course!)
3. And my favourite “Have you got any Durex batteries? “
Slightly different tack…..yer beards behind the counter in Notting Hill used to be fine on punk/post-punk/new wave, there was nothing they didn’t know about Joe Strummer, but they weren’t nearly so clever when it came to rock ‘n’ roll and pre-1965 stuff.
I’ve got a wealth of these comments collected from 30+ years of working in record stores.
One guy questioned “Why do you file The Doors under ‘US Groups’ when they are Australian?”
Normally I’d just smile and ignore this kind of bollocks, but this one piqued my interest so I pressed him further.
“Yeah, Jim Morrison was born in Australia and I think the band was formed here” he continued smugly.
It transpired that someone had told him the Lizard King was born in Melbourne, but they’d forgotten to add the vital information (or he wasn’t listening) that it was Melbourne, FLORIDA.
Add that to the well-known cover band The Australian Doors Show and you can almost see how this fuckwit had become so confused.
Then there was the middle-aged woman who bought a CD by teenage metallers Ugly Kid Joe. She brought it back for a refund the next day, explaining that she thought she was buying a CD by world music artist Angelique Kijo,
After much Moe’s Tavern-type derision, we sent our pesky customer packing with a flea in his ear. Only then did we check the Music Master and see that there really is a singer called Nosmo King.
The comment about The Beatles’ “Salt and Pepper Hearts Club” isn’t quite so dumb when one considers McCartney came up with the name Sergeant Pepper because he misheard a request to pass the salt and pepper.
At the risk of boring some on here the three things that stick in my mind from working in the record department of Boots in the eighties.
1. At least one person a week coming to the counter and asking for ‘Chopping’
2. “Have you got that record? Terry Wogan/Mike Read/DLT/Simon Bates played it this morning/ yesterday evening/lunchtime?” (Now no problem of course!)
3. And my favourite “Have you got any Durex batteries? “
I will snort with amusement every time I hear “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” from now on.
Mee too also man
‘If I Gotta Love Edith’ – Bwahahahaha (etc.)
given it was supposed to be called in the garden of eden -doubly amusing
By I. Ron Butterfly as they say in the Simpsons
Sure? I have a version by James Last.
“Y’all got any Ronald McDonald?—You know that guy who used to be with the ‘Doobie Boys’”
There are a couple of hilarious books based on the preposterous things people say in bookshops.
One of the best (roughly paraphrased) was:
Loved Anne Frank’s Diary. Did she write a sequel?
Slightly different tack…..yer beards behind the counter in Notting Hill used to be fine on punk/post-punk/new wave, there was nothing they didn’t know about Joe Strummer, but they weren’t nearly so clever when it came to rock ‘n’ roll and pre-1965 stuff.
I’ve got a wealth of these comments collected from 30+ years of working in record stores.
One guy questioned “Why do you file The Doors under ‘US Groups’ when they are Australian?”
Normally I’d just smile and ignore this kind of bollocks, but this one piqued my interest so I pressed him further.
“Yeah, Jim Morrison was born in Australia and I think the band was formed here” he continued smugly.
It transpired that someone had told him the Lizard King was born in Melbourne, but they’d forgotten to add the vital information (or he wasn’t listening) that it was Melbourne, FLORIDA.
Add that to the well-known cover band The Australian Doors Show and you can almost see how this fuckwit had become so confused.
The Keeny G poster amused me most
Do you have any Kenny G posters
No
OK No’ll buy 2 and give you one
Then there was the middle-aged woman who bought a CD by teenage metallers Ugly Kid Joe. She brought it back for a refund the next day, explaining that she thought she was buying a CD by world music artist Angelique Kijo,
Or Kidjo, rather. Which is the whole point of the story
After much Moe’s Tavern-type derision, we sent our pesky customer packing with a flea in his ear. Only then did we check the Music Master and see that there really is a singer called Nosmo King.
There was an Adelaide band by that name back in the 70s….No Smoking….Nosmo King, geddit?
your coat is over there @Sniffity
The comment about The Beatles’ “Salt and Pepper Hearts Club” isn’t quite so dumb when one considers McCartney came up with the name Sergeant Pepper because he misheard a request to pass the salt and pepper.