19th April 2014 Today is Record Store Day. It's brought back a flood of nostalgia for the greatest record store that ever existed.
Anyone who remembers 'Ear 'Ere In Lancaster knows what I mean. It was a cosier and friendlier version of the record shop in Nick Hornby's Hi-Fidelity. It was also where you could get tickets for gigs at all kinds of places around the North of England. But from my early forays in there after school, to look meaningfully at prog album covers from the likes of Genesis and King Crimson, to the more serious record buyer I became it was the centre of my world.
I remember going in as a young teen one Saturday and looking through the racks. Some lad approached me and asked me what music I liked. He was probably just being friendly, but it seemed at the time to be the equivalent of the "got the time, mate?" question at a concert or football match. So I bolted and caught up with my Mum on Lancaster market. Back then there was a ferocious mob called the Marsh Mods who had lined up outside punk gigs and battered anyone in sight. Then there was the Morecambe Punks who would use belts and chains to mash anyone who crossed them. We developed myths and scare stories about the violence these gangs would inflict on you. Most of it wildly exaggerated, but it hung over you and was a caution not to stray too far from safety.
But in reality Ear Ere was safe neutral ground. As I became more confident (cocky?) I became a regular in there. You could listen on the headphones by the counter, get recommendations from the staff, especially one character who worked there called Malcolm. The manager was Roger, or to most of us "beardie". A nostalgic Facebook post earlier has elicited the comment from an old mate that these guys had as big a stamp on his musical DNA as John Peel.
You could put your name down to pre-order records and it was the first time I'd use a nickname rather than my surname with adults. I remember a few of us sneaking out at lunch break from school to buy Going Underground by The Jam in 1980. Swaggering back in with possession of the fastest selling single of that era.
I used to be in awe of people who would ask for rare records that they didn't have in stock, but would get the staff working hard looking through books and old stock lists and seeing if they could try and order it for you. They'd also sell fanzines, a few t-shirts and badges, some they'd even give away, but mostly it was shifting units in the golden age of pop music.
And these plastic bags were such a status symbol around school.You'd cart your school books to lessons in an 'Ear 'Ere bag, the height of cool, but woefully impractical for such a purpose.
I don't buy much music these days, but I fervently stick to the principle that the local record store is a totem of a civilised culturally advanced society. So when I want a new album by a band I still follow slightly slavishly - Elbow, Manics, etc - then Piccadilly Records in Oldham Street, Manchester get my custom. I also love their devotion to new music and always sample something new from their top 100 of the year. It's hit and miss, but those moments of serendipity are what makes life interesting. It's what has always made life interesting - so on this day of all days, I raise a glass to the greatest record shop ever - Ear Ere in Lancaster. May perpetual light shine upon your memory.
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I loved 'Ear 'Ere. It was where I bought my first copy of Led Zep 4, and I remember the guy letting me have a rolling stones brown sugar single for free, because the owner has written on it, and drawn on it. But I loved it, and still have it! It says "June Laycock's" all over it, and the sleeve has been used by her, and her friends for doodles. You're right, that was the greatest record shop, I have ever been to. And I'm glad I had the chance to breath it in, all the times I did.
A Nice read :). Philip Mitchell
Comments
Name Tommy Pinder Comment: I got all my repro 1950s records from this shop in Lancaster. Roger the owner is one top dude. If Roger couldn't get you the 45 or album no one could. So thanks Roger. (June 28, 2017)
Comment
Best shop ever! Always had loads of diverse and current records. Bought so many records just on hearing them from hanging round in the shop after school till in my twenties when Roger (the owner ) retired. Both my dad and I would constantly have stuff on order. They always helped you find new and re-released material you wanted. From their old shop in slip alley to their last premises in upper penny street it was the gold mine you always loved.
After arriving back in town after Glastonbury 97 (I bought my ticket in the shop)I was gutted to find it was closing...I emptied my bank account buying treasure they had left. Lancaster has not had a store I loved more than EAR ERE. I still have their labels on the records I bought there.
Name
Nick Plahuta
(2018)
Whatever happened to the band that was formed from the 'ear 'ere staff.in the 1980's???. I remeber Hedgehog records and their stall(s) right by the entrance to the old market. Where are they now?
Adland’s Favourite Record Stores "‘ear ‘ere Records was tucked away behind the market in Lancaster. As well as having a great name it was a paradise of ramshackle shelves stacked with records of every genre, and it had that wonderful record shop smell of printed sleeves and freshly pressed vinyl, plus a few other odours possibly of more dubious origin. It was founded by Barry Lucas and Nigel Waller in 1971. Barry was the booking agent for the Great Hall at Lancaster University and famously turned down the Rolling Stones who wanted to play a warm up gig there during exam season. There was also a legend that he had booked The Sex Pistols and then been told to cancel it because people objected to the names of their support acts, The Vibrators and The Damned.
"The shop definitely had an edgy and artistic aura. When I used to go in, the staff running it knew everything and anything about the world’s recorded music archive, and for good measure they also flogged tickets to gigs by people like The Jam and The Stranglers. I lived about 15 miles away in the farming area of North Yorkshire, so it was a real treat and a cultural adventure to go into the big city and part with my pocket money in return for hanging out in a cool shop, plus I got to take home some amazing records and insights into the music scene. Along with reading the NME, ‘ear ‘ere was THE place to go to find out what was going on with music artists and gigs in the pre-internet era."
The band had just been signed by Island Records and recently recorded Catch a Fire. Tickets bought at 'Ear 'Ere, pretty sure billing was *Disco + Bob Marley* on the Uni flyer? Unusual to go on a Saturday, most bands were Friday gigs. Ever thankful for that transformative experience, aged 17. One Love to all.
... and this piece in the 'Morecambe Visitor' dated 27th Novembe 1991: “ONE of Lancaster's most popular record shops is moving to larger premises in two weeks time. 'Ear 'Ere Records will be leaving their current premises at the market entrance and moving the short distance to Penny Street. According to shop manager Andy Smith the new shop is both bigger and in a better position.”
... plus this picture caption in the 'Lancaster Guardian' dated 8th July 1994: “Staff at 'Ear 'Ere records in Lancaster's Penny Street - Mark, Roger and Andy. - AA27/12G.”
... and this piece in the 29th July 1994 edition:
'EAR 'ERE RECORDS - Great music, Great prices. The sounds of the town at: 54 Penny Street, Lancaster. Tel: 61400/68865.
... and this piece in the 10th March 1995 edition:
“ANYTHING you want, if you can’t get it, we'll get it for you” - an ambitious boast from a retailer, by anyone's standards, but one which Andy Smith, co-owner of 'Ear 'Ere Records, believes the shop can fulfill. Unless a track has been deleted, the shop will search high and low through record company back catalogues and import specialists lists to find that record, cassette or compact disc you want. And what's more, in many cases you don’t even need to know what a tune is called or who sang it! Andy has a specialist knowledge of jazz, DJ Mark Witherall is the bees knees when it comes to indie and dance music, while Roger Moorhouse and Bob Clark (city and county councillor) are know-alls on just about everything else. The foursome decided to buy the shop as a co-operative seven years ago to keep it open when the original owner announced he was selling up. In 1992 the growing success of the business forced them to move from the cramped shop in Market Entrance to the premises in Penny Street, Lancaster. And what lies behind this success? Explained Andy: “We have a wide range of lots of different styles. We all know what we're talking about and the customers like that.” But there is more to it than that. First, it is the only record shop in Lancaster which offers more than just chart music and a hotchpotch of back catalogue stuff. Second, there is the huge range of videos, t-shirts, posters (‘they do really well,” said Andy) and endless accessories. Third, the shop act.s as the town’s premier ticket agency, offering tickets for everything from Essence at the Sugar House to supergroups at Wembley. Finally, and perhaps most important, Ear Ere Records is one of the few shops which continues to support the dying trade in vinyl. Andy said: "There’ll always be vinyl and I fancy it will become an audiophile thing. Until they produce a cheap mixing alternative to vinyl it will always be around."