Comments
Name: Adam Blake
Comment: When I was younger I used to go with my mother to Biba's on Kensington High Street. They had a great record department with comfy chairs and fancy leather headphones and they let me listen to whatever I wanted (Yes and Wishbone Ash, probably) for as long as I wanted - knowing I couldn't afford to buy anything. Likewise, the original Virgin shop which was above a shoe shop at the bottom of Oxford Street. That was exciting because they sold bootlegs more or less openly, which to me at the time was the absolute height of coolness that any record shop could aspire to.
Comment: Closing down sale at Biba in 1975 as the sounds of the Manhattan Transfer crooning "I don't know why I love you but I do" drifted form the art deco speakers, the true devotes of Biba were left, shell shocked by the devastation. In the armchair booths, where you sit and listen to records, it was reported young men and women sat, oblivious of the chaos around them in a sort of suspended animation.
Name: Leila Prowse
Comment: Me too! My mum used to take us to Biba and I remember that giant turntable!
“TODAY: New York Dolls, Glam-Rock group from America, appear at Biba, Kensington.”
... and this record review in the 'Western Daily Press' dated 9th January 1975:
“WHITE CHRISTMAS by Pasadena Roof Orchestra (Transatlantic): from Biba's, Kensington - polished camp.”