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Comments

Name: Tony
Comment: Congratulations on a great site, it brings back some good memories. There is one omission that I know of which was a small record shop in Bath which I frequented quite regularly in 1979/80. I knew it as Discount Records but I believe that its correct name was Cruisin' Records. It was situated in the centre of Bath tucked away in a little street behind Jolly's departmant store called John Street virtually opposite the Salamander pub. The shop is now the home of the Adam Art gallery.

Name: Mike Morrison
Comment: I spent many a long hour in Cruisin'.

Name: Bob Taylor
Comment: I remember Cruisin' Records very well. I was introduced to many fine artists there - Tom Waits, Little Feat, and loads of blues bands. I picked up lots of hard-to-find stuff there too. It was a great little shop.

Name: Andy
Comment: I was one of the owners of Cruisin'. We opened in Bath just as the Punk scene was firing up. The shop was opened by Graham Parker & The Rumour who were riding high at the time. Our contacts at Stiff helped arrange it. Phonogram didn't want them to do it because at that point we didn't have an account with them. They arrived half an hour late on the day, having told Phonogram to f**k off! (as Martin Belmont put it!). Our mission was to sell what we thought was the best as cheaply as we possibly could. Lots of Jazz/Blues/Rock imports from around the planet.

We made a lot of friends and soon became the only place in town for the serious record buyer to go. We played what we liked and turned a lot of people onto things they may otherwise have overlooked. This of course worked both ways and over the years we developed a splendid rapport with our regular customers. One of our biggest selling imports ever was Captain Beefheart's Bat Chain Puller which had a big delay between its US and UK release. How many other shops sold almost 200 copies of it on import?

Saturdays were a riot, everybody in town. Cruisin' was a meeting place. Our cellar turned into a virtual social club. There'd be as many people down there as there were in the shop sometimes. (To say the atmosphere down there was a bit toxic sometimes is an bit of an understatement. You could get ripped walking down the stairs.) We played a lot of Zappa and pointed countless people in his direction. We sold truckloads of Sheik Yerbouti! One of our regulars was Peter Gabriel who used to turn up just before closing and spend an hour or so checking stuff out. I miss it, but as Vonnegut would say 'so it goes'. I miss many of the customers too. So, Bob Taylor, if you are reading this, get in touch. That goes for anyone else from the old crowd. Alex and Gary, where are you? John from Chippenham etc. I could go on...

Name: Chris Gale
Comment: I loved this shop. As a 15-year-old kid it was instrumental in shaping my music tastes. The first record I bought here was Graham Parker's Don't Ask Me Questions. The shop walls were adorned with 7" record sleeves. It was my first port of call after school... I spent hours in the shop deliberating how to spend my meagre pocket money... always loads on the list and never enough money.

Name: Richard Simmerson
Comment: Thank you for Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, Tenpole Tudor at least six months before fame and Top of the Pops. Also Pistols bootleg tapes, Spizz Energi and many other artists. Cruisin' mind blowing for a 12-year-old in terms of good music. Never a wrong step.
(30 September 2016)

Name: Martin Togher
Comment: I was a Cruisin' Records regular from about 1978 to 1981 maybe. I used to love going through the singles. The staff seemed uber-cool to teenage me.
(25 March 2017)

Name: Simon
Comment: I loved Cruisin' records. If I recall, after it closed Andy had a stall in what was called Barts Bazaar - did he write a book on Zappa?
(2019)

Name: David Everall
Comment: This was my favourite record shop ever. So much packed into a small space. Great to hear Andy’s comments. I got to know him and the other owner Alan quite well back then. I remember attending a Clash gig at Bristol Locarno with him and also a legendary Elvis Costello, The Blasters and Nick Lowe gig in Chippenham of all places. Cruisin' truly was a legendary record shop.
(2019)

Name: Madeleine
Comment: I loved this shop dearly too. I remember a black guy called Rob used to own it and lived up stairs. Do you remeber him?
(2021)

Name: Helmut GW
Comment: In March of 1979 my girlfriend and I visited Bath to see the Sham 69 gig at the Pavilion. We visited the shop and Andy invited us to stay with him as guests for a few days. These are stll unforgettable days.
Cheers, Helmut from Hamburg
(2021)

Name: Andy Dalziel
Comment: Wracking my brains thinking of this fabulous little record shop, glad I now know its name… I was a regular there back in the late 1970s and being a huge fan of the likes of Numan etc it was the place to go for unusual items . Great atmosphere etc… loved it!… great memories!

Name: Robin Bourne
Comment: I remember Cruisin' Records well from the late 1970s when I was aged 15-17. Punk and New Wave was in full swing and it was an event to queue to buy the latest Jam or Clash single on the first day of release. Also remember the distinctive LP bags with the green logo. I often remember it when I sit in the Salamander. Happy daze!
​(2022)

Name: David Smith.
Comment: We used to love this shop and the back catalogue of singles that no other shop seemed to stock, virtually every single I ever bought in there I still have as of 2022.

Name: Andy Taylor
Comment: This shop and Andy, Alan, Rob and Becky are responsible for my addiction and debt to this day. All that money spent on fabulous music, just on vinyl (and the occasional bootleg cassette). The great thing about them was their apparent (at least to my face) refusal to judge what I was buying, whether it was Diana Ross, Traffic, Springsteen, Undertones - and thanks to them my taste has stayed just as eclectic over 40 years later.
​(2022)

Name: Steve King
Comment: Loved this place! Remember persuading my mum to buy Best of Budgie when I was 13 or 14!

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Location

John Street BA1 2JL Bath / Bristol & Bath
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