A cross posting from my Geography in/on Film blog. Check it out... there are some overlaps with the music one.
Record shops used to be a much bigger part of the fabric of towns and cities. Some cities still have some decent record shops. Norwich does fairly well for vinyl emporiums...
Perhaps the most stylised and 'perfect' of these on screen is the one in Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'.
The filming location for the record shop scene was the basement of the Chelsea Drugstore on London's Kings Road which was designed by architect Antony Cloughley and designer Colin Golding. It was inspired by Le Drugstore on Boulevard St Germain in Paris, Chelsea Drugstore opened in 1968 and included bars, a chemist, newsstands, record stores and food outlets, and was open up to 16 hours a day.
The store closed down in 1985 and was a McDonalds for a while. Located on the corner of Royal Avenue and King’s Road in Chelsea, several high profile bands and artists met each other for the first time within its walls.
A record store condenses all forms of culture and counter-culture into one perfect space. You generally encounter interesting people in these places and conversations can be struck up quite easily.
It was also frequented by The Rolling Stones and is mentioned in their lyrics for You Can’t Always Get What You Want as well as in The Kinks’ Did Ya (“Now the Chelsea Drugstore needs a fix…”).
The store closed down in 1985 and was a McDonalds for a while. Located on the corner of Royal Avenue and King’s Road in Chelsea, several high profile bands and artists met each other for the first time within its walls.
It was also frequented by The Rolling Stones and is mentioned in their lyrics for You Can’t Always Get What You Want as well as in The Kinks’ Did Ya (“Now the Chelsea Drugstore needs a fix…”).
This blog explores the real-life records which are featured. I noticed the 2001 soundtrack album by the desk where he asks about his order.
