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I remember the twins (don't recall their names but they were nice guys) and the iracsible owner Derek. And it was always entertaining for a then-16 year old having to voyage through darkest Soho to get to the shop in the first place, en-route from my other surrogate family at the original Forbidden Planet.
Wasn't it Martin and Phillip Masheter?
It's so long ago now. I remember spending a lot of time in there whenever I was in London, that's for sure. Rather expensive too, but an obvious place for a soundtrack enthusiast to visit. They did have a small selection of CDs too - I remember picking up the Legend CD release of Roy Budd's Stone Killer score, which was a bit different to the later Cinephile release.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2011 - 8:26 AM
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By: |
Jones895
(Member)
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I too spent many hours there, although, because I didn't live near London, I couldn't get there on a regular basis. Back in those pre-internet days, you had to do some careful checking before buying anything from 58 Dean St., just in case Magpie Records in Worcester were selling it cheaper! Magpie was one of the few other sources of imported soundtracks in those days, as I recall.
I'm not so sure I would agree about how worthwhile the Japanese ORCA LP was though. I also bought this at the time...at extortionate cost! After getting the Japanese SABATA and TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA LPs, I was sure that it would be worth the investment. I'm afraid I was disappointed. Like every subsequent release of the score, it sounded very thin and prone to distortion. The tapes of ORCA were so poor, that even the (usually) superior Japanese LP mastering couldn't do much with them.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2011 - 8:45 AM
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By: |
Ron Pulliam
(Member)
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If you'd allow a Yank to have a 58 Dean Street story, I'd like to chime in!
During my military career, I spent five years as a journalism instructor at the Defense Information School which was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana (the school relocated a decade or so back...I'm recalling my time there in the early 1980s).
I loved being an instructor, and my pupils responded in kind. In February 1982, an opportunity arose for my boss to send a journalism instructor to RAF Chicksands outside of Luton, UK. The U.S. Air Force element there needed some on-site training on how to write stories. The students would be folks who worked in (shall we say) super-classified areas and the base public affairs newspaper staff didn't have access. The idea was to instill some news story and feature story basics into a few folks who could report on goings-on (non-classified goings-on, that is) in areas where base newpaper personnel couldn't go.
My boss selected me for the task! I taught for three days, and I really enjoyed it. Happily, I was able to tack a couple of vacation days onto the end of my trip. I booked a room at the Tower Hotel in London. My mission: FIND soundtracks -- primarily those reissues of classics that I couldn't get my hands on in the U.S.
The late 1970s and early 1980s were a boom time for reissues of classic film score recordings, especially for those of us who could not find, or afford, original copies of rare soundtracks. Many titles were pressed in Japan. I hoped London shops would have those pressings because I couldn't find sources for them in the U.S. at the time. (Sources would later be revealed to me...but in 1982, I was unaware of any of them).
I took a train to London, checked into my hotel and then treated myself to a nice stroll and dinner. Next morning, I was up and at 'em...hoping I'd stumble across something really wonderful. The evening before, I had gone through the telephone directory looking for references to film scores in record shops, but I didn't have any luck. I decided I'd let providence guide me.
It was a beautiful day, and I covered a nice chunk of London via the Tube. I visited many shops but no one seemed able to point me in a "soundtrackerly" direction. I bought a couple of great things but they were new pressings of items I already had, so I really wasn't very happy with my excursion. I know I visited several areas (can only remember Soho).
By around 4 p.m., the light was waning, and I felt the need to rest a bit before eating dinner. I knew I was in the vicinity of Piccadilly Station, and I paused on a street corner to get my bearings with my street map. I turned it around a couple of times, keeping my eye on my destination while trying to find the street name of where I was.
I'm not sure what it was that I saw first: The street name or the shop front.
The street was Dean Street. The shop front astounded me. "58 Dean Street" was emblazoned on the window, with words surrounding the shop name that were wonderful to be hold. They were "soundtrack" (and Broadway and cast album) "specialists."
How could I never have heard of them? Well...it was the early 1980s, and there was no internet...no communications link between film score collectors...nothing (for me) but Starlog magazine with its occasional article on specific film scores (and full-page ads of one label's offerings of fantasy/sci-fi scores) and Films in Review's Soundtrack column. But I'd never heard of 58 Dean Street.
I went into that shop trembling a bit. All the rows and rows and rows and rows of bins filled with LPs were nearly sensory overload.
As I recall, the soundtracks were on the right side of the shop...bins lined up against the wall. The store closed at 5 p.m.....and it was shortly after 4 p.m. I had to hurry.
I began on the left side and worked my way to the right, completely covering the film scores, A-Z.
As I went through, I pulled LPs and stacked them, moving them along as I moved along. I don't know what other patrons must have thought. Here was an apparent tourist collecting a horde.
When I was done, I had pulled 32 LPs. I had, reluctantly, let a few stay in their bins because I didn't want to overdo my spending and because I didn't know enough about the music on them to risk buying them and not liking them.
At the counter, I have no idea who rang me up, but he was a very nice chap...very personable. I was about 15 pounds short of having enough "English currency" and I asked to be pointed toward an exchange shop. There was one down the street and I rushed out, bought my pounds, and rushed back in. Because the shop was closing, I didn't have time to think about picking up those few extra albums, so I left them.
All evening, I gazed at my haul which I had placed on my hotel bed. Surely, I thought, this was one of the greatest days of my "score collecting" life. I had so many titles I'd long wanted -- "Desire Under the Elms", "A Certain Smile", "Mutiny on the Bounty" (in stereo!), "Vertigo", "This Earth is Mine", etc., etc.
I arranged to be picked up the next morning to be taken to Gatwick. After a decent sleep, I arose and made a cup of tea (English hotels have electric kettles and a nice assortment of teas in their rooms!). I made the decision to instruct my driver to stop at 58 Dean Street for a quick run in so I could snag the other LPs I'd considered buying.
My oversized sack of 35 (!) LPs rested between my feet during the flight back to the U.S.
That same year, a friend was going to London for Christmas and wondered if I wanted him to bring me anything back. I gave him an address, a title and some cash to buy a couple of more things for me at 58 Dean Street. Apparently, he had a nice chat with someone in the store about me, my previous experience, and I was remembered!
The mention of 58 Dean Street always gives me a warm glow.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2011 - 8:58 AM
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By: |
Illustrator
(Member)
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Apologies to all if this is a topic that has already been discussed (I'm a virgin at FSM - insert cheap shot joke here!) but my recent re-awakening to film music has made me reflect on those halcyon days spent in 58 Dean Street in a time when soundtracks really were very hard to come by.
I have amazing memories of spending just about every Saturday there with my then-best mate John (who ended up working there for a spell) and sometimes with another friend called Steve (aka "Snorewood - a private joke but anyone who knew him would know why!) , thumbing through every single rack, pawing over every new release and mostly being depressed about how unaffordable everything was. Heck, I virtually grew up there!
I remember the twins (don't recall their names but they were nice guys) and the iracsible owner Derek. And it was always entertaining for a then-16 year old having to voyage through darkest Soho to get to the shop in the first place, en-route from my other surrogate family at the original Forbidden Planet.
I still have in my loft my two prize purchases from Dean St - a Japanese pressing of Morricone's Orca: Killer Whale and my 50th soundtrack album, the wonderful First Great Train Robbery. Both at the time were cripplingly expensive but money well spent.
Anyone else got any recollections of this shop, or other soundtrack dealers?
Brings back great memories. Many Lps bought there I remember specifically Battle Beyond The Stars, Brainstorm, Conan and Star Trek TMP all bought there seemingly within weeks of eachother (ah, the good old days) It seemed like there was only that one store in the whole of London that
catered to this growing obsession, so I guess it makes sense it was located amongst other fetish stores in the heart of Soho! Obviously we had similar interests, do you remember the store "Dark They Were & Golden Eyed"?, long since gone, I don't think the street or alley still exists actually.
The last purchase I remember making from Dean Street before their move to Holborn was the 4 disc Star Wars Anthology. After the move they downsized and seemed to become more showtunes-oriented and other stores such as HMV now had huge soundtrack departments.
I still have the one LP they pressed themselves; TV Hits of the Sixties. Still has some of the finest arrangements courtesy of Brian Fahey and Cyril Stapleton.
Yup, back when it was all just fields...
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What a blast from the past,
I to remember this shop well and the guys , used to go in every sat,
i think there is a piece on this shop and derek in an old film review mag,
the cover has clint eastwood as josey wales,
it used to be based in the old harliquin shop on the corner of dean st and old cromton st,
derek used to have a few rakes of soundtracks and shows in there, i think this was in the early 70s ,
i thought the jap albums great , got all the old martial arts movies soundtracks ,and of course orca , i think everybody got orca,
dont mean to high jack this ,
does anybody here remember mick jones shop at crofton park called soundtrack and general around the same time ,great for italian scores.
great days
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,
does anybody here remember mick jones shop at crofton park called soundtrack and general around the same time ,great for italian scores.
great days
Near the 'Brockley Jack' pub. Went there a few times. Bought 'The Casssandra Crossing' and 'Moses The Lawgiver' around February 1977.
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Ron Pullham wrote:If you'd allow a Yank to have a 58 Dean Street story, I'd like to chime in!..........................................................................
The mention of 58 Dean Street always gives me a warm glow.
------------------------------
Lovely story Ron, thanks for sharing.
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Back in the days of records....I went there once. It was the early 80's and I got their address from I don't know where..perhaps from Doug or someone at Intrada on Vallejo Street when I used to go get albums there. But I was staying at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London (it was definately not so royal) and took a taxi to their store which was so full of bins of records and so musty and darkish inside (I loved it!) the experience of finding foreign albums with different artwork on them of soundtracks I'd known. I recall taking my bags of records which weighed a TON on board the plane with me. I put them under the seat in front as well as near my feet. As it was a very long trip from London to San Francisco, it did get a bit cramped.
When I returned to London a few years later, the store had shuttered.
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dark eyed ,great shop ,
i was in london last week and went for a walk around where these shops used to be ,
as you all write, all gone now , i was trying to remember the name of the other comic /film mag shop down berwick st just in the market around 1975, great for import mags,
used to go to all these shops on a sat, hanway street was another good haunt with around 3 secondhand vinyl shops
AH the memories
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Posted: |
May 18, 2011 - 11:55 AM
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By: |
siriami
(Member)
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Golden days. I live in Scotland (about 400 miles from London). Used to regularly have a day trip there to scour the record shops for soundtracks. This was long before the Internet - probably early to late 1970's and well into the 1980's and 1990's. Came home with bulging carrier bags. Mostly film musicals in those days, all those US (whisper it) bootlegs on unknown labels. And of course, any Bernard Herrmann that was available as well. Got a couple of Herrmann TV music LPs there. The excitement of discovering a "new to you" album or soundtrack. marvellous!
I too remember the twins - and Derek Braeger, who was a bit brusque, but a sweetie really! After 58 Dean Street, it was off to various other record shops, like Dress Circle, "Soundtrack at the Arts", one in Berwick Street that I can't remember the name of, and a few other stores. It ain't the same, sitting in front of a computer, and ordering from all over the world, is it?
Alistair
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