Record shops in Aberdeen

The two main shops for me were

Bruce Millers and Telemech

C Bruce Millers was in George Street in those days and was my main source of new releases. They kept in stock one copy of almost every new release 45 from the main record companies, so I could be pretty certain to get any of my weird requests on the London and Stateside labels which in other shops would usually be met by a blank look. 

Apart from a Saturday girl I rather fancied, my favourite assistant was JOE with his big bushy beard and glasses, who never seemed to lose patience with my funny orders. When the Pye record company started sending out their singles with solid centres which you couldn't push out for jukebox use, Joe always tried to order me a 'proper copy' as I called it. He was very helpful, and people still remember him with affection. 

In the second year of the R&B Club, Bruce Millers allowed me to have a discount for quantity on 45rpm singles which they weren't really meant to because of Resale Price Maintenance, but they called it an educational allowance of 10% and started letting me have an account to be settled at the end of term. Needless to say I couldn't afford to pay it, being a poor student, well not without going without food for a week or two!

After I left University, Bruce Millers moved from George Street to Union Street. 

If you remember Joe McLeod there's a tribute to him here.

Telemech was in Marischal Street opposite Aberdeen Photographic. They sold TVs and radios as well 

as records, but only really stocked the current chart 45s, and certainly not the sort of soul music I was 

after. However what made Telemech different and special was that they dealt in secondhand records. They 

would buy unwanted LPs and singles from customers and on many occasions when I was almost starving

I traded in an unwanted LP at Telemech and ran up to the Student Union refectory to spend the money 

on a much needed lunch!

Every so often they would receive a batch of unwanted promotional records from EMI for example 

which seemed to have been brought in by a journalist on the Press & Journal office across the way. Those

45s were the icing on the cake for me and I often would go in and look for any new arrivals maybe three 

times a week. The owner Dave (above) and his staff probably thought the local students spent more time

in the shop than at their lectures!

Many years later I opened my own record shop in Redhill in Surrey and guess what - I modelled it 

on Telemech.....

For more about Telemech in the sixties see http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/keng/kenhtml/telemechendofanera.htm

Many years later, I sold one of the demo singles I'd bought in Telemech.

This was about ten years ago now.

I auctioned it on ebay and it sold for £254 no less!

Sweet Thing by The Spinners

The reason it went for such a high price was partly because it was a rare Tamla Motown 45 that hadn't sold very well.

Secondly EMI had called the group The Spinners and the UK Liverpool group of the same name objected. 

That meant the record had to be repressed as being by The Motown Spinners, but my copy above was an original one!

How much did I pay for it at Telemech? Well if only I could remember, it may have been 2/6d 

but it could have been in one of their clear outs when all the singles were 6d each.

Page added 5th April 2009