Visited A Hmv Store In Bluewater Shopping Centre In Kent Today. I Was Amazed How Much Vinyl Records They Had. There Was A Whole Section Devoted To Old & New Title Lp's! More Of A Shock Was The Price! Around £20 Average For An Album.

[CaptainS]

I know they must cost a bit to make, but can anyone remember saving your Paper Round money or Pocket Money to buy the latest Madness album? They weren't that expensive, were they??

[Buenchico]

Back in 1966 a recent school-leaver would have had to give up around a quarter of his week's pay to buy an LP:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/16/in-1966-an-lp-cost-almost-a-quarter-of-a-teenage-pop-pickers-pay

[Mamyalynne]

Singles were my limit with pocket money, Albums were gifts or hand me downs.

[Buenchico]

In 1971, when we switched over to decimal currency, an LP cost £3. (Source: https://thenakedlistener.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/ukprices1970/ ). Between 6th form and college, I worked behind a bar in the summer holidays, earning £18 for a 6 day week. So an LP would have cost me a whole day's pay.

[albaqwerty]

some of today's high prices are not only for the vinyl the band recorded, but the album cover or even the label itself.
I think it was Island who changed their 'logo' at some point and the ones with original logo command higher prices.

[Mozz71]

I remember owning a copy of Bruce Springsteen's The River with the original price sticker on it. A double album for £4.49.

[Old_Geezer]

The worse bit is that most of the LPs on sell today are old ones that have already made a mint. They should be offered at close to product cost but are, as you notice, at rip- off prices. LPs were never cheap but pressed and sold in quantity, were always overpriced, but I suspect nowhere near as much as today.

[hc4361]

I remember Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life being very expensive on its release in 1976 but I can't remember how much it was.

Anyone?

[hc4361]

Did anyone else buy the Pick of the Pops albums from Woolies? Long before the Now That's What I Call Music albums these marvels were quickly released to have the current hits with anonymous singers and musicians. Elton John sang quite of the tracks before he became really famous.
Some of the tracks were dire but the albums were affordable.

[Buenchico]

As you indicate, Hc4361, many of the cover version on the Woolie's albums were appalling. I preferred to wait a bit until the original versions were made available cheaply. e.g.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81J-QqbqP2L._SL1500_.jpg

[hc4361]

Good old KTel. I had their record organiser thingymabob

[CaptainS]

Thanks to all, good info.
I was more of an 'Our Price' record store shopper. I do remember 'Woolworths' always having an up-to-date chart listing on the counter for all Top 40 singles, 12 inch & Albums, and the shelves with records on, with the appropriate Chart Position. Anyone remember 'Record Tokens' or 'Book Vouchers'?? What a treat! Even if they were only a couple of quid... Oh, happy days. Ha Ha

[jno]

I remember them being about £3 or equivalent (not in the UK). According to the Bank of England inflation calculator that would be more than £60 today... so the price has plummeted!

[237SJ]

I remember paying about £5 for an album. I was at collage and worked in a bar in the evenings so was save £3 one week and £2 the next. That was about 1980

[Buenchico]

>>> Anyone remember 'Record Tokens' or 'Book Vouchers'?

Book tokens are still available (although they're plastic cards these days):
https://www.nationalbooktokens.com/
They're widely accepted by firms like Waterstones, W H Smith, etc, as well as by many independent bookshops.

The same firm also sells record tokens
https://www.recordtokens.co.uk/
but it's far harder to find stores that accept them, simply because there aren't many record shops left. (HMV don't accept them).

[twix123]

Some of the 'Woolies' covers were quite good, if they were cheap, with fairly decent renditions of Alma Cogan sound alikes.

I'm sure that I paid about four and thrupence for a Buddy Holly version of 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man' in the early sixties (which was about a third of my paper round wages for a week).

[twix123]

You were lucky to be able to get into Bluewater on Fridy, unless it was in the morning. The roads were chock a block in the whole area due to various accidents on the A2 and the Dartford Tunnel approach road !

[Buenchico]

Woolworths used the 'Embassy' label for their cover versions.

As has been said, some of them were actually quite good. e.g.

[CaptainS]

Thank you Buenchico,
Sorry I meant Record Vouchers & Book Tokens, got them round the wrong way.
Wh smiths book tokens were nice as they always came in a special greetings card.
As you say, the Plastic Gift cards are everywhere now, for a huge range of products & services. I think you can top them up and re-use them as well?
Not the same as the excitment of the old vouchers, books & records, where your life depended on your choice of Artist or Author, as they would never exchange or refund on an item purchased by the paper GIFT VOUCHER.... ha ha

[andy-hughes]

When I bought the majority of my albums from Graduate Records in the arcade in Hanley, the boast was - 'Nothing in the shop over two pounds'.

My first job was a solicitors' clerk and I was paid £10 a week, so the weekly album was a considerable outlay, so I took a friend's advice and applied to Post Office Telephones, where he was getting £16 a week - that took some of the pressure off when I was hired.

[CaptainS]

Wow! I never knew Albums were so pricey. Must of been a big purchase. Thanks for all your great and informative answers folks. I think I'll take my HMV spending money elsewhere.
What were the older type records before singles & LP's? Can't think of the name, but found a load in parents loft. They must of cost even more back in the day? No-one has mentioned Cassette tapes? Now I do remember them ☺