A New Record Shop for Milton Keynes!

I am really, really thrilled to learn that my hometown is soon to be enlivened by the launch of a second-hand record shop!

Station Records will be popping up at the new community initiative, The Buszy, former Milton Keynes bus station, close to the train station.

The Buszy came to my attention when I spotted - on a visit to MK - a sign that said THRIFT STORE. Then I came across the Twitter account for Moments in Wax, a new regular club night hosted there that plays a classic vinyl album in its entirety (the first one was Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd). I then heard about all kinds of fun goings on for youths at The Buszy, such as dance classes, skateboarding shows, vintage clothes/books/bric-a-brac and more on sale, and new skills for young people to learn in this community space.

It sounds like exactly what Milton Keynes has been missing. I spent my early 20s plotting indie club nights and various ways to make my hometown more musically richer. Even in the last year or so I have still found myself dreaming up independent record shop ideas and wanting to set something up myself - the thing is to make a quiet suburban place better, and try to create what you want, not just bemoan the place. Yes, I live in London now, but I still go back to Milton Keynes, and I still have a little place for it in my heart - I defy the detractors' uneducated diatribes against the city, since I have a slew of amazing aspects I can readily name that give the city a heart, and uniqueness. People make assumptions, people ridicule, people just haven't been there properly to know more. There might be shortcomings, but, well, why not kick something off to make the place your happier haven? It was here that I first started making music fanzines, and got to interview all kinds of amazing bands. I have many fond memories of gigs, music shops, record fairs, that first bought guitar, and music fandom and community. And so... a new record shop for Milton Keynes!


It is true that for some time in recent years musical stuff has been a bit more lacking than in former years. The late 90s saw bands such as REM, Mansun, Placebo, Blur, and so on play in Milton Keynes. There were regular decent gigs. There was a really worthy second-hand record shop in Wolverton in the shape of Fish Music (sadly, now closed, as many small music shops have in the UK). That record shop shaped my musical tastes, assisted my life story. We also had excellent secondhand music stalls on the market, which fuelled my liking of The Cure at a time when The Cure had gone all quiet and had not been resurrected as extremely cool and name-check worthy again (it took a huge number of years for that in the UK, and it still baffles me).

With the demise of so many music shops in Milton Keynes over the years (in my teens there were at least three or four: Andy's, Our Price, Fish Music, and possibly HMV at that same one time, if memory serves), I was bowled over to hear an announcement on Twitter that there is to be a new second hand record shop introduced at The Buszy premises! How ace will that be?



Open every Saturday from the 29th June, the shop will stock tapes, vinyl, and more. At last check, the stock has reached treble figures.

Profits from the project are going to go to a youth work charity called Make a Difference. And Station Records is also seeking to stock local artists.

The store is run by Warren Smith whose music fandom once reached into making a music fanzine local to Milton Keynes.

The All Thrills No Frills Music Bill paper fanzine (counterpart to this very blog) looks set to be stocked in Station Records, too. So look out for it on the 29th, when the store launches! We are working on a Milton Keynes music memories special.

Here's to runaway success for a wonderfully welcome and exciting independent initiative in Milton Keynes.

www.facebook.com/stationrecordsmk

www.twitter.com/stationrecmk

EMAIL: stationrecordsmk AT live.com

http://www.thebuszy.com/spotlight-products

Moments in Wax club night