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Friday, July 11, 2008

Aw, Fopp was so great!

How many times have I heard that now? And it's always followed by some know-all who says 'oh no, there's still one in Covent Garden', to which everyone breathes a communal sigh of relief.

So, what's wrong with HMV? Zavvi? Amazon? iTunes? Any of the thousands of other independent record stores? What made Fopp so freakin' special?

Well, for starters, it's cool. From the hard-wood floors, to the little staff recommendations, to focus on up-and-coming young bands, they're the retail equivalent of that funky, in-the-know-friend who was always a little out of your league. Contrasting heavily with Zavvi who utterly bombard you with choice, deals, loud music, big tv screens and absolutely no bias whatsoever. I mean, there's something wrong with a place who WON'T judge you for buying a McFly cd!

People everywhere are missing Fopp's laid back attitude to peddling music - the one high street chain that gave you time to browse, get into your groove and discover what rocked your boat. Here's hoping HMV, having brought back to life 8 Fopp stores, continue to return them to our streets.

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