'Incompatible' purchases, cashier responses

Ronan: The next time you go onto a napsterclone I think you'll be surprised to find that half of everybodies collection is made of vintage country'n'western and modern hip-hop. (If someone could find a way to merge these two genres, they'd be an instant millionaire.)

"Phillips has often been quoted as having said something to the effect of "If I could only find me a white boy who could sing like a negro I could make me a million dollars". Although it remains the quote most often associated with him, Phillips knew better than most that a white boy imitating black blues singers would be ludicrous... Phillips was looking for a white artist who could bring the feel of black music to white kids who were too hidebound by racial intolerance to accept the genuine article. "

Now Phillips was a product of his time/place, but putting the words "clean negro" in his mouth is just fucking offensive. Pl. check these things before casually casting him as some kind of racist hillbilly - he was MUCH more complicated than that.

mind you this was from the guy who tried to explain to my flatmate that big black were punk without the punk.

I have experienced weird cashier reactions to single purchases though. When I bought Rush's Moving Pictures in 1991 or 1992, the cashier loudly asked his co-worker "Hey, do you like Rush? I hate them." The reply was "No, I hate them. Well, I don't hate them but I'm not impressed by them." I was actually slightly intimidated to go back to exchange my copy when it turned out there was something wrong with it. (I was 12.) When I bought Classic Yes not too long afterwards (at a different store) the cashier smirked pretty openly. When I bought Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music in 1997, the cashier just had a look on his face like I was insane or buying child pornography or something.

As for weird reactions, I bought seven LPs from a store I don't normally go to once, and the cashier, who was probably my age, maybe a year younger, said "Vinyl?! I didn't know anybody still bought that!" (He was dead serious, not one of those ironic responses) My reaction, kept to myself, was "Why do you think yr store stocks rows of records if no one is buying it?"

'Ey - didn't the Silver Beetles play six nights there in March 1960?

Maybe I'm scary-looking.

There used to be an indie store, Dr. Robert, and I think the cashier may have raised an eyebrow when I bought - oh dear - 4 Helen Love 7"'s at the same time.

But nowadays everything is bought online, faceless, was all fields round 'ere when I was a kid, etc.

How in the world could this cashier person be shocked when the store was *stocking* the damn thing?

OI!

Princeton Record exchange sales clerk's reaction: "My, Tad, you have very eclectic tastes there!"

- bizarrish as in 'self-taped', 'self-compiled', no cover to speak of ('cept smeared type-writer-ly song titles),i thought my son would be thrilled by it - and he was -

buying this lot (cheap, all of it but of course) circa 93-94 in a pretty bizarrish little second-hand shop (mostly stuffed with copious remains of the recent overflow of Russian-pressed pirate vinyl),
basically the place was a rebuilt staircase of a dwelling house, in the middle of Tallinn -

i recall the guy behind the microscopic counter really taking his time to look at those items, then to stare me in the eye, searching for words and evidently convinced that i owed him an explanation...
i didn't offer any, and in the end he gave up, mumbling, "weird, man, you really are weird..."

Hang on, how come this thread got resurrected after exactly a year long nap?

I bought a load of CDs a while back at Reflex in SoHo, Le Tigre, PJ Harvey, Slint, Sleater Kinney and a load of others and the assistant said I should check out Stubble Bunny - but they didn't have any in stock.

Anyone know anything about them. All I can find on the interweb is a few of their old gig listings.

Have you ever bought an "incompatible" purchase to impress a clerk?
E.G.:
- "Wow, Abba and GG Allin - how diverse!"
- "Whoa, Serge Gainsbourg & The Archies - What an ironic hipster!"
- .. or more likely, "I don't want to look like a total jagoff (sic) for buying this [Doobie Brothers] record, so I better buy a [Journey] record so I look cool."

"Can't Hardly Wait, Glory Daze... Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai?"

I don't want to look like a total jagoff (sic) for buying this [Doobie Brothers] record, so I better buy a [Journey] record so I look cool."
RoFFLe de ROFL.

-- Hurting (Hurtingchie...) (webmail), February 2nd, 2005 2:42 AM. (Hurting) (link)

that's why i was asking

1988. My mother has heard, and quite liked, "Good Tradition" by Tanita Tikaram, and asks me if I could get the album for her on the way home from work.

My favoured record store, rather indie/alternative, but stocking some more mainstream stuff as well. I ask the clerk, with whom I'm on nodding terms, whether he has this album -- taking pains to point out, of course, that it is for my Mum, not myself.

Clerk: No, I'm sorry.
Me: Oh, that's alright. (shuffles around shop for a bit, comes back with 23 Skidoo's The Culling Is Coming)
Clerk (cracks up): Oh, she'll like that one all right!