Greville Records was one of the first places I ever found in Melbourne that really took my breath away. It's one of those old school record stores immortalised in Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" (and it's subsequent film adaption starring John Cusack and Jack Black..), and I love it. There's quite a few places in Melbourne where you can really feel history. It's like you're stepping back into an age that's almost slipped through our fingers, to be gone forever. This is certainly one of them. Hidden a few hundred meters from Chapel St in Prahan, you could be forgiven for being absolutely shocked to find it in such close proximity to a main road dotted with "high fashion" stores, and their accompanying folk (I was!).
There's a sizeable vinyl section out the back, an extensive CD selection in the middle, and the front is filled with hard to find box sets and special editions, books, new releases, t-shirts, hoodies and who knows what else. It's hard to find anything bad in the place, which I suppose is the one thing they don't stock.. Shit. Warwick, the owner, is also a wealth of information. He's pretty funny, and not afraid to offer opinions (he once told me that he thought Ryan Adams was just some dude who had too many Gram Parsons records, even though I had a copy of Heartbreaker on the counter in front of him). There's just something that soothes my soul about this place, and I wish it weren't on the other side of the river where I tend to not frequent that often. Although, half the time when I DO manage to get there I see too many things I want and just end up buying nothing instead.
These are the kind of record stores that we, as a music loving community need to support. The JB HI-Fi's, while they may be cheap have nothing compared to the wealth of history and knowledge that exists within their doors. Rather than answering to faceless shareholders who buy and sell at a whim, they run their own businesses, and do it because they love it.
Please. Go buy stuff from this shop. It's the best.
Greville Records
152 Greville Street,Prahran, Victoria, 3181
P: 03 9510 3012
He's even got a shitty, badly designed website too. Perfect.
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