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08/09/2006

Blonde On Blonde does the trick

I was shopping for back catalogue (non-Bob) product in the gigantic new Tottenham Court Road branch of Fopp, the fast-rising CD-to-DVD-to-books mini-chain, when I was stopped dead in my tracks by the opening bars of I Want You.

Playing loud on the store’s superior in-house speakers, the song sounded arrestingly fresh, revealing lyrical and musical depths I’d never even suspected. So I did what everyone else in the store seemed to be doing – dropped everything to listen carefully. The high quality playback made it sound as if I was hearing the song for the very first time.

As the song was ending, I readied myself to resume the holy act of consuming – only for good of the English economy, you understand.

But then – 4th Time Around followed. Magnifico! And then, when it ended, Just Like A Woman. The penny dropped – someone in the store had recognised me and my fellow consumers as Dylan fodder and was playing Blonde On Blonde to keep us shopping. It worked – it sounded so good, I settled in for the entire 70-minutes worth of album.

After the initial shock of recognition had worn off, it took me several, slightly disoriented, minutes to realise what attentive Bobfans will already have picked up on - that the tracks were playing out of sequence - the album was set on random play.

But, boy, did it work. I spent a couple of hours in Fopp that afternoon. I spent more than ever before in a music shop. And I have just publicised the magnificent new store to a key audience, free of charge.

Fopp Tottenham Court Road is now London’s must-visit music store. And they occasionally play Dylan albums in their entirety!



Gerry Smith

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