Hound Dog's Bop Shop Memories

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by douglas mcclenaghan, Aug 9, 2021.

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  1. douglas mcclenaghan

    douglas mcclenaghan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I've see quite a few posters lamenting the loss of various record stores recently. For those of us in Melbourne we had a fantastic record store called Hound Dog's Bop Shop. It was a regular pilgrimage for record and then CD collectors. An absolute icon in the Melbourne music scene. Who else has fond memories of Denys and his treasure trove?
     
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  2. td19

    td19 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Me for one! Every time I managed to wangle a business trip NZ to Melbourne I would set aside a Saturday for a visit to the Bop Shop. Extraordinary stock and I wondered what happened to what was still in stock when Denys shut down. He was a very affable host and full of stories.
     
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  3. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Spent many hours in there to be honest! and a lot of dosh!
    The small shop was covered 'wall to wall' with Bear Family boxsets, and he had tonnes of vinyl, Cd's and DVD's.
    It was the kind of shop you'd go to, just to hang out! and listen and learn from all the people that came in and went.
    A real community, dedicated to Country, Rock n Roll, Blues, Bluegrass, Hillbilly music......
    Denys was an extremely knowledgeable guy, and to think, this was all pre internet too, where information was limited,
    the releases were impossible to find, and you 'needed' someone like Denys to get things in for you.
    His stuff was not cheap, but in Melbourne, it was the ONLY place you could go to get information, order specific releases.
    You gladly paid the premium price because you knew you had no other options.

    He had tonnes of US 45's for Jukeboxes, picture disc 45's/LP's from all over the world, and various releases
    of 'underground' or what we call 'grey market' releases today.
    Denys also had to get his stock directly by going to 'The States' and getting it back to Australia himself.
    No distribution middle persons....
    The shop never changed in the decades I visited, and to see it go, was a sad day.

    I'd love to know what happened to Denys Williams, he was a guy once you met, you'd never forget.
    He loved this music so badly is resonated with him, and he had great vibes about his passion.
    He knew what he had was special and it could not be sourced anywhere else in Melbourne, so he had the market covered.
    Before my time, but they used to even have 'Rockabilly' bands playing out the front of the shop on say a Friday or Saturday night.
    It was a real hive of activity I believe.
    The last time I was there, I took this photo...
    [​IMG]
    Our good friend @qwerty spent some time there himself, he might be able to add some more to this great thread.
     
  4. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Where was it? I didn't move here until 2015.
     
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  5. douglas mcclenaghan

    douglas mcclenaghan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    In West Melbourne. Very sad to see it close in 2011, I think. Rick's fantastic photo gives a hint of what it was like. They don't make 'em like that any more.
     
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  6. Andrewsloan

    Andrewsloan New Member

    Location:
    Geelong
    I used to go there with a 6 pack of abbots stubbies ,look thru heaps of albums select a few ask Denys to play some tracks,sip on as stubby while listening to the music then buy a few albums.During all this you were yarning to Denys and anyone else that was there and being in awe of the great mans rock and roll knowledge.
    Ran into him once in the early 90s on a flight to the US he on one of his many record buying trips
    Would love to know what he did after bop shop
     
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  7. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Record shows and internet sales, still making the occasional trip to the US. I haven't seen him for about 5 years, but I heard he's been to the Austin show at least once these past few years.
     
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  8. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Before the lockdown he was selling records at a pub in West Melbourne once a month near where the shop used to be.
     
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  9. td19

    td19 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    On the first of my earlier mentioned NZ-Melbourne visits I quickly picked out around thirty rockabilly must-haves that I cut down out of financial necessity to twenty. However I only had travellers cheques and Denys was a bit dubious about that. Fortunately we did manage to sort it out. He introduced me to Rolling Rock, Jackie Lee Cochran, Ray Campi etc. I would love to re-experience the first time I walked into the Bop Shop, eyes like saucers!
     
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  10. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    There was/is? a stall at the Chapel Street Bazaar that had most of the records with Hound Dog Bop Shop labels. I picked up a copy of Ann Peebles I Cant Stand The Rain there, and a Chuck Berry Blues album. This was going back a few years now. I assumed it was old Bop Shop stock. Wish I had found it sooner.
     
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