How boss was going to the video shop?

[Section_31]

I remember when we got our first VHS player, must have been about 1986-7, what a whole new world it opened. Our first video was Gremlins and it had a trailer for Rocky IV on it, as well as some jarg looking Madona song romance film called Crazy for You.

 

There was a Ritz video shop in Speke parade and it was a magic fucking place indeed. Robocop, Transformers the Movie, and any number of other great films and some highly suss straight-to-video titles available. This was before Sky Moves and all that bollocks, and back then you knew the people in those video shops - they were adults too, not these spotty cunts you get today.

 

Video, some-one-still-loves-yooouuuuu!

 

* clap clap

[Furmedge]

My uncle used to own Aquarius video shop in Kirkby town centre and I used to sit off in there during the summer holidays. I'd have unlimited credits on Super Mario and R-Type before it opened, and then sit behind the counter and play on the Spectrum 48k for the rest of the day.

 

Great days.

[mlwilliams]

It was awesome when the van used to come around and the back would be filled with videos and sega megadrive/nintendo games.

[Section_31]

My uncle used to own Aquarius video shop in Kirkby town centre and I used to sit off in there during the summer holidays. I'd have unlimited credits on Super Mario and R-Type before it opened, and then sit behind the counter and play on the Spectrum 48k for the rest of the day.

 

Great days.

 

Quality.

 

Before the likes of Ritz opened they were mostly small video shops weren't they? There was one by us I remember now, he sold old electronics, tellies he'd fixed and stuff, but had a small selection of videos too. The charm of the things was that the more you watched them they shitter the picture would get. I rented out Transformers the Movie about once a week and everytime I watched it the picture was worse.

 

My nan worked as a manager in Manweb in Garston and used to bring videos home for me to watch when i went around on a Friday. That was where I first saw Back to the Future, even the front of the box looked fucking magic. Great stuff.

[Wor Horse]

We used to have a van come round ours and rent videos out.

 

Never even watched them most weeks, just got 2 off the fella for a quid and leave them in the living room until the following Saturday.

 

Good times though.

[Rafiagra]

Yeah, my dad used to rent videos. It was class when the sales rep came round with all the new releases. I think they were about £80.

 

Funny thinking about how you had to rewind the film after watching it. Or the cursing you did when some fucker hadn't bothered to so you had to before you could watch it.

[Furmedge]

Tracking them in was a fucker too. And when your arl man spent ages cleaning the heads with the clear video tape and some bud things.

[Red Phoenix]

I remember betamax, makes me feel old now.

[manwiththestick]

My dad used to get me posters off the guy from our local shop. Had my walls plastered and constantly updated.

[melons]

I remember betamax, makes me feel old now.

 

My nan passed away a couple of years ago now, we had to clear the loft and the chapel i kid you not we must of skipped over a thousand beetamax videos and at least two players (most water damaged).

 

 

I remember being one of the first kids on our estate to have a VHS player, my dad (grandad)had already bought the sound of music/annie/wizard of oz on betamax so it was pure indulgence and fairytale for the VHS with horror as a side line. When we used to go down the video shop my sister would slip in the latest horror film into the 3 day pile of films. We'd be down stairs watching them before everyone else in the house woke up.

 

It's mad i could still describe the lay out and where each genre of film was in a shop from 25/28 years ago yet i can't remember my kids dates of birth sometimes.

[Section_31]

[RJ Fan club]

Green Schofields creamsoda, robocop/rocky iv and chips onion & gravy.

 

Majestic.

 

Best nights in ever.

[Total Longo]

Video City on the corner of Pittville Ave and Rose Lane in Mossley Hill was where it was at. A multitude of Charles Bronson videos (every one had him on the cover with an obligatory gun, me and my mate counted them all) the horror section which had stuff like Rawhead Rex, Trick or Treat and Phantasm in it and Les Dennis i saw in there not once, but twice. Oh yes.

 

Plus the fella that worked there knew some lad we knew who was older than us and used to slip him porn under the counter, which he would then lend to us. Oh the giddy excitement of sagging school with an un-rewound horror film and "Rocking with Seka" in your head bag was sometimes too much. I used to leg it all the way down Pittville to ours and then wank myself stupid all morning. Then i'd put the bluey on.

 

Heady fucking days.

[RJ Fan club]

I love you can use the word Majestic and Longo is here in less than seven minutes.

 

It's stronger than Sex Panther.

 

The massive leg.

[She Knows It]

'New Releases' was a complete misnomer. You had to wait about 2 years for a film to come out on video. Not like these days when they're selling DVDs that were on the pictures the week before.

[WaltonRed]

Mike's video shop was on the corner of our street and he was that sound he'd let me borrow a video when my ma was in work and he let her pay when she got in.

 

Used to get Star Wars like non stop, Rocky too.

 

That whole aspect of like has gone for kids now.

[RJ Fan club]

'New Releases' was a complete misnomer. You had to wait about 2 years for a film to come out on video. Not like these days when they're selling DVDs that were on the pictures the week before.

 

The Pictures?

 

Have got a wireless at home Liz?

 

If it makes you feel better I think you can still get fruit pastelles in little boxes.

 

Nah, I still call it the pictures too. I do get odd looks down here though.

[Section_31]

I always call it the pictures. Cinema sounds gay, I actually know some people who pronounce it 'cinemar'. Nightmare.

[Total Longo]

Green Schofields creamsoda, robocop/rocky iv and chips onion & gravy.

 

Majestic.

 

Best nights in ever.

 

oh man that took me right back. Chris's chippy on Rose Lane did ace onion gravy. It was cream soda from the Alpine Van in bottles where the glass was thicker than the stuff in the lenses in Roland Brownings specs. Majestic indeed. I could sit through three films in a night then (and they always had about an hours worth of trailers at the start as well, and no fucker ever rewound them which took an age back in the day). Now i'm either bored or asleep if a DVD lasts longer than 90 minutes.

[Total Longo]

I always call it the pictures. Cinema sounds gay, I actually know some people who pronounce it 'cinemar'. Nightmare.

 

I still call it "going the flicks" although i actually have no idea what that means.

[neko]

I hope people remembered to rewind the tape before returning.

 

Some places would charge a fee for that.

[WaltonRed]

I call it the pictures too, my ma the flicks

[Section_31]

Flicks is a bit Happy Days for my liking.

[Total Longo]

Does anyone know what it actually means though?

[RedKnight]

Used to love the local one when I was a kid. Only one copy of a movie, all the films had numbered stickers on the cases which they'd match up with all the movies stacked up behind the counter. No card, just a 3 digit number that they'd write down in a book when you rented a movie, although they knew me so in the end I never even gave the number. Used to get old movie posters (worst one I had was Curly Sue with Jim Belushi, fucking awful all round) from them too, had loads. Mate of mine used to get the cardboard stand ups too, even had the boss RoboCop 2 one of him busting through the wall. I was gonna get the Suburban Commando one but my Mum vetoed that.

 

Ritz video came to town in the early '90s and ruined it's business, then it became Blockbuster and battered it.

 

There was another shitty video shop at the top end of town that had the worst selection of movies ever. All B-movies, Doctor Who and '60s cartoons. Rented the old Captain America cartoon from there and the '70s Spider-Man live action Tv movies too. But that store wasn't as good as the big one near my Dad's office. I rented Batman (the 1989 one) 12 times from there. Used to have to order a big new film too, put your name down. Did that for Masters of the Universe.

 

Damn Section, you've opened up my nostalgia vault now. You always do good threads but this one's got me right here. *thumps chest*

 

Also the place where the video store used to be? Hairdressers now, one of 7 that a small town has. Fuckin' ridiculous.