Hmmm I hate this! I've looked at the Homepage, but can't find that article. C&P?
THRESHOLD RECORDS
Owned by Rock Legends 'The Moody Blues' and based in Cobham, Surrey, Threshold Records is without doubt the most highbrow record shop I visit, frequented by a very upmarket clientele.
Their customers are a who's who of the entertainment industry and include Matt Lucas, Patti Boyd, Colin Montgomery, Phil Redmond, Frank Finlay, Diane Keen, Kenney Jones, the actor Anthony Valentine who according to the staff is charm personified, Max Clifford who contrary to general perception is described as one of the most affable and charming music fans you ever could meet. The ex radio presenter Mary Costello is one of their favourite customers and has been purchasing CDs from Threshold for almost 20 years. They are a proper record shop stocking a vast selection of rock, blues, country, world, folk, jazz and classical but refusing to stock boy bands and reality TV stars. The little signs throughout the shop that for years have stated 'Threshold - serious about music' emphasise this point. I noted with interest that the magazine Record Collector adopted the 'serious about music' phrase; I wondered if their editor ever shopped here.
Back in the 1970s record shops were opening everywhere and Threshold quickly expanded opening stores in Andover, Chichester, Birmingham and Swindon. By the mid '80s, however, the shops were no longer economically viable and a decision was made to close all but one of them down; John Lodge, a member of The Moody Blues, was keen to keep the Cobham store open in what had then become his home town.
The shop is still trading due to the fact that the building is owned by The Moody Blues, who had based their operation and fan club there. Managing the shop, they have a most passionate music fan in Phil Pavling, who is a great asset to the continuing existence of Threshold Records. Phil told me the story of how he got involved in music. He was an ex-Our Price manager who was after a new challenge. He lined up a couple of interviews at local record shops, the first was a shop called CD Vids. The owner who interviewed Phil asked him what he thought of the shop's name, to which Phil commented that it was the first thing he would get rid of as it read like they were selling porno videos! "I thought of that" the owner replied. He next asked Phil what he thought of the coffee bar installed inside the shop. Phil told him it was tacky and why somebody ever thought that it would work was beyond him. "That was my idea" the owner replied. At this point Phil just said "I'll get my coat" and walked out hoping the interview he had lined up at Threshold would go better. Fortunately the owners of Threshold appreciated Phil's forthright comments and in 1988 he was taken on to turn around the struggling business. One thing that he introduced was Threshold's recommended wall. Here Phil writes out his own reviews of CDs that he seriously recommends. The work that's put into them is impressive and the humorous style of writing makes me think Phil could have had an alternative career as a rock journalist. As an example of Phil's writing here is a letter that he had printed in the magazine Music Week, responding to the news that Chris De Burgh had announced that his new album would only be available from Woolworth's
"So then Chris De Burgh, that colossus of crimes against music, has decided to make his new album exclusively available through the Woolworth's chain. Unfortunately for him, our local High Street has no Woolies to cater to the needs of his long-suffering fans. Fortunately for me, as Chris no longer wishes to sell his music via independents, I now have the perfect excuse to dead-stock everything in my store by this mawkishly sentimental, whimpering, simpering bag o' banal shite!"br> I nearly choked on my cornflakes when I read this however I would have loved to seen the look on Chris De Burgh's face when he opened his copy of Music Week.
Phil also wrote an article for the local paper when the Moody Blues performed the official re-opening after a major refit in 2004. The shop was transformed and it confirmed to me that Threshold were committed to being one of the LAST SHOPS STANDING.
"On a sunny October afternoon in Surrey, the quaint old English custom of queuing suddenly became the main topic of conversation among the Cobham locals. Stretching from the shop doorway of the recently extended and refurbished "Threshold Music & DVD", right down to "The Old Bear" Public House, around 175 excited Moody Blues fans eagerly awaited the arrival of John Lodge, Justin Hayward & Graeme Edge. Large sections of the queue were from outside the UK. Americans, Dutch, even a chap from Bulgaria; all stood unbelievably patiently while yours truly buzzed up and down (not unlike the proverbial blue-arsed fly) handing out promotional CDs and apologising profusely for the delay in proceedings.
An in-store signing session had been scheduled from 2-3 pm. John was already at the store chatting amiably with Photographers and Reporters but traffic-jams had delayed Justin and Graeme's arrival. Considering that it was now approaching 2.30 pm, and that the first person in the queue had arrived at 8.20 that morning, I was beginning to picture the headlines…"Riot in Cobham High Street - Fans rampage through town!" I needn't have worried however, as everyone behaved impeccably, waiting patiently as first Graeme, then Justin, finally drove into the car park. A brief ribbon-cutting ceremony declaring the store officially open was followed by the moment everyone had been waiting for. The 3 Moodies stood behind the counter being photographed and chatting with fans. They happily signed all manner of CDs, LPs, posters, books, photos, T-shirts, promos, and even artificial limbs! (Actually, I made that last one up).
The previous night had seen the last of 3 consecutive nights at London's Royal Albert Hall and following days would see the band visit Ipswich, Brighton, and many more venues as their tour resumed. On this, their 'day off', they'd graciously offered me an hour of their time but did have other appointments to attend that afternoon. As more and more fans were joining the ever-increasing queue, I was really worried that we'd never make it to the end within the time available. Drastic action was called for and, at the risk of being labelled 'Public Enemy Number One', I decided I'd have to try and hurry everyone through as quickly as possible.
In an ideal world each fan could have spent as much time as they wished chatting to the band, but I desperately wanted to make sure that everyone at least got to meet them (even if it was only for a few moments). Amazingly, thanks to the band staying twice as long as they'd agreed and me constantly badgering everyone to speed it up, somehow we made it to the end of a v-e-r-y long queue. Far from being pelted with all manner of rotten fruit, I was quite taken aback by the amount of thanks and praise coming from all those who spoke to me afterwards.
So, in the event, a grand day was enjoyed by one and all. Many thanks to John, Justin and Graeme for taking time to come down and wish us well, and a very special thanks to everyone who made the trip to Cobham and waited with truly infinite patience and good humour one sunny October afternoon." I am always impressed by Phil's honesty; many times I have been in the shop when a customer brings a CD up to the counter and asks what it's like? I feel that Phil is sometimes too honest as he describes the CD as "abysmal" or "absolute drivel", needless to say that as the CD is put back on the shelf, Phil moves into overdrive raving about the CDs on his recommended wall. I smile with admiration as it is rare for a customer to walk out without a purchase. He even tries to sell me CDs and, as I enthuse about the latest releases from Proper, Phil insists on playing me CDs he has bought from other companies. He is rarely wrong as he has an ear for discovering hidden gems.
My job is to try and get as may of our releases on his recommended wall, as the sales are remarkable. He placed a CD we distribute by the Holmes Brothers and so far has sold over 60 copies purely down to his sheer passion and enthusiasm for it. This is more than the whole HMV chain has managed in the same period. As the store is close to the Chelsea football team training ground the players often frequent the store. Phil takes great pride in making sure that his beloved "West Ham United" mug is always prominently placed on the counter. The shop is also close to a care in the community centre and one of Phil's favourite customers was a man called Graham who used to reside there. Although he didn't purchase much Graham did spend hours in the store looking through he racks and chatting to Phil. Sadly he suffered from turrets and, as Pete from Big Brother showed, sufferers can provide humorous moments usually caused by their repetitive behaviour or outbursts of foul language. Every time he visited the shop he would ask to listen to something over the headphones and he always requested the same song, "Raining In My Heart" by Buddy Holly. Graham would nod his head to the music but when it came to the chorus would sing out loud one particular line "Well it's raining, raining in my heart". Unfortunately he would squeeze in an extra word so he sang "Well it's raining, raining in my f**** heart" Of course other customers would be shocked by this sudden outburst especially as they could not hear the song. Phil would take the headphones off him and explain the lyrics but it was no use every time he listened to the song the same thing happened. If customers were shocked by Graham's outbursts it was nothing compared to the reaction to a visit by Threshold's most legendary CD buyer "Mr Dunlop".
He was a builder by trade and was working on a large mansion in the Cobham area. It was a big job and Mr Dunlop lived on site in a small caravan. He was a massive man looking not unlike the wrestler "Giant Haystacks" with long straggly hair and a bushy beard. Phil found it amusing to picture this giant of a man living in such a tiny caravan. One day Mr Dunlop turned up having decided on a new image. He had completely shaved off his hair. Sadly it looked as if Sweeny Todd had done the job for him as his bald head was covered in dried blood. On the top of his head was a huge grey cross. He had badly slashed himself and, no matter how many plasters he put on the wound, the blood seeped through. He had decided to stem the blood flow by covering the wound with a cross made out of duck tape. This didn't quite do the job as blood still trickled out from under the cross. Mr Dunlop did not think it was that important to wipe the blood of his head so he walked the streets of Cobham looking like an extra from "Dawn Of The Dead". As he had no TV in his caravan Mr Dunlop had to find alternative ways of entertaining himself. One of them was listening to music and he was spending some of his hard earned cash in Threshold.
When he entered the shop Phil suddenly realised how else he entertained himself on those lonely nights in his caravan in Cobham as tucked under his arm was a fully inflated blow up doll. Phil could not decide if he was more shocked by the sight of his slashed head or inflatable. Mr Dunlop nonchalantly propped the doll up on the counter and asked Phil to look after it whilst he flicked through the Rock 'n Roll CDs (as if somebody was likely to steal it). Phil and the remaining customers stood there open mouthed, come to think of it so did the doll! For the next twenty minutes Mr Dunlop picked out a selection of CDs before coming to the counter and paying for them in cash. With that he wished Phil a good day tucked the doll under his arm and strolled off down Cobham High Street. Another customer who made an impression was the lady who asked for an album for her grandson. She told Phil it was by 'Charley Marley and his Rego Orchestra' and, after a few seconds thought, Phil worked out that it must be Bob Marley and the Wailers.
The saddest day in the history of Threshold occurred in July 2002 when Phil's two favourite customers Gus and Shelia Dudgeon were tragically killed in a car crash. Gus was one of the world's most famous producers renowned for all the work he did with Elton John (producing 17 of his albums) as well as producing artists such as David Bowie, Fairport Convention, Chris Rea, Joan Armatrading, XTC, Lindasfarne, Jennifer Rush, The Strawbs, Elkie Brooks, Ralph Mctell and The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band just to name a few. Gus was also widely credited as the first person ever to use a 'sample ' on a record. This being the African drum loop on the John Kongos single "He's Gonna Step On You Again" The song was a top five hit in 1971 and some of the best music of the subsequent 30 years owes it's existence to the creative use of sampling. Gus always bought his CDs from Threshold as he and Sheila lived in the house immediately opposite the store.
Always flamboyantly dressed, with a natty line in waistcoats, Gus was actually far from your usual 'Music Biz' stereotype. He was first and foremost a music fan and possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of music. Needless to say Phil and Gus got on famously and Gus would spend hours in the sore enthusing about music and recalling his musical anecdotes. For Phil it was a real pleasure to have the man who produced the first record he'd ever bought (David Bowie's "Space Oddity") as a regular customer.
They became firm friends and Phil would often go to their home "Mole Cottage" for dinner. One night Gus and Shelia were showing Phil some photos and an old black and white picture showed Gus with his arm around Muddy Waters. As a huge blues fan Phil immediately recognised the other three people in the photo as Little Willie John, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee! Another photo had a faded signature. It read "To Shelia, with love John Lennon". Lennon's final live performance had been with Elton John at Madison Square Garden and Gus had been Producer on the resulting record. The day before the accident Gus was in Threshold, steadily working his way through an enormous pile of new CDs.
I could see that Phil was enormously proud to have known them and it was confirmed when he described Shelia as a Top Bird and Gus as a Diamond Geezer. Since his death the Gus Dudgeon foundation has been set up in his memory. Based at Thames Valley University it is a facility that teaches students from all walks of life the art of production and recording techniques.
As for the future I feel Threshold will be one of the Last Shops Standing as they have adapted well to a changing market. Phil reminds me of the day nearly 20 years ago years ago when a company phoned him up to pre-sell the new Kylie Minogue album Phil ordered 100 copies. He was phoned up recently and asked how many copies of her new album he would like? "None was his reply I will leave Kylie to Tesco" How times change.
There you go!!
GWYN, don't read it!!!! They are not very nice to Chris de Burgh!!
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1988 advertising the newly released Sur La Mer
1993. With some odd looking customers!
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.........I see they still have strange interesting customers in your photo. 
I was so taken in by finally seeing the shop, that at first I didn't look at the people! 
I just dug out the old album, and can't believe all we did.
In that short week.
