Two things I always wanted to know did any one buy the big poster of the Symbol guitar which if I remember was by the till?

And 2nd question what happened to all Prince's items which were on display? (I know the answer might be obvious but does anyone know for sure) I know Madhouse Music still got some things for sale and seemed to have bought alot of the stuff when it closed.

Can someone help? thanks.

Madhouse Music bought the entire contents of the store when it closed.

I never bought the poster.

Did they buy all Prince's own items or just the stock?

The poster I always regret not buying one, I think it was expensive if I remember.

Thanks for your reply.

LOTSO2010 said:

Did they buy all Prince's own items or just the stock?

The poster I always regret not buying one, I think it was expensive if I remember.

Thanks for your reply.

The Prince items were removed.

Madhouse took whatever was left. Fittings and all.

Thanks for your help I remember they had a cloud guitar, one of the purple trench coats and one of the Nude tour outfits which was on the stairs going into the basement.

It doesn't surprise me Madhouse bought it all, I remember they were at the Vip record fairs in the TUC building in London many many years ago, and they bought the Madonna "Lucky Star" sunglasses 7" p.s. off someone for it then to vanish. You have never seen someone be so pissed off as he was then (the good old days).

I went to the VIP "Big One" record fair at the Olympia in London last year and they had virtually no Prince.

Madhouse don't do the fairs anymore.

LOTSO2010 said:

Thanks for your help I remember they had a cloud guitar, one of the purple trench coats and one of the Nude tour outfits which was on the stairs going into the basement.

It doesn't surprise me Madhouse bought it all, I remember they were at the Vip record fairs in the TUC building in London many many years ago, and they bought the Madonna "Lucky Star" sunglasses 7" p.s. off someone for it then to vanish. You have never seen someone be so pissed off as he was then (the good old days).

Ha!, I was probably right next to you thumbing though the vinyl. Madhouse always tried to get the prime basement spot in the TUC. Fun times!

I used love record fairs the Vip London ones were good I bought some great things there the "Gett off" birthday 12" being one of them from a company called Lightspeed.

Nowdays record fairs are a bit of a let down and besides it's all online nowdays (When I was a lad you had to get off your ass and look for stuff or buy Record Collector) how times change.

I miss the fairs, Ebay makes it too easy to collect now, which is fine I suppose.

It takes some of the fun out of collecting though.

Your right there when I was a lad I use to buy Prince things of a company T.P.O. Records, because my brother knew him I could pop round and see what was new in. I remember one Sunday going round to his flat and buying "SIGN "O" THE TIMES" Japanese lp and other things then going home and watching "Stand by me" on video.

Nowdays it would I bid then won whilst watching t.v. ohh the memories for later life.....

You are all old cats.

I loved that store, i used to get the for an hour tube there every weekend to check it out. amazing!

Am I right in saying they sold cloud guitars there?????

OzlemUcucu said:

You are all old cats.

Llanishenlad said:

Am I right in saying they sold cloud guitars there?????

Yes. And chain hats. And books. And candles. And other neat shit.

Spinlight said:

Llanishenlad said:

Am I right in saying they sold cloud guitars there?????

Yes. And chain hats. And books. And candles. And other neat shit.

Yeah, I think the stock in London was probably the same as the NPG stores in the USA.

I heard a lot of people complain about the selection in the London shop, but as I live in Scotland, my visits were only when I was visiting my sister who lived there at the time, as a result I found the shop to be quite a novelty.

I got some good stuff from there. I noticed that Madhouse are selling the chairs from the cafe now on ebay.

LOTSO2010 said:

Spinlight said:

purpledoveuk said:

LOTSO2010 said:

Two things I always wanted to know did any one buy the big poster of the Symbol guitar which if I remember was by the till?

And 2nd question what happened to all Prince's items which were on display? (I know the answer might be obvious but does anyone know for sure) I know Madhouse Music still got some things for sale and seemed to have bought alot of the stuff when it closed.

Can someone help? thanks.

I remember downstairs was closed for ages for 'refurbishment'...which meant they were digging up the stuff from the time capsule. My fav item ever got wrecked by the cleaner at Uni...a White mug with metalc gold and red symbols on....she microwaved it which ruinedthe gold with arcing electricity and then knocked it on the floor and smashed it.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Spinlight said:

Yes. And chain hats. And books. And candles. And other neat shit.

Yeah, I think the stock in London was probably the same as the NPG stores in the USA.

I heard a lot of people complain about the selection in the London shop, but as I live in Scotland, my visits were only when I was visiting my sister who lived there at the time, as a result I found the shop to be quite a novelty.

I got some good stuff from there. I noticed that Madhouse are selling the chairs from the cafe now on ebay.

I went to the uptown store several times (I was so young that it was akin to Toys R Us for me) and I was always enthralled by just being there. The whole interior at the MPLS store oozed Prince. It was like he would pop out of a corner at any minute. lol. Dense fog of random scented oils, tons of pillows, the cadillac from LoveSexy, etc.

The selection of music was piss poor. If I remember right, they either didn't have his entire WB catalog or it was like a weird mishmash selective catalog. I remember it being a lot like his iTunes selection. Random stuff. Lots of the Paisley Park Records CDs though. Tons of George Clinton copies, as far as the eye could see. lol.

I remember once being taken upstairs to the video room to just chill. Up there was the motorcycle from Purple Rain. The chamber you see in the 7 video was at the foot of the stairs, as well. I don't remember seeing any guitars there, but they coulda been.

And everything was mega expensive. I am fairly certain that, other than some asthetic changes and memorabilia, the Camden store was likely the same.

I went to the Camden store. It was pretty small. I remember struggling to find stuff I'd actually want. There was a whole load of candles and stuff like that, but I was really hoping to find a lot of music to browse and buy (eg a full set of CD singles and vinyl currently in print). I bought a pencil with symbols on it and watched a live video upstairs in the cafe. It was a great idea, but he could have pushed so much harder to make it work.

udo said:

OzlemUcucu said:

You are all old cats.

You mean you weren't in that NPG-store?
It just doesn't matter much when stuff is on Ebay...

yes, i was but didn't like it much from what I remember. It was all fluffy purple and didn't represent what prince was for me back in the day. I visited it twice..

Spinlight said:

Llanishenlad said:

Am I right in saying they sold cloud guitars there?????

Yes. And chain hats. And books. And candles. And other neat shit.

I remember the candles, what an utter shit

I remember the day it opened-I was at uni there at the time-and it had been announced that Prince wasnt going to turn up so I didnt bother going. So later in the day I went just to have a look and it turned out that Prince and Mayte had been on the balcony........ I was livid. I bought one of the Prince symbold tambourine things tho-I gave it to a girlfriend at the time and still regret it

i remember that...they did turn up at the end i think..the stores werent too bad, but the guys running it in camden were weird...

jcurley said:

I remember the day it opened-I was at uni there at the time-and it had been announced that Prince wasnt going to turn up so I didnt bother going. So later in the day I went just to have a look and it turned out that Prince and Mayte had been on the balcony........ I was livid. I bought one of the Prince symbold tambourine things tho-I gave it to a girlfriend at the time and still regret it

yeah the music available in the camden storee was poor - i remember loads of Larry Graham CDs (that shoudl ahve been a warning of things to come) a few versions of TMBGITW and Pink Cashmere...but mainly stuff most people wouldnt be seen dead in. It was way too small to be comfortable but I do recall a few Prince outfits including a silk dressing gown and a shirt with his personal handwritten instruction to including "make it snappy and shit"

eye went there with my then wife and my son who then wasnt even 1,can remember eating upstairs seeing the trench coat.eye got afew cds but if im honest it wasnt realy that good and a bit of a disapointment.

I too remember the disappointment with the lack of music. I guess at the time the disputes with WB caused such problems - although I do wonder if it's merely a reflection of Prince's true 'completed' projects and given the shop today the music selection would still be poor.

I also wondered how a decent return could be made on such a weird range of items - obviously not sustainable. I wonder given the rise of a 'cafe' culture in the UK whether the shop would do quite well know with nice coffee and buns!?!

During my multiple visits I purchased a black t-shirt with gold NPG written on the front. I also got a black mug with some gold writing on (still in use today but for me only). Some socks I think with the symbol on them and a poster with Prince playing guitar in that large red? hat for TGE photos (that was pretty cool I thought at the time) and that was it I think. No condoms and candles for me. Ohhh just remembered I purchased some symbol matches - must have been cheap!

During my first visit you could venture downstairs and see the computer game. The second visit the lower floor was indeed closed for 'refurbishment'.

I remember the cloud guitar on display near the till for those wishing to place an order and I also have a memory of 'Get Wild' perfume - but I might be wrong.

I almost forgot when the store opened I went upto London with friend only to arrive at the shop to see a big line of people, so we joined the end of the line which to our surprise when the shutters went up was right by the doors.

The other thing I remember was getting some items signed and the next person to sign was Mayte who was then handed a mobile and by the look on her face you just knew who it was.

And the last thing I remember of that day was phoning home to be told my dad's mum had passed away.

Spinlight said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Yeah, I think the stock in London was probably the same as the NPG stores in the USA.

I heard a lot of people complain about the selection in the London shop, but as I live in Scotland, my visits were only when I was visiting my sister who lived there at the time, as a result I found the shop to be quite a novelty.

I got some good stuff from there. I noticed that Madhouse are selling the chairs from the cafe now on ebay.

I went to the uptown store several times (I was so young that it was akin to Toys R Us for me) and I was always enthralled by just being there. The whole interior at the MPLS store oozed Prince. It was like he would pop out of a corner at any minute. lol. Dense fog of random scented oils, tons of pillows, the cadillac from LoveSexy, etc.

The selection of music was piss poor. If I remember right, they either didn't have his entire WB catalog or it was like a weird mishmash selective catalog. I remember it being a lot like his iTunes selection. Random stuff. Lots of the Paisley Park Records CDs though. Tons of George Clinton copies, as far as the eye could see. lol.

I remember once being taken upstairs to the video room to just chill. Up there was the motorcycle from Purple Rain. The chamber you see in the 7 video was at the foot of the stairs, as well. I don't remember seeing any guitars there, but they coulda been.

And everything was mega expensive. I am fairly certain that, other than some asthetic changes and memorabilia, the Camden store was likely the same.

I used to go to the Uptown store all the time. The music selection was crap, other than the releases that were limited...Goldnigga, Exodus, Children of the Sun, MPLS, and The Truth single. They did have a yellow cloud in there. Some of the really cool items that I can remember were the chain hats, the see through canes used in the Alphabet St video and Lovesexy show, made to order rings like the ones wore by the NPG and Prince in the Love 2 The 9s video, with their names on it. The had proof sheets of photos where Prince had marked which ones he liked, and a lot of mostly unseen 8X10 photos. My friend bought one of the proofs, I think it was around 300.00. I bought a few of the 8x10 photos. The best display for me was the displays they had of the SOTT and Lovesexy tour outfits, sweat stains and all. You don't know how bad I wanted to grab the Bob George long black coat and run for my life!

This is a pic of the proof sheet that my friend bought. Graffiti Bridge era...

[img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/princeproof.jpg[/img:$uid]