For many on Tyneside of a certain age and musical disposition, this place was a regular port of call in the 1970s and '80s.
It was February 27, 1976, and the staff at WH Smith were making last-minute preparations for the new store's opening a week later. The retailer was one of dozens, big and small, that would soon begin trading in Newcastle's giant pioneering shopping centre, Eldon Square.
Opening on Thursday, March 4, the sprawling complex at once revolutionised the retail experience on Tyneside. Billing itself at "the most modern shopping centre in Europe - in the heart of Newcastle", it brought the indoor American mall experience to North East England.
READ MORE: Tyneside in 1973: From 'glam rock' to a new signing at the Toon - in 10 photographs
The western and southern sections of the new shopping centre and the Green Market were the first to open. The second phase, which would come to fruition later in the year, "would include three major stores, 30 smaller shops and cafes, an additional car park and recreational facilities," it was reported.
WH Smith would be situated on the left, just past the main Grey's Monument entrance to Eldon Square. It sold newspapers, books and magazines on the ground floor - and there was also an in-store travel agent. Upstairs you would find records and cassettes - and countless thousands of us would flock there.
The new music department joined a healthy Newcastle record store scene. Virgin Records opened in Eldon Square around the same time. HMV was already trading on Northumberland Street. The venerable JG Windows in the Central Arcade dated back to 1908. And there were a host of good independent stores that would continue to come and go over the years (and indeed others still trade in 2023).
Back in early March 1976, the first customers at the new WH Smith record department would have been buying hits from a UK singles chart that included December '63 by The Four Seasons, Love Really Hurts Without You by Billy Ocean, and Convoy by CW McColl. In the UK album chart, big sellers at the time included A Night At The Opera by Queen, Station To Station by David Bowie, and Desire by Bob Dylan.
Over time the market would change beyond all recognition. Video in the form of VHS cassettes would arrive in the early 1980s, CDs a decade later, and by the turn of the millennium, DVDs were replacing VHS. But something much bigger was happening too. The digital revolution which would transform all aspects of out lives - including music and news consumption - was just about to explode into action.
In the modern era of downloads, Spotify, and iTunes, the idea of travelling to a shop to buy a flat, circular, 12-inch piece of black plastic with music etched into its grooves will understandably seem like something from a distant age for young folk today.
Back then, buying a new album by your favourite band and then playing it for the first time on your record player (hi-fi if you were lucky) was almost a mystical experience. Even the record sleeve and its artwork became a thing of wonder. If the lyrics were included inside - brilliant. Even the liner notes would be nerdilly read, re-read and read again by those of us who were budding music experts. Who were the musicians? What was the record label? Where and when was the album recorded? Who was the producer? Who was the engineer? And so it went on.
These days, WH Smith's main Newcastle store - minus a record department - trades on Northumberland Street, while the Grey's Quarter restaurant hub sits where the old Eldon Square store once did business.
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