note number 34 of the Closed Record Shop List Caroline Records. Just off the Grand Canal in Dublin. It's been gone a while now. 5-10 years. I did drop in there circa late 1990s. The middle aged couple who ran it, who I remembered from many moons earlier, were clearly nearing the end of their working days. Cast your mind back to 26th December 1971. The previous day my mother had given me a gift certificate for the shop. I was keen to use it. I cycled the mile or so to Caroline Records the next day. Of course it was closed. I peered in the window longingly, surveying the treats on display. Finally, I heard a sound. The husband came out (they lived upstairs). He seemed startled to see me, he was clearly about to leave the premises.. “Are you open?” I blurted. “No,” he replied. “It's just that I have a gift certificate…” I added hopefully. “Do you know what you want?” he asked? “Yes!” I lied through my teeth. Seconds later I was back outside clutching a copy of John Lennon's “Imagine” LP, probably the second album I ever owned (“Fresh Cream” was the first). I peddled home happily and spent days listening to it over and over, mesmerised by the intricate inner sleeve. Hardly a week went by for five years when I didn't drop into that shop and many's the penny and pound that was spent there. Farewell Caroline. You just might have been my first love. Not counting Fiona Biggs. John C. Falstaff, 1866 Marlbrook Dr, Atlanta, GA 30307.
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