When The Warehouse opened in town, he got a job at the music counter. His first break into the music retail business came in the early 1990s with a job at a Te Awamutu music store.
Later he bought a drum kit and joined a series of bands, most recently Wellington band Strange Brew. One of the first things I remember is using knitting needles on bowls to play the drums," he says. "I remember playing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da over and over on my parents' stereo. "I have not bought a physical CD or DVD in at least four years."ĮVEN as a child, music was in Mark Thomas's veins. "Not entirely surprising," one person wrote. But once reality set in, there was an air of the inevitable from comments. When .nz revealed on April 1 that the store was going to close, many thought it was an April Fool joke. That "old record store" culture is something that will soon exist only further down Cuba St at Slow Boat Records, he says. For Sweetman, those afternoons can last up to three hours as he flicks through albums, looking for new treasures but also checking that the store has the stuff he already owns. It is a place where the music nerds – the "total anoraks" – can spend a Saturday afternoon. All the people fill a gap in others' musical knowledge."ĭominion Post music reviewer Simon Sweetman says the loss of Real Groovy will be a "real blow" for Wellington. That's why he has really interesting staff.
"I would say he's pretty stuck in his ways, old Mark. To make up for the gaps in his own music knowledge, Mr Thomas has employed staff covering the gamut of musical genres, Mr Watson says.
He says Mr Thomas has a keen sense of how to make a record business work. He hopes his friend will weather this storm and open another independent record store. "He knew he was not going to become a millionaire." He reckons Mr Thomas bought the store in 2008 with his "eyes open". Mr Watson lasted only a matter of months behind the counter, but has remained a good mate of his former boss. Wellington musician Darren Watson, who was one of the first to work in Real Groovy Wellington back in the late 1990s, says he is "gutted for Mark because he has put his heart and soul into it". But right now he is focused on shutting down Real Groovy and keeping hold of his house, which he shares with his wife and three kids. He hopes to open a smaller record store if he can. Mr Thomas managed the shop since it opened in 1999, and mortgaged his house to buy the business after its parent company went into receivership. It will be the end of an era for Wellington's music lovers, but the end of a dream for Mr Thomas, the Whakatane-born, Waikato-bred owner of Real Groovy Wellington since 2008.