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| Your Favourite Record Shop; They need our support | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 27 2010, 10:42 AM (680 Views) | |
| billstiggins | Mar 27 2010, 10:42 AM Post #1 |
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Level 3
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I've just finished reading the Graham Jones book 'Last Shop Standing', documenting the demise of Independent Record shops, and I found it a fairly sad experience - only partly due to the usual nostalgic regrets associated with growing old (up). The overriding feeling I'm left with is a desire to get out and visit (and support) some independent shops - both new & second hand - before it's too late. So here's the plan: tell me where I should be going, by posting your favourite haunts. For second hand records, here are my suggestions: I usually rely on my local Market Hall Records in Worcester - a great stock and reasonable pricing, or Vinyl Vaults in Cheltenham - a fantastic basement flat in a grand terrace, where I've picked up some real rarities. Further afield, I always try to get around to Kingbee Records in Chorlton when I'm in the North West. Shortly, I'll be making my first visit to The Diskery in Birmingham - a famous name that has somehow passed me by. Any suggestions? I may start another thread, listing the old favourites that have closed down, though that make me sad again. :D |
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| harveyw | Mar 29 2010, 09:25 AM Post #2 |
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Within London, it's very slim pickings these days; most of the good shops are gone. For new & second-hand, Minus Zero/Stand Out in Portobello is still hard to beat. However, they too are closing in a few weeks. Flashback in Islington and On Broadway in Fulham are really the only good central vintage record shops left. Further out of the centre, Rollin' Records in West Wickham is a favourite, and Retrobloke in Hendon is also worth a visit. The branch of Flashback in Crouch End is a good one too. The only other worthwhile place to get vintage records within the M25 is the Spitalfields record market on alternate fridays. Unless, of course, you know different... Outside London, I try to get down to Reading now & again; Sound Machine and the music-only branch of Oxfam are always worth a look. Henley Records (in ...er... Henley) has provided me with many a bargain over the years. Guildford too has a couple of great shops; Ben's and the Collector's Record Centre, with 101 Records just down the road in Farnham. I fear I'm giving away my secrets here. Let's hear yours. |
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| Nowhere Man | Mar 29 2010, 10:32 AM Post #3 |
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I too can vouch for Vinyl Vault in Cheltenham. A great all-round selection and a couple of knowledgeable guys running it (curse them! :angry: ) |
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| muffmasterh | Mar 29 2010, 01:18 PM Post #4 |
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Level 7
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ah does anybody remember the old vintage record centre near Caledonian Road, ah...those were the days... Record & tape exchange I think is still going in Notting Hill Gate near Portabello Rd and there was also a branch in the Edgeware Road. But Spitalfields is indeed often a good bet, it's the 1st and 3rd Fridays each month I think rather than alternate Fridays ( so occasonally then it can be three weeks between fayres as the months pan out ) |
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| Will Cambell | Mar 29 2010, 06:04 PM Post #5 |
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Hi, I reckon record fayres now really, seeing as our favourite internet auction site is getting so competitive, its just pushing up the prices of vinyl on the auctions !. As Harvey has mentioned I always go to the Reading record fayre, outer West London, that is very good, no ones mentioned the record fayre at the Olympia in Kensington, London, thats worth a shop. I tend to find that the few record shops that are left, the owners seem to be almost suspicious of guys coming into their shops and asking to see their Beatle records !, I suppose I cant blame them, I wouldnt want any ole Herbert fingering my records !. Anyone been to ‘Sounds Original’, in Ealing, South West London, nice vinyl but what a miserable ole s-d he is !. WC |
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| harveyw | Mar 29 2010, 09:13 PM Post #6 |
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Well, we weren't really discussing record fairs, more shops, but I thought I'd mention the Spitalfields market as it's such a regular event. The Reading & Olympia fairs are both good. Indeed, it seems fairs in general are undergoing something of an upswing in terms of number of dealers & number of attendees, after a few years in the doldrums. I went to the Utrecht fair for the first time a couple of years back; what an utterly overwhelming experience *that* is... Record & Tape Exchange (or MVE as it's now known...though everyone still calls it Record & Tape...) has diversified into clothes, books and "general goods", though music is still its biggest stock-in-trade. They've always been a law unto themselves, and are the grim-est places to shop, but now & again they turn up a find or two. They now have music branches in Camden, Soho and -I think- Greenwich (and elsewhere?), but the Notting Hill shops are really the only ones worth visiting. Shame the Goldhawk Road branch closed; I found so many great records in that 20p basement. Sounds Original! I love that the shop is so well organised (and that it's so clean!), and I've found a few gems there over the years, but have stopped going because visiting the shop is such a miserable experience (see also Haggle Vinyl in Islington). |
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| Henley334578 | May 21 2010, 11:32 AM Post #7 |
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Thanks for the plug Harvey...always loads of Beatles vinyl in stock at Henley Records....I have to sell some stuff on eBay just to keep stock turning over, but I hardly ever list LP's, it's important to keep good vinyl stock in the shop to keep people coming back, even if I could get higher prices on-line. By the by I used to live in South Ealing, and Sounds Original was at the end of my road...I think I went in twice in 6 years...plenty of decent stock but quite pricey and not as warm and welcoming as one might wish. I don't get much chance to get out to other shops these days, but my favourite shop of all time is Spillers Records, my local when I lived in Cardiff, and apparently under threat again now. Andy |
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| vinylscot | Sep 9 2010, 01:37 PM Post #8 |
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Found myself in the Soho area yesterday with an hour to kill, so I took a walk down Berwick Street to have a look in the record shops (I must be getting old; in my younger days I'm sure I could have found something else to do.) ;) As I'm from Glasgow this was my first experience of MVE, and probably my last. While they had a lot of good stock, it was in appalling condition. Many sleeves had obviously been out on display literally for years, as could be seen in the regular price markdowns. Many of the items started at, say £30, but had been marked down maybe ten times to a current price of a tenner, but the sleeve is by now in such poor condition, that it still ain't worth it. Even ridiculously common LPs like "Venus and Mars" and "Breakfast In America" were priced at seven or eight quid! And these price stickers! I did see something I fancied in a cabinet, a CD box set for a reasonable price. I offered to buy it if the staff could successfully remove the sticker from the textured cardboard, but they refused to even try, so I left empty-handed. Charity shop conditon stock at collectors' prices. :angry: Sister Ray, I found has rather too high an opinion of itself. Its prices were certainly on the high side (maybe double average eBay prices), but plenty of Beatles stuff available, especially imports, mainly German and Japanese - far too expensive though. Someone came in to try and sell some vinyl while I was there, and I felt he was rather rudely treated, with the staff member rather ridiculing his taste, rather than simply saying no thanks. This shop boasts a number of "exclusive" vinyl re-presses, and while these may be of interest to a hard core of fans, I felt that the shop overall had a very "elitist" feel to it. :( Revival Records is undoubtedly the best of the three. It may be smaller, but it had a far better selection, avoiding the sort of "obscure for obscure's sake" policy of Sister Ray, and their stock included a fair number of Beatles items. Their pricing seemed reasonable, and there were a couple of nice points like real "bargain bin" shelves, and cheap promo CDs in boxes on the counter. Their staff seemed the friendliest of the three as well, and I will make a point of spending a bit more time in there next time I'm down in sunny London (probably early October). :) |
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| muffmasterh | Sep 9 2010, 03:58 PM Post #9 |
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Level 7
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A lot of the shops in soho have gone now and those that remain are way over priced for tourists ! The record and tape exchanges in Notting Hill and Edgeware road may be better - assuming they are both still there, there is also one near Camden lock and another rare record shop too nearby, again if they are still there... Not like the old vintage record centre off Caledonian Road, ah those were the days!! |
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