Record Shops: London
D.O.C. Record shop
5 Cardwell Terrace
(nr Holloway Road)
London N7 0NH
Nearest Tube: Holloway Road
+44 (0)20 7700 0081
This shambolic pile of a record shop is top of this list primarily for alphabetical reasons. It may actually be bad for your health to visit this shop and just removing one record from it may cause the whole building to collapse... I can't help love the place! There may well be buried gold here but you're gonna need patience, stamina and a really sturdy constitution if you're going to survive your visit to this obscure North-London record shack. Dedicated diggers only!
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Flashback
50 Essex Road
Islington
London N1 8LR
Nearest Tube: Angel
+44 (0)20 7354 9356
http://www.flashback.co.uk/
Just down the road from chaotic cave that is Haggle Vinyl (see below), is the considerably more ordered environs of second-hand record store, Flashback. Sadly, they've changed their colourful signage in favour of a new, frankly bland logo which makes for a rather dull, uninviting shop front. Still, you shouldn't judge a book (or a record store) by its cover... Ground level is CD-central but down in the basement is where to head for some vinyl action. They've got a little bit of everything, from hip hop and dance 12s to blues and country compilation LPs. For me though, it's all about the racks of scruffy old 45s – most of which cost between 50p and £4. A digger's delight!
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Haggle Vinyl
114 Essex Road
Islington
London N1 8LX
Nearest Tube: Angel
+44 (0)20 7704 3101
http://www.hagglevinyl.com/
According to the blurb on Haggle's MySpace page, they've got 20,000 records in stock - although it feels like there might be a million: There are records everywhere – in racks, on shelves, piled up on the floor... I've had a look through the 45s boxes behind the counter a few times and never found anything particularly exciting BUT in the racks of LPs arranged by genre or decade I've found a few good bits - including an excellent copy of Public Enemy's Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age album. Not really Get Involved fare - but then, I like a lot of different types of music. Apparently Gilles Peterson was asked to leave Haggle Vinyl once – on the grounds of "pretentious behaviour".
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Intoxica! Records
231 Portobello Road
London W11 1LT
Nearest Tube: Ladbroke Grove
+44 (0)20 7229 8010
http://www.intoxica.co.uk
This is a really well stocked little shop on the ever-busy Portobello Road. Ground floor has ska, reggae, latin, 60s beat, psyche and rock and pop and downstairs in the basement is a wonderful selection of blues, 60s soul, r'n'b and jazz LPs. Spotted a lovely copy of The Sue Story compilation LP for £50 downstairs. But, as ever, I focused on 45s - and there are boxes and boxes of them behind the counter... An absolute gem of a shop.
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JB's
36 Hanway Street
London W1T 1UP
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)20 7436 4063
JB's is hidden away just off busy Oxford Street – only a few minutes stroll from where I work, making it one of my top record-finding spots. The shop is run by the ever-friendly, hugely knowledgeable Rob and Bill who work tirelessly to ensure it's stocked with classic and rare blues, rock'n'roll, country, soul, disco, funk, country and rock records (and CDs). I've bagged some great 45s and compilation LPs in here.
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Music Video & Exchange shops
42 Notting Hill Gate
London W11 3HX
&
95 Berwick Street (shown, below)
London W1
+44 (0)20 7727 2040
http://www2.mveshops.co.uk/index.php
These places are somewhat lacking in personality but can turn up some great finds. A friendly and informative chat with the staff isn't likely – but they've always got loads of stock to rifle through so they must be doing something right.
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Lucky Seven
127 Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington
London
N16 0UH
+44 (0)20 7502 6319
http://www.myspace.com/oceansoundrecords
In the same place as Ocean Books, Lucky Seven is now less about books and much more about second hand records. It's also run by two super-friendly dudes, one of which is expert in the way of fixing (and selling) old record players and other audio equipment. Open 7 days a week from 10am to 7pm. A really welcome arrival in Stoke Newington!
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On The Beat
22 Hanway Street
London W1
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)20 7637 8934
This is probably my favourite shop front in London. It looks like a portal to another world - and on many levels it is. On The Beat opened in 1979 and sells mainly records - although there are some CDs and posters too. Jazz, rockabilly, rock'n'roll, country, 60s beat, soul, funk, reggae – everything's here and it's a great place to stock up on those classic albums you should have bought years ago. There's also a selection of 45s to look through. A bit pricey, perhaps, but hey, you're in the centre of London in an independent store that boasts the coolest shop front in town.
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Phonica
51 Poland Street
London W1
Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus / Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)20 7637 8934
http://www.phonicarecords.co.uk
Every DJ in town knows Phonica – especially those with a penchant for the latest house, electro, minimal techno, disco, breaks, broken beats and hip hop tunes... The shop's long counter has about eight sunken Technics decks and headphones for visitors to stand at and listen to their selection of potential purchases before parting with cash. Most of the staff are DJs and are pretty darn knowledgable. If you want to grab the very latest big club sounds, then this is the place. Old gold fans - look for the box of soul/funk 45s which usually stocks re-issues such as those released on Jazzman Records. If you can't make it to the store, you can do your shopping on the website.
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Revival Records
30 Berwick Street
London W1F 8RH
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)207 437 4271
http://www.revivalrecords.uk.com/
Revival Records is on the site of the sadly missed Reckless Records but it's taken up the mantle and continues to sell similar fare - second hand vinyl and CDs from 1950s rock'n'roll 45s through 70s rock right up to hip hop and dance 12s and albums.
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Rough Trade East
Dray Walk
Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL
Nearest Tube: Liverpool Street
+44 (0)207 392 7788
http://www.roughtrade.com/
Rough Trade's done a fine job of establishing itself 'out east' in a spacious premises (5000 square feet!) just off Brick Lane. As well as beaucoup du records et CDs, there's a coffee shop, performance stage and exhibition space. The king of independent record shops in London? Could be...
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Sister Ray
34-35 Berwick Street
LONDON W1V 8RP
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)20 7734 3297
http://www.sisterray.co.uk/
Now in the premises that used to be Selectadisc, Sister Ray has a little bit of everything. Whether it's the latest LP from your favourite indie label or a compilation of 60's funk and soul, Sister Ray's got loads of vinyl across many a genre.
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Spitalfields Market
Commercial Street
LONDON E1
Nearest Tube: Liverpool Street
http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com
Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, Spitalfields market plays host to a record fair. There's several stalls - many of them regularly appearing at each fair, including Northern Soul DJ Rob Messer's immaculately ordered stall (image shown above) and there's much digging to be done. I took the day off work to have a proper dig and picked up several 45s - among which was a lovely copy of Professor Longhair's No Buts And No Maybes on Ebb label and a copy of Charlie Rich's There's Another Place I Can't Go on Philips.
A fine day out!
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Sounds Of The Universe
7 Broadwick Street
London W1F 0DA
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road / Leicester Square
+44 (0)207 734 3430
http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/
Sounds Of The Universe is home to Soul Jazz Records, regular compilers of excellent compilations of old gold - whether it be New Orleans Funk or Studio One Reggae - these guys know their onions. They also know about leftfield hip hop, the latest electro sounds and more... I was really impressed with their New Orleans Funk compilation. Volume I was excellent and Volume II has just landed – and I'm telling you it's looking good, with cuts by Lee Dorsey, The Meters, Eddie Bo and Betty Harris (among others) – all artists that get a lot of play down at Get Involved.
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Sounds That Swing
88 Parkway
Camden
London NW1 7AN
Nearest Tube: Camden Town
+44 (0)207 267 4682
http://www.nohitrecords.co.uk
Sounds That Swing used to be a stones-throw from Camden market, hidden away at the far end of Inverness Street in a tiny, cave-like shop choc-full of music from the 50's and 60's with loads of vinyl action to be had. However, it has moved to new premises on Parkway just down the road. The new place is smaller and tidier - and still the best place to go in London if you want to shop for 50s and 60s rockabilly and rhythm'n'blues sounds. To see how the old shop used to look - check out Dean Chalkley's photos taken just before the move in the Record Shop Love section of this site.
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Synphonic
47 Lambs Conduit Street
Bloomsbury
London WC1N 3NG
Nearest Tube: Angel
+44 (0)20 7242 9876
http://www.synphonic.co.uk/
Don't know much about this but spotted it the other night whilst strolling down Lambs Conduit Street in Bloomsbury the other friday night. Some top old soul LPs in the window so I'll be heading back during opening hours soon. Will write more / add photo when I've checked it out...
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Vinyl Junkies
94 Berwick Street
London W1F 0QF
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road
+44 (0)20 7439 2923
http://www.vinyl-junkies.com
Of all the shops listed here, this is the one I frequent the least. Not because it's not a good shop - just that it seems to specialise in music I rarely buy - I'm talking about new music! There's always a vast selection of Jamaican 45s displayed on one wall or another - and the shop also stocks – so says the website – "cutting edge house, disco, funk, tech, new jazz beat, off beat, abstract, vocals, soul, compilations and rarities." You can buy direct from the Vinyl Junkies website.