This is so difficult to explain to people who weren't there and that those shops were selling music that was only being released on vinyl, a lot of which still isn't on the internet.
Where did you used to go? I was mainly buying from Uptown, blackmarket, Big Apple and Beanos, Rhythm division and a spot in Clapham Junction, but the name escapes me.

 

Totally, for a good few years London record shopping was so exciting as a stream of innovative white labels and promos appeared. These records would inspire whole new sonic landscapes and genres, and then even more vinyl arrived.

I still remember many moments where the shop was vibing, and getting your hands on one of the copies was genuinely thrilling. You knew there was only a few copies in the world. Some might only have 50 pressed initially.

Grabbing a white label promo of Aphex's Analogue Bubblebath 1 from Dave Clarke in Jelly Jam.

Every new Basic Channel arrival in Fat Cat would all be sold the moment it was played on the shop sound system.

Hearing the Prodigys first EP on promo in a tiny local rave record shop.

Ram Trilogy fever in Black Market, and then chasing round other shops to find a copy.

So many records are now attached to moments and times. That's the pleasure of a record shop.

I'm not understating it to say a creative arms race was happening in multiple genres at once - and London was at the heart of it. NO rose tinted glasses needed. Id say it was one of the peak moments for vinyl.

My regular haunts most weekends in the 90's were Black Market and Unity for Rave, Jungle and House, with Fat Cat and Tag for Techno and Electronica, and then id pop into other places like Choki's more randomly.

But I initially started buying in Brighton at Jelly Jam and Mash on Oxford street around 89 ish.

 

Last edited: Feb 10, 2026 at 12:10 AM

i dont recommend drugs to anyone, most don't need them or shouldnt worry about it. Kind of like vinyl, for a special few it works, for others a bad habit :D

Im 54 and stopped smoking 20 years ago (skunk took over and kinda hate it) and now just dabble with a little MD and mushrooms a few times a year as a nice bit of spiritual refuelling. Saw the Prodigy last year, still incredible. My comments about LSD and music are more an academic statement than a lifestyle suggestion :D

 

I sold most of my vinyl collection a few years ago and made some serious money. It took up too much space. I've kept my CD collection though (700 +).
I got bored with the hassle of vinyl just to play a few tracks on an album. Although I had a turntable that sensed the track spaces and was remote control, I like sitting back with a beer and not having to get up to flip the album.
CD's satisfied me for a while but when I moved to FLAC files using a PC having 40,000 tracks available with a wireless mouse was perfect.
I hardly ever use my CD's. I just use my FLAC files and Spotify. Bliss.

 

Nicely put

Nostalgia some call it I suppose, but it is more than that. While certainly or memories are attached to things we collected, sometimes this life has become so hectic where we seem to be rushing from A to B, that we forget to stop and enjoy the simple things in life, like sitting back, chilling and putting on an LP or CD with Dim lights and just enjoying the moment.

As for better or worse? Who are any of us to judge that really? Better for one is not for another. In some cases it is all expedience rather than choice. Reiterating, I do believe we all occasionally have to do ourselves a favor and 'smell the flowers'. Basically, enjoy the moments we do not have to do everything the same way in busy times and do something that guarantees pleasure for pleasure's sake.

 

Errr so you are not an opinionated pretentious tosspot i gather? Could 've fooled me mate with that pocket thingie that you are not doing.

As for the rest like the usual angry dude, 4-5 years back i engineered foh a whole night in a local bar that had 3 "djs" playing strictly gramophone records, most of them pre 1930, with two well preserved phonographs and a box full of nail like needles lol. And if you want proof i got plenty. Just ask for it. But guess what the age most of the attendees were. Gen Z and they loved it since they had never experienced the true lo fi before, nor had they heard any of those songs, ever. Hell i hadn't either. But allow me to be a bit condescending when i say you can go on and call it a clown show now. Free world.

To me, it's funny people dissing vinyl and for that matter tape as well, when a good portion of them is battling how to re-create that analog grit, the turntable rumble and tape distortion in their productions, with a whole market of analog emu plugs being the most sought after, yet analog sucks, right? And then what, Audio Damage rules? Tsk tsk tsk.

But i digress. There is no debate because vinyl and analog never left the premises. Oh and your ears ? That's organic analog gear right there mates. And quite the imprecise type if you ask me.

Cheers

 

Vinyl records are the safest way to preserve music permanently.

When you digitize your records or download your favorite records/bands from Spotify and copy them to your hard drive, you no longer need to constantly get up and flip the record; you can listen to your favorite bands for hours. You can also simply press the pause button or conveniently adjust the volume on your MP3 player. Furthermore, MP3s are more resource-efficient and cheaper, portable, and accessible everywhere via an MP3 player.

Vinyl is a cultural asset; the covers and inserts are important tangible cultural artifacts, both graphic and textual. They reflect the era in which they were produced and are definitely a cultural asset worth preserving, which should be made digitally available to everyone via the internet.
There are even picture records, colored vinyl records, 45 rpm singles, and extended play (EP) releases.

Sometimes the producer engraves a secret message at the end of the record; I discovered one on a Sisters of Mercy LP: "Defense war, now we can sleep peacefully."

Like the book, whose raw material is the tree—that is, wood—vinyl is a petroleum product from the depths of the earth.
Both contribute to the long-lasting transmission and storage of information.

 

I recently upgraded from my wax cylinder to a Webster‑Chicago (Webcor) wire recorder and the difference in quality is incredible. Paired with Belden RCA coax and Klipschorn Model K‑H speakers, of course.

Wire recorders...