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.