Looking for Record stores in London for second hand lps in 2016

I am planning a trip to London for christmas holiday.

Wich record stores would you recommend me for classic-rock (you know what I mean : 1965-1979 in classic-rock, hard-rock, psych, prog,country-rock...) ?

I am only interested in second-hand lps. I am not seeking for crazy priced collectors. I prefer to look in bins full of 10 euros VG+/EX records than to look at spiral vertigos or turquoise lettering hanging on the wall at prices I can't afford... I am not interested in new reissue but only sixties or seventies pressing...thank you for your help. It doesn't need to be stores, It can also be stalls in market places but it's just I don't know where to go...

 

If you have a bit of time and fancy a trip outside the capital I work some of the time at Bens Collectors Records in Guildford and we have large stocks of reasonably priced LP's. Ben is not someone to sit on stock, everything is priced to sell.

http://www.benscollectorsrecords.com/

 

Top tip: Don't get too excited. It isn't a Mecca for vinyl, with rarities draped on every pristine wall, but there are used bins aplenty. YMMV, obviously.

Reckless Records on Berwick St and Sister Ray opposite (nearest tube: Oxford Circus, plus a five minute walk- take the Villiers St exit to avoid the crowds) will be your most accessible 'good' record stores. There used to be more on that street but they closed. It's the street in the front cover of What's The Story Morning Glory by Oasis.

There's also Flashback which has three locations, but the best is fifteen minutes walk from Angel tube station. Think it's closed Mondays.

Music & Video Exchange (MVE) still has a couple of branches. Their west London branch (two minutes from Notting Hill Gate tube) had a rarities section upstairs where you had to leave your bag at the counter. Not sure if it's still there but the store is, I think.

If you can time it right, there's a record fair at Spitalfields Market (Tubes: Liverpool St, Shoreditch High St) every other Friday. I've picked up some good stuff there.

And if you can stand it, and it's still standing, venture south east to Croydon, where Beano's has a large selection of vinyl in varying states of playability.

Also: if you do head to Guildford, also go to Reading and find Sound Machine in Harris Arcade. You could even do both in a day as they're less than an hour each from London

 

Here are a few:

Record & Tape Exchange - Notting Hill
They have a big bin of cheap records and the other stock is a bit more than 10 Euros but you'll find a good choice. The rare records are no longer on the second floor. They seem to have disappeared entirely.

West Norwood Record & Book Bar
You will find almost everything you need in terms of classic rock, prog and psych and Michael who runs it prices sensibly. Records generally in great condition. Plus he serves coffee. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Spitalfields Market
There is a big stall run by a dealer who prices everything at £10, £15, £20 etc. You'll find most things you probably need there as well.

101 Records Croydon
Loads of stock priced at between £5-£10. Mainstream rock and pop all in nice condition. Great if you want UK pressings of mainstream titles.

Undercover Records - Streatham Hill Station (only open at weekends from 12-5pm)
This guy has 30,000 records which his wife is 'making him sell' so he opened a shop. Amazing range of stock covering all genres in a tiny shop. Some of stock is not in great condition but it's well priced and he'll deal.

Reckless/Sister Ray - More expensive as they are in Central London but great stock.

Flashback - Islington
Wide range of stock. Condition is OK which is reflected in prices which are in the mid-range.

Hope this helps.

 

Beano's closed many years ago sadly. 101 Records is all that is left in Croydon. Adriaan who ran Beano's latterly now has a shop in Beckenham called Wanted Records...or did last time I looked.

 

Another vote for Berwick Street, Soho. Sister Ray is very good. Reckless for me is too expensive.

Flashback in Bethnal Green Road is very good. We went there a few months back and got some great bargains. Just avoid the pubs nearby if you fancy a cheap pint as you'll need to re-mortgage to afford a round of drinks. Looking forward to going back to that shop.

And don't forget Fopp in Covent Garden, always a fun place to go shopping. Good to end a day of record shopping there. No secondhand but still very much worthy of a visit, loads of new vinyl and cd.....and cheap.

 

Assuming it's still there, Wanted Records is great. Loads of stock but it's certainly a trek from central London - definitely more interesting that any shops currently in central London though. Unless you are looking for vinyl bootlegs in Camden Market and Sister Ray, I find it a pretty depressing experience compared to how it used to be in London. If you want totally trashed records, have a gander in the Music & Video Exchange on Notting Hill Gate - they used to be great for getting current and even pre-release promo CDs, but even that seems to have dried up.

 

Fopp is pretty useless IMO since HMV took it over. It's just HMV in different clothes. But there's so few record stores left in Central London there's no harm going there.

 

Oh, there's also a fairly decent second hand shop in the basement of Rough Trade West too.

I'll never get over HMV losing it's flagship shop on Oxford Street and reverting to a poxy location further away from Centre Point - it has less stock than what most provincial HMV's used to have.

 

Actually I went into Fopp a couple of weeks ago and their vinyl section is pretty vast. It takes up most of the second floor and is starting to feel like a record store from around 1992. I actually bought my Pink Floyd reissues from them having read the reviews here. Didn't want to wait for Amazon to deliver.

 

Most of the 2nd floor is CDs and box sets, I think the vinyl just seems vast because the shop is small? Their prices for new releases are pretty good, they tend to (deliberately?) match amazon. But there's nothing special about their stock IMO, it's just like a small HMV.

Have a look at that superdeluxe edition site where that guy is currently in Berlin and you'll see what a real good non used store is like on his Berlin report day one. As for 1992, compared to the stock and excellence at Tower Piccadilly and Virgin Megastore in those days Fopp is just a broom cupboard. Those days are gone and nothing in the well known parts of London is reminiscent of them, be it record stores, Camden or Ladbroke Grove markets, or Soho. It's grumpy but sadly true.

 

Yeah. I wasted my time visiting record stores in London once. I am not going to make that mistake again. The city has much else to offer.

 

Thanks a lot for the responses so far...I went to London last year and I was very disappointed...I thought it was a mecca for second hand lps with record stores to be found everywhere in central London but I didn't saw anything that was really interesting...I understand that there are very good record stores in England but not near the center of London...I will only have a public transport ticket travel card zone 1-4 so it will be impossible for me to go outside that "little box"...As I will be with my wife and my son , I will only have two or there hours one day (we stay 5 days) to make a visit at one shop, the one that will be the most promising after I read all your comments...Last year, I thought there was a good record store for new vinyl...it was in the brick lane area but I don't remember the name anymore...As i look mainly for second hand, i am very interested in the recommandation of Irwin 69 above that seems to match the most with what I am looking for... I also read in another thread from 2015 that Alan's record in east finchley high road is interesting...

 

The Brick Lane one is likely Rough Trade East. Flashback in Bethnal Green Road is walking distance away, North end of Brick Lane.

 

London is (in my opinion) the worst place to go for record shopping. Now that the pound has collapsed it may be a bit more bearable, but from my experience, it is no fun at all to go to record shops there. In many stores the records are not even in the sleeves. You have to go to the counter and ask. And because they are always busy, you think about asking twice. Again: Ignore the stores, see the sights.

 

PearlJam - West Norwood is in Zone 4. Just get the train from Victoria. The shop is right next to the station. Check out their Facebook page for a taste of what they offer. They also leave most records in sleeves.

The Book and Record Bar | Facebook »

 

The book and record bar in West Norwood is probably the one I will specially visit ...And I will try to encounter one or two others while visiting...My wife will again say : "it's strange when you are in charge for travelling in a big city, we always managed to pass "randomly" in front of record stores..." Thanks for all the tips so far

 

Know the feeling

 

I posted this elsewhere tonight also, but thought I'd ask here too...

Can anyone suggest a good London vinyl store that carries '90s electonica such as Future Sound of London, Orb, Orbital, Aphex Twin et al? Also, Record Store Day UK vinyl titles? I was thinking Rough Trade in Brick Lane, but they don't sell much used.

Preferably within underground zones 1-2.

Thanks!