In this article I am listing some of the best places I have visited in London to crate dig for vinyl records. Here I will be focusing on old original records. In this case, that would be records mostly from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s spanning all music genres across the globe. I am not so much interested in new releases or Record Store Day releases, etc. The places I am listing below tick the following boxes. Firstly, they offer ample opportunities for digging. Secondly, they sell many old original records. And thirdly, their prices are reasonable and the records are graded conservatively.
Flashback Records
Right now, I would argue that the Flashback Records chain of record shops is the best place to dig for records in London. Flashback originally began its life as a single record shop on Essex Road in Islington back in 1997 before expanding and opening two more record shops under the Flashback name in Shoreditch and Crouch End. It has all the ingredients of what a good record shop should be. The shops have a huge selection of old original secondhand records (as well as many new records) across the main music genres. Their prices are very competitive and with the great number of records in their shops and the very reasonable prices, bargains can be found. The shops are all well run and orderly. It is an accessible place and the staff are friendly and helpful. There are no snobby or rude staff at the till a la Barry Judd in The High Fidelity. Although to be honest much of this kind of behaviour is largely now a thing of the past. Flashback is a welcoming place for everyone.
A lot of the records for sale at Flashback are listed on their website. Yet, there are also many records in their shops, which are not. Both the Islington and Shoreditch shops are each set over two floors and are excellent shops for crate digging. The two shops have lots of LPs and 7s across a wide mix of music genres such as punk, rare prog/experimental music from the late 60s-early 70s, collectable 60s-70s rock and pop, indie records from the 80s to present, jazz, reggae, world, soul, folk, dance, etc. In my own experience, I have found Flashback to be a really good place to find original collectable first edition LPs for a decent price as well as some very nice rare 60s psychedelia, beat, reggae and world 7s.
The Crouch End shop is smaller than the other two shops and it is a bit harder to reach, but it is worth the effort to visit this shop as their stock is also very good. If you do visit the Crouch End shop I recommend first taking the train to Hornsey station and then walking there. Close by the station is KONK recording studios. You will see the neon KONK sign above the entrance. KONK was founded by The Kinks (the brothers Ray and Dave Davies are both from nearby Muswell Hill) in the 1970s. They made many albums here and lots of other bands and artists have also recorded at KONK. Nearby is a small record shop called The Little Record Shop. It is an under the radar gem with limited opening times and no online presence, but is very popular with those in the know. Although it may be a small space, it has a large selection of rare and collectable vintage LPs in decent condition. The prices are not cheap, but the stock is very good. However, it is not all high priced rarities here. There are a few bargain areas, which contain some collectable and great records for an affordable price. Even in the bargain sections there are good records to be found. There is no charity shop fodder here. From The Little Record Shop it is only a ten minute walk along Tottenham Lane to the Crouch End branch of Flashback. One last thing I should mention is that all three Flashback shops are equipped with turntables for customers to listen to and test out any records they want to buy.
Music & Video Exchange
Music & Video Exchange is one of the oldest and longest running independent record stores in the city first established in 1967. It is also one of the first independent record shops I used to visit on my trips to central London during my early record collecting days more than 20 years ago. I remember my first visit to the flagship Notting Hill store at the turn of the millennium. Back then, I think I remember there being at least 3 Music & Video Exchange record shops in Notting Hill; the main rock and pop shop, a shop that sold soul and dance records and even a shop just for classical music records. There also used to be a separate video/DVD shop as well as a second hand clothes shop on two floors and a couple of books and comics shops. This place used to be huge; a veritable emporium selling all kinds of second hand old records, books, comics, clothes, you name it.
There also used to be Music & Video Exchange shops in Soho and Camden, but they are sadly no longer around. However, the Music & Video Exchange shop in Greenwich is still in operation. Today the Whole Music & Video Exchange business is a smaller affair. The original rock and pop store in Notting Hill set over three floors is still going and is today the sole Music & Video Exchange music shop in Notting Hill. The shop now sells second hand vinyl records of all genres and prices as well as lots of CDs and DVDs. Also, the Music & Video Exchange book shop in Notting Hill is still there and is worth a visit.
Some people say that Music & Video Exchange is not what it used to be, however I don’t agree and I am very happy that this place is still going and that both the Notting Hill and Greenwich shops are still doing business. The Notting Hill shop still holds a special place in my heart and is a unique and surviving example of the old Notting Hill – a part of London that has changed so much over the years.
I recommend visiting both the Notting Hill and Greenwich record shops. Both shops are excellent for digging. There are lots of old collectable LPs to dig through across all genres and prices. One could easily spend an hour or two in either shop. My advice is to go through all the main racks if you can as you don’t know what you might find. Some records can be quite expensive, but then you may also find that record you’ve been searching for ages for a really good price. Thus it pays to dig here.
https://mfeshops.com/pages/music-video-exchange
Reckless Records
I have been going to Reckless Records in Soho for almost as long as I’ve been going to the Notting Hill Music & Video Exchange shop. Today I would say that Reckless is one of the best record shops in central London to dig for old and collectable records. The shop has lots of LPs and 7s across most genres and a lot of stock is of high quality and conservatively graded. There is little fodder here except for in the bargain crates, which are worth going through as you may find a classic record for next to nothing. Every time I search through records in the New Arrivals section, I usually find a record I have had on my wantlist for a reasonable price. I have found a good number of collectable and rare LPs in this shop for a good price. Those who extensively dig here are often rewarded. Some of the best LPs I’ve found here have been rare original prog and experimental rock albums from the late 60s – early 70s on labels such as the early green Harvest and pink Island and Charisma labels. I have also found some really rare and hard to find original LPs from countries in West Africa like Nigeria. Reckless is also a great shop to dig for old 7 inch singles (or 7s as I refer to them here). They usually have lots of rare reggae, old jazz and 60s beat and psychedelia singles and sometimes some quite rare and hard to find world music singles as well as original rock and pop 7s pressed in countries like India and Hong Kong.
If you visit Reckless it is also worth visiting nearby Sister Ray records shop. Sister Ray used to have a larger shop on the same street, which I used to frequent regularly many years ago now. The new Sister Ray shop is good and it does have a sizeable number of records to go through, but a lot of the LPs are new editions. If you like high quality new reissues of old classic albums then this is a good shop to visit. Sister Ray also has a large collection of CDs and boxsets with a selection at bargain prices.
Jelly Records
Jelly Records, with the exception of the Flashback Records Shoreditch branch, is probably my favourite record shop in East London right now. It is a small place located on the basement floor below a furniture shop not too far from Homerton Overground station. But please don’t be dissuaded by the size as this place is a crate diggers paradise. I would recommend visiting in the middle of the week when it is less busy as it can be too hectic when the shop is full of people. What makes this record shop unique is that it has a very good selection of original world music LPs and 7s – probably one of the best in the city. Furthermore, the prices of these records are very reasonable considering their scarcity and the grading of the records and sleeves is conservative.
Whenever I visit this shop, I often find a number of rare LPs from countries in West Africa like Ghana and Nigeria. I discovered some lovely collectable highlife LPs from Ghana as well as some rare afrobeat and juju records from Nigeria. And sometimes in surprisingly good condition. One has to understand that the covers of many original old African LPs can be quite fragile. I am also impressed by the crates of 7s at the front of the shop. Last time I visited I spotted a handful of rare original 7s from pre-Revolution Iran as well as many 7s from Pakistan and India. There were also some nice 7s from West Africa in addition to a good selection of original rare reggae 7s.
This is an excellent little record shop and the owner is very friendly. There are also some other record shops in this area of East London not too far away and have a good selection of old LPs and 7s. Not far from Jelly Records, there is a small record shop called Kristina Records. And in central Hackney I recommend visiting Tome Records and Atlantis Records. The latter place has lots of records to dig through.
Upside Down Records
Upside Down Records is a new record shop that opened its doors last year in November that is located in Deptford, South East London. The reason I am listing it here is because the people behind this record shop are the same people who used to run Rat Records in Camberwell, which sadly closed in 2022. Rat Records was a legendary place and one of the best record shops in the city to crate dig for old original records. The best time to visit was on a Saturday when the shop would fill the crates with large stacks of newly arrived records at really good prices. For this reason it was a hugely popular place and those Saturdays could get madly busy, but it was always worth it as I picked up some fabulous records. So I was delighted by the news that the same folk behind Rat have opened this wonderful new record shop. When I recently visited Upside Down I was impressed by the records they had in the racks. The prices are just like there were at Rat and I think this record shop over time will do well and become increasingly popular. I can also see the stock of records in the shop increasing over time and I look forward to making many more visits here.
Out On The Floor Records
For many years I used to visit Camden Market to buy records. However, in more recent times, I feel that overall the market doesn’t offer the same experience and value that it did in the past. Music & Video Exchange used to have a great record shop in Camden that was perfect for digging, but alas it is no longer there. There is, however, one record shop in Camden that is a great place for finding old and rare records for a reasonable price and that is Out On The Floor Records. It’s a small shop located close to Camden Town tube station. The racks are full of records of different genres. I find this shop particularly good for original and collectable 60s and 70s rock, prog and punk LPs in addition to old reggae 7s. There is also a large area of bargain records. Most of the time digging through such crates can be a waste of time, but in this shop I have found quite a few original, albeit slightly tired, and collectable LPs for only a few coins.
Crazy Beat Records
Crazy Beat Records is located in the Essex town of Upminster at the eastern end of the District Line on the edge of Greater London. Despite its far location, it is well worth the effort to visit this record shop. In fact, I would even recommend a day’s visit here. This shop has many crates of records to dig through. The speciality here is reggae. I would argue that this shop has one of the biggest and best stock of old original reggae 7s in London. It is actually quite mindblowing the amount of reggae records they have. On my last visit here, there were at least 20 boxes of new arrivals to dig through. Lots of rare old 60s soul gems were in the boxes as well as some collectable old 60s and 70s rock and pop 7s. However, most of the records in the boxes were original old reggae 7s from the 60s and 70s in varying states of condition. One could spend at least 2-3 hours just going through those boxes. It can be gruelling at times, but the rewards can be bountiful. I found a handful of lovely original old reggae and ska records on the Trojan and Blue Beat labels as well as a few rare soul 7s from the 60s for a very reasonable price. In addition to these boxes of new arrivals, many more crates await.
After getting all reggae’d out, I walked over to the bargain section of LPs by the entrance. I highly recommend digging through the bargain crates. A lot of the records in this section are no great shakes, but with persistence some seriously good and collectable LPs can be discovered for an amazing price. I will stress though that it is important to always check the condition of the records in this section. I once found an original first pressing of the first album by Emerson Lake and Palmer on the pink Island label for just £4. Alas, on closer inspection, the record had some rather nasty scratches so I passed. However, on my last visit I found an original Bo Diddley LP from the 60s on the Chess label also for only £4 and the vinyl was in much better shape than the ELP record.
There are also crates of original soul, funk, reggae and jazz LPs to dig through plus a huge collection of dance 12 inch records.
Shaks’ Stax Of Wax Record Shop
Before this record shop, located in Kingston upon Thames, began trading as Shaks’ Stax Of Wax in October 2018, this place used to be known as the Collectors Record Centre. I used to frequent the Collectors Record Centre quite regularly during my early record collecting days. In fact, some of the first LPs in my collection were purchased from this shop. I remember one time almost 25 years ago purchasing an original LP copy of Hatful Of Hollow by The Smiths in decent condition for only a quid. Back then vinyl records were cheap and lots of people were dumping their LPs for CDs. Hard to believe now.
Stax is a great record shop for digging with lots of crates to get stuck into containing a wide range of original records across many different genres. It’s a worthy successor to the Collectors Record Centre record shop and the owner is very friendly. The shop has a good selection of original 60s and 70s rock and pop LPs as well as crates of quite decent original jazz and world music LPs. One of my favourite places to dig are through the crates of 7s at the back of the shop. There are lots of crates in this area of the shop containing some unusual and rare records to discover if you search hard enough.
If you have time, its also worth checking out nearby Banquet Records. Today Banquet sells mostly new releases focusing on new music. I would argue that its probably one of the best independent record shops in the country to buy LPs and CDs by new bands and artists and its been very successful. Before this shop was known as Banquet Records, it was originally known as Beggers Banquet Records. I used to frequent Beggers quite often back in the day.
Banquet Records also puts on a number of live events by established and up and coming bands and artists inside their store and at local venues such as The Hippodrome and The Fighting Cocks.
https://collectors-record-centre.business.site/
VIP Record Fair London Victoria
VIP Record Fairs have been holding record fairs across the country since the 1980s. The VIP Record Fair in London Victoria is one of the biggest record fairs in the city. This is a phenomenal place for crate diggers with more crates to dig through than one can shake a stick at. One can easily spend the whole day here and that’s what I would recommend doing. Give yourself ample time to check out all the stalls. Some stalls sell some very rare and collectable records that are priced accordingly. Sometimes though, one can find highly sought after original records through persistent digging for a good price. It is also possible to bargain on certain records with some sellers so it doesn’t hurt to make an offer, especially on a large or expensive purchase. This record fair is highly worth the £5 entry fee (£10 early entry). Even in the unlikely case that you don’t end up buying anything it is a great experience. This fair has an amazing buzz and there are some interesting characters here. All in all, this is a real mecca for dedicated diggers and not to be missed.
Your recommendations
I think I have picked some pretty stellar places in London that are fantastic for crate diggers of old original vintage records. However, I don’t think my list is definitive and I am sure that I have missed some really great places that I haven’t discovered yet. If any of you know of any other places in London that I haven’t already mentioned and that tick most of the boxes of the kind of places that I am looking for then please mention these places in the comments section below. These places could be independent record shops overflowing with stacks of old records or even flea/antique markets and car boot sales in the city where one can dig through crates of records and find some gems for a reasonable price.
By Nicholas Peart
24th January 2024
(c)All Rights Reserved
Latitude Post 