Chasing down the Cool: Hunting for vinyl in London’s Soho (great finds in the shops & pubs)
A sunny (relatively) warn autumn day in October in London…what else is there to do except spend it inside used record shops chasing down the cool. Actually, as far as I am concerned, any day, rain or shine is good day for flipping vinyl.
Upon moving to London from Sydney, Australia a year ago, I was very excited to get inside all of these used record shops that I had heard so much about. One of the first things I did when I got here was map them all out.
I have since been to all of the shops on that map. I have made repeat visits to the shops in Soho. There is a cluster of them which makes it easier to hit a lot in one day. The shops there are very good a rotating the stock, too. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the Soho scene is always a trip.
I spent most of my time in three shops today: Music and Video Exchange, Revival Records and Sister Ray’s. I also grabbed a snap of Ronnie Scott’s on my walk around.
So, with two shops and close to three hours of bin flipping, it was time to adjourn to one of Soho’s coolest little pubs: the Dog & The Duck (Yelp review). This pub has two floors, but each is postage stamp sized. What it lacks in size it makes up for in character. It is also well known for it’s literary heritage (George Orwell drank and wrote there) and a consistent rotation of choice, tasty ales. I can attest to the latter.
The taps were all spewing ales with Halloween holiday themes. I had me a delicious Hobgoblin Ruby Ale. Ok, I had three.
After a few pints here I hit a couple more shops and then hopped the Tube back to my neighborhood. I stopped by one of my local fave rave pubs, The Builders Arms. I had a couple more pints, had a read through the rest of the album liner notes and a chapter of Keef’s autobio and I hoofed it home.
I chased down some great records today. I usually try to get a mix of styles and sounds. Today I ended up heavy on the Blues, early Rock and Roll and some heavy Rhythm & Blues. Here is the list:
The Fabulous Mr. D – Fats Domino
River Deep Mountain High (Spector produced) – Ike & Tina
Bo Diddley s a Lover – Bo
Southside Blues Jam – Junior Wells
Travelin’ to California – Albert King
Chicago on My Mind- Living the Blues (live) - Jimmy Dawkins
Jackson Browne – Jackson Browne
Shoot Out the Lights – Richard & Linda Thompson
I had never heard “Shoot out the Lights” before. This week I saw a tweet from @KenShane (New Music editor at Popdose and Freelance Writer) with a link to his review of the reissue of it. Ken speaks the truth and my curiosity was peaked.
I am a sucker for a great music story and the one behind this album is a killer story…as told by Ken. I picked up this album because of Ken’s article. I am loving this album because of the music.
(Thanks for the turn on, Ken)
