Peckham resident Garth Cartwright has been fascinated by record shops for years, so much so that he wrote a book called Going For A Song: A Chronicle Of The UK Record Shop in 2018. This led to him getting a deal with The History Press to write a book solely on London’s contribution to record outlets. So, available very soon is London’s Record Shops, writes Michael Holland…
‘After my first book,’ says Garth, ‘I was aware that I didn’t have the space in that book to document how lively the current London record shop scene is. I got Tina (Quintina Valero) along to photograph Supertone Records in Brixton – the oldest reggae shop in South London – and her photos were so striking I was determined we should do a book that celebrates those shops still standing in the capital.’
The author negotiated a deal with The History Press in 2019 but soon after when he and Tina began putting the book together Covid came. Tina went back to Spain for a while but on her return in the summer the work started up again: ‘Essentially, I guided her to all the shops I believed should be included and she got busy taking photos,’ recalls Garth.
The idea for London’s Record Shops has been kicking around for some time. ‘Being a record shop aficionado, and travelling widely, I’ve noticed how London’s shops, after multiple closures of both the big chains – HMV, Tower, Virgin, Fopp etc. – and great independent record shops (Dub Vendor, Selectadisc, Black Market Records), in the early years of this century, there has been a magnificent resurgence with old record shops gaining new momentum and dozens of new shops opening. People have fallen in love with owning records again and record shops are booming!’
With Garth and Qunitinba working through most of last year when lockdowns allowed and co-designing the book via WhatsApp from New Zealand and Barcelona in January this year, London’s Record Shops was finally finished and includes several shops from Southwark.
London’s Record Shops is full of facts, fantastic photos and heaps of social history of the areas and stores depicted in the book, plus, the memories of the shop owners who have become legends to many. You can see by the book’s maps how most surviving shops are located in the grungy, run-down areas that have been made cool by young people with new ideas, where graffiti is art; the areas that will soon have developers crawling in to up the property prices and the cool people are moved on: Camden, Ladbroke Grove, Brixton, Peckham, Hackney, Whitechapel.
In amongst the gems of knowledge is reading about Tom Fisher of Camberwell’s Rat Records telling of having to sell his own vinyl to keep his business going, while Michael Fountaine at Maestro Records in Peckham added Reggae books and organic healing oils to his menu.
But while the owners of these fantastic shops are struggling through lockdowns and wondering how life will be post-Covid, there are the people who will always be seeking out obscure soul, always someone looking for the tunes that were the soundtrack to their teenage years, and always someone like Garth Cartwright writing about record shops.
London’s Record Shops will be in the shops and online by June 7th. Cost £20.
ISBN 978 0 7509 9604 4