Record Store Day Shops - Day 24 David's in Letchworth


David’s

12 Eastcheap, Letchworth, Hertfordshire SG6 3DE
01462 475900
davids-music.co.uk; andy@davids-music.co.uk; @DavidsMusicLGC
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm
Saturday 9am-6pm
Sunday 10am-5pm
Established 1963
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Coffee, Food, In-stores

David’s is an institution, tucked away in the most unassuming of provincial towns. Some sources claim there are more trees than people in Letchworth, but that doesn’t stop people making their pilgrimages from far and wide to check the shop out. Opened originally as a bookshop, it has now established itself as one of the UK’s leading independent record stores. In the early days the shop advertised for used books but soon found people offering them more pre-owned records to purchase than the shop could sell. One day, in a moment of inspiration, they decided to hire a local warehouse and organise an auction to sell their surplus stock. These auctions became legendary, with dealers travelling from all over Europe to attend.


In 1975 David’s moved into larger premises in a building that was previously the NatWest bank. By 1984 the business had stagnated, and David’s decided to inject some fresh blood into the staff. They appointed a young man named Andy Oaten to run the record shop, and he is still there today. Upon his appointment Andy quickly realised that the store desperately needed a revamp. His shrewdest move was to convert the bank’s vault. This original feature had walls 12 feet thick, but it was being used to store hundreds of pre-owned copies of the National Geographic which were piled high on wooden tables and being sold for 10p. Andy dumped the magazines in the skip, adorned the vault with posters and moved all the second-hand vinyl in. Back then smoking was still allowed, and on a sunny day it was a surreal sight to see crowds of people, sweating profusely, flicking through the vinyl while enveloped in a haze of heat and smoke.

Razorlight instore at Davids


The shop was bought by David Wallace in 2009 and he added an in-store coffee shop that serves fabulous cakes and has been a huge success. My tip would be to attend one of the regular free events they hold. Manager Andy works tirelessly to bring high-calibre artists such as Ash, Divine Comedy and the Thrills in to the shop. He is always on the lookout for artists who have played London and for whom the next gig is in Cambridge. The shop is a perfect halfway house.

The team who work there are all great characters and always up for chatting about music. Andy goes weak at the knees if you mention the Smiths or Morrissey but don't think he's just an 1980s indie-loving dandy. He knows most things about most kinds of music, including classical and jazz. He is assisted by Ashlie Green, a woman who describes herself as “Andy's right-hand man”. 

Record Store Day queue


David’s has many loyal customers. Among them is a certain Mr. Vinyl, whose name always raises a wry smile, as he does not own a record player and only buys CDs. It was a great disappointment the day the shop took an order for a CD from him and discovered his name is spelt “Vinell”.

Another customer who did have an interest in vinyl came in to sell his heirloom, leading to this memorable exchange:
Customer - “I have this Beatles LP that I want to sell and wonder if it is worth much.”
Shop - “Which album is it?”
Customer - “I don’t know the title, but it is the one where they are wearing all the Sergeant Pepper outfits on the front”.




If you have never visited the shop, check out the website as they are constantly putting on free in-store gigs. Arrive early and browse through the books and the vinyl, then enjoy a coffee and cake before settling down to enjoy the entertainment. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours.



 Over 220 independent record shops featured in The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen
Available at your local record shop or online at http://smarturl.it/vinylrevival

Look out for the film based on the book. The Vinyl Revival'  which is released on Record Store Day  April 13th. The film comes free with the album The Vinyl Revival. Only available in independent record shops on RSD





Check out the trailer


https://youtu.be/dDYrd0N2cIA


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