Record Store Day Shops - Day 33 -The Record Cafe- Bradford
Record Café
45-47
North Parade, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 3JH
0127
472 3143
Monday-Thursday
11am-11pm
Friday-Saturday
11am-12midnight
Sunday
12noon-11pm
[The record shop is only open until 6pm each day]
Established
2014
Stock:
Vinyl, Tickets, Coffee, Ale and Ham
It
was a visit to the BBC6 Music Festival in Manchester in February 2014 that gave
Keith Wildman a glimpse into what the modern-day record shop could be. Many of
the UK’s top vinyl record shops had stalls there. Keith came away from the
event determined to open a unique record shop in his home town of Bradford. He
decided to combine his love of food, drink and music and distil it down to
vinyl records, real ale and charcuterie. Just nine months after he had the
idea, The Record Café opened its doors on Bradford’s North Parade, alongside a
couple of like-minded businesses who’d been paving the way to turn back the
tide of Bradford’s retail decline.
The
building is on two floors, with the ground floor bar concentrating on ale. They
have four rotating cask beers and seven craft keg lines, three of which are
permanent, and around 50 different bottled and canned beers from the UK and
around the world. You won’t find shots, alcopops, fruit ciders, vodka or
industrial lager here. Instead, they stock real cider and a carefully curated
selection of single malt whiskies for the connoisseur, plus a growing range of
specially selected gins, as well as a small but quality wine list. You can
combine your drink with the finest Spanish cured meats available. Cheese,
olives, bread, oil, sherry and all things charcuterie are available.
The
menus are a nice touch, as they are attached to original album sleeves. Don’t
expect all classics, though: mine was attached to Non-Stop Bacharach by the Sunset Festival Orchestra (whatever
happened to them?).
On
other tables menus were attached to albums by Bryan Ferry, Simon &
Garfunkel and - one that was very apt for a shop that sells charcuterie - the
Cure. It got me thinking of other artists whose album covers would be suitable
for such a record shop: the Meat Puppets, Meatloaf, Lambchop and Captain
Beefheart all seem apt. I had no joy thinking of bands with cheese in their
name. The nearest I could get were Edam & the Ants, the Cheeses & Mary
Chain and the Brie Gees (maybe you can do better).
Upstairs
is the record shop. It is tastefully designed with paintings, by a local artist,
of famous British comedians such as Bob Monkhouse and Tommy Cooper on the wall.
There
is a comfy chair and a vinyl deck for customers to sit and listen to records before
they buy. Keith has picked up some interesting artefacts, and it is the only
record shop I know of that has a hog’s head on the wall. Although it is a vinyl
shop, it makes an exception for local bands, who have their CDs and vinyl
displayed on a separate table.
When
it opened, the shop was an instant hit. Being the only vinyl, ham and ale store
in the country, it soon received plenty of media attention. The shop was placed
in the final three of The Telegraph and
Argus’s hospitality and leisure business of the year at their Bradford
Means Business Awards in 2015, and recently won Bradford CAMRA’s Pub of the
Season for autumn 2015.
Nearly
every record shop I have visited will say that the best ever day’s trading for
them was the previous Record Store Day. For Keith, though, the best ever
trading day was February 15, 2015, the day that his beloved Bradford City played
Sunderland for a place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. The shop is located
close to the Bradford City football ground at Valley Parade and a signed
picture of the team hangs in the bar. They were on a glorious cup run and had
already beaten premiership giants Chelsea.
The
shop was packed full of fans from the moment they opened and – once the game
was over - until closing time. The atmosphere was fantastic, with both sets of
fans mixing happily. This was, as Lou Reed eloquently puts it, Keith’s “Perfect
Day”. Not only did the Record Café enjoy it best day’s takings ever, Bradford
City won the match 2-0. (Sadly for Keith, the team was knocked out by Reading
in the next round.)
Thanks
to the Record Café’s unique combination of wares, there have been several
bemused customers who have thought that the records are just there for show.
Keith’s greatest satisfaction is when people who come in for a pint leave with
a bag full of albums.
Keith
was inspired to open his own record shop by Record Store Day and BBC Radio 6
Music. People thought he was mad to open
a vinyl, ham and ale store. His initial plan was to open in time for Record
Store Day 2015 but, in the event, the shop opened five months earlier. So it
was a bit of a tear-in-the-eye moment for Keith when Record Store Day eventually
came around and they had people queuing outside.
Keith’s
favourite saying is “If it is worth doing, do it well”. The cheese, the ham,
the bread and the olives are all top of the range. Combining it with vinyl to
browse through ensures that a visit to the Record Café is a memorable
experience. In 2017 and 2019 The Record Café was named Bradford Pub of the Year by CAMRA.
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
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