Record Store Day Shops - Day 39 - Casbah Records - Greenwich- London


Casbah Records                          *The record shop that began on a magic bus*

320-322 Creek Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9SW
0208 858 1964
casbahrecords.co.uk; casbahrecords80@gmail.com
Monday 11.30am-6pm
Tuesday-Friday 10.30am-6pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.30am-6pm
Established 2009
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, DVD, Books, Comics
Nearest station - Cutty Sark

Graham Davis started out on a stall selling records in Greenwich market and was an avid attendee of music festivals. He noticed at one festival that a big red bus had been converted into a café. It inspired him to look for a bus to purchase to sell records and CDs from. In those days to buy a vehicle you scoured the motor trade magazines. One day he came across just what they were looking for the only problem being the seller lived 230 miles away in in Hebdon Bridge. Convinced it was what he wanted he set off to Yorkshire and when the owner agreed to drive it down to Greenwich the deal was sealed.



The next few weeks were spent ripping out seats and painting the bus in a psychedelic style. After agreeing in advance with the market owners that he could station a bus there, Graham started trading. He named it The Magic Bus after the Who song. It proved immensely popular and became a tourist attraction for music fans. To supplement the income, the bus toured the UK turning up at festivals and universities. The first tour of universities took place in the late autumn with takings far exceeding expectations. A few months later they undertook the same tour again, but takings were far less than expected. Graham realised that on the autumn tour the students had just received their grants but by the winter the cash had run out. From then on, the Magic Bus tour would only hit the road at grant time. One thing Graham had not considered was that for security reasons he could not leave a bus full of records in Greenwich market, so he had to hire a lock-up which substantially ate into profits. The other negative was that the bus had to be at the market before all the other traders set up their stalls and could leave only after all the other traders had packed up. It was for this reason, Graham eventually decided to move to a bricks and mortar shop, which enabled him for the first time in years not to be up at the crack of dawn.



Naming the new shop Casbah Records, Graham was confident that vinyl sales would grow and make the gamble pay off. One feature of the store is the various mannequins and dummies all decorated with wigs, sunglasses and various music accessories. The shop also has a fine choice of vintage posters and produces its own range of button badges.

Casbah specialises in garage, psych from the 1960s, and cult TV and film soundtracks. Part of the joy of this shop is you are never sure what you will discover.
It is perfect for clothes shopping too, as within the same building is Retrobates dealing in vintage clothing and record players from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The shop describes itself as “small but perfectly formed” and is always looking at fun ways to promote itself. One of Graham’s favourite promotions was when they had a tribute to the Rolling Stones when they were playing the nearby O2 Arena. The staff dressed up and played Stones records all day. The shop stocked an extensive range of Stones music and merch for sale and advertised it as Stoned Sunday. To judge from their faces, some of the customers that day interpreted the concept somewhat differently to the Casbah team.



A fond memory is of the enthusiastic young girl Graham took on to work in the shop. She was always keen to improve her music knowledge. One day she was processing some CDs and came across an unfamiliar name.
“Who is Holger Czukay?” she asked.
“He is in Can,” Graham replied.
“Ooh, I do love the South of France,” came the reply.
Graham explained that he was referring to Can the German group not Cannes the French holiday destination.

It is a great store for rarities and collectable items many of which festoon the wall. It is worth a visit just to admire the fabulous giant print of David Bowie which hangs above the counter.



This piece is taken from the book The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen
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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