Great record shops - The Record Shop That Floats any Vinyl Fa'ns Boat



Record Deck                  *The record shop that floats any vinyl lover’s boat*

Summer: various locations and festivals on the canals and rivers of England. 
Winter: various locations around London canals.
07579 964138
@therecorddeckuk
Opening Hours: Dry weekends
Established 2014
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned

After five years as a union rep at a college library in London, Luke Guilford was physically and mentally burnt out due to the constant conflict between management and employees.

He owned a boat, which he had been living on for 16 years, on and off. A record collector since the age of 12, he combined his two passions and came up with a seasonal, touring, record retail operation called The Record Deck. In the summer Luke travels to as many canal-accessible music festivals as possible and in the winter he retreats to the canal network of London, opening in different locations as and when the weather dictates. It can be like a treasure hunt trying to track him down. The best bet is to checkout his Facebook page: facebook.com/therecorddeckuk



Luke faces hazards unknown to other record shops. He somehow manages to fall into the canal at least once a year – on one occasion when carrying his portaloo, which thankfully held its integrity surprisingly well. It is not only Luke who has ended up in the drink. A couple of customers arrived at the shop by means of a rowing boat, which capsized on the journey back, depositing them and the vinyl they had just bought into the canal.




Travelling on the canals provides a great opportunity to visit shops, markets and car boots all over the country which provide a never-ending supply of stock. You are guaranteed to find Luke at the Cropredy Festival near Banbury, where he moors his boat on the canal near to the festival site. He always does a brisk trade in vinyl records by Fairport Convention, the organisers of Cropredy, as well as any other artist playing that year.

All the stock is displayed in wooden crates, so the term crate-digger applies to anybody who pays the boat a visit. Luke has managed to cram a lot in to a limited space. He keeps back-up stock at his Mum’s house, so the racks are never empty. Look out for his blackboard sign on the towpath and the big red umbrella protecting his stock from the sun and the rain.


Over 220 independent record shops featured in The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen





For film screenings and talks contact Graham at graham@lastshopstanding.co.uk

The books of Graham Jones are available in record shops or online. The latest book The Vinyl Revival and the Shops that Made it Happen has been turned in to a film. It has just been released on DVD and is available in record shops or online. Distributed by Proper Music.

Each week I record The Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast. It contains lots of funny tales from the crazy world of record retailing. It is also available on Spotify.

Twitter: @Revival_Vinyl

My blog has over 100 features on record shops and vinyl.

grahamjonesvinylrevival.blogspot.com


As the person who has visited more record shops than any other human, I often get asked my advice on buying turntables. I always say do not purchase a budget model. What is the point of buying one that costs the price of a few albums? The sound will not do the recordings justice. For a long time, I have recommended Rega Turntables as they are superb quality at great prices. They got more brownie points for sponsoring 'Record Store Day' and manufacturing limited editions just for record shops. 

 

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