Great Record Shops of the North East
Teesside, Tyneside & Northumberland
Not much has changed in the North East over recent years with few new
shops opening and not many older shops closing. The area is extremely strong
for rock music. J Windows is worth visiting as it is in the most beautiful
location of any UK record shop. It is worth a trip to Stockton to visit the
subject of the film Sounditout.
Not only are you likely to meet Tom Butchart the shop’s owner but if you are
lucky you might bump in to one of the customers who featured in this charming
documentary. Incredibly for a university city, Durham does not have a shop which
takes part in Record Store Day.
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Beatdown Records
Unit 1, Clarendon House, Berwick Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5EE
01912 618894
info@beatdownrecords.co.uk;
beatdownrecords.co.uk; @beatdownncl
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, T-Shirts
“Compact Discs are not compact enough for kids who just want to play things
on their phone, and you can’t display them on your wall.” Nick Wrightson, Beatdown
Beatdown Records is a record shop and online
store close to the Central station. It is owned by ex-HMV employee Nick
Wrightson and ex-Steel Wheels employee Paul Donley. Steel Wheels was one of the
best-known second-hand record shops in Newcastle. When it was put up for sale,
Paul hooked up with Nick, bought the stock, and Beatdown was born.
Beyond
Vinyl
88, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4AF
07496 351309
beyondvinyl.co.uk; info@beyondvinyl.co.uk
Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm
Established 2018
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Coffee, Cake,
In-stores
Located near the O2 Academy, Dave McGovern
describes his shop as a Record Café hangout. That sums this shop up well as it
is the perfect place for music fans to meet and at the same time purchase
music. If you are planning a tour of Newcastle record shops this is the perfect
place to stop halfway through for refreshment. With low prices you are likely
to find a bargain too.
Dave is well known to the music buyers of the
North East having managed JG Windows record department for many years. It is
rare that you won’t find Dave without a smile on his face and is never happier
than talking music. The odd occasions he is not smiling is usually down to men
of a certain age coming up to the counter asking for a massage.
The shop was previously a Chinese massage
parlour and Dave finds it incredible that men walk through the shop past all
the vinyl on display to enquire about a massage.
Hot Rats
Records
38 Stockton
Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR1 3NR
01915 672099
marty.hotrat@ntlworld.com
Monday-Saturday
10am-5pm
Established
1993
Stock: Vinyl,
CD, Pre-owned, Tickets
Hot Rats Records is owned by Marty Yule, a
former drummer in punk rock band the Toy Dolls. This is not quite as impressive
as it first sounds, as it seems like every musician in the north east has
played in the band. Formed in 1979, and still going strong, the Dolls have gone
through 14 drummers and 12 bass players. Although best known for the UK No.4
hit single “Nellie the Elephant”, released in 1982, it would be unfair to class
them as one-hit wonders. The band has released 15 albums with many songs
becoming cult classics. The band has a witty sense of humour, expressed in songs
such as “James Bond Lives Down our Street”, “Yul Brynner was a Skinhead” and
“Neville is a Nerd”. If you are a fan of Half Man Half Biscuit, you will enjoy
exploring the band’s back catalogue. Marty was also drummer with Martin
Stephenson and The Dainties for three years.
Marty named his shop after the Frank Zappa
album, released in 1969, on which all but one of the tracks were instrumentals.
He is delighted by how many young customers come into the shop to buy vinyl,
but was surprised by how many were bringing records back, complaining that they
sounded funny. He now finds it best to explain to them that singles play at
45rpm and LPs at 33rpm.
JG Windows
1 Central
Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5BP
0191 232 1356
jgwindows.com;
info@jgwindows.com; @jgwindows
Monday-Friday
9am-9pm
Saturday
9am-7pm
Sunday 11am-5pm
Established
1908
Stock: Vinyl,
CD, Musical Instruments, Turntables
JG Windows has been at the heart of the north
east’s music scene for a century and its flagship store in Newcastle is one of
the UK’s longest established music stores. Opened in 1908 by James Gale
Windows, it is the most famous record shop in the north east. Located in the
beautiful Central Arcade, it covers three floors, selling musical instruments,
studio and DJ equipment, live sound PA systems and printed music, as well as
CDs, DVDs and vinyl.
Many of the north east’s most famous musicians
shopped at JG Windows. Bryan Ferry bought his first records there. He was a
regular in the shop’s listening booths. As a teenager he had a Saturday job at
Jackson the Tailor in Northumberland Street, and ended up spending a lot of his
cash in JG Windows. The first record he bought was by the Charlie Parker
Quintet, featuring Miles Davis. At that age, jazz was his big passion and certainly
influenced his work, none more so when in 2012 he released The Jazz Age, an album of his classic recordings played as
instrumentals in an early jazz style. Another local musician who frequented the
store on a regular basis was AC/DC and Geordie frontman Brian Johnson. Dire
Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler would also visit the store as a young lad. His
dad bought him his first guitar from the shop, a twin pick-up Hofner Super
Solid costing £50.
In 2006, the company was purchased from the
Windows family by three current and former employees and long-time associates,
and they have since driven the company forward, opening a second branch in the
Metro Centre in 2009 and a third in Darlington in 2011. To prove that the vinyl
revival is being embraced by people from all walks of life, none other than
legendary Australian megastar Barry Humphries - aka Dame Edna Everage - has
recently been in the store to buy a record player. You could hardly describe
Barry as a regular, but the staff had fond memories of his last visit, 20 years
previously. He arrived dressed in full Dame Edna regalia, stayed for more than
half an hour entertaining the customers and departed after purchasing a large
collection of classical CDs.
The staff have been amazed by the vinyl resurgence,
although they smile when customers that binned their vinyl 20 years ago come
back in and buy the very same records they bought when they were kids. Many say
the same thing: “If I had kept my original copy of this it would be worth
thousands.”
RPM Music
4 Old George Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1EZ
01912 210201
contactrpm@gmail.com;
@RPMmusic
Monday-Friday 10.30am-5.30pm
Saturday 9.30am-5.30pm
Established 1988
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Vintage audio
equipment
RPM Music has changed focus over the years and
is now one of the best places in the UK to buy a vintage record player. They
have a good selection of second-hand vinyl and owner Marek Norvid and
ever-friendly manager Richie Lattimore are always good people to chat with
about music. Look up when you enter, as the shop is festooned with washing
lines with dozens of 7-inch singles threaded through them.
23, Nunn Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
01912 603246
Monday 8:30am-6pm
Tuesday-Wednesday 9am-6pm
Thursday 9am-7pm
Friday-Saturday 9am-5:30pm
Sunday 11am-5pm
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, CD
With its distinctive turquoise front, Reflex has
a reputation for some of the lowest prices for CDs and vinyl in the country.
The shop works on the principle of high volume and low margin, constantly striving
to offer the best value. Owner Alan Jordan has been working in the record shops
of the north east for 30 years and has had a colourful career. After abandoning
his university course to become a DJ, he has been behind the counter at music
retailers such as Volume, Virgin and Our Price, using the experience he gained
there to help him start Reflex.
The concept of an independent record shop can
sometimes be a stereotyped image of a lazy old place where people work just to
hang out and listen to music, but the truth at Reflex is very different. Alan
has never stood still, committing firmly to the high street, while embracing
every possible avenue for the continuing profitability of his business. He was
one of the first UK sellers on Amazon marketplace and still today they have a
thriving online presence.
The shop has increased the space it gives to
vinyl from two metres in 2009 to six metres now. Yet Alan is keen to emphasize
that in his view, the CD is far from dead. It is still the biggest-selling
format sold at Reflex. Alan has been elected to the Board of Directors at the
Entertainment Retail Association, at which he is also Chairman of Operations.
Sound It
Out *The
subject of an award-winning documentary*
15a Yarm Street, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham
TS18 3DR
01642 860068
info@sounditoutrecords.co.uk;
sounditout@yahoo.com; @-sounditout
Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
Saturday 9am-5:30pm
Established 1996
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Books, Cassettes
Sound It Out was the subject of a hit worldwide
documentary Sound it out in 2011 (see
feature in Chapter 4, record shop movies). Since then Tom Butchart’s shop has
gone from strength to strength and now employs seven staff, with a dedicated
online and finance department run by Kelly Laybourne and Chris Smith
respectively, aided by Graham Seaman and newest recruit Dan Briggs. At the
front of house, the shop has Tom along with Stuart Willoughby, who has worked
there for seven years and recently wrote a book about his musical hero, Prince.
The youngest member of the shop team is Natalie Chapman. Each member of staff
brings a unique strength to the business, and as a unit they are a formidable
team. Year-on-year profits are up and Sound It Out wins new customers every
day.
The shop has free in-store gigs on Saturday
afternoons. Recent acts to perform there include Public Service Broadcasting,
Ethan Johns, TV Smith, Charlie Simpson from Busted (who pulled the largest
crowd ever seen in the shop), Maximo, Claire Hamill and Cattle & Cane. Tom
was surprised and honoured when 150 copies of Goat's World Music album were specially pressed on never-to-be-repeated
coloured vinyl by the band's label, in recognition of Sound It Out selling more
copies of the album than any other shop in the country.
From time to time rarities have turned up in the
shop, including letters handwritten by U2 guitarist The Edge in 1980; the
world's rarest Status Quo single, worth £5,000; and a signed Beatles album that
eventually made £22,000.
The Sound
it out documentary film features lots of the shop’s charismatic regulars.
Not featured was Graeme, who comes in once a week and only buys records by
Stock Aitken and Waterman artists, along with Simple Minds and Hugh Cornwell.
He asks Tom to order stuff online for him as he doesn't trust the internet and
thinks the government is spying on him. He always takes 10 minutes to say
goodbye and writes letters to Hollywood film studios with suggestions for new Star Trek and Terminator films. None of his suggestions have yet been taken up.
Another customer who calls himself Paul McCartwheel, believes he is the son of
Paul McCartney and spends his time re-arranging all the Beatles albums in the
shop. He despises Sting, and hides singles by the Police in random locations
throughout the shop. Then there's Dennis, aged 68, who collects Italian dance
music and 1980s disco. He only buys CDs and often pays hundreds of pounds for
one CD, which they order online for him on a weekly basis.
Located behind a pub and a job centre, Sound It
Out is an oasis of culture in a desert of charity and pound shops. The shop
doubled in size in 2013 and stocks around 70,000 records. Sales are currently at
an all-time peak, which is good news as none of the staff want to go back to a
proper job.
69 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SG
01912 420430
vinylguru.co.uk; info@vinylguru.co.uk;
@VinylGuru
Monday-Friday 10.30am-5pm (and first Saturday of
the month)
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, Accessories, Books,
Turntables
Situated
in a Grade II listed building which forms part of the Newcastle Arts Centre
complex, Vinyl Guru benefits from a host of supporting businesses on site
including a live music venue with fully licensed bar, jazz cafe, art gallery
and outdoor courtyard with seating area.
Vinyl
Guru incorporates a large stock of new and second-hand vinyl, alongside new and
vintage turntables, hi-fi and accessories. Also, on the premises is the Vinyl
Gallery selling framed vinyl album cover art prints and vintage jukeboxes. And
there is a specialist Bowie Shop, stocked with Bowie rarities and merchandise, including
signed prints.
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
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
For film screenings and talks contact Graham.
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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