Great Record Shops in Brighton and Sussex
Bella Union Vinyl Shop & Coffee
13, Ship Street Gardens, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1JA
012732 45287
bellaunionvinylrecordstore@gmail.com;@bellaunion
Wednesday-Sunday 12-6pm
Established 2016
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Art, Cassettes
Hidden away in The Lanes, Bella Union is not the easiest
shop to find in Brighton. You approach it via a narrow alley and my initial
impression was that surely there is not a record shop here. I was pleased to be
proved wrong.
Inside it is a feast for your eyes with so many
interesting and quirky things to see you are not sure where to focus. The
counter is completely circular. Co-owner Abbey Raymonde explained to me that
when she first bought records while living in New York she found some of the
staff intimidating. Abbey wanted people to come in to Bella Union and feel
welcome. The circular counter ensures that Abbey never has her back to the
customer. The shop has a cozy atmosphere where there is no pressure to buy.
Abbey serves free coffee to customers and you can sit and admire the art while
listening to the latest releases from the shop’s own Bella Union label.
The shop has a sky-blue neon Bella Union sign, the
biggest David Bowie poster you will ever see and a section where you can
purchase test pressings of Bella Union artists (how cool is that?). These are
discs produced to check the quality of manufacture and often have plain white
labels on them. They can become highly collectable.
With virtually no passing trade the shop relies on its
reputation as one of the UK’s best independent record labels, promoting via
social media plus word of mouth to attract customers. The label is home to
artists such as John Grant, Father John Misty, Beach House, Jonathan Wilson,
Ezra Furman and many others. It is the place to go in Brighton if you are a fan
of any of the artists on the label as often they have exclusives and signed
copies.
The
Bella Union label was founded by Simon Raymonde, who worked at Beggars Banquet
record shop before going on to become a member of the Cocteau Twins, one of the
most successful independent UK bands of the 1980s and 1990s. Following the
band’s split in 1997, Simon formed the label, initially releasing Cocteau Twins
product and his own solo work. He soon started signing artists and produced
many of the early releases himself. Independent record shops can be grateful to
Simon for his contribution to their business. The Cocteau Twins were the sort
of band you bought in an independent record shop as opposed to Woolworths or
the supermarkets. It is a similar case with the Bella Union label. The artists
it represents are huge sellers in independent record shops, with many citing
Bella Union as their best-selling label.
Simon and Abbey met at a music conference in Montreal and
their first date was record shopping. If there is a better way to spend a first
date I am unaware of it. Soon the couple were discussing opening their own shop
and it was not long before Abbey relocated to the UK, settled in Brighton and
started to look for a location. While out walking in the town she came across
the building the shop is now housed in and the couple quickly did a deal. What
the duo did not know was the history of the building. It had previously been a
jewellery business but before that was home to Impure Art, who claimed to be
the UK’s best erotic art gallery. Abbey’s mum certainly got a shock when she
googled the address of her daughter’s new business.
The shop offers some excellent incentives. If you sign up
for their loyalty card, after you have purchased six records the seventh is
free. They also offer a 15% discount to students. Bella Union is the only shop
which takes part in Record Store Day, but does not purchase any stock. Abbey
points out that the record shops of Brighton support their label throughout the
year, so they have no wish to take any sales away from them - a magnanimous
gesture. It is still worth popping in on the day, as surprise events are hosted
there.
Bella Union records always boast very high-quality
artwork and packaging.
“Quality packaging is something that is being appreciated by
the vinyl fans and collectors,” Simon says. “Because the costs of making vinyl
are still prohibitively high, the runs are generally quite small and therefore
even more collectible. The irony is that it isn’t really the desire of the
labels to make collectible vinyl, per se, it is the restrictions of the
marketplace that dictates that.
“Coloured
vinyl is now the norm, but I am sure that fad will pass. Certainly, the more
extravagant your colouring, and the blend of those colours, the more you run
the risk of the audio being slightly inferior. A year or so ago, people were
telling us that often they don’t open the vinyl they just like to keep it
perfect and pristine. They listen to the music on Spotify but like to own the
vinyl, unopened.
“I
think we’ve moved into a different phase now where those who have either just
got into vinyl in last few years, or returned to it are upgrading their hi-fis
again, and the knock-on effect is that vinyl is being opened and listened to
but the packaging, sleeve art, liner notes, etc. are being enjoyed in as deep a
way as was happening in the 1970s.”
Are their any particular headaches
involved in running both a label and a record shop?
“None,” Simon declares. “It is for me the
dream combo.”
Simon’s dad, Ivor was a musician, producer and arranger
who co-wrote the Dusty Springfield hit “I Only Want to be With You”, later to
be a hit for the Bay City Rollers, the Tourists, and Samantha Fox. With Abbey
Raymonde running the record shop and Simon the label, the family name continues
to bring music worthy of attention to the world.
Top tip – In the
right-hand corner of the shop is a wall-mounted 1980s phone booth. Pop your
head inside. There is an iPod with a set of headphones where you can listen to
many of the label’s artists.
Music's Not Dead
The De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex TN40 1DP
Monday-Saturday
9.30am-5.30pm
Sunday
12-4pm
Established
2011
Stock:
Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Books, In-stores, T-Shirts
Music’s
Not Dead is not just a record shop. It is a mission statement that the owners
Rich Wortley and Del Querns live by. The duo were longtime employees of
Powerplay, a chain of record shops on the south coast. The owners had decided
to close the business down, telling the boys that record retailing was dead.
They were not convinced and decided to start their own shop, choosing the name
as an act of defiance. When both their wives announced that they thought it was
a terrible name, they knew they had to go for it.
People
told them it was crazy to open a shop in Bexhill. There is a saying about the town: “People
retire to Bexhill to live out their last days, and then forget what they went
there for.” Accordingly, it is home to the highest percentage of people over the
age of 100 anywhere in the UK. The biggest danger when walking from the station
to the record shop is that of being run over by one of the numerous mobility
scooters driving around the town.
Del
and Richard believed that they could offer something for the young people of
the town. Although the shop is small, it is beautiful and offers chairs,
magazines and freshly brewed coffee.
The
shop puts on gigs and the walls are decorated with posters of artists they have
promoted. One poster they were not thrilled about was put up by a man who asked
Del if he had any Blutack. “Sorry we don’t”, Del replied, “but next door sell
it”. “It’s OK” said the man, “I will cope”. It was only a few weeks after the
event had taken place that Del discovered the World’s Meanest Poster Man had
stuck the poster up using chewing gum.
The
greatest coup for Music’s Not Dead was getting local lads and record shop
supporters Keane to play in the shop, an event which prompted one fan to fly in
from Canada specifically to see the band.
In 2018 it looked
like music was dead in Bexhill as the shop closed. The out pouring of sadness
from music fans of the town made Del have a re-think and after a couple of months
he decided to go solo and opened up in one of the UK’s most iconic building,
the De La Warr Pavilion, proving that music is very much alive in this seaside
town.
Rarekind Records
104 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4ER
01273
818170
Monday-Saturday
11am-6pm
Sunday
12-5pm
Established
2003
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, T-shirts
Rarekind Records is easy to find thanks to the fabulous
mural painted on the wall above the entrance. Originally opened as a graffiti
gallery by David Samuel with the help of a grant from the Prince’s Trust, it
sold paint, customised clothing and a few records. The shop featured in an
episode of the TV programme Faking It,
where David’s task was to turn a fine art student into a graffiti artist,
something he succeeded in doing with aplomb.
Current owner Ewan Hood was a local hip-hop promoter and
regular customer. He offered to help develop the vinyl section, and thanks to
his knowledge it soon became a focal point of the shop. When the building next
door became vacant the landlord offered Ewan a very favourable rent to enable
him to expand the record side of the shop. David picked up some school tables
at the local wood recyclers for £2 each which gave the building a very
minimalistic look: bricks, tables and records.
In 2006 Rarekind Records moved to its current location in
Trafalgar Street. David swopped records for the skilled labour of his carpenter
and plumber friends to help renovate the dilapidated building.
A couple of years later David called time on the graffiti
gallery and moved to London, leaving Ewan to take over the whole building. No
longer just a hip-hop specialist, Ewan has expanded into other genres in recent
years. He
gives credit to Record Store Day for bringing people into the shop who may not
have checked out Rarekind otherwise.
Rarekind
has an extensive range of hip hop, funk, soul, jazz, afro and reggae and lots
of 7-inch vinyl. The prices for second-hand items are extremely reasonable. If you are
in Brighton, the shop is worth a visit just to admire the mural.
Resident
Music
27-28
Kensington Gardens, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4AL
012736
06312
resident-music.com;
info@resident-music.com; @residentmusic
Monday-Saturday:
9am-6.30pm
Sunday
10am-6pm
Established
2004
Stock:
Vinyl, CD, Tickets, In-stores
Owned by
Derry Watkins and Natasha Youngs, Resident Music is one of the world’s best
record shops. It was winner of England’s Favourite Independent Record Shop in a
poll organised for Record Store Day. It’s a far cry from the day before they
opened, when Natasha, perched halfway up a ladder painting the shop, heard a
man shouting at her “This is the last
thing Brighton needs, another record shop. I guarantee you will be closed in
six months.”
Derry, who
was born in Horsham, West Sussex, has spent his life working in music. And up
until the birth of his son, he was also an avid gig goer, seeing up to four
bands a week. The first gig he attended was Motorhead, who made a huge
impression on him - and his ears, which were ringing for days. The gigs he
attended afterwards all seemed incredibly quiet. He has never forgotten the UK
Subs gig he attended as a teenager in Crawley. In those days, it was not
unusual for fights to break out at venues, but this gig was different. After a
fracas started, the band jumped into the crowd to join in. The fight turned
into a mass brawl and as he looked around, Derry seemed to be the only person
in the room not fighting.
Derry only
ever wanted to work in a record shop, and his first job was at Our Price in
London’s Tottenham Court Road. The Our Price chain was later bought out by WH
Smith, so Derry took the opportunity to move to the Virgin Megastore. The
laid-back atmosphere at Virgin was a bit of a shock compared to the corporate
Our Price. His job title was Roots Buyer and his training consisted of the
manager showing him the Roots section and saying “Here you go, fill it up.”
Derry made an instant impression, increasing sales rapidly as he brought in the
professional stock control methods he had used at Our Price. His efforts did
not go unnoticed, and he was soon promoted to work in the Virgin Head Office as
a Chart Manager, responsible for key releases. It was through his work here
that he rubbed shoulders with the aristocracy of rock, leaving him with lots of
great memories, including talking to Robert Plant about football for hours in a
hotel bar in Istanbul (they had a common bond as they both supported
underachieving teams, Wolves for Robert and Leyton Orient for Derry). Earlier
in the day he had witnessed Jimmy Page bartering over the price of a fake Rolex
on the street outside (apparently it was a great bargain, although I am sure
Jimmy had enough loose change to buy an original).
The most
memorable in-store event at Virgin was Oasis playing a midnight gig to launch
their second album (What’s the Story)
Morning Glory, at which Noel goaded Liam into walking out so that he (Noel)
could play the solo show he had wanted to do in the first place. Although he
enjoyed working for Virgin, Derry felt they were losing direction. He found it
frustrating that music no longer seemed important to the company, which was
concentrating its efforts on other aspects of the business such as airlines and
phones. Following a restructuring of the company, Derry worked on the V-phone
project which turned Virgin record shops into mobile phone stores. While
working on this project he met Natasha, who had worked her way up the company.
The duo shared a vision of opening their own, great record shop as opposed to
changing other people’s into phone shops. Soon they were an item and Derry
moved to Brighton to live with her.
Accepting
the offer of voluntary redundancies from Virgin, Derry and Natasha took off to
tour the world for six months. Evenings were spent in exotic locations sharing
bottles of wine as they planned to open their record shop.
Resident
Music opened in 2004. Initially the shop only sold CDs but they quickly
responded to customer requests for releases on vinyl, putting in a vinyl rack
which now accounts for a major percentage of the shop’s turnover. There is a
low counter, so the staff don't appear intimidating. This is a great feature.
So many record shops of the past had high counters that separated the staff
from the customers. I recall shops that looked like a coconut shy where you
could only see the heads of the staff above the counter, which certainly
created a barrier.
Resident
have incorporated many appealing design elements. The shop is neat, clean and
browser friendly. The racks are full but not overcrowded, with reviews added to
the covers of all new releases. The shop has also worked hard to capture the
attention of the student population. Each year they give away fresher’s packs
consisting of posters, samplers, badges and a welcome letter providing useful
information about the city. Resident embraces social networking and makes
regular use of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, including a daily Album of the
Day feature. The shop sells tickets for more than 250 local events, a great way
of getting people into the store. Resident also has a weekly mailout to more
than 15,000 customers. The Resident team are happy to offer musical guidance to
anybody looking to discover new music. They even guarantee cheery smiles.
The XX,
Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons have all played in-stores at Resident
Music to help promote their debut albums. The most memorable day was when
Jarvis Cocker, a champion of independent record shops, worked behind the
counter at the time his Further
Complications album was released. He
was supposed to stay for an hour but had such a great time that he stayed for
more than four hours, serving and chatting to more than 200 customers.
I have a
lot of admiration for what Derry, Natasha and the team at Resident Music have
achieved. They opened the shop at a time when more than 100 independent record
shops a year where closing. The golden days of music retailing were over, the
free stock had stopped arriving and record companies had switched their
promotional support to supermarkets and online retailers. People thought they
were mad to open a new shop at such a time. But Derry and Natasha have proved
that if your model is correct, if you are prepared to work hard, if you are
innovative, if you support local music and the community and if you offer great
customer service, then you can succeed.
Resident
Music’s achievements have been recognised by the music industry. The shop has
won the title Best Independent Record Shop in the UK three times (2011, 2014
and 2015). It was also voted Best Indie Shop In The Country both times that
Record Store Day organisers ran a public poll. In the lead-up to RSD in 2016,
BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne broadcast live from the shop and included a DJ set
by local musician and record shop supporter Norman Cook.
Derry and
Natasha can be proud of their achievement, proving all the doubters wrong and
thoroughly deserving the awards the shop has received.
The Vinyl Frontier
35 Grove
Road, Little Chelsea, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 4TT
01323
410313
shop@recordsuk.co.uk; @RecordsUK
Monday-Saturday
10am-5.30pm
Established
2012
Stock:
Vinyl, Pre-owned, Cake, Coffee
Chris King
is a former music journalist, DJ, band manager and promoter, who owns The Vinyl
Frontier with fellow DJ and fellow former journalist Rhyddian Pugh. As you
enter the shop, the smell of fresh coffee hits you. With its wooden floors and
café at the rear of the store, the duo have created a pleasant, atmospheric
meeting place for music fans of the town. The filing system is simple, with all
the new vinyl in the right-hand racks and second-hand vinyl on the left. The
shop has an incredible selection in the £1 vinyl section, and it is not unusual
to see customers purchasing bundles from there. I asked how they keep the stock
topped up. Chris took me down to the basement where he had thousands of albums
waiting to go in the £1 section. The boys are happy to buy job lots and
collections, no matter how large, to keep their regular customers for
second-hand vinyl happy.
Chris and
Rhyddian recall some of the crazier requests they have had.
Customer: “I am after a vinyl LP.”
Staff:
“Any genre?”
Customer:
“It needs to be modern.” Then, pointing to the wall. “I will take that.”
Staff: “It
is a T-shirt, sir.”
Other
classics include the elderly woman who came in for a DVD for her grandson, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Commerce; the
man who informed the shop owners that they would do well, as he had heard that
music is coming back; the man who asked if they sold YouTubes; and this
memorable exchange:
Customer:
“Do you buy records?”
Staff:
“Yes, we do. What sort of era are we talking?”
Customer: “They're from the Chas & Dave era.”
Union Music Store
1 Lansdown
Place, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2JT
0127
3474053
unionmusicstore.com; stevie@unionmusicstore.com
Monday-Saturday
9.30am-5.30pm
Established
2010
Stock:
Vinyl, CDs, Pre-owned Merchandise, Musical Instruments, Tickets
Except for
legendary broadcaster Bob Harris, I can think of no one who has done more to
promote the genre of Americana in the UK than Stevie Freeman, co-owner of Union
Music Store. She is 2018 chair of the Americana Music Association and was the
force behind organising the official Americana chart. She arranges an annual
conference and travels to Nashville each year to keep up with what is happening
in the world of Americana.
In June 2018 the couple sold the business to
Del Day a well-known journalist and promotor and Danny Wilson lead singer with
the excellent ‘Danny and the Champions of the World’.
Viva-Vinyl *Please support this wonderful and
worthy enterprise*
63, Queen Victoria Avenue, Hove, East Sussex BN3 6XA
07900 191324
andy@viva-vinyl.com; @vivavinyl
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Established 2017
63, Queen Victoria Avenue, Hove, East Sussex BN3 6XA
07900 191324
andy@viva-vinyl.com; @vivavinyl
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Established 2017
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, Coffee, Food, Memorabilia (including art produced from vinyl records)
Brian and Julie Rosehill have
opened a wonderful vinyl café in a residential area of Hove. It is the last
place you would expect to discover somebody selling vinyl. The shop itself
though is hard to miss. With a window full of vinyl curiosities, it stands out
like a beacon.
The reason for the unusual location
soon becomes clear. Co-owner Brian has Parkinson’s disease and the shop is only
80 meters from his house, so his wife, Julie, is able to push him the short
distance in his wheelchair.
Brian and Julie are a couple
of amazing characters and you have to admire their entrepreneurial spirit and
resilience. Life has not always been kind to them but what they have achieved
is remarkable.
After his diagnosis 26 years
ago, Brian was forced to give up his job in health care. The couple decided to
set up their own business working from home selling gift vouchers, and within a
few years The Voucher Shop was a staple name in the incentives industry. They
sold the business a few years ago for a six-figure sum, and Brian has since been
investing some of those profits into expanding his already enormous vinyl
collection.
The couple started selling
some of Brian’s surplus vinyl at record fairs and dealing on eBay. By now Brian
had too many records to accommodate in the house so he hired a lock-up. While chatting
with a local estate agent, who told them that he had an empty shop to let for only
£50-a-month more than cost of the lock up, the idea for Viva-Vinyl was born.
Brian and Julie decided to
make the shop a meeting place for the community by creating a vinyl café. Julie
has created a unique and quirky atmosphere by incorporating a range of vinyl
related products including vinyl design cushions, bowls, magazine racks, cake
stands and clocks.
You will find an extensive
selection of Leonard Cohen vinyl as he is Brian and Julie’s favourite artist. They
are such fans that they once planned a holiday based on the hope of bumping
into him.
Over 40 years ago they
decided to holiday in the Greek islands with the idea of travelling over to
Hydra where Leonard lived, in the hope of bumping into him. Hydra is a tiny
island that does not even allow cars. Upon arrival, they headed to the nearest
taverna where, to their amazement, they found Leonard sitting at a table
feeding his baby beside him in a pram. Brian and Julie ordered some food and
waited for an ideal time to introduce themselves.
Suddenly, Leonard started to
leave, Brian and Julie quickly paid the bill and followed him out. They were
too shy to go up and speak to him, so as Leonard pushed the pram through the
winding streets of Hydra, Brian and Julie followed at a distance. Leonard
became aware he was being followed, but each time he turned around to check,
Brian and Julie would look away pretending they were not stalking him. Leonard
upped the pace, clearly wanting to get away from this couple, and on this
extremely hot day Julie and Brian were virtually jogging up the hill to keep
Leonard in their sights. Leonard turned off the path into his house, leaving
the duo frustrated they had not spoken to their idol, but pleased that they had
at least seen him.
In 2013, Leonard was playing
the Luca International Blues Festival in Italy and Brian and Julie had booked
into a top hotel nearby. They were waiting to take the lift to their room and when
the doors opened, Leonard Cohen was standing there. “It’s you,” exclaimed
Julie. Leonard indeed confirmed it was him. After all these years “Hallelujah”
- they could finally chat to him. Leonard could not have been nicer and was
happy to pose for a photograph with the couple, which is now a treasured possession.
Viva-Vinyl is a lovely shop
with a welcoming atmosphere. If in the Brighton and Hove area do make the
effort to visit. A percentage of the shop’s profit is donated to the
Parkinson’s Society to assist their work in finding a cure can be found for
this awful disease.
Sadly Brian passed away in early 2021.He will be much missed has left a wonderful legacy and Julie is keeping the business going.
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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