Record Stores of Soho 1946-1996 map

11082308_871166672942415_1672106194763103349_oFantastic map doing the rounds of all the records shops in and around Soho in London over a 50 year period (click for larger version). It’s no coincidence that last year’s Record Store Day celebrated by holding performances in Berwick Street, perhaps the heart of this map. Read MJ Carty’s blog about the legendary ‘record road’ here. Proud to say I once worked at a store on this street in the early 90’s, Ambient Soho/Worm Interface, right near the bottom, around no.11, close to where Gosh Comics now resides. I must get that added, it used to occupy the old Quaff Records shop site. This map coincides with an exhibition from Leon Parker’s archive which opens on the 11th of April at 2 Berwick Street.

10 thoughts on “Record Stores of Soho 1946-1996 map

  1. No Music and Video exchange ? That place was awesome for early Warp stuff, back catalogue KLF/Orb, etc…

  2. Ambient Soho, thanks for reminding me of this shop, they were the best of the lot, I can remember trying to sell my record to all the shops in soho who I spent years in buying records from them, none of them would try and sell my record
    But Ambient Soho sold about 40 copies, I will never forget this place.
    These guys were purely into the music, unlike some of the others.
    I now have my own record shop in Palma de Mallorca, and I’m helping all the artists and bands sell their records or even their cd’s
    All hail Ambient Soho and big love to all who were associated with the shop ❤️

  3. Ambient Soho, thanks for reminding me of this shop, they were the best of the lot, I can remember trying to sell my record to all the shops in soho who I spent years in buying records from them, none of them would try and sell my record
    But Ambient Soho sold about 40 copies, I will never forget this place, even though I have forgotten the staff.
    These guys were purely into the music, sadly all the other shops I didn’t mention were so up their own asses it was a joke
    I now have my own record shop in Palma de Mallorca, and I’m helping all the artists and bands sell their records or even their cd’s
    All hail Ambient Soho and big love to all who were associated with the shop ❤️

  4. An amazing map. I started coming down to London on the train to look round record shops in the mid-1960s. Dobells was the first, followed by One Stop Records in South Molton Street which is outside the boundaries of this map. I remember the various shops around Berwick Street including Musicland mentioned above. A fantastic map that brings back happy memories.

  5. Reg did work in Musicland along with Ian and John. We used to chat to him there.

  6. What about Musicland, on the corner of Noel Street and Berwick Street, it was the site of Chas McDevitt’s Freight Train Coffee Bar. Elton John, as Reg Dwight, was reputed to have worked here.

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