Record Stores

2Funky Records opened in 1997, and was originally on Leicester’s Narborough Road, before relocating to Belgrave Gate a year later. The shop was founded by Vijay Mistry and specialised in rap, reggae and dance music. The shop was also a popular place to buy tickets for events. Vijay also launched the Café De Soul and

Black Market Records was situated at 25 D’Arblay Street in Soho. The shop initially specialised in house, rap and R&B, before shifting focus towards dance music, and becoming one of the leading dance music shops in the UK. The store eventually ended up changing its name to BM Soho. The shop closed in 2015, though

Black Wax Records was located on Lozells Road in Birmingham and was a popular reggae store throughout the 1970s. Owned by Keith Thornton, Black Wax was both a record label and a record shop, as well as a distributor for its own and for several other labels, such as K&B and Locks. The Black Wax

Brian Harris Records started as a blue beat shop located in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, before becoming a specialist in the sale of reggae records and Jamaican music. The shop changed its name to Mango Records in the early 1970s, and Harris also established the Mango record label, which issued a total of 17

Crazy Beat Records is situated in Upminster, Essex, and opened in 1988. It was bought by Gary Dennis in 1991, and has sold reggae, dance, funk, soul and rap records ever since. Crazy Beat boasts a collection of more than 100,000 records, and combines the physical shop with online sales, shipping to every country in

Crucially Blaque opened in 2000 in the Hyson Green area of Nottingham. Named after the owner, Blaques, the shop specialised in reggae, dancehall, R&B and hip hop. The store closed in 2006.

Daddy Kool was a popular Jamaican music store in London’s Soho district, first opening in October 1975 and founded by Steve Barrow and Keith Stone. The shop had multiple locations, and was a regular spot for reggae singers, producers and DJs visiting London to head to. After its closure in 2003, both founders stayed in

Dobells was a specialist blues and jazz record shop located at 77 Charing Cross Road in central London. The shop was run by Doug Dobell, who was a collector of Jazz records and convinced his father to start selling them at the family bookshop from 1946 onwards. The shop became a hub for music lovers

Don Christie’s started as a blue beat shop, opening in Birmingham in the 1960s and named after the shop’s founder. The shop would go on to become the largest reggae shop in the Midlands and possibly in the UK. Don Christie’s would transition into a reggae and soul specialist, and was frequently visited by Robyn

Fat City Records started life in Manchester’s Afflecks Palace in 1993. The shop stocked a mix of hip hop, funk, jazz, soul, dub, disco, latin, beats, dubstep and reggae. Fat City moved to the basement of 20 Oldham Street, before sadly closing its doors in 2009. However, Fat City continues today as a label and