Michael and David Tobin opened The Calypso Record Shop on the corner of Portobello Road and Blenheim Crescent, making it one of the first UK record shops owned by Black Britons. The shop was named after the Trinidadian style of music, and sold Calypso records and many other genres. The shop also served as a space for local people to gather, and when race riots broke out in 1958, it provided a base for activists who were defending the community from rioters.
