How London’s numerous independent record stores reignited a love for vinyl. ♦
I first got a record player when I was in the seventh grade. It wasn’t anything special – just some fairly cheap record player from Target – but it meant the absolute world to me. I slowly began growing my vinyl collection, taking donations from my parents and grandparents and searching for hours on end in my local McKay’s. My collection grew and grew. My dad built me my own vinyl holder, and I’ve filled it about three-fourths of the way. It’s safe to say that I have no idea how many records I own now, and yet I have absolutely no intention of stopping my collection.
The study abroad I took this summer was actually my second trip to London; I first traveled here with my family back in 2019. On that trip, we made sure to do everything we possibly could that was associated with the musical history of London. We went to Abbey Road, we saw where The Beatles had their last live performance, saw where David Bowie’s iconic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album cover was shot. Those were some of the coolest experiences for me. On one of our days in the city, my mom and I entered a small record shop and looked around for a bit, just taking in all of the incredible music around us. The day had seemed fairly insignificant then, though it stuck with me.
A few weeks into my study abroad program, some of my friends and I went to Camden Market. The name sounded familiar to me, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. We spent a couple hours there walking around, shopping, and grabbing lunch. We were on our way back home when something caught my eye: a record shop. It was small and really only noticeable by the brightly lit “Records” sign in the window. Its name, Out on the Floor Records, was posted above. With no hesitation, I made my way inside the store. Although small, the store was filled with records. The bins that held the records were all painted with some iconic band logo or album cover art. Posters covered the walls and even more records lay on shelves. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
There was every genre of music you could ever want, but I (naturally) gravitated toward the classic rock section. I sifted through bins, seeing albums like Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and The Beatles’ Rubber Soul. It didn’t hit me until after looking around for a few minutes that I had been here before – four years earlier with my mom. It was a comforting feeling in some strange sort of way, and I can’t exactly explain why. I find record stores very similar to bookstores in that regard. Both spaces are welcoming and provide an atmosphere that cannot be matched. Even if you don’t end up making a purchase, the visit alone is well worth it.
This was actually my attitude toward records for the remainder of the trip: however badly I wanted to purchase a few more records to add to my collection back home, I was more than aware that I didn’t have enough room in my luggage. However, that didn’t stop me from looking at the impressive collections many stores had to offer, and in fact I found the act of browsing to be enjoyable and very helpful; now that I’m home again in the States, I have a long list of records I wish to (and plan to) purchase, all stemming from pleasant afternoons window shopping for vinyl in London. In fact, at an outdoor market one morning I stumbled across one of my all-time favorite albums: Arctic Monkeys’ AM. Finding this album—which I’d somehow forgotten was available as an LP—felt even cooler knowing that the band was based in England and was even on tour while I was abroad. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get to attend one of their shows). And although I didn’t purchase the record, I added it to my mental list, and the next step will be adding it to my shelves.
It was so cool to see that record stores exist almost everywhere in England. Any market or shopping area had at least a couple, and even places like Stratford and Oxford had a number of small shops dedicated just for vinyl lovers. It’s even more encouraging that every time I went into a record store, I was never the only person there; others were also browsing or discussing their favorite albums with the employees. Music is something that has always brought people together, and this was even more apparent to me in London.
Since the majority of music is now digital, and because of that invisible, I really enjoyed seeing people walking through record stores physically holding their favorite albums in hand. The music itself doesn’t necessarily differ between digital streaming services and vinyl, but I think the feeling is completely different. There’s just something indescribable about seeing the artist’s cover art and watching that vinyl spin on the player – something that streaming services can’t compete with. I found London to be much more passionate about record stores (and bookstores) and the experience of the arts in general.
I’m going to miss being able to walk down almost any street and stumble upon a record store. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be making the drive back to my local McKay’s ... but I’m also thankful for my new (long) list of records to look for, and I have the unmatched atmosphere of London’s love for music to thank for that.
