Record dealers in and around London?

[Vintage Rosie]

OK so here is question No 2. I am hoping to build a decent collection of Jazz, swing, calypso and some music hall records to play out as part of my vintage styled events services business. I have succumbed to buying on ebay and gumtree just to get some playable stuff while I am doing local pop up markets etc to market the business at the moment, but I am a bit worried that I will end up getting a booking before I have enough stock, so with that in mind does anyone know of any reputable dealers either in the South East or London that have a bricks and mortar shop, or anyone online that sells good quality 78's, In particular I am on the lookout for Flanagen and Allen's Run rabbit run (need this to amuse the children as we have a puppet called flopsy who lives in a vintage hamper and comes out to say hello and gives them a lollipop when my colleague has finished painting their face - the kid not the rabbit!) or is that like Hen's teeth now? Looking forward to hearing from you guys, Ta ever so!

[CptBob]

There's a real shop in Arundel - http://www.decographic.co.uk/. He has a couple of walls full of records priced from £1. I've been there a couple of times and come away with a handful of records each time, but it does take a lot of looking through, because each record has to be taken off the shelf and looked at individually.

I tend to buy job lots from ebay, pick out what I want and put the rest back on ebay for 99p. When I list, I mention that what I'm selling is what's left from some job lots that I've previously bought. I think that's only fair. There generally won't be any dance bands or jazz in the job lots I list, and there's less likely to be that sort of stuff in job lots sold by other collectors. I collect acoustic instrumental records, folk music, and French bal trad and bal musette (I try to get to boot sales in France to look for that)

I've got an HMV 102 as well, one made in 1953, but I find that it doesn't play 1950s records so well as my HMV 101, which is a bit quieter. I play anything I get for the first time on my Lenco record deck, if it's in good condition, no surface noise I try not to play it on a gramophone - but there again, records that sound terrible on the Lenco sound fine on a gramophone.

Good Luck

Robert

[epigramophone]

Job lots are a good way of building a collection quickly, and you can always decide later on whether you want to specialise in a particular genre. Ebay is fine if you live near enough to collect, but postage is expensive and there is the risk of breakage. Some sellers have no idea how to pack 78's.

If you have the time, try local auctions, flea markets and car boot sales. Even some charity shops still sell 78's.

[Vintage Rosie]

Already on the case with Auctions, and have gone round to many of the charity/second hand shops to give them a leaflet for the manager, just what with everything else that I have at home for my business my Husband and Son's are starting to get a bit concerned lol!! I think that is probably the way forward, will just have to shift stuff I don't want smartish though!! Thanks for the prompt replies, also just out of interest are there any record fairs in London anymore, I know there used to be one in Croydon but that's stopped now right?

[2Bdecided]

It can be very hard to find a specific record, and the best way to get one in a short timeframe (apart from being very lucky) is to pay over the odds on eBay.

Buying in bulk from people who have the general kind/style/era of records that you want is a great way of building up a collection.

Buying in bulk at random, or relying on whatever arrives in your local charity shop in 2013, isn't going to find you much of what you want. 99% of all the 78s ever sold are probably of no interest to you. A lot of "well known" tunes were not as big sellers at the time compared to other less interesting discs which sold far more copies (and you can find in abundance) but probably don't want to play.

Cheers,
David.

[Phono48]

In particular I am on the lookout for Flanagen and Allen's Run rabbit run

That shouldn't be too hard to find, it's fairly common. The B side is "(We're gonna hang out) The washing on the Siegfried Line", on the Decca label, catalogue no. F7265

[ceintsdebakelite]

I created a map called "Where to find 78rpm records" on my blog, you can have a look, there's one store listed in London (Tony Tunes): http://ceintsdebakelite.com/where-to-find-78-rpm/

[StarTMachine]

Hi Vintage Rosie

I've heard of a dealer who has just acquired a lot of records that I am sure he will be wanting to sell:

Re: Auction report : SAS - Getty no 2 Auction
by Gmemg » 01 Aug 2013, 17:35
I can now say - i had planned to collect the collection of records & machines next week but heard that "others" were sniffing around ! so went and conculded the deal to - day between 45 - 50,000 records and over 100 machines !

i must be mad !

[link removed]

I've read a lot of bad publicity about this guy on various forums but at the end of the day if he is selling and you want the stuff, it's a business after all. Just take the stuff and run. Don't have to be nice to the guy for longer than the transaction takes to complete. Up to you, just thought I'd make you aware of it. What ever you decide to do with this one, best of luck!

Cheers
Charley

[Vintage Rosie]

Thanks for the replies everyone, this is turning out to be a really helpful forum, I will get on to enquiring this weekend.

[soundgen]

We have 78s for sale every Thursday at Spitalfields Market in London and Saturdays and Sundays at Potobello Road http://portobellogreenmarket.blogspot.co.uk/ , there are other 78 dealers in Portobello Road as well . Greg's Greats are great for bulk 78s when he has his Summer and Christmas sale . Also Gramex in Waterloo if you want Classical 78s