Musicland
THE ELTON JOHN INTERVIEW
"I did work in Musicland Records on Berwick Street on a Saturday with my friends, when I was Elton John and was successful in the early Seventies. People used to look at me as if to say ‘f*cking hell, what are you doing here?’ and I’d be selling them Soft Machine records.”
Reg and Bernie
Each week, the two would eagerly anticipate the newest American imports at Soho’s Musicland record store, using what little money they had to buy the latest recordings of everyone from Love to Leonard Cohen to Charles Lloyd and Paul Horn.
Bernie Taupin : Biography
Phil Vellender a customer in the 70's at Musicland recalls members of Led Zeppelin often in the shop .
He was always a genuine music obsessive. In the early 1970s, with his career in full, vertiginous flight, he incredibly found time to help out at a Soho record shop on a Saturday, manning the counter when the assistants went on their lunch break, selling albums by Leonard Cohen and Soft Machine to London's discerning rock fans: "Maybe they did recognise me," he frowns when I ask if London's discerning rock fans weren't a little disconcerted by finding Captain Fantastic on the till, "but I was just having a ball. Elton John Interview Guardian 2012.
My boyfriend (now husband) started work at Musicland in 1970. I do remember many times in the shop with him, Ian Brown and John Gillespie, the managers at the time. It was a favourite of many up and coming musicians of the time - Marc Bolan, David Bowie, and of course, Elton John, who all came in. Everybody wanted US imports, and so Patrick (my husband) learned nearly everything anyone wanted to know about the records. Emperor Rosko bought his records there, as did most of the DJs from the SoHo clubs of the time. Patrick then went on to work at One Stop in Dean Street..happy times! Comment: Stephanie Baggett.
Portobello Branch
I used to bunk college in Kingston on Thames and hang out at the branch there..The golden age of chart rigging, the manager there used to be easily bought to put a few extra ticks in the right places. It was also a major stockist of Reggae pre 45s and the local skins would come in and speedily select from a pile plonked on the counter....happy days. Comment: Mw Trading
I worked in several Musicland shops, including this one, mainly as Saturday boy as I was still at school. Anyone remember the white American bloke with dreadlocks who carried a lump of marijuana as big as a house brick around with him? I'm always ready for a Musicland chat! It was a fascinating organisation, and I worked in most of the shops, as well as the "HQ" at Music House. Never got to the Kingston branch though! (Or the "flagship" Berwick St. one.) Comment: Ian Hingle.
"I did work in Musicland Records on Berwick Street on a Saturday with my friends, when I was Elton John and was successful in the early Seventies. People used to look at me as if to say ‘f*cking hell, what are you doing here?’ and I’d be selling them Soft Machine records.”
Reg and Bernie
Each week, the two would eagerly anticipate the newest American imports at Soho’s Musicland record store, using what little money they had to buy the latest recordings of everyone from Love to Leonard Cohen to Charles Lloyd and Paul Horn.
Bernie Taupin : Biography
Phil Vellender a customer in the 70's at Musicland recalls members of Led Zeppelin often in the shop .
He was always a genuine music obsessive. In the early 1970s, with his career in full, vertiginous flight, he incredibly found time to help out at a Soho record shop on a Saturday, manning the counter when the assistants went on their lunch break, selling albums by Leonard Cohen and Soft Machine to London's discerning rock fans: "Maybe they did recognise me," he frowns when I ask if London's discerning rock fans weren't a little disconcerted by finding Captain Fantastic on the till, "but I was just having a ball. Elton John Interview Guardian 2012.
My boyfriend (now husband) started work at Musicland in 1970. I do remember many times in the shop with him, Ian Brown and John Gillespie, the managers at the time. It was a favourite of many up and coming musicians of the time - Marc Bolan, David Bowie, and of course, Elton John, who all came in. Everybody wanted US imports, and so Patrick (my husband) learned nearly everything anyone wanted to know about the records. Emperor Rosko bought his records there, as did most of the DJs from the SoHo clubs of the time. Patrick then went on to work at One Stop in Dean Street..happy times! Comment: Stephanie Baggett.
Portobello Branch
I used to bunk college in Kingston on Thames and hang out at the branch there..The golden age of chart rigging, the manager there used to be easily bought to put a few extra ticks in the right places. It was also a major stockist of Reggae pre 45s and the local skins would come in and speedily select from a pile plonked on the counter....happy days. Comment: Mw Trading
I worked in several Musicland shops, including this one, mainly as Saturday boy as I was still at school. Anyone remember the white American bloke with dreadlocks who carried a lump of marijuana as big as a house brick around with him? I'm always ready for a Musicland chat! It was a fascinating organisation, and I worked in most of the shops, as well as the "HQ" at Music House. Never got to the Kingston branch though! (Or the "flagship" Berwick St. one.) Comment: Ian Hingle.
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Photo Douglas Kaye
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Melody Maker 1969
Time Out 1968
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(Sept 25, 2014) fred s./los angeles said:what a huge kick it was to saunter into musicland on berwick street on some cold weekday evening with the smell of bus exhaust, pizza and soho perfume in the air. nobody was hip enough for the guy behind the counter -- who always had longer hair than you and wore one of those crushed-velvet jackets that smelled of patchouli. i popped into the place usually about twice a week after school, gazing at the delicious, pricey imports and new releases in the bin on the right as you entered. i loved that place.
(May 24, 2014) Steve said:Both Ian and John moved to the U.S. late 70's John returned early 90's, sadly passing away 10 years later. Ian is believed to be in Atlanta GA. Anyone with info about Ian please post
(Apr 15, 2014) Anonymous said:I worked in several Musiclands - mainly in North End Rd. Fulham. Never made it to Berwick St. though - that was for the big boys!
(Apr 12, 2014) Max said:I designed one of the interiors and Elton John helped me paint!Some might remember the black windows with a large keyhole to look into the shop.Ggot my first MC5 import there!Woner what happened to Ian John
(Feb 25, 2014) Mark Wilkinson said:I'd hitch up the M4 with some pals and maybe see a band at The Marquee in the evening…The Nice usually! But afternoons were spent roaming round the import shops. Musicland was always the first port of call…a sanctuary. I never saw Elton behind the till there but Marc Bolan walked in once, as did Jeff Dexter - after zooming around Soho on his monkey bike, mopping up the latest US imports for his DJ spot at Middle Earth Club.
One Stop Records in South Molten St. was pretty good too - but didn't have the ambience of Musicland which was (by common consent) the creme de la creme of record shops…the best I ever remember. US imports were around 59/6 (less than £3) but that was a significant chunk of the paper round savings back then! The cardboard was thicker and the vinyl heavier. They smelt different to UK records too:) Or maybe that was the patchouli oil that infused the racks!
I don't think mail order had started to any great degree. Maybe Branson had hatched a plan for Virgin to go that route by then and was well on his way to his first zillion. Imagine a world with no Amazon, nothing to be had at the touch of a button - no downloads or crowd-funding, no shared experience in the ether. Just waiting to tell your mates on Monday morning at school about the latest album you'd bought on import by some band called - oh I dunno - 'The Electric Prunes' say or maybe 'Ultimate Spinach' - any band with a fruit and veg related name had to be worth checking out surely! And you could check them all out at Musicland! Happy daze - days of golden mayonnaise:)
(Oct 24, 2013) Anonymous said:Yes musicland part of Trojan records and then owned by the Ali family
(Mar 25, 2013) Rockdoc said:My two favourite record shops in the sixties were Musicland in Berwick Street and One Stop in South Moulton Street. I'd visit Musicland several times a week. I bought my "Strictly Personal" and "Trout Mask Replica" albums there and was advised by the knowledgeable salesperson (I regret never asking their names) to listen to Neil Young's first LP when it first came in. "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" had come in at the same time and it sounded so completely different from the first album. So I bought both! Neil autographed my "Neil Young" album in 1996.
(May 3, 2012) Mad dog said:Musicland owned by the Ali family jim Ali went on toown bargain records in portobello rd
(Dec 27, 2014) I managed the store after the last manager. Comment: Richard Broden.
(Jan 28, 2015) I remember going to an allnight club at the Lyceum after Middle Earth had closed down in Covent Garden and Chalk Farm to wait until Musicland opened in the morning so I could buy the fabulous Trout Mask Replics by the Captain (on import naturally!). Comment: Clive Gutteridge.
" I used to sell Prince Buster records when I worked in a record shop. A long time before I was famous!" Elton John Mojo November 2016
(May 24, 2014) Steve said:Both Ian and John moved to the U.S. late 70's John returned early 90's, sadly passing away 10 years later. Ian is believed to be in Atlanta GA. Anyone with info about Ian please post
(Apr 15, 2014) Anonymous said:I worked in several Musiclands - mainly in North End Rd. Fulham. Never made it to Berwick St. though - that was for the big boys!
(Apr 12, 2014) Max said:I designed one of the interiors and Elton John helped me paint!Some might remember the black windows with a large keyhole to look into the shop.Ggot my first MC5 import there!Woner what happened to Ian John
(Feb 25, 2014) Mark Wilkinson said:I'd hitch up the M4 with some pals and maybe see a band at The Marquee in the evening…The Nice usually! But afternoons were spent roaming round the import shops. Musicland was always the first port of call…a sanctuary. I never saw Elton behind the till there but Marc Bolan walked in once, as did Jeff Dexter - after zooming around Soho on his monkey bike, mopping up the latest US imports for his DJ spot at Middle Earth Club.
One Stop Records in South Molten St. was pretty good too - but didn't have the ambience of Musicland which was (by common consent) the creme de la creme of record shops…the best I ever remember. US imports were around 59/6 (less than £3) but that was a significant chunk of the paper round savings back then! The cardboard was thicker and the vinyl heavier. They smelt different to UK records too:) Or maybe that was the patchouli oil that infused the racks!
I don't think mail order had started to any great degree. Maybe Branson had hatched a plan for Virgin to go that route by then and was well on his way to his first zillion. Imagine a world with no Amazon, nothing to be had at the touch of a button - no downloads or crowd-funding, no shared experience in the ether. Just waiting to tell your mates on Monday morning at school about the latest album you'd bought on import by some band called - oh I dunno - 'The Electric Prunes' say or maybe 'Ultimate Spinach' - any band with a fruit and veg related name had to be worth checking out surely! And you could check them all out at Musicland! Happy daze - days of golden mayonnaise:)
(Oct 24, 2013) Anonymous said:Yes musicland part of Trojan records and then owned by the Ali family
(Mar 25, 2013) Rockdoc said:My two favourite record shops in the sixties were Musicland in Berwick Street and One Stop in South Moulton Street. I'd visit Musicland several times a week. I bought my "Strictly Personal" and "Trout Mask Replica" albums there and was advised by the knowledgeable salesperson (I regret never asking their names) to listen to Neil Young's first LP when it first came in. "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" had come in at the same time and it sounded so completely different from the first album. So I bought both! Neil autographed my "Neil Young" album in 1996.
(May 3, 2012) Mad dog said:Musicland owned by the Ali family jim Ali went on toown bargain records in portobello rd
(Dec 27, 2014) I managed the store after the last manager. Comment: Richard Broden.
(Jan 28, 2015) I remember going to an allnight club at the Lyceum after Middle Earth had closed down in Covent Garden and Chalk Farm to wait until Musicland opened in the morning so I could buy the fabulous Trout Mask Replics by the Captain (on import naturally!). Comment: Clive Gutteridge.
" I used to sell Prince Buster records when I worked in a record shop. A long time before I was famous!" Elton John Mojo November 2016
Matt Zurowski talks to original skin Paul Thompson
Street Sounds 2016
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International Tines 1969
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Portobello Rd east side 230-232 Photo Dave Hucker
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Image The Museum Of Soho
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Musicland shop mangers Webster Shrowder & Desmond Bryan. 1968
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