Moxons

Name: Alan Balfour
Comment: In the late 1960s/early 1970s I would pay monthly visits to a record shop of sorts in Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow named Moxons. They seemed to specialise in obscure or deleted blues, jazz and dance band (for want of a better term) 78s, 45s, EPs and LPs. My recollection of it was as a sort of bric-a-brac shop.

Name: Tony Barrett
Comment: Moxons used to be on Forest Road, nearer to Hoe Street than Blackhorse Road.

In the early 1960s I'd spend ages looking through his second-hand stuff for Buddy Holly. Other places were Fosters on the High Street, a couple of doors from Willow Walk, and a market stall between Manze's and Rossi's (or was it Toni's?) ice cream shop in the High Street. Then there was Petticoat Lane, but that's another story!
(13 December 2015)

Name: Richard [Sam] Simmonds
Comment: Great shop was Moxons. I visited when in Forest Road in the 1960s. Great jazz and blues records. You used to take your old LPs in and he would pay you 12 shillings (60p), after telling you every reason why on earth he couldn't sell it, then you could buy a 'new' second-hand one for a pound. Great arrangement so you got to own loads of different music. He was a great bloke. He also did a similiar arrangement with musical instruments.
(11 March 2016)

Name: Brian Phipps
Comment: I used to to spend hours searching for obscure jazz LPs for Charlie Watts in the early to mid-sixties. He was a great collector and my then boss, John George, was a close mate of his and Ian Stewart (the unseen Stone). Happy days!
(19 May 2017)

Name: Alan Manning
Comment: Yes ! A great shop! I would cycle here from Tottenham with my friends Rodney and John and we would buy 78s at 2/- or a little more and load them carefully into our saddlebags. That was in 1953/4/5.

There would be separate shelves labelled with brown gummed paper - "Kid Ory 1/6d", "Jelly Roll Morton 2/-", etc. Now I have them on CDs. He sold fishing rods as well as musical instruments! What a gem!
(2020)

Name: Andrew Dawson
Comment: On a pedantic note, his name was Moxom, 2 emms as I recall. Bought loads of stuff there, LPs mostly, then some drum bits and bobs. Lovely guy, knew all about what he sold.
​(2021)

Name: Mike Francis
Comment: I too knew it as Moxoms. In the early 1960s it was the main shop for any blues and some very rare jazz records. The reason the lovely guy Moxom had such a selection was that he used to get GIs stationed in the UK bringing in their vinyl to supplement their wages.

This was by far and away the best place to find a superb collection of discs. Many very rare discs. When I went there most LPs were priced at 12 shillings and sixpence, unless it was a very special disc. Also often in the store you could bump into visiting jazz musicians on tour. Roland Kirk and I think Ornette Coleman, and Moxom told me he sold Lonnie Donegan his first guitar. a true gem.
(2022)

Name: Doug Kemp
Comment: I remember going there in the 1950s - walked past musical instruments to a small back room with shelves of 78rpm records, and unusually, 10” LPs. Browsers were never hurried and left to rummage while Moxon dealt with proper customers for the instruments - spotted Jonny Dankworth once! Moxon was a local hero to us and now days is likely to have an internet sensation. Still have a lot of records I bought there.
​(2022)