Handel & Hendrix House
For the next three months Hendrix used the flat as his base, giving interviews there, writing new songs, and preparing for his February concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. On learning that Handel used to live next door he went with Kathy to the One Stop Record Shop in South Molton Street and bought some classical albums – including Handel’s Messiah andWater Music.
Janice Long was asking about stores that listeners frequented, One Stop Record Shop in South Molton Street was one I did visit. My reply to Janice read: Used to come up to London on school hols and bought all my imports from here: Captain Beefheart’s Safe as Milk, circa 1968, Iron Butterfly, Freak Out – Mothers of Invention and too many others to list! Regards Ben
I was a regular buyer at South Moulton st during the late 60's when we had a restaurant called Mr Love at 23 Brook st, Jimi Hendrix lived in the flat above and he also bought from there, I remember they used to get the imports in really fast and I got the first CSN Lp also Neil Youngs first 2, Poco "Pickin up the pieces" Byrds " Notorious" long before anyone else plus many more, also use the one in Dean St but this one was nearer. Comment: Doug Kaye
Born in 1957 in Deptford, south London, Danny's first job after dropping out of school at the age of 15 was in One Stop Records, a small record shop in London's West End, frequented by Elton John and Mick Jagger, a store rather like the one in High Fidelity. Danny Baker
Recall vividly One Stop in S Moulton, and The Phonograph in Soho Square. In the late 60s/early 70s both shops were regular haunts, hunting down US imports. I'd start with The Phonograph, then walk along Oxford St to One Stop. Regular visits to both trailed off when Branson opened his import shop (over the shoe shop) in Oxford St. Comment: Mike Abbott.
(Oct 20, 2014) Keef said:I felt I was overcharged for Emerson Lake and Palmers 'Pictures at an Exhibition' It was advertised in NME to be released at a special low price. But ... One stop charged me for as a standard price LP. I'm not bitter but so if it was you Mr Baker, you owe me!
(Sept 24, 2014) fred s./los angeles said:i stopped in to one stop on south moulton street at least once a week for years. fantastic hushed, rather exclusive vibe. i remember looking longingly at imports of west coast bands like quicksilver, the airplane, zappa and love. it was always a thrill to buy something there. and the counter staff -- the hippest of the hip. also bought tix to all-nighters at the lyceum there -- an even bigger thrill.
(June 10, 2014) Anonymous said:also forgot to mention John Peel was often seen buying stuff for his Sunday show in there, I remember Danny Baker working there he was a bit abrupt, also a guy named Michael
(May 15, 2014) Jim Gleeson. said:I am Proud to say...I worked There!.
(Apr 28, 2014) Miky Smith said:I Worked at the Richmond and then South Molton Street store fond memories unfortunately Harlequin had it grip on it by then and and In 1976 if I remember rightly the store closed....great times working there with Danny and Murray
(Mar 24, 2014) ddf said:I was a frequent shopper at the South Molton Street store, and later in the larger Dean Street one. It was run by sober, dark-suited Nick, aided by Mick with his blonde afro and paisley shirts. I remember listening to John Peel's show one day when he announced that he was able to play the new Beefheart album (Strictly Personal) because he and Nick had just got back from London Airport where they had been waiting together for the LP to clear customs. That's commitment.
And I have Mick to thank for saying to me "Listen to this, I think you'll like it." and sitting me in the booth to listen to Tim Buckley's "Goodbye and Hello". I did like it; a lot.
Somehow, getting new music before it was out in the UK helped to make me feel a lot cooler than I actually was and having a store that specialised in stuff I liked made it more personal than the giant HMV store just yards away.
(June 5, 2013) alan mc said:I ran the richmond store and also dean street..a fantastic time in music and my life..richmond in the early 70s could not have been better
(May 27, 2013) CC Rider said:Very much part of the 'Richmond Scene' in the 70s. A visit to One Stop before visiting L'Auberge on Richmond Bridge for a coffee was an essential for hipsters of all ages.
(Mar 25, 2013) Rockdoc said:Bought my copy of The Doors' and Velet Underground & Nico's first LPs at One Stop. They cost £3 15s each. The thrill that I got standing in the listening booth when I heard "Back Door Man" for the first time was like a drug rush. I've been chasing it ever since. I bought lots of US imports I could not really afford!
alanmc: I must have sort of taken over from you, because I ran the Richmond store for Harlequin. Comment: David MacAuslan
(April 11, 2015) We used to travel from Leicester to London especially to visit One Stop and get imported albums. When we showed them to friends back home we became the hippest guys in Leicester! I can remember when three of us (me, Keith and Stu)were on our way to Cornwall for a holiday in 1968. We phoned One Stop from Paddington station to see if our imported Country Joe and the Fish albums had arrived and they had! We had barely an hour before our train departed but Keith volunteered to race across the city to get the albums so we could play them on our portable record player on Porthmeor beach, St. Ives late at night surrounded by chicks. I'll never forget him racing along the platform, long hair flying, clutching our albums as the train started to leave. Wonderful days! Comment: Bob Pfeiffer
(April 21, 2015) This much lauded small record shop was always one of my favourites. You can learn a lot about it by reading Danny Bakers “Going to Sea in a sieve” as he worked there for quite a while but it always had a great selection and although I went there often there are two occasions I remember from going there. One time Elton John was busy going through the racks of singles. It was about the time of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and he had the purple streak of dye in his hair that can be seen on that album cover. Another time I was in there on a Saturday and I had gone to but the Donovan “A Gift From a Flower to a Garden” box set of LPs which was then on import and as I queued to pay I glanced around at the people behind me and saw Michael Caine patiently waiting his turn holding “Forever Changes” by Love. Comment: David Lawson.
(May 19, 2015) I worked at One stop Dean Street with Dave Crocker(Rip) and then Alan Mc and mini Alan used to love collecting Alan Mc 's Triumph Spitfire from the car park with the roof down blasting out Neil Youngs , Cowgirl in th sand. Happy days Ps I must not forget Tom ,Paul and Nick. Comment: Martin Wickham.
Etchingham and Hendrix shared several apartments together, including one at 23 Brook Street, Mayfair, next door to a house once occupied by Handel. There they amassed close to 100 albums, ranging from Chicago blues to folk to classical to complete obscura. (The entire collection was sold a few years ago to the Experience Music Project in Seattle, the brainchild of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen.) “A lot of our albums would have been bought at a place called One Stop Records on South Molton Street, W1, just opposite Brook Street,” Etchingham recalls, “and many were given to Jimi by other bands or sent through the post.” For classical records, they headed to tonier Oxford Street to the HMV (“His Master’s Voice")
( August 4, 2015) Ah One Stop. Used to shop at old school HMV around the corner until One Stop opened where you could buy all the imports you wanted and did do. Can't recall the names in there anymore, but recall an occasion when I wanted to buy an LP as a present for a music obsessed mate of mine but being in a real hurry, didn't stop to listen to 'Peanut Butter Conspiracy is spreading', but just because I liked the title- nearly 50 years later, my mate still critizes my lack of taste that day! Comment: Ray Pearl .
(March 16, 2016)Bought Trout Mask Replica there in 1969. It was their last import copy and quite battered - but I didn't care. Later when I worked in Oxford Street I spent many lunch hours in there. On one visit they played La Grange by ZZ Top. Couldn't believe my ears. Still love it. Thanks to all involved. Comment: Trauts Heytarl.
bruce findlay @BRSArchive .....One Stop was owned by the wonderful #IslandRecords. .....2 legends of the British music scene in the 1960s.
Name Max Whitaker Comment: ! worked there for a year -doing the mailouts and imports in office above a shop a few doors down South Molton St from the diminutive shop -before Chris(Blackwell() hired me in Apr '70 to work in Island's new studios in Basing Street -amazing memories -I fear Mike Ashwell no longer around and have lost Rog Keatley who mainly ran One Stop then, but Nick & Simon Goodman are still knockin/rockin' in LA , I think -small but hugely influential record shop,and many UK releases of West Coast bands/artists as well as other Stateside /progressive music got released as a result of O-S-R's imports-e.g. Zappa,CSN,Airplane,Richie Havens,etc ..London was like a village then so we knew/saw many of the rock and folk crowd who came regularly to check our stock out. (July, 25, 2016).
Name alan McLachlan Comment: One stop records was started by Mike Ashwell and Brian Gatland .
Great to know that so many people have such happy memories of it . ( July 29, 2016).
Name Robert Brown Comment I used to go weekly to One Stop Records in the late 1960's. A great place to go to buy Imports. I remember buying Jefferson Airoplane "Surrealitic Pillow" and "Spooky Two" I then used to walk on down to Dobell's another great music shop in Charing Cross Road. Those were the days. (August 14, 2016)
Name Richard Newman Comment: One Stop Records was my local shop and I worked there for a bit. The other shop in Richmond was Potters Music Shop. I remember Mike Ashwell and Brian Gatland along with Trevor and of course Alan McLachlan. One Stop Richmond was a very exciting place to be in those days and for me an education. ( Oct 27, 2016)
Record collector come up: in 1974, I was working in Chris Blackwell's office at Island Records in London. One day, a+r man Richard Williams phoned to say the 6 record stores Blackwell owned (called One Stop I think) were closing down. And the shop in Richmond was available for us to go cherry pick a few records. Once there, I was directed to the basement by the store's manager. It seemed Blackwell was using the basement to store dead stock of unsold Island 45s from the 60s. There were bow ties everywhere. That was the name given to a simple label design which was white with a bow tie shaped dash of red in the center. There were many Ska and rock steady titles by Lee Perry, Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker, the Skatalites, Derek & Patsy, Owen Gray, etc. Each title would be a box of 25. I asked the manager how much the 45s were and his reply was: "You work for Island don't you? Take all you want." Joyous words! But I was on foot, so I had to be strategic in how many boxes I took. (For some reason, a taxi was out of the question, I had traveled by train.) Since I am a huge fan of Van Morrison's band Them, I copped 4 boxes (100 all together) of the Belfast Gipsies ' "Gloria's Dream" which featured ex-Them members + was produced by Kim Fowley. Then I pulled various Jamaican titles and filled up at least 4 more boxes. I don't know how many 45s I rescued that day, but when I walked, my arms were fully extended below my waist and I could barely see over the top box. ( Nov 28, 2016)
Name Jim Honeywood Comment: I was a "once a week visitor" too to One Stop. Bought my Jeff Beck and John Fahey's on import. American album covers always more substantial than English - more like what you get these days with the new vinyls. I remember seeing the Ramones first album cover in the window and being middle shocked! Great times! (April 11, 2017)
Name Pete Limmer Comment: Great to find this site, I am now 68 but remember coming in from Woodford with my friend Ray, having listened to Mr Peel's Perfumed Garden on R. Caroline (or London) and then getting my hands on Love/Doors/C. Joe/Beefy/Misunderstood/Spider John Koerner and others - we felt special, no one else had these records just us - wow, if only we had something similar today but - "youtube" - well!!!
I didn't realise Chris Blackwell owned One Stop - no matter I think he did a good job in British musical tastes. I also managed to get to quite a lot of the Saville Theatre Concerts as well as most of the Hyde Park gigs - but I still fondly remember One Stop as the place to follow up a weeks late night listening to John Peel.
Many years later I managed to get myself in to Maida Vale Studios(BBC) usually on Thursdays, to record artist for R1/R2 evening shows (Sadly Not John Peel)but many good bands came through - China Crisis/Marc Almond/Coctaeu Twins/Ukelele Orchestra of GB/ Aswad/Freue (now underworld)/Captain Sensible and the list goes on - how lucky to have been born when I was and all this went on around us. (July 28, 2017)
Comment
I worked at one stop, with Ian, john, murray, great days.
Name
al turner
(2021)
Comment
I was looking for the record shop near new Bond street where I used to buy what they called " West Coast Music". This was in the late sixties, early seventies. It was a very small shop, and I do not remember it haveing adouble front, however Im sure it was called One Stop Records. So was the shop originally nearer new Bond Street that the South Molton Street on.
Name
Keith Turner
(2019)
Comment
Hello, Brian Gatland is my uncle and I also had the honour of knowing Mike Ashwell.
It's so lovely to see all your lovely comments and I will definitely being sharing them with him when I next see him. He has many fond memories and stories to tell of One Stop Records
Bev x (2019)
Comment
Hi Bev X
I Just saw your comments , I would love to hear from BG or any others with memories of the great One Stop Records...I ran both the Richmond and Dean street stores during the best time in music...Brian was great to work with and a perfect introduction to my life in the music business .
Alan McLachlan (2021)
Comment
Oh my goodness! I am lying in bed looking at street view (google maps) of Dean Street to see what it looks like now compared to when I worked at One Stop Records in 73/74. Then out of curiosity I googled One Stop Records and found this site. Not only a photo or two of the Dean Street branch but one of Musicland in Berwick Street where I worked from 72/73. Happy hazy days - Hey ho hum!
Name
Geoff Pollock
(2022)
Comment
I use to go to One Stop in London, amazing shop.
Trying to find out if an Alex Switzer worked there at some point.
We both lived in Willesden Green.
Name
Ian Barnett
(2022)
Comment
My best friend Roger Jeatkey worked at South Moulton Street in the late 60s.
I bought many records there and swapped mono Beatkes albums for stereo.
Peter Sellers bought records there.
Name
David Pitfield
(2022)
THAN ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLIC
10.09.2013
12:17 pm
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During the early 1970s, the One Stop record shop was “London’s number one coolest record shop for those in the know in the contemporary music scene.” The store was crammed with a rich and diverse selection of stock from Zappa and Beefheart to US Funk and Soul imports. It was here you would regularly find Elton John rummaging through the boxes of 45s, Marc Bolan calling everyone “babes,” Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and David Bowie buying LPs, and an often drunk Vivian Stanshall offering to buy the entire stock for four pence (“New pence, no rubbish.”)
It was also here that an as yet unknown and undiscovered fifteen-year-old Danny Baker worked behind the till. As some of you will know, Baker had yet to make his name producing the Punk magazine Sniffin’ Glue with Mark Perry, before starting his career as an NME journalist and becoming the lovable star of TV and radio, we know today.
So, one afternoon, Queen came “tumbling into the shop, excited, babbling, and I think a little drunk,” as Baker recalled in his highly entertaining first volume of autobiography, Going to Sea in a Sieve. Queen carried with them advance test pressings of their eponymous-titled first LP, with which an imperious Freddie Mercury announced to Baker.
“We want you to play our record in your shop. Constantly! You can be the first!”
Two thick, white label acetates were then thrust into Baker’s hands. It was at that moment the shop’s manager, John Gillespie “drifted out from his office area and cut through the party with a loaded, “I’m sorry, can we help you?”
“Yes, you can,” briskly responded my presumed Freddie.
“You can fucking play this and nothing else for the next six weeks. We’re Queen and when it’s released you won’t be able to fucking stock enough of this.”
“Really?” John drawled back in a tone plainly designed to hose down their raging brio. “Can I hear it?”
Gillespie took one disc, placed it on a turntable “and rather archly put the needle on to track one of this allegedly momentous debut.” That track would be “Keep Yourself Alive,” incidentally)
He let it play for about a minute, all the time intently staring at the floor as if in solemn judgement. Freddie Mercury lustily sang to his own vocal in an attempt to clinch the decision. Then John calmly took the player’s arm back off the disc.
“Hate it,” he said, putting lots of breath into the H.
“You’re fucking joking!” said Freddie, or possibly Brian May.
“Hate. It,” repeated my manager and entered into a sullen stare-off with the group.
Then another thrust.
“You sound like Deep Purple or something. Can’t bear all that.”
Then he turned to me.
“Danny, you like rock. Was that any good?”
Oh, don’t do this to me, John.
“I thought it was, y’know…rocky. Bit like Stray, and I like Stray.”
“Stray!” exploded presumed Freddie. “Stray! Stray are a fucking pub band! We are going to be bigger than fucking Led Zeppelin!”
“Fuck you,” said maybe John Deacon.
“Well, fuck you,” said John the Manager.
Then everyone but me said Fuck you for a bit.
Leaving their record on the counter, the group beat a swift and noisy retreat with one of them—I recall some blond hair here, so let’s say Roger—yanking a handful of sleeves from their racks and letting them spill all over our floor.
In a final gesture, Freddie stood at the door and bellowed out into a bemused South Molton Street, “Attention, shoppers! If you have a scintilla of taste, you will never buy a thing in this dreadful shop!”
Then they were gone.
John, who enjoyed both style and drama, turned to me with a pixie-ish smile lighting up his eyes.
“Did you hear that? I like him. That was funny. Dreadful record though…”
This and many other tales from Mr. Baker’s wonderful life, can be found in Going to Sea in a Sieve, the first volume of his autobiography. Here you’ll also discover that the mysterious “Jungle-face Jake” from Marc Bolan’s hit “Telegram Sam” was not some drug-dealer, or even Mick Jagger but “..a battle-scarred old boxer dog who liked several saveloys at a sitting.” Baker knows this because Bolan told him.
