The Record Album, 34 North Road

Formerly The Record Album, 34 North Road, Brighton
Photo by Debbie Lias

Special mention must go to this shop as it still exists, albeit at new premises, now for a good many years.

After The Cottage, this was my favourite hunting ground for records throughout the 70s. They sold both LPs and singles and had good stock turnover.

For years it was owned by an extraordinarily grumpy man who used to be no help whatsoever on one of his bad days. But the shop had so much good stuff I usually managed to avoid asking him too many questions and thus upsetting him.

The new shop next to Brighton Station continues to specialise in soundtracks and stopped selling singles decades ago. The current owner – probably for over twenty five years now – is NOT the previous owner to whom I refer!

Comments about this page

  • Yes, I remember this one as well. I think I used to spend quite a lot on records here. Between this, Record Box and The Cottage, I must have bought more than half of my orignal collection. Brighton was spoiled for great record shops both second-hand and independent primary sector shops, especially in the North Laine area. Great days.

    By Paul Martin (07/05/2009)
  • The Record Album was a real treasure trove. The owner, when I used to go there in the 70’s, was George Ginn who was always immaculately dressed and very well spoken. I think George had bought the shop after coming out of the armed forces. I believe that the shop originally opened about 1948 which probably makes it the longest continual independent record outlet in Brighton. I vaguely remember the shop temporarily moving from North Street up to Queen’s Road before relocating to the present premises in Terminus Road. ‘The Record Album’ mostly sold film, stage and musical soundtrack LPs although it also stocked rock music and other genres of music. You could always be sure that what you would get for your money was an item in excellent to mint condition. What drew me to the North Street shop was the bargain box located on the floor of the shop, just inside the door, where the occasional ‘find’ could be picked up really cheaply.

    By Kevin Cooke (25/03/2010)
  • I certainly remember The Cottage around 1969 / 1970, where we would take our records to sell when we were broke!

    By Diana Lambing (24/05/2010)
  • My pals and I also recall the grumpy chap referred to in the first comment. He was so tight he still kept his pre-decimal signs on display in 1974! We used to misbehave a bit in there and I have a photo of him putting his finger to his forehead, pipe jauntily poking out of his mouth in the style of Harold Wilson or Popeye as he asked us, “What are ya – barmy?”.

    By Steve Andrews (12/03/2011)
  • Yes I bought, among other things, a live concert Extended Play (EP) there of Jimmy Witherspoon and Helen Humes. For a long time they had Bobby Bland record sleeves in the window. I wish I had bought them but it was only later that I really appreciated Bobby Bland and realised what a wonderful singer he was.

    By Nick Heath (27/07/2012)
  • George Ginn must hold the UK record for longest serving record dealer. As mentioned above – he started just after the war. I believe he was posted overseas during the war and bought lots of records back from the far east (hazy memory from something i was told years ago – apologies if incorrect). The North Road shop was always worth visiting. In the early/ mid 80s he briefly moved to Queen’s Road (but just for a short while as the rent was way too high). His shop inadvertently caused a traffic accident when some guy noticed a load of Mothers of Invention albums in the window and took his eyes off the road for too long. This would be mid 80s. He then moved to the former pub premises in Terminus Rd where the shop can still be found. Geroge is an absolute stickler for condition. Records must be ‘near mint’, nothing less. He hates CDs with a passion (“ghastly plastic frisbees”). His shop found a second lease of life in the mid/late 80s when DJs found that soundtrack albums contained many funky breaks. I never had much luck selling to George – he’s much too canny.

    By M Bradshaw (26/12/2013)

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