The Diskery, 86 Western Road

Formerly The Diskery, 86 Western Road, Brighton
Photo by Debbie Lias

One could never stumble across this shop by chance: it was located above a pram shop and therefore would not attract the eye of any passing potential customers. Look carefully at the photo and you may just be able to see the stairs that led up to The Diskery.

Unlike The Cottage, The Diskery dealt first and foremost in singles – there were never more than a token handful of LPs for sale.

However, the stock was fairly extensive and prices were good and I spent many happy hours here. The shop later moved (I think it was to Oxford Street, but the Yellow Pages don’t seem to have any listings for this) but it didn’t last long and was never quite the same.

I also have it in the back of my mind that possibly the owner had a shop around the Preston Street area before moving to Western Road but this may be my memory playing tricks on me after 40 years.

Comments about this page

  • I used to live in Whitehawk in my mid teens and I would leave early enough to walk from there to the Diskery on a Saturday and spend my afternoon browsing the old 45s. I built a considerable collection of blue & silver Chess label Chuck Berry records from there. It was my introduction to vintage record collecting. Negotiating the prams en route to the stairs could be a bit tricky though!

    By Paul Martin (07/05/2009)
  • I worked there 3 yrs ago and there was a delicatessen upstairs where they sold cheese and ham. That’s curious – now they sell records. Are you serious?

    By Jean Humbert (16/09/2010)
  • Er, no, they don’ t sell records now…they did 35 years ago…

    By John Lias (08/10/2010)
  • I recall the pram shop in the early 80s when I started my family but I don’t recall music upstairs. any ideas when the Diskery closed down?

    By David Wilkinson (30/12/2010)
  • I believe it closed in or around 1977.

    By John Lias (18/01/2011)
  • I remember going to The Diskery in the late ’70s above the pram shop; they used to advertise in the classifieds in the back of the music weeklies. I don’t remember a record shop in Oxford Street, though I think there *was* one on the south side of Baker Street in the late ’80s or slightly later, which might have been The Diskery.

    By Stephen Drennan (22/10/2012)

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