Yorkshire hotspots for vinyl-hunting
Most of the 50 or so record shops across Yorkshire sell second-hand vinyl, though some focus solely on new releases, others specialise in rare records, and others offer coffee and a cake alongside a spot of crate digging (as record buying is often called). In this way, the region is certainly playing its part in the regeneration of physical music.
Leeds and Sheffield boast a variety of great places to seek out both the latest releases and that long-wanted gem from the 60s or 70s.
Leeds has three stores that are part of the Dinked consortium – what could be described as the UK’s leading 24 independent record shops.
Crash, Jumbo, and Norman have strong online businesses alongside the traditional physical shop, though Norman does not offer the traditional store experience with shelves crammed with the latest releases.
Sheffield and Huddersfield also have members of the Dinked group, in Bear Tree and Vinyl Tap respectively.
Other long-established and well-respected stores across Yorkshire include, Keighley’s Grind and Groove, Record Collector and spinning Discs in Sheffield, P&C Music in Harrogate, Record revivals in Scarborough, Betterdaze in Northallerton, and Five Rise Records in Bingley.
Also selling new and second-hand are Revo in Halifax, Evil Eye Vinyl in Harrogate, Earworm Records in York, Todmorden’s The Magic, City, Record Junkee in Sheffield, Riverside Records of Rotherham, and Redcar’s Black Slab (as featured on TV’s The Mighty Redcar series).
Most of these stores take part in Record Store Day, an annual celebration of everything vinyl, with around a hundred special new releases and reissues, often on coloured vinyl with distinct artwork or packaging. This year’s event was cancelled in April, with the planned releases instead being offered on three separate days – August 29, September 26, and October 24.
There’s also the unrelated Love Record Stores Day, organised by the music industry to further help out stores in these difficult trading times. Staged on June 20, the online event featured numerous special vinyl releases and live streamed concerts.
While these events have become an integral aspect of the revival, there are other initiatives to tempt would-be record buyers. The Dinked consortium was formed in 2018 to add an extra dimension to the nation’s leading independent stores.
The main focus is on creating special editions of new releases. Rising Leeds band, the Three MVPs’ debut LP, Science Fiction, was issued at the end of May as the 48th release in the series so far. In an edition of just 350 copies, it featured blue splatter vinyl, hand numbered artwork, and a slipmat.
At the core of the Dinked idea is the belief that music lovers prefer vinyl because they feel it brings them closer to the music and the musicians. Offering special editions, often signed, emphasises this aspect. It’s all a far cry from the more mass-produced days of vinyl’s heyday in the 1970s, when Fleetwood Mac, Queen, and David Bowie sold millions and millions of records and there was a very distinct void between artist and fan. That said, original copies of albums by these musicians, as well as more obscure acts, now fetch high prices in the “used” marketplace.
Yorkshire’s leading players in the rare and second-hard sphere, include the LP Record Store and Tonearm Vinyl in Sheffield, The Space Bar and Heavy Crates in Hebden Bridge, York’s Vinyl Eddie, Rebound, and Pitch 22, Record Players in Ripon, Vinyl Underground and Target in Barnsley, Beverley’s Minster Records and Bug Vinyl, Grandpas Basement in Shipley, Revolutions in Scarborough, and Wah Wah in Wakefield.
Leeds has good second-hand options with Noises for Heroes, Wall of Sounds (located in the basement below Crash), Vinyl Fixx, and Tribe Records, while Hull offers Spin It Records, Disc Discovery, and the fairly new Out of the Attic.
If you fancy a cuppa while browsing for vinyl, Record Café in Bradford, Loafers, located in the gorgeous Piece Hall in Halifax, Sheffield’s Cole’s Corner, Revolution in Rotherham, FortyFive Vinyl Café in York, and Sound Bar in Skipton, will hit the spot.
Fancy making a move to Halifax ? see more here on this hotspot
Not forgetting scores of charity shops that sell vinyl, notably Oxfam, alongside that British high street institution, HMV, plus, of course, record fairs across the region.
Of course, if you are going to buy records you will need something to play them on, which is why traditional HiFi equipment is also enjoying a revival. Analogue turntables, amplifiers, tape decks, and CD players are being made in large numbers once again and available to buy new in most high streets, while there is a thriving second-hand market with brands such as Nad, Arcam, Marantz, and Linn fetching high prices.
Where to shop
Bear Tree Records, Units 13-16, The Forum, 127 Devonshire Street, Sheffield, S3 7SB More here
Norman Records, Unit 20, Croydon House, Croydon Street, Leeds, LS11 9RT (no actual shop, as such) Check out
Jumbo Records, 1-3 Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8NG Discover here
Crash, 35 The Headrow Leeds LS1 6PU More at
Vinyl Tap, 42 John William Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1ER See more
Grind and Groove, 59b Cavendish Street, Keighley, BD21 3RL Discover at
Record Collector, 233 Fulwood Road, Sheffield, S10 3BA MOre at
P&C Music, 6, Devonshire Place, Skipton Road, Harrogate, HG1 4AA See more
Record revivals, 6 Northway, Scarborough, YO11 1JL Head to
Betterdaze, Zetland Street, Northallerton, DL6 1NA See
Five Rise Records, 30c Park Rise, Bingley, BD16 4JQ More at
Spinning Discs, 107 to 109 Chesterfield Road, Meersbrook, Sheffield, S8 0RN See more
Black Slab Records, 22 Millbank Terrace, Redcar TS10 1ED More at
