Long time no talk!
Welcome back to our seasonal blog, has been a busy few months here at Casbah, so expect to read about last month’s Record Store Day, a surprise appearance from the one and only Olivia Dean, along with notable new releases and vintage vinyl finds that have entered the shop, along with Grahams take on the art of record collecting!
Record Store Day 2026
Thanks to everyone who came down to the shop for Record Store Day on Saturday (and also came down to the picture house for almost famous!)
We had a record busting day with some super determined customers who broke the record for earliest queue start (3pm the day before!)
I think we managed to keep most people happy, there was great atmosphere all day keep it rolling to next year!
Here’s a little montage of some snapshots of the day, sorry we’re posting this a bit but I’ve got the post RSD comedown, disastrous football result (if you know you know) blues!
Olivia Dean
As one of the brand ambassadors for Record Store Day, the now Grammy winning Olivia Dean chose Casbah Records to host her interview to talk about the importance of record shops along with some of her favourite records!
You can watch the interview here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXJ-dJbjAfw/
Can’t Believe It’s Still Here! (RSD Edition)
The 6th and final LP by the 60’s pop trio!
Their uncanny comeback originally released in 1978, laying the ground for Scott Walker’s future experimentation & the 80s post-punk/synth scene. An art rock masterpiece! (Bowie’s Heroes is a clear inspiration too)
Or; ‘If I say Im ordering another shelving unit, please talk me out of it!’
As a man the wrong side of 65′, (yes, I know I still look like Paul Newman but it’s true), and an avid record buyer since my early teens I’ve amassed a considerable vinyl and CD hoard. My collection might have reached epic proportions, had I not made the decision to ‘STOP’ or least put the brakes on to a certain extent and take a more ‘zen’ approach to collecting.
When I started work in the late 70’s and began socializing with ‘adults’, (even though one of them was introduced to me as an anarchist… that was before Punk I might add!) I always liked to thumb through record collections when visiting various shared flats and houses. Back then I suspect the majority of collections numbered between a 100 and 150 LP’s, and were usually sandwiched between the speakers on the floor – that was an impressive size! It was the usual suspects, a couple of Stones LP’s, (usually Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and possibly the High Tide & Green Grass, a mid 60’s hits comp, Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, Sgt Pepper, Cat Stevens, random blues records, the odd classical title and a Monty Python LP. It did seem like these were choices based on “what am I actually going to play” and maybe “I need this record for the next house party we have”. There were always albums that had been borrowed and not returned, (often interesting and rare). What you didn’t see were huge shelving units creaking under the weight of every Frank Zappa album ever released or the entire back catalogue from the left-field ECM Jazz label.
Flicking through Record Collector magazine these days there’s usually a picture of a man standing behind 10,000 records looking quite smug and pleased with himself. I decided I didn’t want to be that person, which was a society I was in danger of joining. What was it Groucho Marks said? ” I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would let me join”. Or something similar… you get my drift.
I was as guilty as any ‘over collecting collector’. Did I need 25 Kent Soul LP’s? not really – five or six max would probably do me! Did I need every John Barry soundtrack album? probably not to be fair.
My change of perspective came when I’d been searching for a perfect, mint original of The Radha Krishna Temple album released on the Apple label in 1971, complete with two inserts of course! After asking fellow dealers to look out for a copy and searching at fairs, with no luck I got lazy and ‘gave up’ the real search and ordered one online from a Dutch dealer. When it arrived it really was a thing of beauty, it looked like a work or art. After playing a couple of tracks I realized that not only had I heard something almost identical before but I actually owned it, and had so for about 50 years!
Around 1976/77 I was strolling down Oxford Street on Sunday morning and I got talking to one of the all chanting, all dancing Hari Krishna devotees (who I must say had a very pleasant way about her) and somehow I became the owner of a Hari Krishna charity record and lighter of 50p! I hung onto it, as it was the sort of day that only good things were happening, and eventually got around to giving it a spin later on at home. At this time I was listening to The Ramones, Devo and the Clash… so it’s peaceful exotic groove didn’t really grab me if I’m honest! It was filled away under ‘on the right occasion’ and forgotten about.
After comparing the two records, they were very, very similar music wise. The main difference being was that one cost me 50p the other was £50! I kept hold of the Apple record of course, but it made me question the whole collecting thing!
I used to want first pressings of everything, whether I would have been around at the time to buy it or not. I began to get very nostalgic about the pressings I bought when they were actually released. For example, I bought the Beatles ‘Blue’ 1967-1970 album in 73′ and I remember everything about going to the shop, how much it was (£2.95), and looking at the sleeve on the bus. That’s the version I want, not the blue vinyl version that was more limited and now worth more! When I bought the first two Genesis albums they were on the Mad hatter label, not the pink Charisma ‘scroll’ label. I have the ‘scroll’ label copies, but really, my heart says I want the Mad hatter versions, they’re much nicer aesthetically although they’re worth a lot less, but it shouldn’t be about the money.
I’ve culled my collection and paired it down to the essentials and the things I just can’t part with. Now when I choose a new record by a new artist I have to really love it to own it. I’m not keeping it just because I bought the one before. As far as vintage or period records are concerned I’ve definitely changed direction.
I like collecting oddities now just for the fun of it. Label samplers from the 70’s, LP’s with ‘out there’ pop-art sleeves even though the artists are rock and rollers or blues and Jazz old timers.
It’s all very eclectic but the common theme is, it has to have some emotional attachment. That could just be the ‘fun element’ or rescuing something from been thrown away or unloved, something that reminds you of other people, or an impossibly rare record that is a joy to own because you know whoever bought it when it was originally released must have had taste and style, and wouldn’t you just like to know their story!
I try and resist the impulse to buy on Discogs when something takes my fancy or I get a bee in my bonnet about some rare record I’d like. I like the idea of leaving things to chance and sometimes a little patience can be very rewarding.
A good few years ago during lockdown, I was down a rabbit hole on ‘Faceache‘ and I came across a post of what looked like a teen Alisha Sufit busking with a guitar somewhere in London. I’d met Alisha at record fairs when she used to sell her own re-pressings of the Magic Carpet album. A rare and charming sitar/folk LP from 1972 on the wonderfully named Mushroom label. A couple of quick messages and I was chatting to her about stocking the CD reissue for the shop. The subject of the original pressing came up, (which were selling for £500 plus online) and to my ever lasting joy and gratitude she let me purchase a first, unplayed issue from her – at a very agreeable price under the condition that it was for me and not to sell on. That copy is going nowhere I can quite definitely say!
The story behind the object is now the most satisfying part of collecting for me, and I feel like that’s a very positive development.
Again during the lockdown period I was reading a King Crimson related blog about the McDonald Giles LP on Island records.
Ian McDonald who had recently departed the group was travelling on a train from the suburbs into London and spotted an attractive girl talking to friend with a cat on her lap! Having made eye contact – but no more, McDonald decided on leaving the train that he needed to get in touch as he might regret it otherwise He placed an ad in the personal column of the International Times (then read by anyone who was cool) “Please get in touch, I saw you on the train last Tuesday and you had a cat etc”. It worked a treat, she got in touch, they became a couple, and not only did she end up on the cover she also designed the inner part of the gatefold sleeve.
Charlotte Bates, art student extraordinaire! Every time I listen to the record I always think of that story. I think by setting myself some guidelines I’m learning to enjoy my collection and feel comfortable with it as it’s been thoughtfully curated with care.
Now every time I visit the ‘Govinda’s Hari Krishna’ restaurant in Soho for a fabulous veggie feast, I’m reminded of two things, their smoothies are the best and the 50p charity record that put me on the path to a more calm and zen like approach to being a record obsessive, that might sound like a contradiction but I feel like it’s true!
New Window Display
Check out our new reggae inspired window display!
Jam packed with classic reggae records along with vintage 70s two tone inspired memorabilia, tote bags and prints. The centerpiece being this beautiful 50th anniversary screening poster for ‘The Harder They Come’ featuring Jimmy Cliff!
New In!
Also gracing the casbah shelves are a new, fresh assortment of print designs!
Lots of new vintage adverts, football star teams and punk, two tone and indie band posters
(more variants in store!)
Vintage Vinyl
Below are a superb selection selection of vintage vinyl that have gracefully entered the market!
Staff Favourites & New Releases
Snocaps – ‘Snocaps’
Allison Crutchfield, Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee), Brad Cook & MJ Lenderman team up for this stellar raw, Americana-inflected (via Lenderman’s guitar noodles indie album.
FFO: This is Lorelai, Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, Wednesday
Mia Wilson – ‘Mia Wilson’
Debut LP from South Cali singer-songwriter, blending guitar & piano driven compositions with lush orchestration and Wilson’s rich mezzo-soprano voice. Reminiscent of the Laurel Canyon golden age of the 60s/70s along with modern singers such as Weyes Blood.
Tommy Peltier – ‘Echo Park’
A compilation of previously unheard tapes by singer-songwriter & guitarist Tommy Peltier, recorded in the early-mid 70s.
LA sun-lit melodies shaped by groove and glamour, rooted in jazz. Also included are some personal tracks encouraged by band mate Judee Sill!
FFO: Bowie
Cut Worms – ‘Transmitter’
You should buy this new CUT WORMS album because it is really really really really good and I listen to a lot, a lot, a lot of albums, so trust me on this!
Jeff Tweedy produced it. Cut Worms wrote it. You will Love it.
Connie Converse – ‘How Sad, How Lovely’
10 years out of print, Third Man have reissue the mid-century singer-songwriters cult classic!
Arguably one of the first DIY musicians, here is an intimately lonesome collection of witty, bittersweet folk wanderings released before her eventual mysterious disappearance & for the world to catch on!
FFO: Vashti Bunyan, Daniel Johnston, Nick Drake
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️5. Peter Gabriel “i/o” The second coming of the archangel! Twenty years in the making but worth the wait.
️ 6. Corinne Bailey Rae “Black Rainbows”
️ 1. Gal Costa “India” Classic of the Tropicalia era! Banned in Brazil at the time of release, which means it must be good!
️ 3. Mellow Candle “Swaddling Songs” One of the all-time holy grails of acid-folk! If you don’t want to pay £2,500 for an original, this will certainly fill the void.
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