New record shop brings vinyl revival to South Ruislip

Record fan Tony Smith is going to launch the first vinyl shop in South Ruislip at the beginning of April.

Tony, 55, is a carpenter but has been a music lover for more than thirty years. During the weekends, he changes his clothes and becomes a record trader, organising vinyl fairs across the UK. The amount of people buying vinyl records off him has considerably increased in the past three years and for this reason he has decided to open his very own record shop: Sounds Of The Suburbs.

Tony said: “I think it’s always good to see old shops coming back. It’s something different and I think it will be appreciated by younger generations as well.”

Vinyls are in fact a bright spot this year as sales were up 56.3 percent in 2017, and are on track for their biggest total sales since 1994. It is not only older generations who purchase old records and vinyls but as Tony said: “millennials are extremely attracted to old records because they were born with MP3s and Ipods.” On “South Ruislip” facebook group, almost 130 people commented under the news that Tony was going to open “Sounds of The Suburbs”, showing a real interest for the vinyl revival in the area.

Tony, who is a big fanatic of punk rock, has made a lot of contacts during the years and has managed to invite JC Carroll, best know as the guitarist and songwriter for The Members, to sing “ Sounds of The Suburbs” on the day of the shop’s opening in April.