Great post. I discovered some of my '88 era c90s of Dave P's GLR Rap Session show the other day. Heady memories of KCJ "In the mix"!. This was my only method of discovering new Hip Hop in my 'hood (err... Tunbridge Wells) other than expensive imports. I used to love the shout-out section where various 'crews' could represent their dreary suburban posses 
The memories Mr Clay, superb read and brought back those days of parting with a well earned weeks wages on one slab of vinyl ! The 'green import sticker' - lol
PS - More hip hop please !
i remember u actually ordering the first mc hammer ! but to be fair u did use it as a frisbie and smashed it to pieces cos it was so wack.
nice post!!! i must've been the only other white boy in there. i was there every weekend, spending my paperround money too (i did 2 rounds and marked up the papers before that, so i would spend about $25 a week in there. i had the addiction bad) you describe the store perfectly and it brings back real memories. i actually found a groove record bag a while ago in my parents garage which is now safely tucked away for my grandchildren. i was lucky enough to llive in london so i used to listen to westwood on LWR, dave pearce (god he was annoying) on London and Mike allen on capital.
anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane...
i live in NYC now, but you know what - great place, but nowhere near as cool as Groove Records in 1983/4. amen
http://thumbsnap.com/v/P5r6TLOL.jpg
Wow! I was "beat diggin'" before it was even called that. I started buying records around 1970. Then I was about 12-13 years old. I lost some of those gems (moving and then DJ'n). When you spin at a party with other DJ's that you don't know have someone watch your crates if u have to go to the bathroom!!
U need the 12 step vinyl junkie program (lol)
Peace & Respect ,
"The Funkadelic Relic"
aahh, the memories.
My mate was actually asking, no begging me, to try and find a groove recs. bag in my loft just the other day but nothing turned up yet, so if anyone can provide a scan he would be more than grateful.
We were both there around that time too (we were the 2 white guys in the corner buying double copies of the breaks n beats albums (probably about 4 weeks pocket money/wages). Classic days.
Does anyone remember the 'grandma' that worked there -- she must have been at least 70? You could ask her for a tune and she'd always knew exactly where it was!
Me and my mates used to go to Groove Records, from Ipswich on the train every few weeks, probably bumped shoulders with everyone, the place was sooooo small, but they had every thing you needed, good music, big speakers and a cash register!
Ah the good old dayze!
M[E]
My mate Jeremy Joyce introduced me to the many pleasures of Soho record shops in 1987, around the time Public Enemy emerged. I remember him giving me a copy on cassette of Yo! Bum Rush the Show and telling me stories of the late night goose bumps he got from repeated listenings. He definitely had it on me in terms of musical divining rods but the trips to London on the train with 30 quid in notes and Halifax CardCash in reserve live in my 30-something DNA to this day. Groove Records was the mecca - I remember looking at their Hot 10 or whatever the list was with Black Havana at the top and being unable to compute how I should choose between the electro cuts I knew from Streetsounds and the hip-hop and super-early house from Soul Underground fanzine and taping Jeff Young on Radio 1. There's a photo of their yellow bag at http://www.mastermix.org/
index.p...age=memorabilia - rushy seeing that again. I got the sense that it had been there for years and was full of old soul & disco heads from another generation, and there definitely was that vibe as a 13/14 year old that this was hallowed ground. If there are any more photos of the interior I'd love to see them. I remember Bluebird up the same street with a market outside (sparse stock), and Blackmarket (moody), and Red Eye I think on the same street - that's where I heard and first heard and bought Voodoo Ray on original pre-Rham release, perhaps my favourite record, and agonised over buying an import Strings of Life backed with Nude Photo - d'oh. Add the majors on Oxford Street and you were 50 quid down in no time. Hey eMule and torrents are great and everything but at the time you simply could not get the music any other way and it was magical for it - and still vinyl will not die 
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