The Diggers Guide To... LONDON, Part 1: Central London (Page Two)

The Diggers' Guide To London, Part 1: Central London

Northern Line tube map for Central London digging route

STOP 1: The West End

London's West End - Theatreland, home of culture, all that malarkey. Museums, galleries, Soho, Leicester Square, and most importantly - records.

Come out of Tottenham Court Road tube station. Take the tube station exit marked 'Oxford Street - North side' and walk straight up the road for 30 yards past a Virgin Megastore entrance on your left. Take the first left into a small, dingy side road called Hanway Street.

Hanway Street used to be a real vinyl mecca a few years back, with a tiny-but-superb shop that specialized in 45s, a couple of good all-rounders and some good specialist 60s stores. Sadly there are only two remaining spots, but they're still well worth a look.

On The Beat, 22 Hanway St, London W1T 1UH. 020 7637 8934

A small shop with a good selection of mainly 1960s and early 1970s 45s and LPs. Usual London prices with a few nice finds in the 45s to reward a longer dig.

Street map

JB's, 36 Hanway St, London W1T 1UP. 020 7436 4063

A very small shop with a good mix of second hand and new releases, all well selected. Standard London prices with a good emphasis on black music and interesting rock. Some cheap and mainly common 45s with better picture sleeve 45s on the wall alongside a few tasty albums.

Street map

Turn left at the T-junction at JB's and walk down onto Oxford Street. Take a right along Oxford Street towards Oxford Circus (away from Tottenham Court Road) and keep walking for a couple of hundred yards, then cross to the south side of Oxford Street and turn left into Berwick Street.

Soho

Soho is still synonymous with sex for most tourists. London's traditional home of sleaze has now been cleaned up a little (although it's still much in evidence) so there are plenty of fashionable bars to keep the other significant residents, the media industry, happy.

Berwick Street is the traditional Soho vinyl digging street; it was even featured on an Oasis album cover. Home to a thriving local community with an excellent street market selling fish, fruit and vegetables, you'll find plenty of high-quality vinyl rarities sitting amongst the porn shops, media production houses and boozers down this street.

After 100 yards or so, you'll find two new release shops worthy of a mention. Selectadisc is remarkably cheap, well laid-out, big and stocks a great range of well-selected vinyl and CD reissues and new releases. On the other side of the road, check the crazy cheap prices of Mr. CD, who cuts a good fiver off CD releases you'd pay full price for in HMV only a few hundred yards away.

Keep an eye out on the left for Broadwick Street. Take the left into Broadwick Street and walk 30 yards down the road.

Sounds of the Universe, 7 Broadwick St, London W1F 0DA. 020 7494 2004

Also known as Soul Jazz or Universal Sounds, this legendary London shop has recently moved from its tiny original location on Ingestre Place to new, plush premises in an old pub just around the corner. If you miss the place since there are no signs on the shopfront at the moment, it's situated opposite the exclusive Agent Provocateur lingerie shop, so if the missus complains about you spending too much time and money on records, pop into there instead! Sounds Of The Universe was once a great place to find rare

black music but is now mostly a new release dealer. They also sell their own excellent compilations at reasonable prices. There are still some good second hand finds on the 45s side, with an excellent selection of reggae, soul and funk on 45 at good prices behind the counter. Ask to see, and they're always happy to play anything for you.

Street map

Walk back the way you came, out onto Berwick Street again and head left, down towards the market and away from Oxford Street.

Reckless Records (Soul/Dance), 26 Berwick St, London W1F 8RQ. 020 7434 3362

A strong selection of funk, soul, jazz and anything dance-related. Plenty of rare wall items to keep the serious collectors happy. This was once one of the most expensive places in London but recently seems to have revised its pricing policy so it's a little more reasonable. Don't expect good service if it's busy - try to go on a weekday. Mostly LPs and 12"s.

Street map

Reckless Records (Rock), 30 Berwick St, London W1F 8RQ. 020 7437 4271

Just beyond the soul shop is the second Reckless branch, specializing in rock-related music. The same Reckless policies apply.

Street map

Vinyl Junkies & Daddy Kool, 12 Berwick St, London W1F 0PX. 020 7437 3535

A few yards on from Reckless you'll find this shop that sounds more promising than it turns out to be. Many of the places on Berwick Street that used to sell second hand records have given up in the light of competition from Reckless and Music Exchange - this is a good example. Having said that, go down to the basement for a great selection of reggae on 45, 12" and LP.

Street map

Music & Video Exchange, 95 Berwick St, London W1F 0QD. 020 7434 2939

Across the street from Daddy Kool, next to Sister Ray (a good source of weird metal and rock records, old and new) sits one of the better Music & Video Exchange outlets in London, if mainly for its great bargain basement. The ground floor has a good selection of generally overpriced rarities on the wall at the back of the shop (although, like Reckless, prices have come down recently) while the main second hand shelves change daily so you may well be lucky.

Not a huge selection though - head downstairs to their excellent bargain basement with a huge selection of obscure LPs, 12"s, 45s and CDs across many genres, at real charity shop prices. There are genuine bargains if you have the patience to check everything. Good pricing policy - if it doesn't shift, reduce it.

Street map

Cheapo Cheapo Records, 53 Rupert St, London W1D 7PJ. 020 7437 8272

Turn right out of Music Exchange, go down Berwick Street past the porn shops and through a little alleyway full of XXX video stores and strip joints. Cross over Brewer Street and go straight on down Rupert Street. In 50 yards on the right, you'll find this bizarre and often excellent clearance centre-style outlet for all sorts of second hand LPs, CDs, videos and DVDs. It looks shut most of the time, but is usually open - go down to the basement for soul, jazz and funk LPs and CDs. Ridiculously cheap but the albums are usually knackered. Well worth a half-hour - does exactly what it says on the tin. Great for stocking up on those obscure B-movies too!

Street map

If you're thirsty, go back up to Brewer Street, take a left and walk a couple of hundred yards to the Glasshouse Stores pub. Cheap (for London) beer, loads of seats in the basement and you may even catch the London funk collective trading tips and records in the cellar!

Since we're here, time for an honourable mention to one of London's other legendary spots, also just off Berwick Street. Mr Bongo Record Centre, 44 Poland St, London W1F 7LY. 020 7287 1887. A shadow of its former self, still occasional goodies to be had, particularly in the jazz and latin sections.

Now you've seen what Berwick Street has to offer, turn back and go back the way you came. Once you're back on Oxford Street, take a right and head back to Tottenham Court Road tube. Cross Tottenham Court Road and head up New Oxford Street, past the Point 101 bar at the bottom of the Centrepoint Tower skyscraper. Take the second left off New Oxford Street up Bloomsbury Street and cross to the other side of the road, towards the British Museum.

Bloomsbury

Neatly showcasing the flip side of London when compared with Soho, the highbrow neighbourhood of Bloomsbury is famed for its literary connections with Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. It's also the location of the superb British Museum - still free to visit so see it while you can.

Rare Discs, 18 Bloomsbury St, London WC1B 3QA. 020 7580 3516

This shop is London's best soundtracks specialist by a country mile, frequented by composers like Elmer Bernstein and well respected in that collecting community. An excellent selection of American and European releases particularly on vinyl, expect to find wall items at reasonable prices considering their rarity. Prices on common items are at standard London rates. Willing to play items for you and will recommend similar scores as needed. Not as hot on the funky stuff as they used to be since it's now so tough to find, but still plenty of interesting records.

Street map

Walk back the way you came, onto New Oxford Street, and head back to Tottenham Court Road tube station. Get on the Northern (black) line Northbound and get off at Camden Town.