15 Vintage Photos of Record Shops in the 1970s

Contents

1. The OG Try It Before You Buy It 2. Shop Founder Geoff Travis (right) in the Rough Trade Shop in London, England, 1977 3. ‘Nothing Like Going Home and Checking Out the Cool Album Cover, While Playing the Music’4. ‘Vintage Record Store in 1979’5. ‘I Miss the Nostalgia of Being in a Record Store Looking for a CD to Play or a Vinyl of Your Favorite Metal/Rock/Punk/Ska Band and Finding Out You Got the Last One.’6. We Just Know She Had Some Fire Recommendations Up Her Sleeve 7. Elvis Presley Goes Through a Record Store for Inspiration, Circa 1970 8. Before Spotify, This Is How We Found Our Favorite New Tunes — One Flip at a Time 9. A Collection of Soul, Funk, Jazz, and Disco Records From the ’70s 10. Record Shopping at Vintage Vinyl in Evanston, Illinois 11. People Shopping at the White Front Discount Department Store in Los Angeles 12. Young Music Fans Look at Vinyl LPs in an Unidentified Record Store in Falls Church, Virginia, 1977 13. British Businessman Ted Carroll, Co-Founder of Ace Records, Holds Up a Copy of ‘Here’s Little Richard’ in London, England, 1977 14. ‘A Woman Inside a British Record Store in the ’70s’15. Neil Young Finds His Own Albums at a Record Store, 1972 Looking for more music content?

Record shops in the ’70s were a heady mix of patchouli, vinyl dust, and the plastic scent of freshly-unwrapped album sleeves. You’ve got people in listening booths debating whether “Ziggy Stardust” really was Bowie’s best, while a stack of vinyls teeters dangerously near the register — $1.99 each, or three for five bucks (just seeing those prices are enough to make us shed a tear).

From the flicker of a disco ball spinning over the new releases bin to that one clerk who always seemed to know exactly which record you needed, here are 15 snapshots of 1970s record shops that’ll take you right back in time.

1. The OG Try It Before You Buy It

Black-and-white photo of young women at a record store listening to music on headphones at a listening station, with vinyl records and album covers lining the shelves. An older man stands behind the counter. — jaykirsch

2. Shop Founder Geoff Travis (right) in the Rough Trade Shop in London, England, 1977

Three men in a cluttered room filled with posters, notes, and photos. Two sit on a desk, one dressing casually and facing the camera, while the third man, wearing sunglasses and a scarf, walks past smiling. — Estate Of Keith Morris/Redferns/Getty Images

3. ‘Nothing Like Going Home and Checking Out the Cool Album Cover, While Playing the Music’

4. ‘Vintage Record Store in 1979’

Black and white photo of people browsing vinyl records in a crowded record store. Posters and albums line the walls, and a woman looks through records in the foreground. — Icy-Book2999

5. ‘I Miss the Nostalgia of Being in a Record Store Looking for a CD to Play or a Vinyl of Your Favorite Metal/Rock/Punk/Ska Band and Finding Out You Got the Last One.’

6. We Just Know She Had Some Fire Recommendations Up Her Sleeve

Two women browse vinyl records in a retro music store called Camelot Music. One woman, wearing a headscarf, points at a record while the other holds an album and looks at it. Shelves of records fill the store. — Deedeelite

7. Elvis Presley Goes Through a Record Store for Inspiration, Circa 1970

A man stands in a record store browsing through vinyl albums displayed on slanted shelves, with wooden-paneled walls and a checkered floor visible in the background. — UserDeleted

8. Before Spotify, This Is How We Found Our Favorite New Tunes — One Flip at a Time

People browse vinyl records in a brightly lit music store with long rows of albums and shelves lining the walls. The atmosphere is busy, with several shoppers looking through the record collection. — xanadu_80

9. A Collection of Soul, Funk, Jazz, and Disco Records From the ’70s

A collection of vintage funk, soul, and R&B vinyl records, including albums by The Isley Brothers, Funkadelic, Barry White, and others, spread out in a colorful, overlapping arrangement. — s0ftcore

10. Record Shopping at Vintage Vinyl in Evanston, Illinois

Black and white photo of a record store with posters on the walls. Three people browse vinyl records in bins; one stands in the center holding an album and looking at the camera. Shirts and records are displayed throughout. — VinMoto

11. People Shopping at the White Front Discount Department Store in Los Angeles

Shoppers browse through records in a vintage music store filled with vinyl albums, banners, and display racks. The store has a retro interior, with people looking at different music genres. — AxlCobainVedder

12. Young Music Fans Look at Vinyl LPs in an Unidentified Record Store in Falls Church, Virginia, 1977

Three children browse through vinyl records in a music store, each looking at album covers. Rows of records and shelves are visible in the background. — Warren K Leffler/US News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images

13. British Businessman Ted Carroll, Co-Founder of Ace Records, Holds Up a Copy of ‘Here’s Little Richard’ in London, England, 1977

A man with glasses and a plaid shirt stands in a record store holding a Little Richard vinyl. The shop is filled with records, posters, and music memorabilia covering the walls and shelves. — Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

14. ‘A Woman Inside a British Record Store in the ’70s’

A woman in a wide-brimmed hat and 1970s fashion smiles and waves while standing in a record store aisle lined with vinyl records. British flags hang from the ceiling above labeled aisles. — AdSpecialist6598

15. Neil Young Finds His Own Albums at a Record Store, 1972

A man in a plaid shirt sits behind a counter in a cozy record store while a person in a scarf browses a vinyl record, with shelves of albums and posters on the wooden walls. — UserDeleted

Looking for more music content?

Don’t miss 10 of the Most Expensive Musical Instruments in the World and 15 Vinyl Records That Are Now Worth More Than You’d Expect. And for a peek at what one of the world’s most famous music festivals looked like in the ’60s, be sure to check out 17 Vintage Photos From Woodstock ’69 That Show What the Festival Was Really Like.

The post 15 Vintage Photos of Record Shops in the 1970s appeared first on Wealth Gang.