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
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?
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.
